The Effects of Violent Films on Children: A Case Study of Children in Calabar South

The Effects of Violent Films on Children: A Case Study of Children in Calabar South

Chapter One

Objectives of the study

The major objective of this study is to ascertain the effect of violent films on children. A case study of children in Calabar South. The specific objectives of the study are as follows;

1. To ascertain if there is an overemphasis on negative themes in films.
2. To identify the negative effects or disadvantages associated with watching violent films by children.
3. To find out how violent films can affect the behaviors of children.
4. To suggest ways to prevent or reduce the negative effects or malevolence caused by violent films in children in our society.

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Theoretical framework

The media is one of many sources from which information about the social environment can be gathered (consciously and unconsciously), but they are becoming an increasingly instrumental source of first-hand information in modern societies.

Researchers have consistently documented that viewing violence in the media can influence viewers’ aggressive tendencies (e.g., the number of aggressive behaviors committed by the viewer), and can shape their perceptions and attitudes toward violence in the real world (Smith & Donnerstein, 1998). The primary concern of media effect studies has been to document that learning aggressive thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors emotional desensitization to real-world violent aggressive and its victims, and fear of becoming a victim of violence can be attributed to exposure to media violence.

Studies have shown that 57% of television programs contain some violence (Kunkel et al, 1996) and that by the age of 13, children would have viewed 100,000 violent scenes on television (Huston et al., 1992). Importantly, however, not all portrayals of violence pose the same risk to viewers. The context in which the violence is portrayed may increase or decrease the risk of increased aggressive tendencies in viewers (Kunkel et al, 1996). Several theories have been offered over the past decade to account for the negative effects of being exposed to medicated violence.

Several media effect theories suggest that the more violence is judged “real” and relevant to the individual the more likely it is to affect future aggressive tendencies. For example, several studies have found that increasing the degree of realism heightened aggressive responses in children and adults (Atkin, 1983; Berkowitz & Alioto, 1973; Geen, 1974; Thomas & Tell, 1974). The degree of perceived similarity between the violent actor and the viewer also influences the degree of impact on aggression Berkowitz & Geen, (1967); Hicks, D. J. 1965; Huesmann, 1986, Josephson 1987 in addition, people are more likely to attend to, identify with, and learn from attractive role models than from unattractive ones Bandura, (1965), aggression research shows that exposure to violent actors with good or heroic natures increases the risk of aggressive behaviors for both child and adult viewers (Leyens J. P. and S. Picus 1973; Liss, Reinhardt and Fredrickson 1983, Turner and Berkowitz 1972). Viewers become emotionally and physiologically desensitized when the duration of a violent act or its graphic portrayal is increased (Cline, Croft, and Courrier 1973; Lazarus and Attert, 1964, Mullin & Linz, 1995). Studies also indicate that portrayal justification or social acceptance of violence increases viewers’ aggressive tendencies Berkowitz & Geen, (1967). In contrast, viewing socially unjustified violence may cause a decrease in viewers aggressive responding (Geen, 1981).

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CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research design

This study investigated the effects of violent films on children in Nigeria. The focus of the study was on Calabar South Local Government Area. The researcher investigated a cross-section of children and pupils in Calabar South Local Government Area. This chapter showcases the study design, population of the study, sampling technique, and instrumentation.

The study relied on primary and secondary data. The researcher analyzed one hundred (100) respondents in Calabar South Local Government Area. The usage of questionnaire helped to identify whether the respondents were aware of the effects of violent films on their development.

The methodology is, therefore, the mixed model method, a combination of the quantitative and qualitative methods. Underling mixed model research is the assumption that it is possible to have two (2) world views, or paradigms mixed throughout a single research project. The mixed method research can provide for stronger inferences because the data are looked at from different perspectives. (Pole, 2007:36, 37).

 Population of the study

The population of the study, was Calabar South Local Government Area, Cross River State. The number of people used for the study was based on those to which questionnaires were administered to. The number summed up to one hundred (100).

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS

Presentation of data

This chapter presents the analysis and interpretation of the data collected. In this study, data was collected from a sample of 100 respondents of various characteristics. The classification of respondents based on these attributes is shown in the tables below. In the course of the research, 100 copies of the questionnaire were administered to respondents. Each has two sections duly completed and returned.

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

Summary

This study contains an analysis of the broad areas presumed in the study which has shown that exposure of children to violent television programmes and films affects them negatively. In this study, concentration was on violent films as the independent variables on children.

The role which television plays in transmission of values across national frontiers has been reviewed in this study. This ability of television and films is a function of its quality rhetoric, imagery, style and language pervasiveness, culture consistence, receptiveness etc, which collectively makes it the highly successful medium that it has become.

The cultivation theory has provided ready explanations of why violent films are not good for the growth and development of children. The theoretical synthesis of acculturation, mainstreaming, projection and perception of media hegemony, has shown that films can be used positively or other wise to foster the growth and development of culture, to assimilate, or completely destroy it. Films are good, but not in any way of promoting violent scenes which is detrimental to the development of Nigerian children.

  Conclusion

With the increasing prevalence of violence in our society, it is elementary that as scholars we should attempt to explore societal hazards and vicissitudes that exist and actively investigate their complex nature. Continually, scholars have turned to mass communication in order to attempt to determine links that causes violence in our society. The consensus, in study after study, is that mass media is a contributor to a number of anti-social behaviours and health related problems in children, adolescents, and adults based on the magnitude of violent content. However, one should keep in mind that mass media is but one of a multitude of factors which contributes to the prevalence of violence in our society and in most cases, not the most significant. Nevertheless, it is one of those factors in which the establishment of suitable interventions can mollify its impact. With reasonable insight and fortitude, controlling the representation of violence is wholly possible.

This study of violence in motion pictures can be attributed to the complexity of a classic chicken and egg scenario in which one has to question, what is the ultimate cause effect relationship between violence in the media and violence in our society. However, one should consider that an approach to the problem must be developed through careful consideration and insight and with the expertise from a variety of academic disciplines. Based on this fact, this study has been considerate in basing it’s methodology on models that have proven to be reliably tested by academics and established as noteworthy contributions to the field of media effects research (such as George Garner’s  research on cultivation theory and more recently on the National Television violence study).

This investigation of violence in motion pictures has shown that indeed, since 1995, there has been on average a 53.5% in the number of violent assaults, a 23.7% rise in the number of homicides, an 11.7% rise in the number of violent scenes, a 23.6% rise in the number of violent threats and a 45% rise in the number of violent abductions represented in the narratives of the top grossing films from 1960 to 1990. However, this rise in the number of violent acts in motion pictures would not be as much of a concern if it were not for the hundreds of media effects studies that have been conducted in other to show that the manner in which violence is represented in a narrative does increase the risk of psychological harm for the viewer.

This study has been useful in defining and illustrating the definition and classification of societal violence, the social acts of violence, and the contextual factors that determine the degrees to which violent narratives are represented in motion pictures.

Suggestions for further research

 Suggestions for film producers

1. Provide the public with more detailed descriptions and justifications of the film rating classification of each film by clearly outlining the degree and frequency of violence, sex, and language.
2. Improve the development of online recourses for parents through it’s web site WWW.Mpaa.org, and it’s affiliated Web Sites WWW.parentalguide.org, www.filmratings.comand the internet Movie Data Base us.imbd.com so that parent(s) and educators are provided with timely and consistent guidelines of motion pictures.
3. Provide links to other Web sites that provide parent(s) and educators with film reviews and detailed descriptions of potentially inappropriate scenes or adult oriented materials.Suggestedlinks: www.screenit.com/movies, www.kids-in-mind.com, www.gradingthemovies.com, and www.filmssite.org.
4. Produce more films that avoid violence or establish antiviolent themes and if you choose to employ a violent narrative keep the incidents of violence limited.
5. Be more considerate in your portrayal of violent acts by explicitly depicting negative consequences of using violence and punishing characters for their use of violence.
6. Seek alternatives to the use of techniques that enhance the duration of violent scenes of the graphic nature of the violence.
7. Consider the overall message you are sending to viewers in violent narratives and employ less justification for violent characters that are rewarded for their behaviours.

Suggestions for parents:

1. Become more aware of the three risks associated with viewing motion picture violence and heavy viewing of television violence (learning of aggression, desensitization, and fear).
2. Carefully consider the context of violent depiction, in making viewing decisions for children and consider films that forgo the use of violence in their narratives.
3. Talk with your children about the risk factors associated with violent programming and teach them about alternatives to the use of violence.
4. Educate your children to be responsible.                              

REFERENCES

• Akpabio, E. (2003). Themes and conflict of Nigerian Home Video Movies” in Unilag, Personality and social psychology, Vol. 4 No 1 pp 589-595.
• Atkin, C. (1983). Effects of realistic TV violence vs. fictional violence on aggression. Journalism Quarterly, 60, 615-621.
• Bandura, A. (1965). Influence of models reinforcement contingencies on the acquisition of imitative responses. Journal of personality and social psychology, 1, 6, 589-595.
• Berkowitz, L and R. Geen, (1967) name-mediated aggressive cue properties. Journal of personality, 34, 456-465.
• Berkowitz, L. and R. G. Geen (1967). Stimulus qualities of the target of aggression: A further study Abnormal and social psychology, 65, 197-202.
• Berkowitz, L., and J. T. Alioto (1973). The Meaning of an observed event as a determinant of its aggressive consequences. Journal of personality and social psychology, 28 (2), 206-217.
• Cline V. B; R. G Croft and S. Courrier (1973). Desensitization of children to television violence. Journal of personality and social psychology. Vol. 27 pp.360-365.
• Daramola, I. (2005). Introduction to Mass Communication. 2^nd Edition Lagos: Rothan Press.
• Geen, R. G. (1976). Observing violence in the mass media: Implications of basic research. In Geen, R. G. and E. C. O’ Neal (Eds.0 perspectives on aggression (pp.193-234). New York: Academic Press.
• Geen, R. G. (1981). Behaviour and psychological reactions to observed violence: Effects of prior exposure to aggressive stimuli. Journal of personality and social psychology, 40, 468-875.

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