n this topic was The National Television Violence Study; a three-year research project funded by the National Cable Television Association issued in 1996. The study involved efforts from media scholars from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill among other schools. The study found that violence is often presented in ways that could harm viewers. Perpetrators go unpunished in 73% of all violent scenes. This should be of great concern because when violence is presented without punishment, and oftentimes with rewards, viewers are more likely to learn that violence is successful. In addition to the perpetrators going unpunished, in 47% of violent scenes no harm is actually shown to the victim. In 58% of scenes no pain is shown. In only 16% of programs that portray violence the long-term negative affects such as psychological, financial, and emotional harm are shown. There are programs that show violence but emphasize an anti-violence theme by condemning the violence. Sadly these are a rarity, only accounting for 4% of all the violent programs on television. (Media Violence, 1999)Although it’s not likely for people to be lured into a life of violence by seeing a body on TV or a barroom fight, the context of the violence is important. When violence seems justified it is more likely to be imitated, and look at how much of the violence we see on television seems justified and for a good cause. Many programs draw viewers in and make them ‘see the side’ of the criminal. This can have negative affects because research shows that the more we identify and empathize with a character the more likely we are to imitate the character. Not all movies get you to empathize with the bad guy but they often portray him as a powerful and very often rich. Imitating people who are powerful gives us the illusion of borrowing some of their power. Many popular movies carry messages that violence is the ‘manly’ solution to...
