2.4 Mass Media and Audiences Flashcards
(10 cards)
1.1 Individual Sociologists Approach
Norris: media coverage of political issues can influence voting behaviour
Gerbner et al: representations of violence in certain types of media and suggests can contribute to violent crime and antisocial forms of behaviour.
Sociologists have focused on the power of advertising and how it may have an instant effect on the sales of a product
- This is particularly effective if promoted by a celebrity
- Many are aimed at children and use ‘pester power’
1.2 Theoretical Approaches
Feminists…
- Morgan…. have suggested that the consumption of pornography encourages sexual violence / negative attitudes towards women
- Orbach: concerns about representations of young women, particularly size zero models that may produce eating disorders
- Gunther: Gender roles (E.g. men advertising cars and women advertising washing up liquid) can have subtle effects.
Interactionists:
- Cohen: media creates moral panics which increase social anxiety
Marxists:
- Marxuse: Media transmits a ‘mass culture’ which was directly injected into the population making them more vulnerable to bourgeoisie propaganda
1.3 Two Main Aspects of Media Effects Debate
- Important to separate effects on behaviour from effects on attitudes
- Claims that media has an effect upon its audiences can also be divided into.
- Those who assume audiences are passive, homogeneous and vulnerable
- Audiences are actively interacting with media and are using it to help them make choices
2.1 Summary of Hypodermic Model
- Believes in a direct correlation between violence in media and that seen in real life.
- Young people are vulnerable to media content because they are still in the early stages of socialisation
- Two events support this theory…
- Columbine High School Massacre: Two boys killed 13 people in 1999.
- Played Doom and listened to Marilyn Manson - James Bulger Case: two 10 year old boys killed JB in Liverpool
- Press: boys mimicked scenes from Child’s Play 3
- Police: no evidence that either had seen it.
2.2 Copycat Violence
- Bandura et al: direct cause-and-effect relationship between media content and violence.
- Showed Three groups of children examples of a ‘bobo-doll’ being attacked whilst a fourth group saw no violence.
- Each group were made to feel frustrated after seeing a room full of toys and being told they were not for them.
- They were then brought to another room with a Bobo-Doll
Outcome: three groups more violent towards doll
McCabe and Martin: imitation was a likely outcome of media violence as it presented as a heroic problem-solving exercise
2.3 Desensitisation
Newson: sadistic images are too easily available
- Films encourage viewers to identify with the perpetrators as opposed to the victims
- During childhood, this has a gradual ‘drip-drip’ effect (desensitization)
2.4 Censorship
- Newson’s conclusions had a great impact on society and politicians
- Report led to increased censorship of the film industry with passing of the Video Recordings Act (85), which resulted in BBFC age certificates
- All TV channels agreed on a 9 o’clock watershed (no bad language/ sexual or violent content until this time)
- Idea that violent movie content can affect people continues…
- 2006: Advertising campign for a film starring 50 Cent was criticised for glamorising gun crime
- Ofcom: 2/3s of their sample of children aged 12-15 said violence in video games had more of an impact on them than violence on TV / film.
2.5 Feminist Perspective on the Hypodermic Syringe Model
- Direct causal link between pornography and sexual violence
- Morgan: ‘pornography is the theory, rape is the practice’
- Dworkin: ‘trivialized rape and makes men ‘increasing callous to cruelty’.
- Numerous studies found it made both men and women less satisfied with partners and more interested in emotionless sex.
Hald: Study in Denmark found that men and women considered it to have a positive impact (improved sex lives, sexual knowledge and attitudes towards the opposite sex)
Malamuth: For people who were already inclined to be sexually aggressive, it worsened their attitudes towards women
- For most men it had no negative effect
3.1 Prevents Real Life Violence
Catharsis: Fesbach and Sanger: screen violence can provide a sage outlet for people’s aggressive tendencies.
- In their study, a large sample of boys were given a certain selection of TV for 6 weeks. The group that had only seen aggressive content were less aggressive in behaviour than those who had not seen any.
Sensitization: Young argues that seeing effects of violence (suffering) can make us more aware of the consequences and less inclined.
3.2 Criticisms of Bandura et al
- Guntlett: children do not behave as naturally under laboratory conditions as they would in everyday environment.
- Such studies are unclear on how ‘violence’ should be defined.
- Different Types: cartoons, authentic violence as seen in images of war and fictional violence, deaths on news bulletins and sports.
