1. Violence in the Media encourages viewers to imitate what they see- Hypodermic syringe

a. After Brixton riots were reported, there were "copycat" riots around Britain.

b. James Bulger.

c. In an experiment with four groups of children:

Group 1 saw real-life male and female adults attacking a self-righting doll with mallets.

Group 2 saw a film of the same.

Group 3 saw a T.V. cartoon version of the same thing.

Then each child was deliberately mildly frustrated by being put in a room with a lot of exciting toys but told they were reserved for other children.

"aggressive behaviour was sharply higher in each of the model conditions and further most of this was in direct imitation of the model's aggressive behaviour. But, it was only a doll and they must have sensed that the conditions were artificial.

2. Violence in the Media de-sensitises the audience to violence in general.- Culmination effect.

According to this theory, violence in the media excites children but the more they see, the more they need to excite them. The result being that they become less shocked by real life violence. The first part is fine but it is very difficult to prove whether the second follows on from it.

3. Violence in the media erodes inbuilt inhibitions against acting in certain ways.

This is really an extension of number 2 above. It suggests that inhibitions about sexual and violent behaviour are broken down if it is seen as normal on the screen. Particularly if such behaviour is seen as being unpunished in films etc. Worth thinking here about the frequency of violence against women in the Media.

W. Belson interviewed 1,565 boys between 12 and 17 with detailed questionnaires intending to establish both how violent they were and also when they became this violent. At the same time, he researched their T.V. viewing history. He found that: "Children who tend to watch violent T.V. programmes do become more violent themselves to some extent, largely because violence comes to be seen as a legitimate problem solving device for them."

A National viewers' survey of 4,500 children between seven and sixteen in 1984 found that 45% had seen a video nasty, however, a similar survey with made up names of video nasties found that about the same proportion of children claimed to have seen them as well!

A survey of child psychiatrists found that 50 % thought that there was an association between their patients' symptoms and viewing violent screen images but the case is by no means proven. Often surveys can only show that violent people enjoy violent programmes.

4. Violence in the media releases tension and desires through identification with fictional characters and events (catharsis)

Again all research on this is inconclusive but some psychiatrists claim to have successfully used pornography to help sex offenders release their emotions.

5. Violence in the media can sensitise people to the effects of violence- Obviously the opposite of 2 above. Again difficult to prove, but when filmed in a certain way, (e.g. Taxi Driver?) violence can be so shocking as to put people off violence and make them more aware of its consequences. Sensitisation to certain crimes it is argued could make people more aware and more likely to report them.