Audiences: Hypodermic Syringe Model

Audiences: Hypodermic Syringe Model

1. How does the media affect behaviour?

   • Copy what we see others do
   • Buy what we see advertised- consumerism
   • Voting- Change opinions
   • Diets and Lifestyle
   • Encourage addiction (gambling)
   • Lead to violence (Jamie Bulger)
     • Domestic/sexual violence
       • Pornography
   • Children pester for the latest gadgets/ toys until parents give in and buy them- Marxism- Drives consumerism
   • Marxists such as Marcuse (1964) believe that the media transmits mass culture which is injected into the hearts of the population through ruling class population through ruling class population. E.g. 2011 Riots-allowed use of rubber pellets
   • Norris (1999) claims that the media can influence voting behaviour- turning people against other political parties e.g. newspapers and tv debates- Question Time Theresa May more air time

2. How are women presented in the media?

   • Sexualised, male gaze
     • Degrades them and makes them only feel their purpose is sex. Male gaze- fulfilled- rape
   • Objectified and under represented
     • Symbolic Annihilation
   • Women seen as secondary to men
     • Lack of self-worth, less ambitious (glass ceiling)
   • Beauty Ideal (Wolf)
     • Mental Illnesses e.g. eating disorders
   • Gerbener et al (1986) suggests that violence in the media leads to violent behaviour and ASB
   • Dworkin (1990) Excessive consumption of pornography encourages sexual violence and negative attitudes towards women
   • Orbach (1991) Expressed concerns over representations of women within the media as it may produce a generation of women with eating disorders
   • Disney Films- Changing- Positive women are strong and intelligent. Previously- Submissive and subjected to male gaze, helpless and controlled in environment

3. Hypodermic Syringe Model

   • Suggests that the media acts as a hypodermic syringe- injecting media texts into the 'veins' of media audiences
     • Audiences are seen as unthinking, passive receivers of media texts who are unable to resist the messages that are 'injected' into them
   • The model suggests that the media can fill audiences with dominant ideology. Sexist and racist images, scenes of violence or other content and the the audience immediately acts on these messages
   • AO3: Most commentators would view it as an old fashioned and inadequate view of the relationship between media and audience because of new media- this is digital and interactive so audiences choose what they want to see, not being subject to the same media messages
   • 1) Media sends out messages through TV etc.
     • 2) Audience receives daily doses of the media (drug)
       • 3) This affects the way the audience think and feel just like a drug does- hypodermic syringe effect
         • Audience responds the way the media intends
       • Brainwashing audience- Black people are criminal
       • Failure to get the drug (media) can lead to emotional problems e.g. anxiety, wellbeing
     • Events showing black people as criminal
       • Hall- Policing the crisis- Black criminality leading to moral panic

4. Feminism and the Hypodermic Syringe Model

   • Feminists believe there is a link between porn and sexual violence
   • Morgan (1980) suggests that porn is the theory and rape is the practice
   • Dworkin (1990) porn trivialises rape and encourages men to inflict pain on women- can affect marriage as men and women are less supportive of it
   • Younger age groups more vulnerable act out what they see
   • AO3- Personality, Whether they can decode images, mental health, sexual violence took place before new media
     • Hald (2007) Men and women see porn as improving their sex life and attitudes towards the oppressed gender
       • Malmuth (1984) Found that porn only worsens the behaviour of those already aggressive and for the majority has no affects

5. Criticisms

   • 1) Model assumes entire audience is passive and will react in the same way to media content. However factors such as own experiences- people may laugh at violent scenes as they feel uncomfortable
     • Age may affect it- Young- Porn is fact. Older- Porn not affect how they see women.
   • 2) Assumes audience is passive, gullible and easily manipulated
     • People react differently with different experiences to the media
   • 3) Assumes the media have more power and influence, over-riding all other socialisation- Religion and education may be more powerful
   • 4) Little evidence that media content has immediate effects on audience as model suggests- too many variables everyone responds differently to stimulus
   • 5) HSM focuses blame for society's problems on the media- scapegoat, people are compassionate and help the poor etc.
   • Buckingham (1993) argues children are more media literate than what we have previously assumed- they know the difference between real and fictional violence

6. Overall evidence for the HSM is quite weak. Assuming all audiences are passive puppets that react to the media has come under scrutiny by those who believe the audience is active and able to interact with the media