10 Things Wrong with the Media Effects Model

10 Things Wrong with the Media Effects Model

1. The backwards approach

   • Social problems are being tackled backwards
     • Begin with social violence, not media
     • Examine people's social background
   • Hagell and Newburn (1994)
     • 78 violent teenage offenders
       • Less access to technology
       • Watched less TV
       • Watched similar programs as the "ordinary" participants
       • or were simply uninterested
     • 500 "ordinary pupils (same age)"

2. Children treated as inadequate

   • "Non-adults"

3. Conservative ideology

   • Argues that violence is not always shown in an uncritical light
   • Elitist element - assumes children will be negatively affected

4. Inadequate definitions

   • Broad definition of antisocial and prosocial
   • Quick to label actions as violent
   • They compare hitting an inanimate object to TV murders
   • This create weak data

5. Artificial studies

   • Artificial environments
   • Laboratories
   • Videos shown to participants lack the narrative found in TV
   • Questionnaires & Bobo Doll
     • Not comparable to interpersonal interaction!
   • Participants act differently while being observed

6. Misapplied methodology

   • Some studies did not follow standard procedures
     • Invalid results!
   • Longitudinal panel study (Huesmann, Eron & Co)
     • Aggression levels measured differently throughout study
     • No explanation for results contradicting other study of theirs
       • First study concluding that media has marginal effect on boys, none on girls
   • Correlation is not causation!

7. Selective criticisms

   • Focuses on fantasy violence
     • The villain is typically punished
   • Ignores real violence (the news)
     • The villain is often not punished

8. Elitism

   • Researchers are unconcerned for their own safety
     • Why won't they be affected??
   • Heavy viewers are looked down upon
     • Comparing them to mindless drones
     • Turning on TV without knowing what they'll watch

9. Meanings of media

   • Assumption that media promotes antisocial behaviour
   • The context is ignored
     • Self defense?
   • Everything is perceived differently
     • People form their own conclusions!

10. Not grounded in theory

    • Disagrees with crime being glamourised