Does the Media Create Crime?

• There is a concern that media content has a negative impact on the behaviour of young people, especially children
• Some people may copy the behaviours that go against norms and values that are portrayed by the media
• The media are seen as a very powerful secondary agent of socialisation and it can produce the copycat effect (where children copy what they see)
• Lots of studies have shown that there is a link between media and crime - it can increase aggressive behaviour in everyday life
• It is estimated that by the time American children are 18, on television, they would have seen:

  • roughly 16,000 real and fictional murders
  • roughly 200,000 acts of violence
• Media violence is blamed for increasing the amount of crime and violence in society
• Craig Anderson (1952) showed that violence in the media increases the likelihood of aggressive and violent behaviour, short and long term
• Researchers like Ferguson challenge that violence from video games harms children - they believe that they only harm children when they are at higher risk (such as mental health issues/those more vulnerable) and those that get addicted - continuous playing can lead to them having aggressive and violent behaviour