This paper examines the effects of media violence on children's social and emotional development through a review of three peer-reviewed studies. Beginning with the deregulation of the entertainment industry in the 1980s, violence across television, film, and video games has grown substantially, raising urgent concerns among policymakers, educators, and health professionals. The review synthesizes findings from Escobar-Chaves and Anderson (2008), Levin and Carlsson-Paige (2003), and Garbarino, Bradshaw, and Vorrasi (2002), each of which documents measurable links between media violence exposure and aggression, emotional dysregulation, PTSD, and developmental harm — with disproportionate effects on low-income and minority children.
The paper demonstrates the literature review synthesis technique: it summarizes three separate peer-reviewed studies individually, then draws them together in a unified discussion section that identifies points of convergence — particularly the consistent finding of a causal link between media violence exposure and aggressive behavior. This structure models how to build a cumulative argument from multiple sources rather than treating each source in isolation.
The paper follows a standard review structure: an introduction contextualizing the topic historically, three article summaries presented sequentially, and a discussion section that synthesizes the findings across all three. The conclusion frames media violence as a public health issue comparable to tobacco and alcohol, elevating the stakes of the analysis beyond the individual child and toward broader social policy.
The past century has been characterized by a proliferation of media types, beginning with newspapers and tabloids in the late 19th century and continuing through the introduction of print media, radio, motion pictures, television, and — at the end of the 20th century — the Internet and numerous violent-themed video games. An unfortunate consequence of this growth in media types and their accessibility by ever-larger numbers of consumers has been the use of violence as a theme to generate interest, increase audiences, and boost profitability in an increasingly competitive environment.
Following the deregulation of the entertainment industry during the 1980s, there has been a growing trend toward the use of violence of all types across media platforms. Not surprisingly, this increase in media violence has attracted a great deal of attention from national and state policymakers, parents, educators, and even the entertainment industry itself. The central concern is the potential effect that violence in the media can have on children's social and emotional development. The research to date indicates that early exposure to media violence can have profound adverse effects on children's development, particularly for minority youth. To determine what experts have to say about these issues and what can be done to address these trends, this paper reviews three peer-reviewed articles on media violence and its effect on young people's social and emotional development.
Escobar-Chaves and Anderson (2008) present the results of several cross-sectional and longitudinal studies concerning the effects of media violence on young people, as well as the steps taken in recent years to address the problem. They emphasize that as young people enter the experimental phases of early adolescence, they are especially likely to engage in risky behaviors — a tendency that is further exacerbated by exposure to violence in the media.
These researchers are careful to avoid sweeping conclusions based on insufficient evidence and concede that more research is needed, but they stress the need for action based on what is already known. In this regard, Escobar-Chaves and Anderson report that "the extent to which media violence causes youth aggression and violence has been hotly debated for more than fifty years. Despite many reports that exposure to violent media is a causal risk factor, the U.S. public remains largely unaware of these risks, and youth exposure to violent media remains extremely high" (p. 147). Authoritative reports documenting these risks include public advisories from the U.S. Surgeon General in 1972 and 2001, a National Institute of Mental Health report from 1982, and a Federal Trade Commission report in 2000 (Escobar-Chaves & Anderson, 2008). Additional reports on the adverse effects of media violence on children's development have been issued by the American Psychological Association in 1994, 2000, and 2005, as well as by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American Psychiatric Association.
Beyond these authoritative analyses, a more recent study sponsored by the U.S. Surgeon General determined that "research on violent television and films, video games, and music reveals unequivocal evidence that media violence increases the likelihood of aggressive and violent behavior in both immediate and long-term contexts" (p. 148). Time and again, researchers have arrived at the same basic conclusion: there is a direct relationship between exposure to violence in the media and aggressive behaviors among young people. The problem has grown worse due to the proliferation of violent-themed video games playable on numerous platforms, the Internet, and hand-held devices such as smartphones. Male youths spend up to 20 hours a week on average playing such games, though the risk of exposure to violence extends to female youths as well. In sum, Escobar-Chaves and Anderson conclude that the evidence is clear: violence in the media has been shown repeatedly to have profoundly adverse social and emotional developmental consequences for young people.
Levin and Carlsson-Paige (2003) provide a brief but comprehensive background on the main factors contributing to increased media violence and the effects that exposure to such violence can have on young people. They cite the deregulation of the entertainment industry in the 1980s as the starting point for the current proliferation of media violence: "Media violence has become a more significant risk factor for children since the deregulation of television in the 1980s and the escalating marketing of violence that has followed. Children are exposed to more and more media violence in more aspects of their lives and at younger ages" (p. 427).
The authors explain how media marketers have routinely and systematically exploited young people through the use of violence as a marketing tool within a media culture that affects virtually all children today. These are important issues, Levin and Carlsson-Paige argue, because research has clearly shown that violence is a learned behavior and the foundations for future aggressive behaviors are already firmly in place by the time children reach age eight.
Although media violence represents just one of several risk factors that can combine to produce aggressive behaviors later in life, Levin and Carlsson-Paige emphasize that the more risk factors involved, the greater the likelihood of such behaviors manifesting — a tendency that disproportionately affects low-income and minority children. When young children witness violence in the media, they internalize these events in ways that reflect their developmental stage. Young people are frequently unable to fully understand what they are seeing; instead, they focus on the most extreme events — typically the violent ones — and extrapolate meaning from those alone, rather than grasping the broader context. As the authors report, "When children see the violence, it looks exciting, powerful, and the method of choice for resolving conflicts. They try to act it out before they can fully understand its meaning or are fully able to think through how it affects others" (p. 428). Empirical observations from educators confirm that young people frequently lack the ability to fully comprehend the implications of the violence they are mimicking.
In sum, Levin and Carlsson-Paige argue that exposure to media violence causes significant developmental problems for all young children, but especially minority and low-income children, who watch more television than their white counterparts. As they conclude, "Violence that is marketed through the media — because it glorifies violence, undermines play, and portrays stereotypes about race — is a very pervasive and powerful risk factor that influences children's perceptions of themselves and others, can undermine their development, and can contribute to violent behavior" (p. 429).
Escobar-Chaves, S.L. & Anderson, C.A. (2008). Media and risky behaviors. The Future of Children, 18(1), 147–149.
Garbarino, J., Bradshaw, C.P. & Vorrasi, J.A. (2002). Mitigating the effects of gun violence on children and youth. The Future of Children, 12(2), 73–74.
Levin, D.E. & Carlsson-Paige, N. (2003). Marketing violence: The special toll on young children of color. The Journal of Negro Education, 72(4), 427–429.
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