Correlational Study of Media Content as Catalyst of Violent Behaviour Among Youths in Abraka Metropolis

Hannah Emuobosa Ivwighren, Florence Oghenekome Chukwuebuni

Abstract


This paper spotlights the rising concern of youths exhibiting violent behaviour. The scope is on cultivation and social learning theories linked to and rationalizing media content as catalysts of violent behaviour among the youths. With the aid of primary data sources for analysis, 180 questionnaires were printed and distributed to senior school students in Abraka metropolis. 178 filled questionnaires came back but 2 were incomplete so were discarded. 176 were used. Cultivation theory was identified as a theory that incites learning and practicing what a person sees on television while the social learning theory points out observation, imitation, and modeling as ways of learning. Empirical studies were also reviewed to establish other researchers’ views and their findings were scrutinized in line with this paper on how media content encourages copycatting into real life. The researchers made some recommendations to the government, media houses, and institutions of learning but, specifically to the youths to be more responsible and selective of the content they expose themselves to and consume or to be ready to face immediate and severe punishment if found guilty of violent behaviour

Keywords


Media Content; Catalyst; Violent; Behaviour; youths

Full Text:

PDF

References


Anaeto, S.G, Onabajo, O.S and Osifeso, J.B (2008) Models and Theories of Communication. Maryland (USA); African Renaissance Books Incorporated

Anyaegbunam, E. N., (2018) Reducing Organized Violent Behavior in Nigeria Through the Use of Human Needs Paradigm. Middle East Journal of Scientific Research 26(5):527-535DOI:10.5829/idosi.mejsr.2018.527.535

Anderson, C.A, Berkowitz, L., Donnerstein, E., Huesman, L.R., Johnson, J.D., Linz, D., Malamuth, N.M. and Wartella, E. (2003) The Influence of Media Violence on Youth. Sage Journals, PubMed at https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1529-1006.2003.pspi_1433.x Accessed 12/06/2021

Adjeketa, B., (2022) Media usage, media violence, and the Nigerian Child. https://www.language-and-society.org/

Anderson, C. A, Carnagey, N.L and Eubanks J. (2003) Exposure to Violent Media; The Effect of Songs With Violent Lyrics on Aggressive Thoughts and Feelings. America Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol.84 (5) 960-971 Available at https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.84.5.960 Accessed 28/06/2021

Asamah, E.S, Nwammuo, A.N and Nkwan-Uwaoma, A.O (2017) Theories and Model of Communication: Revised Ed. Jos; Jos University Press.

Burt, C. H and Simons, R. L (2013) Self-Control, Thrill Seeking, and Crime Motivation Matters. Criminal Justice and Behaviour Journal Vol. 40 (11): 1326-1348 at https://doi:10.1177/0093854813485575. Accessed 02/07/2021

Bushman, B. J., & Cruz, C. (2020). The effects of violent media on aggression: A meta-analysis. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 55, 101468.

Bandura, A. (2018). Toward a psychology of human agency: Pathways and reflections. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13(2), 130-136.

Bushman, B. J., & Huesmann, L. R. (2019). Twenty-five years of research on violence in digital games and aggression: Empirical evidence, perspectives, and a debate gone astray. European Psychologist, 24(2), 123-139. Hogrefe Publishing.

Blahd, W. H (2019) Violent Behaviour; at https://www.healthlinkbc.ca Accessed 25/6/2021

Boxer, P., & Sánchez, V. (2015). Exposure to violent media: The effects of songs with violent lyrics. In Media and the well-being of children and adolescents (pp. 111-129). Routledge.

Bussell, H. E., & Sheehan, M. J. (2022). The relationship between intimate partner violence exposure and adolescent perpetration of physical dating violence: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 23(1), 75-88.

Chen, Y. S., Tyler, T. R., & Kohlberg, L. (2019). Violent lyrics, norms, and interpersonal violence: A social psychological perspective. Journal of Communication, 69(6), 642-666.

Coyne, S. M., Nelson, D. A., & Gentile, D. A. (2019). The effects of prosocial media on prosocial behavior: An examination of the underlying mechanisms. Media Psychology, 22(2), 310-332. Taylor & Francis.

Cherry, K., (2022) How Social Learning Theory Works. https://www.verywellmind.com/

Coyne, S. M., Nelson, D. A., Graham-Kevan, N., Tew, E., Mengo, C., Olsen, J., & Lee, Y. (2021). Associations between violent media exposure and aggression across development: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 57, 101560.

Dominick, J.R (2002) The Dynamics of Mass Communication: Media in The Digital Age. New York; MCGraw-Hill.

[

Duru, H. N (2020) “Film Theory and Aesthetic” In Okunna C.S (Ed.) Communication and Media Studies; Multiple Perspectives. Enugu; New Generation Books Ltd.

Ferguson, C. J. (2015). Does media violence predict societal violence? It depends on what you look at and when. Journal of Communication, 65(1), E1-E22. Wiley-Blackwell.

Gentile, D. A., Reimer, R. A., & Nathanson, A. I. (2016). Assessment of media violence effects. In Media Violence and Children (pp. 11-39). Praeger.

Gerbner, G., Gross, L., Morgan, M., & Signorielli, N. (1994). Growing up with television: The cultivation perspective. In J. Bryant & D. Zillmann (Eds.), Media effects: Advances in theory and research (pp. 17-41). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Huesmann, L. R. (2018). A social-cognitive-ecological framework for understanding the impact of media violence on aggressive behavior. European Psychologist, 23(3), 223-233.

Haruna, N., (2021) Youth Violence and Public Safety in Nigeria a Study of Sara-suka Gang in Bauchi Local Government Area. Studies in Politics and Society Volume 9, Number 1&2,

https://www.researchgate.net/publication

Harris, R.J and Sanborn, F.W (2014) A Cognitive Psychology of Mass Communication, 6th Ed. Routledge/Taylor and Francis Group. Accessed 04/07/2021

Irwin-Rogers, K. and Pinkeny, C. (2017) Social Media as a Catalyst and Trigger for Youth Violence. PDF at https://www.catch-22.org.uk Accessed 17/06/2021

Jain, R., (2018) Effect of Psychological Wellbeing on Violent Behavior among Adolescents In Reference to Parenting Style. European Journal of Social Sciences. Volume 1, Issue 3 ISSN 2601-8640 (Online) https://revistia.org/

Knobloch-Westerwick, S., & Meng, J. (2017). Violent song lyrics increase negative emotions and thoughts. Communication Research, 44(3), 367-391.

Kenton, W., (2021) Durbin Watson Test: What it is in Statistics, With Examples; Corporatefinanceinvestopedia.com

Kwon, K. (2021). Inquisitiveness, Zeal, and Self-Efficacy among Adolescents: An Empirical Study. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 50(3), 441-453.

Kaliyadan, F., & Kulkarni, V., (2019) Types of Variables, Descriptive Statistics, and Sample Size. Indian Dermatol Online J. 10(1): 82–86. doi: 10.4103/idoj.IDOJ_468_18

Låftman, S. B., Modin, B., & Östberg, V. (2019). Exposure to violence in late adolescence: Violence perpetration and violent victimisation trajectories from age 18 to 25 in a Swedish cohort. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 34(9), 1857-1881.

Lee, E., Kim, J. H., & Lee, J. (2017). The cultivation effect of watching TV news on adolescents' fear of crime: A longitudinal study. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 61(1), 77-94.

Lynskey, D (2011) A History of R&B and Hip-Hop – Tupac and Biggie die as a Result of East/West Coast Beef. The Guardian News Media; at https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun13/tupac-biggie-deaths Accessed 17/06/2021

Lockwood, A. H., (2020) Violence, Conflict, and Societal Disruption. MIT Press https://covid-19.mitpress.mit.edu

Lindell, A. K., Olofsson, J. K., & Jonsson, L. S. (2020). The impact of sexualized media content on sexually aggressive behavior among adolescents: A meta-analytic review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 50, 101350.

Laursen, B., & Collins, W. A. (2021). Social and emotional development in adolescence. Annual Review of Developmental Psychology, 3(1), 73-100.

Matei, S.A. (2012). “Communication Theory and Mass Communication Research from Left to Right” In Asemah, E. S et al Theories and Model of Communication: Revised Ed. Jos; Jos University Press.

Morah, D. N. and Okunna, C.S (2020). Theories of Communication in Okunna C.S (Ed.) Communication and Media Studies; Multiple Perspectives. Enugu; New Generation Books Ltd.

Nabi, R. L., Riddle, K., & Drumhiller, K. (2018). Parental mediation of media effects. In Media exposure and well-being in adolescence (pp. 129-144). Springer.

Pinkney, C., And Robinson-Edwards, S., (2018) Gangs, music and the mediatization of crime: Expressions, violations and validations, Safer Communities 17(2) DOI:10.1108/SC-01-2017-0004

Ponnan, R., Rycker, A., Fong, Y. L and Syed, M.A (2018) Shared Causal Theories about Film Violence and Violent Behaviour: Finding from Malaysian Indians. The Journal of the South East Asia Research Centre for Communication and Humanities Vol.10 No.1 ,2018, pp 25-52 at https://www.researchgate.net Accessed 24/06/2021

Paik, H and Comstock, G (1994) The Effects of Television Violence on Antisocial Behaviour; A Meta-Analysis. Communication Research, 21 (4). 516-546 At https://doi.org/10.1177/009365094021004004 or https://psycnet.apa.org Accessed 19/06/2021

Park, S., Na, E. Y., & Kim, J. H. (2019). Seeing is believing: The cultivation effect of news coverage of terrorism on fear of terrorism among South Korean adolescents. Terrorism and Political Violence, 31(4), 752-768.

Potter, W. J., & Schafer, E. F. (2018). Listening to violent lyrics: Testing the catharsis hypothesis. Journal of Media Psychology, 30(1), 1-10.

Prot, S., Anderson, C. A., Gentile, D. A., Brown, S. C., & Swing, E. L. (2021). Effects of playing violent video games on Chinese adolescents’ aggression: A two-year longitudinal study. Aggressive Behavior, 47(3), 305-318

Raziel, N. T. (2012) Bandura’s Social Learning Theory and Social Cognitive Learning Theory; At researchgate.net/publication/267750204_Bandura’s_Social_Learning_Theory_Social_Cognitive_Learning_Theory. Accessed 24/06/2021

Rumsey, D.J., (2021) How to Interpret Standard Deviation in a Statistical Data Set; From the Book- Statistics for Dummies @dummies.com/articles/academics

Raji, S. O., OwumI, B., & Aliyu, T. K. (2014) Media violence and its effects on children’s health and aggressive behaviour in Osun state, Nigeria; International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention, ISSN (Online): 2319 – 7722, ISSN; www.ijhssi.org || Volume 3|| Issue 6 || June. 2014 || PP.59-73

Schweig, S., (2014) Healthy Communities May Make Safe Communities: Public Health Approaches to Violence Prevention. NIJ Journal / Issue No. 273; National Institute of Justice | www.NIJ.gov

Skoric, M. M., Cho, H., & Wang, L. (2019). Video game use and aggression among adolescents: A moderated mediation model. Computers in Human Behavior, 92, 177-187.

Stangor, C., Tarry, H., Jhangiani R (2014) Principles of Social Psychology; Open Library PressBooks; at https://opentextbc.ca Accessed 22/06/2021

Surette, R. (2013) Cause or Catalyst; The Interaction of Real World and Media Crime Model; Am J crime Just 38, 392 – 409 at https://doi.org/10.1007/512103_012-9177_z Accessed 03/07/2021

Taylor, H. S. (2018) “Catalysis” Encyclopedia Britannica; at https://www.britannica.com/science/catalysis. Accessed 25/06/2021

Taylor, S., (2023) Autocorrelation; corporatefinanceinstitute.com

Umukoro, E.S., Irori, O. Q., Ivwighren, H.E. and Ugbome, M. (2018) “Mass Media and Agricultural Development: Perception of Youth in Ugheli South Local Government Area of Delta State” In Journal of Social and Management Sciences Vol. 13, No 2, 2018 pp 61–73 Faculty of the Social Sciences, Delta State University, Abraka.

Van den Bulck, J. (2020). Media and aggression in adolescence. In The Oxford Handbook of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology (pp. 231-242). Oxford University Press.

Wang, L., Skoric, M. M., & Shen, C. (2021). Exposure to in-game violence and aggression among Chinese adolescents: The moderating role of violent norms. Computers in Human Behavior, 122, 106853.

World Health Organization (2002) Report; at https://int/violence_injury_prevention; Accessed 04/07/2021

Weitzer, R. (2020). Does media exposure increase police support? Evidence from a national survey of young adults. Policing: An International Journal, 43(2), 426-444.

Mulder, J., & Machell, J. (2017). The effects of violent song lyrics on aggressive thoughts and feelings. Psychology of Music, 45(3), 401-413.

Zillmann, D., & Weaver, J. B. (2019). Escapist entertainment and glamorization of crime. In Media Entertainment (pp. 191-209). Routledge.


Article Metrics

Abstract has been read : 259 times
PDF file viewed/downloaded: 0 times


DOI: http://doi.org/10.25273/she.v4i2.17682

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2023 Social Sciences, Humanities and Education Journal (SHE Journal)

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.


SHE Journal managed and published by Universitas PGRI Madiun (UNIPMA), Indonesia

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

 

View My Stats