MIGRAIN: Audience Theory 2

 
1) Social learning theory has been criticised for simplifying the causes of violence in society. Do you think the media is responsible for anti-social behaviour and violence?

The social learning theory is a theodicy that suggests people learn from one another, whether it be through observation, imitation and modelling; media is an example of how people can use these skills to learn. For example, one type of media texts are video games, whereby some of them encourage violence by creating violence-oriented games. In my opinion, I do believe that media is responsible for anti-social behaviour and violence, to an extent. The reason I believe this is because there have been many social experiments and news reports of people of all ages imitating behaviour they have witnessed through media texts. An example of this is the murder of two-year-old, James Bulger. He was abducted, tortured and murdered by two ten-year-old boys, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables. Bulger was led away from the New Strand Shopping Centre whilst his mother was distracted. His mutilated body was found on a two-and-a-half mile away. The reason why this is linked with the social learning theory is because the video game that the two boys were playing had a scene that involved a computer-generated detective pointing out the picture, which is meant to represent a fictional child abduction that the player is then asked to investigate; the boys learnt this behaviour and act of violence which lead to the murder of James Bulger. However, the media is not all to blame; the social learning theory suggests EVERYONE is prone to picking up bad behaviour and violence from the media. This is not true; most people would know the difference between wrong and right, and what behaviour to and what not to copy from the media. So, for this reason, I think the media has an influence on some weak-minded people who are easily swayed into violence, but the theory doesn’t apply to everyone.

2) How is social learning theory relevant in the digital age? Are young people now learning behaviour from social media and the internet? Give examples.

The social learning theory is still relevant in the digital age because technology has really advanced within the last 10 years, which the generation today and young people have grown up with. In this day in age, it can be still be argued that media texts do influence behaviour, however not as much as it did before. With the vast amount of reports blaming social media, social texts and video games in the past, parents are taking more caution as to what their children are watching and reading online. However, of course not all children are monitored and by this they are able to pick up behaviour online. Although media texts such as video games are promptly blamed for causing people to become violent and aggressive, an article from 'Independent' said "a review of almost a decade of studies found that exposure to violent video games was a "risk factor" for increased aggression. But the same team of experts said there was insufficient evidence to conclude that the influence of games such as Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto led to criminal acts". What this article is saying is that although people assume video games are the reason for children becoming criminals, we must keep in mind that not all young people play video games and therefore their act of violence integrates from somewhere else. Another example of a media text that is widely known to raise criminals and cause violent behaviour today is music videos associated with the genre of rap and grime. Within these videos, music artists are promoting the use of weapons such as guns and knives as well and encouraging the act of joining gangs; this then leads to young people learning this behaviour which has in effect lead to knife and gun crimes. 

3) Research examples of moral panic from the last 50 years. To what extent was the media responsible for these moral panics? Was the concern in society justified? How have things changed as a result of these moral panics?

The term 'moral panic' created by Stanley Cohen refers to moral panic caused when someone or something is defined by the media as a threat to society. Cohen suggested the media plays an important role in creating moral panic. Below are 5 examples of moral panics in the last 50 years:

•      School shootings is one example. "A school shooting is a term used to describe an incident of mass violence involving a firearm at an educational institution, usually caused by heavy metal music, video games", a definition provided by Wikipedia. An example is the Columbine high school shooting; on April 20, 1999, two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, killed 12 students and a teacher, injured 21 other students, and then shot themselves at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado. They also unsuccessfully attempted to set off homemade bombs in the school cafeteria which, had they worked, may have killed hundreds of students. The incident attracted international attention and, within the United States, a heated controversy about gun control, music and the role of video games in the shooters' lives. Harris and Klebold enjoyed playing the bloody, shoot-’em-up video game Doom, a game licensed by the U.S. military to train soldiers to effectively kill. The concern within society is justified because the shooting was influenced by a video game that the two boys had been previously playing, and what's to say that other children wont pick up the same behaviour and cause another moral panic. Even though many video game companies have been to blame for crimes, violent games are still out on the market and continuously being produced and advanced.
•      Another example of moral panic is terrorism within the Muslim community. Over the last couple of years, mass murder events have been publicised by the media, blaming those within the Muslim community. This has caused a lot of moral panic because society is now prone to blaming and prosecuting those who are Muslim all due to fact that they follow a certain religion and dress a certain way. The reason why this has caused moral panic is because a handful of people are afraid of the Muslim community, which is not the way it should be; people should be able to follow their desired religion and dress the way they please without being judged for it. However, the concern within society can be justified; this is because the media has portrayed theses negative views across to their audiences, and of course if events like mass murders at being portrayed to be taken place because of a religion, people are going to start to worry, even though the media could be false. It is just like if you repeatedly tell a child that monsters are scary, they will start to believe it, even if they aren't scary.
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•      The third example is violence in comic books; in the early 1940's-1950's, people believed that comic books promoted bad concepts and encouraged juvenile delinquency. Some comics were also very graphic and scary for young children. In some comic books, there was an extensive use of drugs and violence. Many believed that these comics were corrupting children, teaching them things that most of society didn't want them to know. For example, American psychiatrist, Frederick Wertham, said, "[Batman and Robin’s relationship is] a wish-dream of two homosexuals living together (Randle, Chris)." Many people called for government controls over content of comics, causing comic publishers to create the Comic Codes. To meet the Codes approval, a comic must follow specific guidelines. For example, characters could not question authority figures or wear revealing clothing. The depiction of narcotics was not allowed. The codes were a response to the moral panic surrounding comics because they prohibited the depiction of actions and ideas not considered positive by society. From the Comic Book Codes: "Crimes shall never be presented in such a way as to create sympathy for the criminal, to promote distrust of the forces of law and justice, or to inspire others with a desire to imitate criminals." They also prohibited advertisement for certain products, such as drugs and fireworks. This censorship killed off much of the appeal to adults and the genre was stereo typed as only for children.
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• A recent ‘moral panic’ which was associated with youths and street violence was actually an item of clothing: the hoodie. During the 1990s, the term became associated with the sudden appearance of a subculture or group of people named ‘chavs’, young working-class youths, in the UK. This led to the use of the term ‘hoodie culture’ used both by the media and public (Marsh & Meville, 2011). It is particularly in the UK that hoodies have been reacted to in such a negative way, so much so that the item of clothing has been banned in public places such as the Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent. This banning of hoodies and other items of clothing which specifically could hide the face brought the ‘hoodie culture’ into the public’s awareness and this led to the raised concern of shoppers being weary of youths in such clothing (Marsh & Meville, 2011). The ban sparked public interest and debate and this led to the ‘meaning’ of hoodie being studied by journalists and individuals within education. McLean (2005) stated that hoodies stroked ‘fear into the heart of most people’ and Harrington (cited in McLean, 2005) on the subject of the Bluewater ban said that the ban ‘demonstrates a growing demonization’ on young people and there is an overreaction to any behaviour by these young people. This suggests that the concern over street violence involving youth can be seen as a moral panic because banning an item of clothing just because it is associated with such deviance due to the media representation of youths and what they happen to be wearing has been exaggerated which has meant that extreme measures would have to be taken to keep the public happy and enforce social control.

4) Read this introduction to an academic paper on technopanics. What examples are given of technopanics that create fear in society?

Some example of technopanics is Child safety on the internet, digital privacy and cybersecurity. Child safety is the fear that children and coming across sites that can be damaging to their mental growth online whilst parents are not around to monitor their usage. Digital privacy is the right to privacy of users of digital media and cyber-security  consists of technologies, processes and measures that are designed to protect systems, networks and data from cyber crimes.

5) How does the author suggest that technopanics should be addressed - rather than through government regulation?

The author suggests "to the extent that these concerns are valid, they are best addressed by ongoing societal learning, experimentation, resiliency, and coping strategies rather than by regulation". This means that instead of choosing to regulate online usage and technological advancements by introducing regulations, they should educate the public to understand how to effectively use the online and technological resources and how to avoid any possible dangerous situations.

6) Do you think the internet should be regulated? Should the government try and control what we can access online?

I'm my opinion, I do not believe that our internet usage should be monitored because it takes away our sense of freedom and privacy. However, I do believe that there should be more precautions taken in terms of educating the public as to how to behave when online. On the other hand, serious ongoing issues online such as child pornography such be closely monitored as it can have an effect on the audience stumbling across sites such as this explicit content. 

7) Apply Gerbner's cultivation theory to new and digital media. Is the internet creating a fearful population? Are we becoming desensitised to online threats, trolling and abuse?

8) Is heavy internet use something we should be worried about in society? How would you define 'heavy internet use'?  

I would define heavy internet use as relying heavily on media and technology where it is not necessarily needed. For example, spending every minute of every day on the internet whereby you do not have the chance to be active and social. It is something we should be worried about in society because many people do rely on technology for everything, such as communicating when they could as easily go see the person or playing games and on social media when they could go out and be social.