The Relationship Between Violence in Media and Crime Rates

Introduction 

The issue of media encouraging crime has been a controversial debate for decades with various governmental organizations as well as private ones stating that controlling measures be placed on the media vendors. The same issue has been dwelling in the scientific community as they scamper to find a correlation. Two rivaling hypotheses have been put forward concerning the relationship between the media and crime increment. These theories are the catharsis and precipitation hypothesis. 

Catharsis Hypothesis 

With the catharsis hypothesis that states that when an individual is exposed to violence through the media, it facilitates a mediated means of letting off of intentions that may either be sexual or other forms of crime (Ekeanyanwu & Peter, 2015). The notion of blowing off steam came from the Greeks when the audience would identify themselves with the terrible struggles of the time and would purge their annoyance, fantasies, and frustrations (Beresin, 2012). This hypothesis was proven in the United Kingdom when children as young as four years old would re-enact violent scenes in movies chasing the thrill. The most controversial games linked to violence include Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty among others. 

Moreover, the Minister of schools Nick Gibb in 2012 stated that the teaching staff in various institutions had to struggle with exhausted students arriving for classes (Beresin, 2012). more often, from playing all night video games thus affecting their mental state. Moreover, he stated that considering that the majority of the violent games are the first-person perspective, the players easily identify themselves with the characters thus becoming more aggressive and competitive. 

Precipitation Hypothesis 

The other theory is the precipitation hypothesis, and it states that exposure to violent fictions, facts or both through the media produces a greater tendency towards violence and aggression (Ekeanyanwu & Peter, 2015). The best manner to explain the hypothesis is how the exposure to violence through the media has different effects on different people. The vulnerability of individuals to suggestion is the defining factor (Beresin, 2012). For example, two young men watching the same violent film would have a different perception on re-enacting the scenes. Additional support towards this theory is that many people have faith in the information they see on television. Based on the 71 billion dollars spent on advertising on stations out of the 137 billion dollars (Danenberg, Kennedy, Beal & Sharp, 2015). However, this theory has faced heavy criticism considering nations such as Japan that have high violent television programs and films are practically crime free. 

Christopher Ferguson from the Texas International University challenged the data analyzed from previous studies that claimed that violent video games had close relations to the severe aggressiveness and violent tendencies on the youth (Ferguson and Kilburn, 2010). The results showed several procedural issues that limited the actual understanding of the data collected. In general, most of the studies conducted were not sufficient to correlate these violent 

video games and severe hostility. The majority of the data in these studies are biased and unreliable. Overall, there are no other theories that offer insight to the problem of violence and the media. 

Conclusion 

However, the major controversy about violent video games mainly concentrates on the fact that they increase aggression, which is true. However, many other factors lead to aggression including sports, mental instability, and television amongst others. Parents and guardians also should be active in the lives of these individuals where possible. By purchasing games or any other form of media that are appropriately aged. The virtual world of video games should not be practiced in reality. 

References 

Beresin, E. (2012). Violent Video Games and Movies Causing Violent Behavior. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/inside-out-outside-in/201212/violent-video-games-and-movies-causing-violent-behavior 

Danenberg, N., Kennedy, R., Beal, V., & Sharp, B. (2015). Advertising Budgeting: A Reinvestigation of the Evidence on Brand Size and Spend. Journal Of Advertising, 45(1), 139-146. doi: 10.1080/00913367.2015.1090938 

Ekeanyanwu, N. T., & Peter, A. (2015). Children, Youths and Mediated Violence: A Reflective Evaluation of Some Selected Theoretical Models. The Nigerian Journal of Communication, 12(1), 50-71. 

Ferguson, C., & Kilburn, J. (2010). Much ado about nothing: The misestimation and overinterpretation of violent video game effects in Eastern and Western nations: Comment on Anderson et al. (2010). Psychological Bulletin, 136(2), 174-178. doi: 10.1037/a0018566