|
Abstract
|
In this quasi-experimental field study, delinquent members belonging to two cottages viewed aggressive commercial movies every evening for a week, while at the same time, subjects from two other cottages were exposed to neutral commercial movies. Behavioral observations were obtained through a nonhier-archical, minimally inferential procedure of a time-sampling nature; they were taken during a baseline week (at noon and in the evening), a treatment week (noon and evening) and a posttreatment week (noon). The main immediate effects of the violent films were an overall increase of both active behaviors and physical aggression; the effects on verbal aggression were more persistent but limited to one of the two cottages. On the other hand, more interactions occurred as an immediate consequence of viewing the films in both neutral treatment cottages; moreover, one of these two cottages also decreased its level of physical (short-term effect) and verbal (short- and long-term effects) aggression. In the aggressive treatment cottage, which was most affected, subjects who were most dominant, most popular, and least popular were influenced the most: an opposite effect was exhibited by those subjects who were judged as least aggressive by their peers. Complementary data are presented and discussed; the difference between the single individual laboratory paradigm and the existing group field paradigm is especially stressed.
VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
This research by Leyens et al. examined the issue of the generalizability of laboratory experiments in the field of effects of movie violence upon viewers, by studying individuals in a school for delinquent boys.
METHODOLOGY:
The researchers employed a quasi-experimental cross-sectional design with both pretest and posttest. The study took place in a Belgian private facility for secondary school boys who had been neglected or had been in trouble with the courts, with school or with their parents. Upon arrival at the facility, the boys were randomly assigned to one of four cottages in which to reside for the duration of their stay. All residents (n=85) were required to participate in the study. There were three phases in the research: a pre-treatment week, where baseline measures were established; the treatment week, for an investigation of the immediate and short-term effects of viewing movie violence; and a post-treatment week, for examining longer term effects of viewing movie violence. Non-participant observations were recorded for 13 behavioral categories: (1) physical threat, or attack without contact; (2) physical attack, with contact that could potentially cause pain; (3) verbal aggression, with hostile intent; (4) noninterpersonal physical aggression, or damaging or attempting to destroy something; (5) noninterpersonal verbal aggression, with no clear social target; (6) self-aggression verbal, or aggressive statements directed at oneself; (7) self-aggression physical, or hitting oneself or jumping around when disappointed; (8) alone active, moving around or playing alone; (9) alone passive, sitting or lying alone; (10) yelling loudly; (11) social interaction active, playing with others; (12) social interaction passive, playing cards or talking; and (13) social request from another person. Trained undergraduates observed the boys' behaviors at two points each day, at noon and in the evening for the first two weeks, and only at noon for the third week. During the first week, researchers distinguished two groups within each cottage - a high-aggressive group and a low-aggressive group. Ten films were content analyzed for their levels of aggression, with five aggressive and five neutral films each being randomly assigned to two cottages. Four groups were thus formed - high-aggressive and low-aggressive boys in the aggressive film cottage or the neutral film cottage. Independent variables centered upon social structure and individual predictors of aggression. A hierarchy of dominance within the group was measured at the end of the first and third weeks, with each boy rating the others in his group as either more or less dominant than himself. Group cohesion was also measured at the end of the first and third weeks, with questionnaire items regarding willingness to stay in the group and attraction to other members within the group. Also at these times, peer judgements were calculated, with questionnaire items concerning how aggressive, active and sociable they thought they were and their friends were. Analysis involved examination of means and ANOVA.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
Interobserver reliability was found to be high over the three week period. For the evening observations, immediately after the films, both aggressive and neutral films were found to increase the number of socially active interactions and decrease the number of lone passive behaviors. The two cottages that viewed the aggressive films significantly increased their levels of physical aggression, whilst the cottages viewing the neutral films displayed almost no physical aggression after the movies. The high-aggressive cottage viewing aggressive films showed an increase in verbal aggression and became more threatening, whilst the high-aggression cottage viewing neutral films displayed a decrease in verbal aggression. These results concerning verbal aggression were also found in the noon observations, although for all behaviors at this time, it was found that the impact of the films was weaker than it was immediately following the viewing. Levels of dominance were related to aggression only in the high-aggressive cottage that viewed the aggressive films - the most dominant boys reacted most immediately and most strongly to the films. Also in this cottage, both the most and the least popular boys were most influenced by the films, more than the medium popular boys were. No relationship was found between group cohesion and levels of aggression. The researchers concluded that the most important finding was the increase in aggressive behavior immediately after viewing the aggressive films, with a parallel between the type of aggression in the film and the behaviors exhibited by the boys. An unexpected finding was the decrease in aggressive behavior in the high-aggressive group viewing neutral films, perhaps due to the presence in the films of altruistic heroes who may have acted as models to reduce aggression. The authors believed that their work confirmed the findings of previous laboratory research.
AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS:
The authors suggested further research that could distinguish between playful and vicious aggression, and that could examine whether aggressive behavior was actually imitated from the film. They also called for future studies to investigate various group characteristics and the influence that these may have upon the effects of viewing movie violence.
EVALUATION:
This study provides important information about the effects of movie violence in a field setting as opposed to the artificial environment of the laboratory. However, the small and specific nature of the sample precludes much generalization to other populations, and the unclear writing also hampers the success of the work. A discussion of the implications of the findings would have also been very helpful and interesting. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
N1 - Call Number: F-23, AB-23
KW - Foreign Countries
KW - Belgium
KW - Film Violence
KW - Aggression Causes
KW - Group
KW - Juvenile Aggression
KW - Juvenile Offender
KW - Juvenile Violence
KW - Juvenile Male
KW - Violence Causes
KW - Male Aggression
KW - Male Offender
KW - Male Violence
KW - Media Violence Effects
KW - Exposure to Violence
KW - Senior High School Student
KW - Late Adolescence
KW - Early Adolescence
KW - Verbal Aggression
KW - Physical Aggression
Language: en |