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Explaining bullying with psychological theory
Introduction bullying research paper
Introduction bullying research paper
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Jones refutes this opposing argument by using the opinion of Melanie Moore, a psychologist who emphasizes the importance of violent media regarding expressing hidden emotional feelings. As Melanie Moore writes, “Children need violent entertainment in order to explore the inescapable feelings that they’ve been taught to deny….” (59). In his refutation, the use of an expert opinion made his evidence more credible and convincing. In related to Jones research on the implication of violent media on young people’s lives, he created “Power play program” with the help of a psychologist, Melanie Moore.
Violence is easily seen in today's culture through criminal actions in the media. Surprisingly, "on average, American youth view more than 1,000 murders, rapes, and assaults each year" (Rockefeller 2). This shocking fact demonstrates just how prevalent violence is in the young minds of Americans. As a result of these viewings, young adults are sure to have psychological effects. Studies have proven that "children who view media violence are more likely to have increased feelings of hostility, decreased emotional response to the portrayal of violence and injury that lead to violent behavior through imitation" (Tompkins 1).
In the article Violent Media Is Good For Kids, the author Gerard Jones claims media violence helps out children overcome problems. Jones uses several examples to back up his theory, such as his childhood and how violent media made positive changes to his life. As Jones stated he was “…afraid and alone”. Once he was introduced to violence through comic books, he immersed himself in them, leading to a fearless and social person. According to Jones “...people pulling themselves out of emotional traps by immersing themselves in violent stories”.
According to Gerard’s thesis, violent media benefits the kids compared to how it harms them and gives children
In the essay, “Violent Media Is Good for Kids”, writer Gerard Jones argues against parents and teachers by saying that violence is good for kids. Jones argues that violent media whether it be video games, movies, Television, or comic books is good for kids. Kids are often taught both in school and at home that violence is never the answer and cooperation was always better than resorting to violence because violence always leads to more violence. Jones starts off by describing the way he was raised by his parents. “At 13, I was alone and afraid.
“Studies have shown that violent media does produce an increase in aggression (Anderson and Bushman, 2001; Browne and Hamilton-Giachritsis, 2005; Reiner, 2007; Rocque, 2012, p. 308). “Research has found a correlation between the amount of time school children spend watching television and using video games and aggressive behavior such as fighting, the early use of alcohol and other illegal drugs, and even trouble sleeping” (Macionis, Tiemann, McNeal, Lucal, Ender 2014, p. 127). Along with video games, other say bullying can impact one’s motive to commit violence. “Research by Vossekuil, Fein, Reddy, Borum, and Modzeleski (2002) finds that a large majority of school shooters are the victims of bullying (Larkin, 2007; Newman et al., 2004; Rocque, 2012, p. 308).
Social learning theory states that an individual will model behaviors that one has been exposed to as a child (Chibucos, Leite, & Weis, 2005). As a child, it is through observation and imitating other people that we learn our behaviors and what is acceptable or normal behaviors. Violence is said to be a learned behavior which can be learned directly or indirectly through family members, friends, partners, etc. These learned behaviors are reinforced in childhood and can continue into adulthood through a term called operant conditioning. Bandura (1973) mentions that these behaviors that continue into adulthood typically act as a coping response to stress or as a method of conflict resolution.
Bullying has become a serious problem, “65 percent of teens are bullied each year and most believe adults can’t help them,” (Shaw). Unfortunately, teens are experiencing bullying and participating in bullying. Some extreme cases have ended in suicide or have been exploited in videos on media. In a twitter post, “The School Bus Bullying Video Shows Problem with Schools, not Parents” by Laura Flores Shaw states the educational system is to blame for students’ behavior. Students act differently when their parents are not around.
Roger’s Humanist Theory believes, “That humans are innately good and that they are growth oriented,” (Nye, pg. 105, 2000). Due to the fact that this theory has the belief that individuals are inherently good, Beth’s negative behaviors are not part of her personality, but formed out of her early childhood environment. The Humanistic approach also states, to reach self-actualization, the environment surrounding an individual must be nurturing (Sougstad, Humanistic Psychology, 2018); Beth was not afforded with this type of environment, explaining her negative and harmful behaviors towards her family. In addition, the Humanistic Theory also concludes, “Humans basically need and want both personal fulfillment and close, intimate relationships with others,” (Nye, Pg. 98, 2000). Referring back to Beth’s early childhood environment again, the lack of an appropriate, intimate and caring relationship between her and her biological parents left her without the needed environment to fully develop.
There are many studies on media violence and its social effects. Most of the studies have indicated that children who are exposed to media violence are more likely to exhibit violent and aggressive behaviors. As the child observes the violence, he/she is motivated by the fact that the show is enjoyable without realizing the violent behaviors. As a result, they copy and identify the behavior, and this has detrimental effects on their social life. According to Boxer et al., the content of the media has a direct impact on its audiences (420).
According to Bandura, individuals learn aggressive behaviour from other people. When enforced by the media and living environment, such behaviour is modelled by the learner. It is noted that an individual will not imitate violent behaviour unless certain criteria warrants modelling. In addition to being exposed to violence, an individual must pay attention to and remember
Aggression is a spoken or physical behavior that causes intentional harm to a person. There are many different theories that argue what the cause of aggression is but this can be divided into two major types: people who think that aggression is inborn and those that view it as a learning behavior. The Social cognitive theory states that we learn behaviors through observation and modeling and this could be implied that we learn aggressive behaviors through observing and imitating others. The Social Cognitive theory claims that people learn behaviors from observation, modeling, and motivation such as positive reinforcement. Psychologists mention that people learn behaviors by imitating models through observational learning; as well as through
William Belson (1980) found the link between violence and television after doing a research with 1565 teenage boys in London. They were interviewed about their watching habits over ten years. The study revealed that a child saw someone being shot or killed on television is likely to be less caring, and sensitive towards other people. The more violent television programs these teenagers watched, the higher rate of aggression they would be affected (Adian
As you know, violent media means TV show or game have violent acts in it. Nowadays, lots of children are recognized for having bad influence by violent media. Children may be more fearful of the world around them, or they more likely to behave in aggressive or harmful ways toward others (“Violent Media and Aggressive Behavior in Children”). Violence media has appeared in a long time, and it has a great impact on children.
For example if bulling continues at school and school doesn’t take action on this attitude, the entire school can be affected. Student may get anxious and tend to not like school. As the adults don’t take action and try to prevent bulling, children may feel that teachers and other school staff have little control over the students and don’t care what happens to them. Moreover Students who witness bullying can also be affected. They may feel guilty for not helping or scared that they will be the next target (gomasa, n.d.).
