Video Games: Where’s the Harm?

Wicks, Robert. Understanding Audiences. 2. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence

Erlbaum Associates, 2001.

Understanding Audiences invites scholars and students of mass communication to consider how media messages interact with attitudes, beliefs, opinions, and predispositions to produce conceptions of social reality among audience members. It relies on social science theory and research from communication, psychology and sociology. It suggests that there needs to be a wide range of methodological approaches to help understand the nature of the media audiences.

This source relates to my inquiry because it contains theories that support and challenge the ideas of Jones. Therefore, it gives me a chance to not only support my argument, of media violence, being beneficial through the ideas of Jones, but through this source as well. Also, I would be able to challenge the contrary ideas of Jones in Understanding Audiences in order to make a stronger approach in convincing my readers that media violence, TV and video games, will help children feel secure and comforted.

This book differs from my other sources due to the simple basis it consists of two different focuses challenging one another.

Blucher, Frederick. Perspectives On Violence. Hauppauge, New York: Nova Science

Publishers, Inc., 2003.

This book focuses on the violent crime and its causes in American through the play of violent video games and the viewing of television. In order to prove this hypothesis, research studies, reports, and commentaries about the impact of viewing violent television programs have been published. There didn’t seem to be a conclusive answer about how the viewing of televised violence affects children. Therefore, this makes my argument a whole lot easier, which is why this source relates to my inquiry. What I thought seemed to be interesting about this source was the simple basis that it contradicts all the arguments made in my other sources to challenge Jones.

Ravitch, Diane. Kid Stuff: Marketing Sex and Violence to America's Children.

Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003.

This book examines the idea that mass media is only one contributing factor to a child’s behavior. Research revealed that exposure to the media can independently and interactively with other factors contributed to children’s socio-emotional development. This source discusses the use of media in the child’s life, the types of negative messages children are being exposed to and the effect of the exposure. What seemed to be very interesting about this source was the fact that the parents’ level of education is discussed.

This inquiry relates to my inquiry by simply stating that with parents’ level of education and focus on the media violence children are exposed to, outcomes may not always be negative, therefore supporting my argument.

This source relates to the other sources by making the same argument of the negative effects media violence has on children.

Journal Articles

Browne, Kevin. "The influence of violent media on children and adolescents: a

public-health approach." The Lancet 365(2005): 702-10.

This article consists of a debate on the extent of the effects of media violence on children and young people and how to investigate these effects. The aim of this review is to consider the research evidence from a public health perspective. There is consistent evidence that violent imagery in television, film and video and computer games has substantial short term effects on arousal, thoughts, and emotions. This may increase the likelihood of aggressive and fearful behavior.

This source relates to my inquiry by supporting the other sources I have gathered. Because I support Jones I will be able to relate the ideas discussed in this article to Jones. I thought it would be a good idea to challenge the sources I collected in order to give the ideas presented by Jones a better understanding.

Krcmar, Marina. "A Scale to Assess Children's Moral Interpretations of Justified

and Unjustified Violence and Its Relationship to Television Viewing." Communication Research 26(1999): 608-34.

This article consisted of a study that investigated how viewing television violence was related to the moral interpretations of justified and