Psychologists explore public policy and effects of media violence on children

Although hundreds of studies link media violence to aggression in children and adolescents, most public policy attempts to reduce children's media violence exposure in the U.S. have failed. Efforts to restrict children's access to violent video games have been struck down by the courts as infringing on children's First Amendment rights.

Three Iowa State University psychologists have authored a new study that reviews the literature on children's exposure to media violence and assesses the lack of effective public policy response to curb the risks. They also recommend more effective public policy strategies in the future.

ISU Assistant Professor of Psychology Douglas Gentile, Distinguished Professor of Psychology Craig Anderson, and psychology graduate student Muniba Saleem collaborated on the paper, titled "Public Policy and the Effects of Media on Children." It appears in the debut issue of the Journal of Social Issues and Policy Review.

"There are far more public policy options available than have yet been explored," said Gentile. "Public policy isn't just about legislation. We typically only think about writing laws, but many other opportunities exist for effective policy. A large part of the motivation for this article is to try to make it clear that more can be done than has previously been tried, particularly in these political times when many presidential candidates are talking about possible public policy options."

The ISU researchers identified four reasons why past public policy efforts to curb children's exposure to media violence have failed:

-- An apparent gap between what scientific findings suggest and what
the U.S. courts and society understand, partially due to different conceptions of causality used by scientists and the legal system

-- Confusion about scientific findings in court, party due to
opposing "expert" testimony -- such as video game industry "experts" who would not be considered by the scientific community as real experts on media violence

-- Different standards of causality applied by courts than by most medical
and behavioral scientists, and these standards change depending on the type of legal issue. In particular, U.S. courts are appropriately conservative about regulating freedom of speech because it is at the core of democracy.

-- Lack of precedent. Legislation to restrict access is unlikely to survive
First Amendment challenges, because courts rely on precedent. They are unlikely to rule differently until enough time has passed for new research to be conducted and new evidence presented.

There are also reasons why the public hasn't called for more preventative measures.

"One reason is what's called 'the third-person effect' -- that it's a lot easier to notice these types of effects on other people rather than in ourselves and those closest to us. So most parents don't think media violence affects their kids," Gentile said. "That's partly because media violence effects accumulate slowly and people aren't good at detecting small changes -- even though those changes could be big by the end.

"Another reason is that the news media primarily focus on violent media effects in terms of atrocities like Columbine," Anderson said. "This confusion about equating media violence with extreme atrocities allows people to think that there are no effects on them because we all know that we've watched lots of media violence and never gone on a shooting rampage, but that's not where we should look for the effects. The effects are more subtle. In order to do something seriously violent, one must have multiple risk factors for aggression – media violence is only one risk factor, and it's not the largest one. It's also not the smallest."

According to Gentile, much public policy action has been taken on media violence in reaction to such major tragedies. "That's a knee-jerk reaction in terms of public policy," he said. "And that's probably not how we should make public policy because it only focuses on part of the puzzle."

The authors suggest several public policy alternatives. The first is to provide a public forum for research to be discussed and potential solutions debated to provide legislators an avenue for translating scientific research into publicly accessible language. It may also prompt legislators to regulate better the information provided to parents through media ratings.

They report several serious problems with the U.S. ratings systems as they currently exist, with multiple studies suggesting that the ratings are neither reliable nor valid.

"Perhaps the single most effective policy that could be created to help parents manage children's media would be to mandate the creation of one universal rating system that could be used for all media, including TV, movies, video games, and recorded music," they wrote.

The ISU researchers recommend that helpful policy initiatives could be instituted at the school, district, state, or federal levels for implementing a set of media literacy standards for children.

They demonstrate how public policy regarding children's media could be successfully implemented below the federal level, and by non-governmental entities. For example, they suggest that the national or state chapters of the American Academy of Pediatrics could create policies that require pediatricians to be trained about the research about positive and negative media effects, and to provide parents with that information during well-child visits.

Source: Iowa State University

Related stories:

It's the way you say it: how using the right words can cut environmental conflicts
Ecologists have developed a new "tool" that could in future help prevent costly and acrimonious environmental conflicts such as campaigns against culling problem populations of charismatic animals and arguments over genetically modified organisms. The tool, published online this week in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology, involves a novel use of computer-aided content analysis and is based on the recent environmental conflict surrounding hedgehog culling on the Outer Hebrides in Scotland.
Claims linking health problems and the strength of cannabis may be exaggerated
Claims that a large increase in the strength of cannabis over the last decade is driving the occurrence of mental health and other problems for users are not borne out by a study of the worldwide literature, say researchers at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) and the National Drug Research Institute (NDRI), both from Australia.
Interactive Web sites draw minds, shape public perception
The interactive look and feel of a corporate website could help shape positive perceptions about the organization if the site includes a likeable design and features that engage the target audience, especially job seekers, according to media researchers.
Economist labors over employment relationships
When John Heywood travels to China this summer, he’ll be there not only to teach, but also to study a new aspect of the country’s economy: the advent of worker rights.
Risks for painkiller abuse do not outweigh benefits in chronic pain
As controversy swirls about proper clinical use of opioids and other potent pain medications, research reported at the American Pain Society annual meeting shows that, contrary to widespread beliefs, less than 3 percent of patients with no history of drug abuse who are prescribed opioids for chronic pain will show signs of possible drug abuse or dependence.
Major shift in HIV prevention priorities needed
According to a new policy analysis led by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the University of California, Berkeley, the most common HIV prevention strategies—condom promotion, HIV testing, treatment of other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), vaccine and microbicide research, and abstinence—are having a limited impact on the predominantly heterosexual epidemics found in Africa. Furthermore, some of the assumptions underlying such strategies—such as poverty or war being major causes of AIDS in Africa—are unsupported by rigorous scientific evidence.
Study shows power of police and fire officers as injury-prevention messengers
Nearly every night, on nearly every TV station in the country, the local newscast features news of the day’s car crashes, fires and other injury-causing events.
Increased knowledge about global warming leads to apathy, study shows
The more you know the less you care – at least that seems to be the case with global warming. A telephone survey of 1,093 Americans by two Texas A&M University political scientists and a former colleague indicates that trend, as explained in their recent article in the peer-reviewed journal Risk Analysis.

News discussion:

Medicine & Health news