Gerbner wrote that violence “is the simplest and cheapest dramatic means to demonstrate who wins in the game of life and the rules by which the game is played. Gerbner took a survey using two groups, the light and heavy viewers and asked them about each category Chances of involvement with violence, Fear of walking alone at night, Perceived activity of police, and the general mistrust of people. What he got was the heavy viewers believing that they are more likely to be a victim of violence; they fear that 1 in 10 of them will be of risk of violence on any given day. Light viewers believed that in was more like 1 in 100.
Cultivation Research has three steps to it: The first step in cultivation research is content analysis: The process of studying the subject matter on TV. For example, in 1969, Gerbner and his colleagues "began to chart the content of prime-time and weekend children's television programming
The second step in cultivation research is the cultural indicators analysis: the process of assessing individuals' beliefs about what the world is like. This analysis involves surveys of individuals using factual questions about the world.
The final step in cultivation research is cultivation analysis: "a comparison between light television viewers and heavy television viewers. If heavy television viewers tended to provide answers that were more in line with the television response, researchers would have support for the cultivation hypothesis"
Below is a link to a clip from the final season of the Sopranos. The clip shows the death of a rival gangster and oh man it is quite violent. That is what makes it such a good scene though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oDI0NDAjbI&feature=related
I watch a lot of TV every week shows like: 24, Prison Break, Heroes, and Law and Order just to name a few. I get my fill of violence for the week. Violence is a big reason I watch certain shows on TV it draws people to it, by the time the typical TV viewer graduates from High School, he or she has observed thirteen thousand violent deaths. That number sounds about right to me; since I’ve graduated High School I’d estimate I have seen about four thousand more deaths. Griffin says “most people who decry violence on television are worried that all too-receptive young viewers will imitate aggression on the screen. I believe this statement to be true. I remember when I was a young a teenager I watched wrestling a lot and I try to imitate what I saw on television, not knowing the dangers and the risk involved with doing so. Crime is 10 times as rampant in the "television world" as it is in the real world. Viewing these violent programs does have a great affect on people. I remember a murder when I lived in Pittsburgh, about two teenagers who killed one of their mothers, and cut off her hands and feet and her head, because they saw it on the Sopranos. The Sopranos is an ultra violent TV show, that aired on HBO for six seasons and it was one of the highest rated and most loved shows of all time, because of its ties to real life and the violence that accompanied the show.
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I used to watch wrestling as well when I was a kid. My family actually took my brother to the doctors for his neck because a "Rock Bottomed" him. The Soprano's clip demonstrates the Cultivation Theory because it causes on to fear everyday activities due to imagery of an everyday stop at the gas station turning into a murder. The killer also shows no emotion as he shoots the victim making it seem easy and cool. A young influential teenage male watching this show would probably become more interested in violence because of the realistic coolness of it. Also another young influential teenage male may now never go to the gas station again from watching this and resonance. My response to the video is more fearful under the chances of involvement with violence category. I do not know why that is the case versus someone who would perceive this as something else. Great clip, I love The Sopranos even if it’s violent.
ReplyDeleteIn the first study discussed it seems like the results were almost entirely based upon the amount of television that is watched. I think that Cultivation theory should factor other aspects in such as location. When one is watching a film or T.V. it seems like a disproportionately large number of the violent acts occur in an urban setting. How often does one see these seemingly casual acts of violence occur in a high-end neighborhood, or a gated community? The way that city life is often depicted by the media is essentially terrifying. It seems like that is the most high crime and high violence area and that people who live there seemingly should be scared. They see these horrific acts taking place in what looks like their backyards. The initial study seems like it should take a large series of factors in to account. The fact that television desensitizes people is seemingly true, but why would someone who lives in a multi-million dollar house be scared since their style of life is so seldom where the violence is taking place.
ReplyDeleteMass media airs whatever sells for the most part these days. Violence, sex, gossip SELLS! It draws us into the TV shows as if it's a drug. Leaves us wondering and wanting more and more till no end. As one episode of almost any TV show ends, there's always a ways to keep the viewer to come back to watch the next episode leading into the next season and so on. And we don't realize that the actual TV show is causing paranoia amongst our community. As younger kids play with one another, they play out the violence in the TV shows and thinks killing is "cool" and the right thing to do. According to Gerbner's categorization, heavy viewers watch more TV meaning they are exposed to more violence leading to more paranoia. In a way, the viewer could be so "into" the show that they become the character making them think that whatever happens to the character will happen to them.
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