TV violence ‘feeds fear’ media, crime link ‘significant’
Gold Coast Bulletin
9 July 1998
A movie poster shows myriad guns surrounding two lovers kissing, television soaps focus on single teenage mums and endless arguments, while family fun parlours feature computer games with replica pistols to massacre people in graphic detail.
It is media images like this that are contributing to society’s fear of crime, says a crime research consultant.
David Barton, of the Research Consulting Group in the ACT, yesterday spoke about the link between media and crime and society at the annual Australia and New Zealand Society of Criminology conference being held in surfers Paradise.
“My view is that the relationship os significant and that its impact os both far-reaching and little understood,” said Mr Barton.
“Violence in the media is not just about physical violence; it is also about emotional violence and violent language - about stereotypes and negative attitudes.
“Television soap operas focus upon de facto relationships, separation, divorce, interminable along with a continual portrayal of emotional violence as a matter of course.
“Programs such as Home and Away and Heatbreak High may be leading to a sea of change in interpersonal relating patterns in our society, especially amongst young people.”
Mr Barton said the vast majority of people could distinguish between violence in the mass media and reality, but some people could not. He said research suggested that heavy viewers of TV drama perceived the world to be more violent than it really was, and were more likely to have exaggerated feelings of mistrust, suspicion and anxiety.
“The actual number of ‘home invasions’ and ‘granny attacks’ is not as high as perceived by the public,“ he said.
“People have a big fear of handguns, even through the level of handgun crime in Australia is low - the thing that is handiest is the trusty stay-sharp kitchen knife”.
Mr Barton said children especially were being immersed in violence in the media, including graphically violent ‘family leisure centre’ games that used real replica pistols to kill on screen enemies.
He said the production level of the media, such as computer game designers and movie makers and television producers, had a responsibility to society.
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