“Not how much, but how.” Contextualizing the presentation of violence broadcast on television: Normativity and narrative genres
Abstract
The analysis of TV violence cannot be limited to the quantification of its incidence, but should also take into account the type of violence broadcast and its context (what is depicted and how). Thus, normative models of violence (legitimized violence with positive consequences for the aggressor, or vice versa) could be understood as positive, while contra-normative models of violence (rewarding illegitimate violence and punishing legitimate violence) should be of far greater concern. This paper analyzes the normative contexts of TV violence through a content analysis of randomly selected fragments of TV programming (147 recorded hours). The results show that news programs and TV series/soaps delegitimized violence to a higher extent, while films tend to show legitimized or ambivalent violence. Positive consequences of violence predominate in fictional programs, except for TV series/soaps. Normative presentation of violence is more frequent, especially in nonfiction genres, as fiction has more freedom to depict the socially undesirable.
References
Albero-Andrés, M. (2013). Minds and screens: Communication and socialization from a complexity perspective. In A. Massip-Bonet & A. Bastardas-Boada (Eds.), Complexity perspectives on language, communication and society (pp. 103–115). Berlin: Springer.10.1007/978-3-642-32817-6_9Suche in Google Scholar
Anderson, C. A., Berkowitz, L., Donnerstein, E., Huesmann, L. R., Johnson, J. D., Linz, D., …, & Wartella, E. (2003). The influence of media violence on youth. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 4(3), 81–110.10.1111/j.1529-1006.2003.pspi_1433.xSuche in Google Scholar
Anderson, C. A., Suzuki, K., Swing, E. L., Groves, C. L., Gentile, D. A., Prot, S., …, & Petrescu, P. (2017). Media violence and other aggression risk factors in seven nations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 43(7), 986–998.10.1177/0146167217703064Suche in Google Scholar
Ball-Rokeach, S. J. (1972). The legitimation of violence. In J. F. Short & M. E. Wolfgang (Eds.), Collective violence (pp. 100–111). Chicago: Aldine.10.4324/9781315080987-9Suche in Google Scholar
Berger, J., Ridgeway, C. L., Fisek, M. H., & Norman, R. Z. (1998). The legitimation and delegitimation of the power and prestige orders. American Sociological Review, 63, 379–405.10.2307/2657555Suche in Google Scholar
Bushman, B., & Huesmann, L. (2006). Short-term and long-term effects of violent media on aggression in children and adults. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 160(4), 348–352.10.1001/archpedi.160.4.348Suche in Google Scholar
Centre Superieur de L’Audiovisuel (1995). Enquête sur la représentation de la violence dans la fiction à la télévision en France: une semaine de programmes de fiction examinés à la loupe [Survey about the representations of fictional violence on TV in France: a week of fiction programmes under the microscope]. Paris: CSA.Suche in Google Scholar
Chouliaraki, L. (2004). Watching 11 September: The politics of pity. Discourse & Society, 15, 185–198.10.1177/0957926504041016Suche in Google Scholar
Chouliaraki, L. (2010). Ordinary witness in post-television news. Towards a new moral imagination. In L. Chouliaraki (Ed.), Self-mediation: Citizenship and new media, special issue of Critical Discourse Studies, 7(4), 305–319.10.1080/17405904.2010.511839Suche in Google Scholar
Comstock, G. (2008). A sociological perspective on television violence and aggression. American Behavioral Scientist, 51(8), 1184–1211.10.1177/0002764207312009Suche in Google Scholar
Dávila, M. C., Revilla, J. C., & Fernández-Villanueva, C., (2018). Beyond mere exposition: TV violence in protected times. Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 73, 352–368.Suche in Google Scholar
Della Fave, L. R. (1986). Toward an explication of the legitimation process. Social Forces, 65, 476–500.10.1093/sf/65.2.476Suche in Google Scholar
Felson, R. B. (1996). Mass media effects on violent behavior. Annual Review of Sociology, 22, 103–128.10.1146/annurev.soc.22.1.103Suche in Google Scholar
Ferguson, C. J. (2015). Does movie or video game violence predict societal violence? It depends on what you look at and when. Journal of Communication, 65, 193–212.10.1111/jcom.12142Suche in Google Scholar
Ferguson, C. J., & Savage, J. (2012). Have recent studies addressed methodological issues raised by five decades of television violence research? A critical review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 17(2), 129–139.10.1016/j.avb.2011.11.001Suche in Google Scholar
Fernández-Villanueva, C., Domínguez, R., Revilla, J. C., & Almagro, A. (2008). Los espectadores ante la violencia televisiva: funciones, efectos e interpretaciones situadas [The audience in the light of television violence: Functions, effects and interpretations]. Comunicación y Sociedad, XXI(2), 85–115.Suche in Google Scholar
Fernández-Villanueva, C., Domínguez, R., Revilla, J. C., & Anagnostou, A. (2004). Formas de legitimación de la violencia en televisión. Política y Sociedad, 41(1), 183–199.Suche in Google Scholar
Fernández-Villanueva, C., Domínguez, R., Revilla, J. C., & Anagnostou, A. (2006). Broadcasting of violence on Spanish television: A quantitative panorama. Aggressive Behaviour, 32,137–145.10.1002/ab.20110Suche in Google Scholar
Fernández-Villanueva, C., Domínguez, R., Revilla, J. C., & Gimeno, L. (1998): Jóvenes violentos: causas psicosociológicas de la violencia en grupo [Violent youth: Psycho-sociological causes of group violence]. Barcelona: Icaria.Suche in Google Scholar
Gunter, B. (1985). Dimensions of television violence. Aldershot: Gower.Suche in Google Scholar
Gunter, B., & Harrison, J. (1998). Violence on television. An analysis of amount, nature, location and origin of violence in British programmes. London: Routledge.Suche in Google Scholar
Hill, A. (2000). Fearful and safe. Audience response to British reality programming. Television & New Media, 1, 193–213.10.1177/152747640000100205Suche in Google Scholar
Huesmann, L. R., Moise-Titus, J., Podolski, C.-L., & Eron, L. D. (2003). Longitudinal relations between children’s exposure to TV violence and their aggressive and violent behavior in young adulthood: 1977–1992. Developmental Psychology, 39(2), 201–221.10.1037/0012-1649.39.2.201Suche in Google Scholar
Igartua, J. J., & Frutos, F. J. (2017). Enhancing attitudes toward stigmatized groups with movies: Mediating and moderating processes of narrative persuasion. International Journal of Communication, 11, 158–177.Suche in Google Scholar
Keppler, A., Popp, J.-F., & Seel, M. (eds., 2015). Gesetz und Gewalt im Kino. Frankfurt: Campus Verlag.Suche in Google Scholar
Matos, A., Ferreira, J. A. G., & Haase, R. F. (2012). Television and aggression: A test of a mediated model with a sample of Portuguese students. The Journal of Social Psychology, 152(1), 75–91.10.1080/00224545.2011.555645Suche in Google Scholar
Miller, L. E., Grabell, A., Thomas, A., Bermann, E., & Graham-Bermann, S. A. (2012). The associations between community violence, television violence, intimate partner violence, parent–child aggression, and aggression in sibling relationships of a sample of preschoolers. Psychology of Violence, 2(2), 165–178.10.1037/a0027254Suche in Google Scholar
Mustonen, A., & Pulkkinen, L. (1993). Aggression in television programs in Finland. Aggressive Behavior, 19, 175–183.10.1002/1098-2337(1993)19:3<175::AID-AB2480190303>3.0.CO;2-XSuche in Google Scholar
Pollock, T. G., & Rindova, V. P. (2001). Media legitimation effects in the market for initial public offerings. Academy of Management Journal, 46, 631–642.10.2307/30040654Suche in Google Scholar
Potter, W. J., Vaughan, M., Warren, R., Howley, K., Land, A., & Hagemeyer, J. (1995). How real is the portrayal of aggression in television entertainment programming? Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 39, 496–516.10.1080/08838159509364322Suche in Google Scholar
Potter, W. J., & Warren, R. (1998). Humor as camouflage of television violence. Journal of Communication, 48, 2, 40–57.10.1111/j.1460-2466.1998.tb02747.xSuche in Google Scholar
Revilla, J. C., Fernández-Villanueva, C., & Domínguez-Bilbao, R. (2011). La mirada moral sobre la violencia en television [The moral view on television violence]. Revista Internacional de Sociología, 69, 679–698.10.3989/ris.2009.09.07Suche in Google Scholar
Sigurdsson, J. F., Gudjonsson, G., Bragason, A. V., Kristjansdottir, E., & Sigfusdottir, I. D. (2006). The role of violent cognition in the relationship between personality and the involvement in violent films and computer games. Personality and Individual Differences, 41, 381–39210.1016/j.paid.2006.02.006Suche in Google Scholar
Wilson, B. J., Colvin, C. M., & Smith, S. D. (2002). Engaging in violence on American television: A comparison of child, teen, and adult perpetrators. Journal of Communication, 52(1), 31–60.10.1111/j.1460-2466.2002.tb02532.xSuche in Google Scholar
Wilson, B. J., Kunkel, D., Linz, D., Potter, J., Donnerstein, E., Smith, S. D., …, & Nathanson, A. (1997). Violence in television programming overall: University of California, Santa Barbara Study. In National television violence study, vol. 1, 3–267. Thousand Oaks: Sage.Suche in Google Scholar
Wilson, B. J., Kunkel, D., Linz, D., Potter, J., Donnerstein, E., Smith, S. D., …, & Nathanson, A. (1998). Violence in television programming overall: University of California, Santa Barbara Study. In National television violence study, vol. 2, 3–204. Thousand Oaks: Sage.Suche in Google Scholar
© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Titelseiten
- Editorial
- Editorial 2021
- Articles
- “Not how much, but how.” Contextualizing the presentation of violence broadcast on television: Normativity and narrative genres
- Beyond empowerment, experimentation and reasoning: The public discourse around the Quantified Self movement
- Being media literate about media policy, a bridge too far in Flanders/Belgium
- The democratic quality of political depictions in fictional TV entertainment. A comparative content analysis of the political drama Borgen and the journalistic magazine Berlin direkt
- In medias res – the mediation conundrum
- Like-minded and cross-cutting talk, network characteristics, and political participation online and offline: A panel study
- The differential effects of related and unrelated emotions on judgments about media messages
- Book reviews
- Waisbord, S. R. (2019). Communication: A post-discipline. Cambridge: Polity Press. 171 pp.
- Christians, C. (2019). Media ethics and global justice in the digital age. NY: Cambridge University Press. 428 pp.
- Paulmann, J. (Ed.) (2019). Humanitarianism & media: 1900 to the present. Oxford: Berghahn Books. 316 pp.
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Titelseiten
- Editorial
- Editorial 2021
- Articles
- “Not how much, but how.” Contextualizing the presentation of violence broadcast on television: Normativity and narrative genres
- Beyond empowerment, experimentation and reasoning: The public discourse around the Quantified Self movement
- Being media literate about media policy, a bridge too far in Flanders/Belgium
- The democratic quality of political depictions in fictional TV entertainment. A comparative content analysis of the political drama Borgen and the journalistic magazine Berlin direkt
- In medias res – the mediation conundrum
- Like-minded and cross-cutting talk, network characteristics, and political participation online and offline: A panel study
- The differential effects of related and unrelated emotions on judgments about media messages
- Book reviews
- Waisbord, S. R. (2019). Communication: A post-discipline. Cambridge: Polity Press. 171 pp.
- Christians, C. (2019). Media ethics and global justice in the digital age. NY: Cambridge University Press. 428 pp.
- Paulmann, J. (Ed.) (2019). Humanitarianism & media: 1900 to the present. Oxford: Berghahn Books. 316 pp.