VIOLENCE

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VIOLENCE
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The Myth of Redemptive Violence "The Powers That
Be" by Walter Wink ...the Myth of Redemptive
Violence is the story of the victory of order
over chaos by means of violence. It is the
ideology of conquest, the original religion of
the status quo. The gods favor those who conquer.
Conversely, whoever conquers must have the favor
of the gods. The common people exist to
perpetuate the advantage that the gods have
conferred upon the king, the aristocracy, and the
priesthood. Religion exists to legitimate power
and privilege. Life is combat. Any form of order
is preferable to chaos, according to this myth.
Ours is neither a perfect nor a perfectible
world it is a theater of perpetual conflict in
which the prize goes to the strong. Peace through
war security through strength these are the
core convictions that arise from this ancient
historical religion, and they form the solid
bedrock on which the Domination System is founded
in every society.
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The Myth of Redemptive Violence Today The
Babylonian myth is far from finished. It is as
universally present and earnestly believed today
as at any time in its long and bloody history. It
is the dominant myth in contemporary America. It
enshrines the ritual practice of violence at the
very heart of public life, and even those who
seek to oppose its progressive violence often do
so violently. ... the myth of redemptive
violence is played out in the structure of
children's cartoon shows (and is found as well in
comics, video and computer games, and movies).
But we also encounter it in the media, in sports,
in nationalism, in militarism, in foreign policy,
in televangelism, in the religious right, and in
self-styled militia groups. It is celebrated in
the Super Bowl, in the Rambo movies, by
motorcycle and street gangs, and by the general
pursuit of machismo. What appears so innocuous in
cartoons is, in fact, the mythic underpinnings of
our violent society.
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The psychodynamics' of the TV cartoon or comic
book are marvelously simple children identify
with the good guy so that they can think of
themselves as good. This enables them to project
out onto the bad guy their repressed anger,
violence, rebelliousness, or lust, and then
vicariously to enjoy their own evil by watching
the bad guy initially prevail. This segment of
the show, (...) where the hero suffers, actually
consumes all but the closing minutes, allowing
ample time for indulging the violent side of
self. When the good guy finally wins, viewers are
then able to reassert control over their own
inner tendencies, repress them, and reestablish a
sense of goodness without coming to any insight
about their own inner evil. The villain's
punishment provides catharsis one forswears the
villain's ways and heaps condemnation on him in a
guilt-free orgy of aggression. Salvation is found
through identification with the hero.
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The myth of redemptive violence is the
simplest, laziest, most exciting, uncomplicated,
irrational, and primitive depiction of evil the
world has ever known. Furthermore, its
orientation toward evil is one into which
virtually all modern children (boys especially)
are socialized in the process of maturation.
Children select this mythic structure because
they have already been led, by culturally
reinforced cues and role models, to resonate with
its simplistic view of reality. It's presence
everywhere is not the result of a conspiracy of
Babylonian priests secretly buying up the mass
media with Iraqi oil money, but a function of
values endlessly reinforced by the Domination
System. By making violence pleasurable,
fascinating, and entertaining, the Powers are
able to delude people into compliance with a
system that is cheating them of their very lives.
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Once children have been indoctrinated into the
expectations of a dominator society, they may
never outgrow the need to locate all evil outside
themselves. Even as adults they tend to scapegoat
others (the Commies, the Americans, the gays, the
straights, the blacks, the whites, the liberals,
the conservatives) for all that is wrong in the
world. They continue to depend on group
identification and the upholding of social norms
for a sense of well-being.
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Children and TV Violence
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Hundreds of studies of the effects of TV violence
on children and teenagers have found that
children may become "immune" to the
horror of violence gradually accept
violence as a way to solve problems imitate
the violence they observe on television and
identify with certain characters, victims
and/or victimizers Extensive viewing of
television violence by children causes greater
aggressiveness. Sometimes, watching a single
violent program can increase aggressiveness.
Children who view shows in which violence is very
realistic, frequently repeated or unpunished, are
more likely to imitate what they see. Children
with emotional, behavioral, learning or impulse
control problems may be more easily influenced by
TV violence. The impact of TV violence may be
immediately evident in the child's behavior or
may surface years later, and young people can
even be affected when the family atmosphere shows
no tendency toward violence.
American Academy of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry
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RESEARCH ASSUMPTIONS

• The first of these assumptions is that violent
  material is likely to produce an effect rather
  than no effect, and that this effect is likely to
  be negative rather than positive.
• A second assumption is that violent media is
  likely to produce violent thinking and behavior
  than other types of media depictions.
• A final assumption is that violent media is more
  deserving of research concern and political and
  social action than are other types of media
  depictions.
• Sparks and Sparks, Media Effects, Chap 10, p. 281

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Some Types of Violence Physical Sexual
Verbal Psychological/emotional
(aggressive/passive-aggressive) Economic
(poverty, theft, vandalism) Social (riots,
racism, bullying)
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THEORIES

• CATHARSIS Media violence reduces violent
  behavior by relieving need.
• SOCIAL LEARNING Parasocial relationship with
  media characters effects subsequent behavior.
• PRIMING TV cues behavior.
• AROUSAL TV changes mood.
• DESENSITIZATION TV makes people used to
  violence.
• CULTIVATION Viewers accept TV as reality

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The V-Chip
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The V-Chip

• February 1996 The 1996 Telecommunications Act,
  Section 551, "Parental Choice in Television
  Programming," establishes the procedures for the
  development of a television ratings system and
  the inclusion of the eventual v-chip technology
  in television sets.
• January 1997 The Motion Picture Association of
  America (MPAA), the National Association of
  Broadcasters (NAB), and the National Cable
  Television Association (NCTA) develop a new
  ratings system based on six categories TV-7,
  TV-Y7, TV-G, TV-PG, TV-14, and TV-MA.
• October 1997 Content ratings of V, S, L, D, and
  FV supplement the new age-based rating
  categories.
• March 1998 The FCC approves the new
  content-based ratings system and implements rules
  requiring TV manufacturers to market at least 50
  of their TVs with the v-chip circuitry by July
  1999.
• June 1998 The first national broadcast
  demonstration of the v-chip circuitry is
  presented. The Federal Communications Commission
  (FCC) required manufacturers to install the
  v-chip technology in 50 of new television sets
  size 13 inches or larger by July 1, 1999. Since
  January 1, 2000, all new television have the
  v-chip technology.

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Content Rating
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The V-Chip

• TV-Y (All Children -- This program is designed to
  be appropriate for all children.) Whether
  animated or live-action, the themes and elements
  in this program are specifically designed for a
  very young audience, including children from ages
  2-6. This program is not expected to frighten
  younger children.
• TV-Y7 (Directed to Older Children -- This program
  is designed for children age 7 and above.) It may
  be more appropriate for children who have
  acquired the developmental skills needed to
  distinguish between make-believe and reality.
  Themes and elements in this program may include
  mild fantasy or comedic violence, or may frighten
  children under the age of 7. Therefore, parents
  may wish to consider the suitability of this
  program for their very young children. Note For
  those programs where fantasy violence may be more
  intense or more combative than other programs in
  this category, such programs will be designated
  TV-Y7-FV.

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The V-Chip

• TV-G (General Audience -- Most parents would find
  this program suitable for all ages.) Although
  this rating does not signify a program designed
  specifically for children, most parents may let
  younger children watch this program unattended.
  It contains little or no violence, no strong
  language and little or no sexual dialogue or
  situations.
• TV-PG (Parental Guidance Suggested -- This
  program contains material that parents may find
  unsuitable for younger children.) Many parents
  may want to watch it with their younger children.
  The theme itself may call for parental guidance
  and/or the program contains one or more of the
  following moderate violence (V), some sexual
  situations (S), infrequent coarse language (L),
  or some suggestive dialogue (D).

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The V-Chip

• TV-14 (Parents Strongly Cautioned -- This program
  contains some material that many parents would
  find unsuitable for children under 14 years of
  age.) Parents are strongly urged to exercise
  greater care in monitoring this program and are
  cautioned against letting children under the age
  of 14 watch unattended. This program contains one
  or more of the following intense violence (V),
  intense sexual situations (S), strong coarse
  language (L), or intensely suggestive dialogue
  (D).
• TV-MA (Mature Audience Only -- This program is
  specifically designed to be viewed by adults and
  therefore may be unsuitable for children under
  17.) This program contains one or more of the
  following graphic violence (V), explicit sexual
  activity (S), or crude indecent language (L).

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Other Devices

• TVGuardian"The Profanity Filter"The TVGuardian
  n shows.
• Watch Movies Profanity Free
• Watch TV Profanity Free
• Control The Content Brought Into Your Home
• How It WorksThe TVGuardian monitors the hidden
  closed-captioning signal and compares those words
  to its database of over 100 words and phrases.
  When an offensive word is detected it mutes the
  sound for the sentence and displays a replacement
  text on the screen.

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Other Devices

• The Weemote
• is a television remote control designed for young
  children. While offering simple controls for your
  child to operate, it also features the parental
  control to select only those channels you want
  your child to view.
• At the heart of the Weemote is the ability to
  program in up to five channels of your choosing.