Positive or Negative: The Effects of Media on Adolescence
Historically, the depiction of violence in media platforms started in the 1950s when television (TV) began to dominate. The primary networks sought an easy successful formula to increase their revenues, and one of them was to show extensive violent acts through the news, cartoons, and movies. The depiction of violence on media platforms usually has both positive and negative effects, primarily on adolescents. The positive impact will happen when the media informs on the repercussions of crimes; hence, adolescents learn why not to engage in crime. On the other hand, depicting violent scenes on media only increases the young viewers’ risk of being aggressive and repressive (Reissler 2006). Major stakeholders understand that without proper care in how violence is depicted in the media, young adults are at a higher risk of engaging in the crime the same way they watch it on media platforms.
Among the different types of violence depicted in the media, sexual violence forms a substantial percentage of adolescents’ watching. Adolescents are constantly exposed to cases of sexual violence such as rape and incest in various media programs. This constant exposure does affect the youth’s attitudes and behaviours towards sexual crimes (Earles et al. 2002, 797-801). This paper looks to analyze the impact of the media depiction of sex crimes on Adolescents.
Impact of Media Exposure on Sex Crimes among Adolescents.
Mass media is a significant dimension in many adolescents’ outcomes, especially their engagement in sexually risky behaviour. Research has found that American adolescents will spend six to seven hours daily using media either by watching TV, listening to music, watching movies, and limited time is used reading (Nieman 2003, 301-306). Moore et al. 2013 also posit that the American adolescent has been extensively exposed to numerous media devices. About two-thirds of them have a TV in their rooms, and probably all of them have a form of an audio system. In most media platforms to which adolescent youngsters are exposed, there is a form of sexual imagery that will rarely show the adverse effects of risky sexual behaviour. Healthy sexual depictions are seldom shown. A study would find that 83% of the top teen television shows portrayed sexual content while only 12% addressed the risks and responsibilities were associated with sexual activities (L’Engle et al. 2006). Therefore, the current society comprises adolescents exposed to an abundance of sexual content on various media platforms.
Notably, these media platforms grow to become highly sexual “super-peer” for those individual adolescents who seek information on sexual health. This is because sexual information available on various media platforms has a standard format and can be accessed very easily (L’Engle et al. 2006). Furthermore, regular and effective models are used in the delivery of sexual information. Therefore, it is evident that mass media remains the chief source of sexual information for many adolescents and their peers. This information category is highly distinct from what they are taught by social agents, teachers, and parents. The sexual information acquired from social media platforms waters down the gains made from school-based programs. More so, they affect the conventional sexual values shown by adults in various contexts of the adolescents’ lives (Surette 2013). Most of the sexual content demonstrates carefree sexual encounters between unmarried people. Therefore, adolescents will adopt the characters’ behaviours considered attractive, realistic, and not punished; instead, they get rewards for their behaviours.
Extensive research has shown that adolescents’ exposure to violent sexual content positively correlates to more accepting attitudes towards sexual violence. This also comprises a more significant endorsement of the myth on the rape culture and the perceptions directed towards both the victims and perpetrators, which consistently hold on to the commonly held rape myths (Rodenhizer and Edwards 2019). Based on the social cognitive and cultivation theories, the attitudes are learned and reinforced by being exposed to sexual violence over the adolescent’s lifetime, leading to the latter’s attitudes and beliefs being aligned with those shown in sexually violent media (Earles et al. 2002).
Considering the cultivation theory, the adolescents will undergo the priming, arousal, and mimicry processes that cause the short-term effects of being exposed to sexual crime. Learning through observation, desensitization, and active learning account for many of the impact of media occurrences in the long run (Rodenhizer and Edwards 2019). Media will play the fundamental function of sexually socializing adolescents and young adults. These individuals will hence imitate the behaviour shown. For instance, aggression or coercion conduct has consistently been shown not to have any consequence and positive benefit such as being aggressive to receive pleasure. The male perpetrated violence against women is considered ordinary conduct among normal sexual relationships. Therefore, male adolescents learn to dehumanize or objectify women as it is a standard masculinity norm. This causes a higher tolerance of the violence perpetrated against women, passed down to other adolescents. Also, both male and female adolescents will enjoy violent sexual pleasure as shown by the media or even manage conflict in intimate relationships (Rodenhizer and Edwards 2019). Hence, the media platforms would have created another generation that also accepts the wrong notions and perceptions towards sexual violence.
Notably, research has also found that the impact of exposure to sexual crimes differed based on gender. Exposure to feature movies that portray sexual violence directed towards women will positively affect the male acceptance of the violent tendencies against females. The same trend was also found in the acceptance of rape myths. On the other hand, the females showed non-significant behaviour the contrary to men on both scales. Those women who had been exposed to violent sexual films showed tendencies to have lesser tolerance for cases of interpersonal violence and the prevalence of rape in society.
The differing impacts of the films on the male adolescents compared to the female adolescents need to be of considerable interest. Males end up being more accepting of violent sexual behaviour as compared and similar relationships compared to the females (Malamuth and Check 1981). Suppose the antisocial impact on males identified does follow the polarized attitude pattern. In this case, the general expectation is that people who showed some degree of acceptance towards violence against women would be the most affected. The opposite is also possible. Those who showed lesser exposure to sexual violence via media platforms may lack to show the possibility of having any meaningfully developed attitudes associated with sexual violence. They are, therefore, more vulnerable when exposed to various non-factual myths and ideologies.
Also, while the females may not be affected in terms of being sexually violent, there is a possibility of female adolescents developing wrong mindsets concerning sexual relationships with men. The constant perpetration of sexual violence against women may demonstrate that they are of the inferior gender. The inferiority complex will have them accept the wrong things, such as violence perpetrated against them that causes severe injury and even death. Generally, the media platforms’ depiction of sexual violence is questionable for failing to address the primary ways in which its different viewers, including the male and female adults, are negatively affected.
Another research explored the relationship between an adolescent is being exposed to sexual media and subsequent sexual victimization. All the forms of sexual victimization were assessed. These types had significant variations in the amount of exposure to sexual material (Malamuth and Check 1981). Media exposure such as the ex-rated material, violent media, parental monitoring, age, and biological sex were fundamental elements in determining the occurrence of sexual harassment, assault, rape, and attempted rape. However, coercive sex victimization exhibited persistent odds of occurrence even with the consideration of the identified factors. It may be that the situations of seduction, such the being offered excessive complements, being pressured to have sex, and normalization of the expectation that all couples have sex that is modelled similar to the media demonstration of sexual relationships, have made coercion seem as usual (Short 2015, 773-776). Also, the coercive sexual relationships shown in the TV shows allow the young individuals to reflect on their individual experiences and consider them as unwanted. They get to prefer what they see on media platforms which ods generally sexual violence.
It is also worth noting that there are confused attitudes towards children and adolescents through the media, mainly from adult society. Generally, the adult society has contradictory and conflicting perceptions towards the youth, leading to the concept of youth elasticity (Jewkes and Linnemann 2004). These views are paradoxically captured in the notions of innocence and evil. For instance, the construction of childhood innocence is demonstrated in the age at which persons can legally consent to sexual intercourse, sixteen years in the United States. The media stories that encompass a sexualization or sexuality of children below sixteen years are reported in tones of outrage and hysteria. It is only until the age of sixteen that sex is accepted (Ybarra, Strasburger and Mitchell 2014). According to the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2019, eighteen years in Trinidad and Tobago. However, when it comes to youth justice, the Crime and Disorder Act prohibited the ‘doli incapax’ presumption and state that a young person over the age of ten has moral understanding and is guilty of crimes committed; the evident inconsistencies are in the different ages of criminal responsibility within the justice system (Jewkes and Linnemann 2004). This causes confusion that also plays into media platforms that will construct the oppositions and stock stereotypes (Earles et al. 2002). The media quickly positions the child offenders and victims of crime on a continuum of innocence to evil while personalizing their pathology or vulnerability. The confusion leaves the adolescents invulnerable to either being the perpetrators of sexual violence or accepting to be the victims of the sexual crimes.
Conclusion
Adolescents have been put in a vulnerable position concerning the sexual violence content consumed from the media platforms. The media constantly shows sexual crimes without accurate depictions of the risks and responsibilities affiliated with the conduct. These adolescents end up copying what they see as it is considered the standard behaviour, especially in sexual relationships. Therefore, society risks dealing with the increased rate of sexual violence in the years to come. A cycle is also developed when the upcoming generations continue to consume the same kind of sexual violence content.
References
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