Violent Cartoons

INTO Manchester – IFY University of Manchester Pathway

Dissertation

Title

Violent cartoons:
The impact of cartoon violence on children’s interplay and behaviour

(Submitted in partial fulfilment of the NCUK Key Skills Programme)

7 June 2012

By: REEM AL ALAWI
GROUP S2 – KS 4
NCUK NUMBER: IM-11-0225

Table of Contents

Introduction.........................................................................................................3
Literature Review................................................................................................4
Methodology.......................................................................................................6
Findings...............................................................................................................7
Conclusion and Discussion.................................................................................9
Limitations.........................................................................................................10
Timescale...........................................................................................................11
Bibliography......................................................................................................12

Introduction
The popularity of television has increased rapidly over the past few decades. Nowadays, it is looked at as an essential mean of communication and entertainment for both young and old people. Animated cartoons have played a big part in children’s entertainment industry over the past 80 years (Krish, 2006). Cartoons can be divided into two categories, violent and non-violent. However it is seen that most cartoons contain violence as it is an essential part of cartoon content. As a result, children are more exposed to viewing media illustrating violence today. Research has come up with an evident conclusion that aggressive behaviour is strongly linked to the exposure to violent media (Donnerstein & Linz, 1995; Huesmann & Miller, 1994; Paik &Comstock, 1994; Wood, Wong & Chachere, 1991). Despite the studies carried out in this field, an extremely crucial issue rising is the effects of violent cartoons on children’s actions, reactions and communication with others. The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the effects that violent cartoons carry on children of different ages’ behaviour, interplay and emotions as well as the factors that cause them to do so. This study is important to raise society’s awareness of the negative effects violent cartoons have on children’s behaviours and emotions in both short and long-terms.

Literature Review
Children’s exposure to violent cartoons has concerned and worried society for decades. According to the Cultural Indicators Project carried out in 1967-1968, television violence can be described as “the overt expression of physical force, with or without weapon, against self or other, compelling action against one’s will on pain of hurt or killed, or actually hurting or killing” (Peters & Blumberg, 2002). A more recent study (Blumberg et al., 2008) defines TV violence as any intentional or accidental act demonstrated on television leading to physical or psychological damage, including verbal abuse to oneself or surroundings.
Violent cartoons have various effects on children’s emotions, interplay, behaviour and interaction. According to Carnagey et al. (2007), clear evidence was found by the most recent inclusive review of the effects of violent media that “media violence increases the chances of hostile and aggressive behaviour in both immediate and long-term contexts”. The number of hours that American children spend -on average- watching television can be estimated to more than 5 hours a day, which is approximate to the number of hours they spend in school. Increasingly similar cases have been reported in Europe and Asia (Carnagey et al., 2007). Carnagey et al. (2007) add that that the most popular cartoons shown on TV contain substantial amounts of violence. Researchers have found that children’s exposure to violence on television can cause increases in aggressive behaviour (Anderson et al., 2003; Carnagey et al., 2007; Calvert et al., 1982; Hapkiewicz & Roden, 1971; Kirsh, 2006; Nathanson , 2000).
A considerable number of experiments have examined whether constant viewing of violent content on television such as animated cartoons and films increase aggressive behaviour in children’s interplay in the short term. Anderson et al. (2003) emphasizes that the studies carried out in this area have been made based on results taken from random experiments which lack accuracy and sufficient data. The random experiments were carried out in a short time period- mostly in 2 hours to a couple of days. Small samples were chosen for these experiments. However the authors conclude that reliable findings point out children who constantly watch violent scenes on TV display afterwards more aggressive behaviours, emotions or thoughts than those who do not. It is seen that violence shown on TV influences the behaviour of children and youth (Anderson et al., 2003).
An experiment was carried out by Hapkiewicz & Roden (1971) to test whether violent cartoons affected both genders or it only implied on one. Results indicated that boys displayed considerably more aggression than girls. It is estimated that viewing aggressive cartoons would weaken inhibitions (Hapkiewicz & Roden, 1971). Nathanson (2000) supports these results and emphasizes that violent cartoons tend to influence boys more than girls. However Cantor and Nathanson (1997) have an opposing view, whereas the authors believe that “the effects of TV violence on girls may be increasing and cannot be detected after a single viewing instance” or because society rejects the fact of having hostile females and therefore punishes them for any aggressive acts. It could also be that “girls are less prone to copying physical violence but are more likely to be influenced by interpersonal hostility” (Cantor & Nathanson, 1997).
The findings based on the reviewed literature reveal that exposing children to violent cartoons leads to creating hostile behaviours. Gender also plays a role in the beget of aggression as it was found that males are more likely to be influenced by violent cartoons than females. Further research should be carried about the kind of aggressive behaviours caused by violent cartoons and adapted by children. This study therefore, will address the following question:

What kind of hostile behaviours do children adopt from violent cartoons and what factors cause these behaviours to occur?

Research Methodology
The study was carried out using secondary research and analysis of data in order to answer the research question. Primary research would have ideally been beneficial. However, it is not suitable for the scope of this course due to time limitation. It would have also been costly to carry out primary research. The data collected using secondary research included analysis from adequate academic articles, books, journals (such as Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media and Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology) and research papers published by well accomplished researchers and journalists. The research also included evaluation of the collected data. Secondary research was very significant as most of the found data illustrated the aggression adopted from violent media. Data is always available on trusted databases such as EBSCO (this saves time and effort) and access is easy to all types of data. However, the number of recent papers discussing this issue was limited. Also, some papers only emphasize the negative effects of media violence and do not focus on the harmful effects of violent cartoons.

Findings
The negative violent effects of TV have concerned many educators and parents in the past century. Children are mostly attracted to violent and aggressive scenes displayed on TV. Kader (2006) believes that children’s demand for violent acts shown on TV from the producers is connected to their intense exposure to violent media. Donnerstein and Linz (1995) agree with Kader (2006) that hostile behaviours are usually the outcome of excessive exposure to violent content on television. “The viewing of televised aggression leads to increases in subsequent aggression and that such behavior can become part of a behavioral pattern that lasts well into adulthood” (Donnerstein & Linz, 1995).
The excess exposure to violent cartoons leads to multiple hostile behaviours. Research has conducted four main effects violent cartoons cause on children’s behaviour (Condry, 1989; Gross, 1992; Gunter & McAleer, 1997; Van Evra, 1990). The first effect is arousal. Gross (1992) states that viewing violent cartoons initiates the arousal of anger alongside excitement and nervousness. However this greatly depends on the child’s present cognitive state. The second effect is disinhibition which can be psychologically described as the lack of restrain, based on the idea that with the extreme viewing of violence, it is seen as "a permitted or legitimate way of solving problems or attaining goals" (Gross, 1992).
The third effect is desensitisation. Desensitisation is linked to disinhibition and can be described as the act of reducing sensitivity. Children, who are constantly exposed to viewing too much violence on TV come to accept these hostile scenes as they become used to them. In other words, “the repeat exposure to it reduces our emotional response to it, increases acceptance and makes us more tolerant towards any subsequent violence that we see” (Oatey, 1998). Emotional desensitization generates rough attitudes concerning violence directed to others and reduces the interest in “victims of violence” (Pearson, 1997). The fourth and last effect is imitation. Young children who are unaware of right and wrong behaviours are more likely to imitate and re-enact what is shown on TV (Bandura et al., 1961). This is sometimes referred to as observational learning (Gunter & McAleer, 1990).

Another effect mentioned in some papers is increased fear. It is seen that watching violent acts on TV leads to nightmares, sleeping disorders and increase children’s fright of becoming victims of violence (Pearson, 1997).
Little research discusses the factors that cause children to adopt these hostile behaviours from violent cartoons. According to Hirsch (2005), children who are less than 13 years old tend to be more influenced by their surroundings. The author demonstrates the most important factors leading to violent behaviour as “early involvement in serious criminal behavior, early substance use and abuse, being male, a history of physical aggression toward others, low parent education levels or poverty, and parent involvement in illegal activities” (Hirsch, 2005).
Children make their own judgement on the ‘reality’ of TV programmes. According to Chandler (1997), this assessment it made upon children’s developing knowledge of both everyday life and surroundings. A child might not be able to distinguish between fantasy and reality at an early age. Morison & Gardner (1978) believe that fantasy plays a vital role in the early stages of child’s development. Earlier research conducted two uprising issues: the initial difficulties children face in recognizing what is real from what is imaginary and the influence of children 's understanding of fantasy on “other aspects of their behavior such as social attitudes, appreciation of humor and sensitivity to the arts” (Morison & Gardner, 1978).
A couple of studies conduct guidelines for parents to follow in order to decrease children’s exposure to violent content on television (Centerwall, 1992 & Pearson, 1997). These guidelines are based on the National Television Violence Study, (1995-1994) which encourages parents to watch television with their children and explain what is being showed, teach their children how to critically evaluate programs’ content, consider children’s developmental level when viewing something on TV, be aware of the risk of viewing TV violence and recognise the various types of violent programmes aired on television.

Conclusion and Discussion
The study was carried out to emphasize the effects of violent cartoons on children’s behaviour, interplay and emotions alongside the factors that cause them to do so. The research findings support the hypothesis of the Research Proposal as violent cartoons are considered as one of the main causes of children’s aggressive behaviour (Kader, 2006; Donnerstein & Linz, 1995; Condry, 1989; Gross, 1992; Gunter & McAleer, 1997; Van Evra, 1990). The more children are exposed to violent media the more they demand for it as it becomes an important part in their daily lives. This study has shown that arousal of anger, nervousness, excitement, disinhibition, desensitisation, imitation and fear are effects caused by violent cartoons on children’s behaviour.
Most experiments were carried out on children of age 2-14. This induces that children in this age group tend to be more influenced by violence. Children’s “early involvement in serious criminal behavior, early substance use and abuse, gender (male), a history of physical aggression toward others, low parent education levels, poverty and parent involvement in illegal activities” emerged as reliable factors of children’s adopted hostile behaviours from their surroundings (i.e. violent cartoons). Children’s understanding of reality and fantasy depends on their development and age as older children are able to distinguish between the two concepts. To reduce the effects of violent cartoons, parents should be aware of the risk of exposing their children to violent cartoons and should be monitoring the television programmes viewed by the children.
The present study, however, makes several noteworthy contributions to raising society’s awareness of the harmful effects violent cartoons have on children’s behaviours and emotions in both short and long-terms. It is recommended that further research be undertaken in the following areas: the impact of violent Japanese cartoons on youth and the effects of harmful violent acts applied on animals in cartoons and TV programmes on children’s behaviour.

Limitations
Secondary research was relatively convenient as most studies discuss the harmful effects violent media imply on children’s interaction. However, the collected data only reflects and talks about the UK, USA, South Africa and India. More research should be carried out in this area as no papers were found reflecting this issue in Asian countries or the Middle East.
Also, recent papers were limited; this indicates that this issue is important and has been discussed previously, therefore more research should be made in this area. The data used is limited and does not mention long term effects of violent cartoons on children. A small number of sources were found on the impact of violent Japanese cartoons on youth. More research needs to be done on this topic. No papers were found discussing the effects of harmful violent acts applied on animals in cartoons and TV programmes on children’s behaviour.

Timescale Task | Time frame | Secondary Research | 12th March - 30th March 2012 | Writing of the dissertation | 12th April – 30th April 2012 | Review of the dissertation | 23rd May – 2nd June 2012 | Presentation | 6th June 2012 | Handing in the dissertation | 7th June 2012 |

Bibliography
Anderson, C., Berkowitz, L., Donnerstein, E., Huesmann, L., Johnson, J., Linz, D., Malamuth, N., & Wartella, E., 2003. The influence of media violence on youth. Psychological Science In The Public Interest (Wiley-Blackwell), 4, 3, pp. 81-110. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=12441012&site=ehost-live [Accessed 17 December 2011]
Bandura, A., Ross, D., & Ross, S.A., 1961. TRANSMISSION OF AGGRESSION THROUGH IMITATION OF AGGRESSIVE MODELS. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 63, p. 575-582. [Accessed 6 May 2012]
Blumberg, F., Bierwirth, K., & Schwartz, A., 2008. Does Cartoon Violence Beget Aggressive Behavior in Real Life? An Opposing View. Early Childhood Education Journal, October, pp. 101-104. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=34082357&site=ehost-live [Accessed 1 March 2012]
Calvert, S., Huston, A., Watkins, B., & Wright, J., 1982. The Relation between Selective Attention to Television Forms and Children 's Comprehension of Content. Child Development, 53, 3, p. 601. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=8588484&site=ehost-live [Accessed 29 November 2011]
Cantor, J., & Nathanson, A., 1997. Predictors of children 's interest in violent television programs. Journal Of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 41, 2, p. 155. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=168034&site=ehost-live [Accessed 13 January 2012]
Carnagey, N., Anderson, C., & Bartholow, B., 2007.Media Violence and Social Neuroscience: New Questions and New Opportunities. Current Directions In Psychological Science (Wiley-Blackwell), 16, 4, pp. 178-182. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=26087226&site=ehost-live [Accessed 20 December 2011]
Centerwall, B. S., 1992. Television and Violence: the scale of the problem and where to go from here. Journal of American Medical Association, 267(22), pp. 3059-3063. [Accessed 8 April 2012]
Chandler, D., 1997. Children’s Understanding of What is ‘Real’ on Television. A Review of the Literature. Available at: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/realrev.html [Accessed 6 May 2012]
Condry, J., 1989. The Psychology of Television, p. 80-112. [Accessed 9 April 2012]
Donnerstein, E., & Linz, D., 1995. “The Media” In J. Q. Wilson, & J. Petersilia (Eds.). Crime, p. 237–266. [Accessed on 1 May 2012]
Gross, R., 1992. Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour, p. 455-458. [Accessed 3 April 2012]
Gunter, B. and McAleer, J., 1997. Children and Television, p. 92-114. [Accessed 17 May 2012]
Hapkiewicz, W., & Roden, A., 1971. THE EFFECT OF AGGRESSIVE CARTOONS ON CHILDREN 'S INTERPERSONAL PLAY. Child Development, 42, 5, p. 1583. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=7251737&site=ehost-live [Accessed 2 December 2011]
Hirsch, J., 2005.ADOLESCENT PERCEPTIONS ON THE PRESENCE OF THE SEVEN CONTEXTUAL FEATURES OF ANIMATION VIOLENCE AS AN INDICATOR OF AGGRESSIVE ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS. Dissertation, (MA). University of Florida. Available at: http://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/UF/E0/01/33/48/00001/hirsch_j.pdf [Accessed 7 May 2012]
Huesmann, L. R., & Miller, L. S., 1994. Long-term effects of repeated exposure to media violence in childhood.In L. R. Huesmann (Ed.). Aggressive behavior: Current perspectives, pp. 153–186. [Accessed 5 May 2012] Kader, K., 2006. CHILDREN’S PERCEPTIONS OF ‘SCREEN’ VIOLENCE AND THE EFFECTS ON THEIR WELL-BEING. Thesis, (MA). University of the Western Cape. Available at: http://etd.uwc.ac.za/usrfiles/modules/etd/docs/etd_gen8Srv25Nme4_1985_1189160087.pdf [Accessed on 5 April 2012]
Kirsh, S.J., 2006. Cartoon violence and aggression in youth. Aggression & Violent Behavior, 11, 6, pp. 547-557. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=22637844&site=ehost-live [Accessed 23 November 2011]
Morison, P., & Gardner, H., 1978. Dragons and Dinosaurs: The Child 's Capacity to Differentiate Fantasy from Reality. Child Development, 49, 3, pp. 642-648. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=10425039&site=ehost-live [Accessed on 3 May 2012].

Nathanson, A., & Cantor, J., 2000. Reducing the Aggression-Promoting Effect of Violent Cartoons By Increasing Children 's Fictional.. Journal Of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 44, 1, p. 125. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=3187051&site=ehost-live [Accessed 30 November 2011]
Oatey, A., 1998. Television Viewing and Violent Behaviour. Available from: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/aeo9701.html [Accessed 24 May 2012]
Paik, H., & Comstock, G., 1994. The effects of television violence on antisocial behavior: A meta-analysis.Communications Research, 21(4), p. 516–546. [Accessed 30 April 2012]
Pearson, C.K., 1997. Children-Media-Solutions. North Carolina Medical Journal, 58(4), pp.265-268. [Accessed 5 May 2012]
Peters, K., & Blumberg, F., 2002. Cartoon Violence: Is It as Detrimental to Preschoolers as We Think?. Early Childhood Education Journal, 29, 3, p. 143. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=11305216&site=ehost-live [Accessed 8 December 2011]
Signorielli, N., & Gerbner, G., 1995. Violence on television: The Cultural Indicators Project. Journal Of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 39, 2, p. 278. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9508240103&site=ehost-live [Accessed 2 February 2012]
Stewart, J. & Williams, R., 2000. Issues in predicting the future innovation and use of a ubiquitous technology. The co-evaluation of society and multimedia technology, p. 2-5. [Accessed 1 April 2012] National Television Violence Study,1994-1995. TV Violence and Kids. The Educational Digest, ,pp. 23-26. [Accessed on 15 May 2012]
Van Evra, J., 1990. Television and Child Development, p. 83-91. [Accessed 1 June 2012]
Wood, W., Wong, F., & Chachere, J. G., 1991. Effects of media violence on viewers’ aggression in unconstrained social interaction. Psychological Bulletin, 109, 371–383. [Accessed 28 April 2012]

Bibliography: Centerwall, B. S., 1992. Television and Violence: the scale of the problem and where to go from here. Journal of American Medical Association, 267(22), pp. 3059-3063. [Accessed 8 April 2012] Chandler, D., 1997 Condry, J., 1989. The Psychology of Television, p. 80-112. [Accessed 9 April 2012] Donnerstein, E., & Linz, D., 1995 Gross, R., 1992. Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour, p. 455-458. [Accessed 3 April 2012] Gunter, B Huesmann, L. R., & Miller, L. S., 1994. Long-term effects of repeated exposure to media violence in childhood.In L. R. Huesmann (Ed.). Aggressive behavior: Current perspectives, pp. 153–186. [Accessed 5 May 2012] Kader, K., 2006 Paik, H., & Comstock, G., 1994. The effects of television violence on antisocial behavior: A meta-analysis.Communications Research, 21(4), p. 516–546. [Accessed 30 April 2012] Pearson, C.K., 1997 Stewart, J. & Williams, R., 2000. Issues in predicting the future innovation and use of a ubiquitous technology. The co-evaluation of society and multimedia technology, p. 2-5. [Accessed 1 April 2012] National Television Violence Study,1994-1995 Van Evra, J., 1990. Television and Child Development, p. 83-91. [Accessed 1 June 2012] Wood, W., Wong, F., & Chachere, J