It is a study written by Tatyana Dumova, Richard Fiordo, Stephen Rendahl, an assistant professor, a professor and an associate professor in the School of Communication at the University of Dacota, and was produced by The Berkley Electronic Press in 2008.
At the beginning of the text the authors clarify that their aim is to develope a conceptual framework for analyzing the positive socialization of young people, ’a basic but comparatively overlooked functions of communication’(p. 1). Their question is if television can ’effectively promote prosocial values to children and adolescents’(p. 1). They suggest the need of further examination of the prosocial, both constructive and preventional potential of television.
The Introduction part of the text draws attention to some already existing studies and problems about the effect of violence in the media, though it concludes that there was no successful result to establish a causal relationship between media violence and social behaviour(p. 2), so the author’s focus is on prosocial TV programming. The aim of prosocial TV programs is described as fostering positive societal values, and stimulate socially desired behaviour(p. 2). The question is raised wether youth socialization should be guided, and to what extent, and where is the line between good intentions and social engineering? In response to these questions is the aim of studying the role of mass media in the process of youth socialization. It is clear that the study soncerns children and adolescents in the U. S.
The body of the text consists of three main parts which are subdivided aswell. The first part points out the role of media in socialization and it’s problems. Socialization is defined referring to communication scholars as a complex dynamic process of transfering society’s ideas and culture across generations, the ransmission of shared experiences and values to