'TV minor cause of violence’

Press, 31 May 1982, Page 6

'TV minor cause of violence’

PA ■ Arlington Television contributed to violence in society, s® but»it was only a minor cause compared with such matters as poverty, racial inequality, and personal problems, a Mental Health Foundation Research officer, Dr Hilary Haines, has found from an overview of research papers on the relationship between television viewing and antisocial behaviour. She found that over the last decade researchers had become more definite in

their findings: virtually all supported the link between television and violence, though some were more emphatic than others. Dr Haines said that most experts believed that television was, however, only a minor cause of violence when compared with other social and economic reasons. Television should not be made a scapegoat for violence in society, though its very real effects should be viewed with concern. American television broad-

casts about eight incidents of violence an hour, about twice the British rate. ■ A brief survey in 1975 in New Zealand put New Zealand about the same level of violence on television in prime time as in the United States. Dr Haines said that although there were periodic outbursts about the issue in New Zealand, there seemed to be no special active organisation pursuing the matter.

Monitor, an organisation which pushes for better-qual-ity children’s programmes, might have some impact but as children watched many adult programmes there should be a push for less violence in all programmes, he said. Dr Haines said the influence of the “moral majority” in the United States was having an impact on the level of sexual content in television, but violence levels were unchanged.