Violence on TV, videos Mamed for crime trend

Press, 16 December 1985, Page 10

Violence on TV, videos Mamed for crime trend

PA Tauranga Watching violence for entertainment is believed to be an important reason for the increase in violent crime says the Mental Health Foundation. During a seminar on community violence held in Tauranga, foundation researcher Dr Hilary Haines said the rapidly increasing crime rate had created a climate of fear and mistrust. In a recent survey, half the women polled said they felt unsafe out walking at night, Dr Haines said. “It is hard to say whether violence is increasing because the rates of reporting change,” she said. “But the crime statistics are shooting up.” As well as an increase in the number of violent offences, there were other trends, Dr Haines said. In 1981, 4 per cent of rapes were committed by youths aged under 16. Last year that age group committed a third of the rapes reported. Dr Haines said the increase in violent crime committed by young men was huge. Contributing factors to the violence were racism, sexism, poverty, status and personal characteristics—and it was firmly believed entertainment violence was an important cause. A survey Dr Haines conducted last year showed that in one week’s viewing of dramatic programmes on both television channels 846 violent events were shown. That included only overt acts of violence and did not include violence against property or animals. A mediawatch survey of children’s viewing habits showed that the average nine-year-old boy watched 25 hours of television a wee£

A survey of one boy who watched 32 hours in one week was taken. He was in standard 2 and was inclined to be aggressive in the classroom.

His 32 hours of television watching included 18% hours , of' drama’" programmes. He saw eight killings and 195 other episodes of violence. His preferred programmes were violent ones such as “Magnum PI”. At his viewing rate (shared by 20 to 30 per cent of nine-year-old boys), he would see 10,000 acts of violence on television a year. ’ • Dr Haines said a consensus had emerged that television contributed to violence in children. It reinforced ideas that aggression was all right. It was something to do to solve problems. Dr Haines said nearly all violent heroes on television were men she said. Violence was portrayed realistically and there were many examples of direct imitation by children of their television heroes. Videos were another source of entertainment violence. No statistics were available, but it was expected children in New Zealand watched many of them. “Television creates an image of the world as a more violent place than it is, Dr Haines said. “In reality, once every 50 years a Chicago cop fires a gun at a person. Most people think it’s much higher than that but it is an image created by the media because most of us don’t know anything about Chicago.” Dr Haines said the media created victim-oriented, atti--1 tudes. Most victims were poor, black, women,-elderly people and children. “We don’t know what effect it has on children, but we do know that they watch it, Dr Haines said. “There are continuous horrific levels of input of violence. We don’t know what it does to them as adults. “We tolerate violence because we accept it We need to break that cycle and we have to work very hard at it.”