Television Violence, African-Americans, and Social Control 1950-1976

Abstract

Television, over the past three decades, has become the primary interpreter of American life and history, and the principal socializing institution in the United States (Cater and Adler, 1974). Because of the great popularity of this medium, the prevalence of violence on television has precipitated an ongoing debate, and a voluminous literature, about the effect that violent TV programs have on the social behavior of children and adults. I One side contends that continuous exposure to TV violence stimulates aggressive anti-social behavior among select members of the mass viewing audience, and that this had led to increases in violent crime and juvenile delinquency. TV, this side argues, not only mirrors the violent content of social reality, but also contributes to violent behavior by creating a vast fantasy world peopled with appealing but violent characters who serve as social role models (Newcombe, 1979; Cater and Strickland, 1975; Seigal, 1957). The other side argues that television merely reflects the ideas that people already have about the world in which they live, and that TV violence has little effect on the social behavior of