Violent Video Research Articles

Superheroes: The Prosocial Aggressors. A Systematic Literature Review

Superheroes, recurring characters in contemporary media, bring conflicting elements into their narratives: their goals are prosocial (helping those in need), but their means are violent. The question then arises, how does this duality impact consumers? The present study aimed to carry out a systematic literature review regarding the relationships between superhero media, aggression, prosocial behavior, and related variables. Studies from the last ten years, published in English and Portuguese, were considered, and the final sample went through a qualitative synthesis. The results showed that all studies in the sample pointed to positive impacts of superhero media on prosocial behavior. Data on aggression, on the other hand, were inconclusive. Finally, the variables gender and level of character identification stand out in understanding the effects of superhero media. We highlight the need for a deeper investigation on prosocial violent media and its outcomes.

An automatic fine-grained violence detection system for animation based on modified faster R-CNN

Animation drama and movies are important entertainment sources for children and young people. However, many of these entertainment videos introduce ideas such as violence, fighting, abuse, and car accidents, which are not suitable for children and young people. In order to prevent children from viewing these videos, different countries' government bodies put restrictions on age on these videos. Violence detection is mostly done using manual inspection, which is time and resource consuming and cannot achieve a very good result. Therefore, artificial technologies such as deep learning and machine learning can detect violence in a video. Bleeding is one of the distinct characteristics of violent actions presented in such videos. This paper aims to propose a system that can detect a given video's blood in real-time. Researchers have proposed different image processing-based techniques to detect violence, but their proposed systems lack precision and real-time detection. To this end, a deep learning-based approach is proposed to detect violence in a given video and images. A Faster R-CNN model is modified due to the sophisticated characteristics of the violence in the cartoon and animation images to achieve the highest performance. The backbone of the proposed violence detection model is changed to a modified RegNet model to extract the features from the frame. The standard inner lateral connection is replaced with the modulated deformable convolutional (MDC) layer to extract deformable feature maps. A novel distributed attention module (DAM) is proposed on the feature pyramid network to improve the performance of the feature extraction. The multiscale Region of interest (ROI) Align is adapted to improve the detection performance of violence in a different scenario. Moreover, the classification approach is integrated with the detection model to classify the different levels of violence in a given frame. We have explored state-of-the-art object detection methods such as Faster R-CNN, Cascade R-CNN, yolov3-spp, SSD, FCOS, and yolov5 to detect violence in a particular frame of a video. We compared the different models' performances and found out that the modified Faster R-CNN is appropriate for real-time blood detection in a given video or image with high accuracy. This study makes a significant contribution to detecting violence in animation videos which will help different platforms and government bodies to regulate entertainment content.

What do we research when we study social media violence in Colombia? A systematic literature review

Con el incremento en el acceso y uso de las redes sociales en Colombia, es de esperar que prácticas y discursos violentos se trasladen a estos espacios digitales. Sin duda, hoy en día las redes sociales son parte de los ecosistemas de información y comunicación de los colombianos, donde las culturas de violencia y paz se expanden y transforman. En este contexto, es esencial explorar las formas en las investigamos la violencia en redes sociales, ya que entender este fenómeno permite responder mejor a las necesidades y experiencias de las comunidades del país. El presente articulo busca explorar cómo se ha estudiado la violencia en las redes sociales en Colombia mediante una revisión sistemática de la literatura. Resultados muestran un complejo trayecto de investigación en el país que comprende variados objetivos, como entender las diferentes formas en las que la violencia es ejercida a través de redes sociales o sobre cómo nos permite conocer más contextos de violencia. Igualmente, los resultados muestran que las investigaciones están principalmente enfocadas en dos plataformas: Facebook y Twitter. Finalmente, se encontró que los artículos están principalmente orientados a investigar tres tipos de violencias: violencia de género, violencia relacionada con conflicto armado, y violencia escolar. Los hallazgos de esta revisión sistemática de la literatura permiten, por un lado, valorar previos estudios que han demostrado el complejo panorama de la violencia mediática en el país y, por otro lado, descubrir posibles vacíos en la literatura que podrían ser respondidos por investigadoras e investigadores en el futuro.

Perceived offensiveness to the self, not that to others, is a robust positive predictor of support of censoring sexual, alcoholic, and violent media content.

Harm and offense are two important notions in legal discussions on the extent to which one's freedom may be limited. Prior research on the third-person effect found that perceived media harm on others, not perceived media harm on the self, is a robust positive predictor of support of censoring socially undesirable media content (e.g., pornography). In comparison, how offensiveness perceptions predict censorship support is not clear. Drawing on moral foundations theory, we test here how perceived media offensiveness to the self compared with 1) perceived media offensiveness to others and 2) perceived media harm on others would predict censorship support. We conducted two cross-sectional survey studies in the U.S. to address this question with sexual, alcoholic, and violent media content as test cases. In Study 1 (N = 544 undergraduates), we measured perceived media offensiveness to the self, that to others, and censorship support. In Study 2 (N = 727 non-student adults), we also measured perceived media harm on the self and others. As in prior research, we found that people perceive sexual, alcoholic, and violent media content to harm other viewers more strongly than it harms themselves, and the perception of how much others are harmed predicts perceivers' censorship support. In contrast, while people also perceive the three types of media content to offend other viewers more strongly than they offend the self, the perception of how much others are offended predicts censorship support to a significantly lesser extent or does not predict this at all. Instead, the perception of how much the self is offended does. These findings add to the work on moral foundations theory that distinguishes between how the care/harm and sanctity/degradation foundations relate to moral judgments. These findings also suggest that the current theorizing of the third-person effect needs to expand to reconcile the seemingly inconsistent results on how harm and offensiveness perceptions differently relate to censorship support. The care/harm and sanctity/degradation foundations may underlie how harm and offensiveness perceptions predict censorship support. However, several "anomalous" findings need to be accounted for before moral foundations provide a comprehensive explanation of the third-person effect.

The Impact of Media Violence on Child and Adolescent Aggression

With the continuous development of electronic technology, the media of television and films, video games and music are everywhere in everyday life. Media exposure is increasing among kids and teenagers. As a result, children and adolescents frequently encounter violence in the media in a variety of forms, which has an effect on their behavior. Previous research has found that exposure to media violence increases aggressive behavior or aggression-related beliefs and emotional arousal in children or adolescents. This study summarizes the similarities and differences in the effects of different forms of media violence on children and adolescents based on their different cognitive developmental characteristics and the frequency of exposure to different types of media. Also, it makes suggestions for future research and aims to lessen how aggression in children and teenagers is affected by media violence. This study finds that all forms of media violence were positively associated with aggression in children and adolescents, with younger children mostly displaying aggressive behavior through direct imitation, while older adolescents developed desensitization and cognitive changes related to aggression, and parenting styles also moderated the relationship. The study suggests that parents should adopt autonomous and supportive communication styles and game developers should consider pro-social rather than violent behaviors in games to positively influence the game audience.

Media Coverage of Intimate Partner Violence Incidents in Russia Amid the Conservative Turn

In the literature, the period 2017–2018 has been identified as a time when feminist discourse emerged in the Russian media, with the topic of domestic violence (DV) as one of the main sub-discourses. This suggests that mainstream media can act as an agent of positive social change in relation to gender issues, even amid a broader ‘conservative turn’. This study interrogates this argument by examining changes in representations of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Russian media during the COVID-19 pandemic, at a time when increased attention was given to the global ‘shadow pandemic’ of violence in the home.

Effects of Animated Movies on the Aggression and Behavior Performance of Primary School Students and Their Control Using a Cognitive Behavioral Anger-Control Training (CBACT) Program.

This work is a combination of two studies, Study I and Study II, which aimed to examine the impact of animated movies on the aggression and behavioral performance of primary school students, as well as their control using the CBACT program. In Study I, the influence of animated movies on 300 students from ten primary schools in Pakistan with gender differences (50% male), family systems, and viewing time duration was examined. This study was performed on 7- to 9-year-old children on four subscales of the Buss-Perry aggression questionnaire (BPAQ), three subscales of the child behavior questionnaire (CBQ), and toy selection. Following that, in Study II the CBACT intervention was applied to aggressive students (n = 46) selected from Study I. Students were randomly divided into CBACT treatment (50%) and control groups. The results of Study I indicated that violent animated movies had a greater impact on the aggressive behavior of male students than on that of females, while girls were more affected by watching nonviolent movies. Furthermore, male viewers from nuclear families and females from joint families showed more aggressive problems. It was also observed that aggression in students significantly increased (p < 0.001) with increasing viewing animation time duration (10 to 30 min). The results of Study II showed that aggression in the treatment group was significantly reduced (p = 0.000) with the CBACT program but remained constant for the control group. The findings of Study I showed that violent animation is strongly linked with aggression and behavioral performance in primary school students. The CBACT program in Study II indicates that students may not be completely eliminated from watching violent movies, but their aggression levels were reduced when they watched animated movies. Therefore, the CBACT program opens a new window into behavioral problem treatment, which is casually influenced by violent media.

Discourses on Non-Heteronormative Masculinities and Intimate Partner Violence: a Russian Media Case Study

Abstract Purpose The current paper is devoted to the analysis of the mediation of non-heteronormative masculinities within discourses on intimate partner violence (IPV) and domestic violence and abuse (DVA) in contemporary Russian media. Methods The article presents a discourse analysis of five samples of media texts devoted to IPV and/or DVA among LGBTQ people. The media texts were sampled through a keyword search completed on the websites of two openly pro-LGBTQ media outlets (news and entertainment portals Meduza and Takie Dela) and two media outlets catered for predominantly LGBTQ audiences (the news and entertainment portal Parni PLUS and the website of the NGO SPID-Tsentr). Results The interpretative qualitative analysis of the sampled texts demonstrated that the IPV/DVA survivors’ confessional narratives are framed within wider discourses on non-heteronormative masculinities, which are represented both as transgressing concepts of hegemonic masculinity and as challenging stereotypes about non-heteronormative masculinities. Conclusions The outcome of the analysis presented in the paper is that there is evidence of the emergence of new media discourses on IPV and DVA among LGBTQ communities. Drawing on feminist discourses on IPV and DVA in heterosexual relationships and using media strategies of LGBTQ coming-out confessional narratives, the sampled media data reveals an ongoing search for a new language of discussing the relatively new societal problem. Further research into mediation of non-heteronormative male survivors of IPV and DVA promises insightful findings concerning the evolution of discourses on non-heteronormative masculinities in contemporary Russian media.

Youth and patriarchy in the ICT society: A reflection on symbolic gender violence in social media

Youth and patriarchy in the ICT society: A reflection on symbolic gender violence in social media

The Relationship Between Movie Violence and Violent Behavior in Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Population-Based Study in Isfahan, Iran

Background: Violent behavior in adolescents is one of the important public health problems; however, studies on this issue in developing countries are limited. Nowadays, adolescents spend a lot of day-night time watching TV. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between watching violent movies and perpetrating violent behaviors among adolescents. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 2800 adolescents, aged 11 - 18 years, residing in urban and rural areas of Isfahan province were enrolled. This study received a part of a grant No. 188169 dedicated to a project scrutinizing if watching violent movies by adolescents encouraged violent behaviors in the three domains of physical, verbal, and psychological violence. The data were gathered by a valid and reliable questionnaire, and SPSS software was used for data analysis. Results: Violent behaviors were significantly higher among adolescents who watched more violent movies (adjusted OR = 1.6, CI: 1.3 - 2.1). Physical, verbal, and psychological types of violence achieved the adjusted ORs of 1.6 (CI: 1.3 - 2.05), 1.3 (CI: 1.1 - 1.6), and 1.07 (CI = 0.8 - 1.3), respectively. Conclusions: Watching violent movies can noticeably increase the frequency of violent behaviors among adolescents, especially in boys and rural students.

SCTF: an efficient neural network based on local spatial compression and full temporal fusion for video violence detection

SCTF: an efficient neural network based on local spatial compression and full temporal fusion for video violence detection

Effect of a Gun Safety Video on Children’s Behavior Around Real Guns

Firearms are the leading cause of death for children in the US. It is therefore crucial to identify effective ways to reduce firearm injuries among children. To test the effectiveness of a gun safety video vs a car safety video on decreasing unsafe behaviors around real guns after exposure to a violent movie with vs without guns. Of 245 participants aged 8 to 12 years, 226 were tested (13 did not complete the laboratory portion, 4 had technical problems, and 2 did not respond to follow-up inquiries). Data were collected from February 2 to October 16, 2022. Participants were recruited via Facebook ads, ResearchMatch, and parent or guardian referrals. The study was conducted in 2 parts. Children watched a safety video at home 1 week before coming to the laboratory at The Ohio State University. Pairs of children were randomly assigned to watch a 1-minute gun or car safety video at home. In the laboratory, they were randomly assigned to watch a 20-minute clip from a violent PG-rated movie with or without guns. Next, they played with games and toys for 20 minutes in another room that contained 2 disabled 9-mm handguns hidden in a file cabinet drawer. Sessions were videotaped via a hidden camera. Outcomes were whether children told an adult, touched a handgun, handled it, or pulled the trigger. Control variables were age, gender, race and ethnicity, trait aggressiveness, age-inappropriate media exposure, firearm attitude and interest, presence of firearms at home, and whether children had taken a firearm safety course. Of 226 children (mean [SD] age, 9.99 [1.38] years; 113 [52.3%] male), 216 (95.6%) found a gun and were included in analyses. Those who saw the gun (vs car) safety video were more likely to tell an adult about the gun they found (38 of 112 [33.9%] vs 11 of 104 [10.6%]), were less likely to touch the gun (44 of 112 [39.3%] vs 70 of 104 [67.3%]), held the gun fewer seconds if they did touch it (mean [SD], 42.04 [121.46] vs 98.96 [195.10]), were less likely to pull the trigger at all (10 of 112 [8.9%] vs 31 of 104 [29.8%]), and pulled the trigger fewer times (mean [SD], 4.20 [20.17] vs 7.23 [15.75]). Being male, exposure to age-inappropriate movies, and gun interest were related to unsafe behavior. Prior completion of a firearm safety course, having guns at home, and negative gun attitudes were related to safe behavior. In this trial of children assigned to watch a gun or car safety video, watching a gun safety video reduced children's unsafe behavior around real guns. Children who had previously taken a gun safety course, had guns in the home, and had negative attitudes toward guns were less likely to engage in unsafe behavior around real guns. To encourage safe firearm behavior, children should be educated about gun safety and should not watch age-inappropriate media. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05257837.

It’s a Fine Line between Sadism and Horror

Much has been written about the puzzling aesthetic appeal of horror films that include scenes of brutal, graphic violence. More recently, however, some philosophers have proposed that viewing certain horror films as a source of entertainment is morally problematic because of the impact they might have on our moral psychology. By contrast, Ian Stoner argues that viewing fictional depictions of violence in horror films is not morally problematic because horror films do not present violence in ways that risk damaging the kinds of reactive attitudes required to exhibit a well-functioning moral psychology. In this paper I note some the ways in which Stoner is correct about horror films, yet I argue that he has overstated his case for the permissibility of viewing all instances of horrific violence as entertainment.

Is playing violent video games a risk factor for aggressive behaviour? Adding narcissism, self-esteem and PEGI ratings to the debate.

Aggressive behaviour is a challenge for society. There continues to be considerable debate over whether the consumption of violent video games affects aggression, as violent video game content has become more accessible in recent years due to the growing use of online distribution platforms. Personality traits often linked to aggression, such as narcissism and self-esteem, have been considered in the context of violent video game play and their relationship with aggression. We surveyed an international population of 166 game players on their personality traits and their three favourite video game choices, which were classified as violent or non-violent, using Pan European Game Information (PEGI) 16 and 18 ratings. We found that violent video game choice is a predictor of verbal aggression alongside narcissism, and hostility alongside self-esteem. A categorical regression highlighted the desire to impersonate society's undesirable role models (e.g., 'be a thief or a killer') as one of the motivations for aggression and violent video game choice. These findings show that video game violence should be considered a risk factor for aggression, as in other violent media, as it provides a social reinforcement of aggressive behaviour and observational learning of aggressive models, calling for the introduction of stricter online age verification procedures on online game platforms to safeguard children from violent video game content; and increased use of parental controls on content fruition. More granularity should be considered in the PEGI classifications.

Peer relationships and aggressive behaviour in adolescents: Moderation by gender and mediation by media violence

We investigated the role of gender and media violence in adolescents’ peer relationship problems and aggressive behaviour. High school students (n = 144) from South-Eastern Nigeria participated in the study. Seventy-two completed an experiment in which they were exposed to media violence, while the other 72 served as attention controls. Following the interventions, the students completed measures of peer relationship problems and aggressive behaviour. Results from Hayes PROCESS Macro for moderated–mediation analyses indicated that peer relationship qualities predicted aggressive behaviour. Media violence exposure mediated the peer influence–aggressive behaviour relationship, such that the relationship was stronger for male participants with greater peer relationship problems. The relationship was weaker for female participants with lesser or no peer relationship problems. These findings are consistent with social learning theory, which proposes that children learn to engage in aggressive behaviour by observing the aggression of others, which could intensify over time.

Straw men, bogus claims, and misinformation about media violence: Reply to comment by Devilly et al. (2023).

Straw men, bogus claims, and misinformation about media violence: Reply to comment by Devilly et al. (2023).

Ecologies of Violence on Social Media: An Exploration of Practices, Contexts, and Grammars of Online Harm

Violence is an almost ubiquitous phenomenon in contemporary digital environments. In this context, there is a growing need to understand how violence is enacted and represented on social media. Drawing from a case study where Colombian young adults discussed the violence they interacted with on their everyday uses of digital platforms, this article explores how violence on social media is experienced and understood by users. Findings emphasize the need to look at violence on digital platforms as a multifaceted, fluid, overlapping, and interconnected phenomenon. In light of these results, I suggest framing current harmful practices as ecologies of violence. To better explore these ecologies, I outline three specific areas that highlight how violence is transformed on social media: practices, contexts, and grammars. Overall, this study emphasizes the need to recognize and address the complexity of violence in social media—a necessary step toward building cultures of peace in and outside of our digital environments.

PORTRAYAL OF VIOLENCE IN PAKISTAN FEATURE FILM: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ZIA ERA AND DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT OF BENAZIR BHUTTO

This research aims to examine the portrayal of violence in Pakistani Feature Films while developing a comparative analysis during the eras of late military dictator General Zia and former Primer Pakistan Benazir Bhutto. As, the two regimes have opposite governance mechanisms; socio-political and religious approaches, wherein cultural activities were practiced with two different lenses. Gen. Zia’s regime imposed cultural sanctions on entertainment programs including films, dramas, and newscasting in the name of enforcing the Islamic system of governance, whereas Benazir Bhutto’s regime provided freedom of expression for liberal thoughts, showbiz programs, and movies on women empowerment. However, this research hypothesis the physical, verbal, and psychological violence portrayed in feature films produced during the regime of Zia was more than the violence portrayed in movies produced during Benazir’s regime. Researchers employed a quantitative approach with content analysis as a research method. Based on the equal allocation method, 5 movies in Urdu and Punjabi languages were taken from Zia’s era, and five movies from Benazir Bhutto’s era. A coding sheet was developed with the assistance of trained coders while dividing data sets into different variables involved in physical, abusive, and psychologically oppressive acts. The study approved cultivation theory as ideas cultivated through films were gratified by the viewers. The results reveal that the time and scenes portraying violence in movies produced during Zia’s era were much higher as compared to the era of Benazir Bhutto. Results showed the steps of women’s empowerment and cultural liberation were reflected in the movies. The women felt empowered and free from any religious or cultural or social taboos involved in creative achievements. The research suggested the government should step forward and design certain definite benchmarks with the recommendations to the Censor Board to adopt and ensure violence-free movies. Keywords: Abusive Language, Comparative Study, Content Analysis, Feature Films, Physical Violence, Women Empowerment

PORTRAYAL OF VIOLENCE IN PAKISTAN FEATURE FILM: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ZIA ERA AND DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT OF BENAZIR BHUTTO

This research aims to examine the portrayal of violence in Pakistani Feature Films while developing a comparative analysis during the eras of late military dictator General Zia and former Primer Pakistan Benazir Bhutto. As, the two regimes have opposite governance mechanisms; socio-political and religious approaches, wherein cultural activities were practiced with two different lenses. Gen. Zia’s regime imposed cultural sanctions on entertainment programs including films, dramas, and newscasting in the name of enforcing the Islamic system of governance, whereas Benazir Bhutto’s regime provided freedom of expression for liberal thoughts, showbiz programs, and movies on women empowerment. However, this research hypothesis the physical, verbal, and psychological violence portrayed in feature films produced during the regime of Zia was more than the violence portrayed in movies produced during Benazir’s regime. Researchers employed a quantitative approach with content analysis as a research method. Based on the equal allocation method, 5 movies in Urdu and Punjabi languages were taken from Zia’s era, and five movies from Benazir Bhutto’s era. A coding sheet was developed with the assistance of trained coders while dividing data sets into different variables involved in physical, abusive, and psychologically oppressive acts. The study approved cultivation theory as ideas cultivated through films were gratified by the viewers. The results reveal that the time and scenes portraying violence in movies produced during Zia’s era were much higher as compared to the era of Benazir Bhutto. Results showed the steps of women’s empowerment and cultural liberation were reflected in the movies. The women felt empowered and free from any religious or cultural or social taboos involved in creative achievements. The research suggested the government should step forward and design certain definite benchmarks with the recommendations to the Censor Board to adopt and ensure violence-free movies. Keywords: Abusive Language, Comparative Study, Content Analysis, Feature Films, Physical Violence, Women Empowerment

Examining correlates of aggression and mediating effect of psychological distress between exposure to media violence and aggression in lebanese adults

BackgroundViolent media is the most consumed type of media in Lebanon. Many studies have linked exposure to media violence to increased aggression and psychological distress. As Lebanon is going through socio-political turmoil, we aimed to [1] explore the correlates of aggression (i.e., sociodemographic factors, BMI, loneliness, social competence, and psychological distress) in a sample of Lebanese adults from the general population, and [2] to examine the mediating effect of psychological distress in the association between exposure to media violence and aggression in this sample.MethodologyAdults were recruited through online convenience sampling. We employed scales to assess content-based media exposure (C-ME), aggression (BPAQ-SF), psychological distress (DASS-8), loneliness (JGLS), and perceived social competence (PSCS).ResultsExposure to media violence was associated with all four aggression subtypes (verbal, physical, hostility, and anger). Psychological distress partially mediated all these associations; higher exposure to media violence was significantly associated with more psychological distress, which was significantly associated with higher levels of all types of aggression. Moreover, higher exposure to media violence was significantly associated with higher levels of all types of aggression.ConclusionIn the sociopolitical context of Lebanon, violent media could be considered a public hazard. Psychological distress likely potentiates the association between exposure to violent media and aggression. Future research should focus on determining what components of psychological distress underpin this mediation.