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Monday, July 23, 2012

Viewing Violence: How Media Violence Affects Development

We become what we perceive.

Not only do Americans perceive an astonishing amount of violence, Americans have become astonishingly violent.

Guns are a superficial tumor on a visceral cancer.

Viewing Violence


Viewing Violence 

Madeline Levine (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review) 

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1996
Presents all the existing data about the detrimental effects of media violence on children in an accessible way and analyzes how parents, government, schools, and the media themselves can best react to the problem. Tour.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Levine?psychotherapist, consultant to preschools and elementary schools in the San Francisco Bay area and mother of three boys?has performed a valuable service for parents here by lucidly synthesizing four decades of research on the harmful effects of media violence on children. Graphic, gratuitous depictions of violence on television and in the movies, she concludes, encourage young viewers to act more aggressively, desensitizes them to real-world violence and instills a distorted, pessimistic worldview. Media violence also makes children more restless, more fearful and less creative. TV programs present limited options for girls and glorify violent solutions for boys. Levine traces the successive stages of cognitive, emotional and moral development, from preschoolers' magical, totally egocentric outlook to teenagers often coping with confusion, apathy and hopelessness. Using this developmental framework, she sets forth guidelines to help parents decide what kids should and shouldn't watch. Of particular interest, she finds that most children's cartoons are antisocial, violent, mindnumbing and inane. An annotated list of resources includes government agencies, TV networks, advocacy groups, organizations active in media literacy.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Psychologist Levine asserts that violence in the media damages children and marshalls 40 years of academic research to support her claim in a parent-friendly manner. Using a "development approach" based on the work of child theorists like Piaget, the author analyzes how children process the media at different stages. Provocative statistics and policy discussions abound here. We learn that American children on average watch double the amount of TV that experts recommend. The book concludes with suggestions and resources to increase the quality of the mass media and the literacy of its viewers. The inadequacy of a movie rating system that brands both Rain Man and Pulp Fiction as "R" and the promise of the V-chip are also explored. Specific recommendations for positive programming that will appeal to various groups are made, but the references will date quickly. Though repetitive in parts, this is an authoritative work on a significant social problem. Recommended for public library media collections and academic libraries supporting programs in mass media or child development.?Antoinette Bruckman, Southwest Indiana Mental Health Ctr. Lib., Evansville
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Doubleday; 1st edition (September 1, 1996)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0385476868
  • ISBN-13: 978-0385476867
  • Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,468,617 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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    More About the Author

    › Visit Amazon's Madeline Levine Page
    Madeline Levine

    Biography

    Dr. Madeline Levine, Ph.D. is a clinician, consultant, and educator with over twenty-five years of experience.Her new book Teach Your Children Well has been hailed as "fantastic, on-point, and desperately needed" and "A modern guide for the perplexed (parent)!" It is the follow-up to her New York Times best-selling book, The Price of Privilege which explores the reasons why teenagers from affluent families are experiencing epidemic rates of emotional problems. Her two previous books, Viewing Violence and See No Evil, both received critical acclaim. Dr. Levine began her career as an elementary and junior high school teacher in the South Bronx of New York before moving to California and earning her degrees in psychology. For many years, Dr. Levine has been a consultant to various Bay Area schools, from preschool through High School. She lectures extensively to parent and school audiences at public and private schools nationwide. She has also taught Child Development classes to graduate students at the University of California Medical Center, San Francisco. She is a cofounder of Challenge Success (http://challengesuccess.org) a program birthed at the Stanford School of Education that addresses school reform, parent education, and student well-being. Levine has been identified as an important resource for issues associated with adolescents' development. She is one of the few talking heads featured in the documentary Race to Nowhere, and the go-to person for producers and journalists across the country who report on education and parenting. She lives outside San Francisco with her husband, and is the proud mother of three newly minted adult sons. *For more on Madeline Levine, her writing, upcoming appearances and links to past interviews, visit: http://madelinelevine.com/
    Most Helpful Customer Reviews
    6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
    5.0 out of 5 stars Moms and Dads, wake up to what your kids are watching!! November 30, 1996
    By A Customer
    Format:Hardcover
    Very disturbing book about what's happening with TV, and the
    effects of TV violence on our kids. Does a steady diet of
    violence have negative effects on kids? You won't wonder
    after reading this book. The author says -- and you won't doubt
    her after reading this -- that there are hundreds of studies
    already done that document the negative impact of TV violence
    on our kids. Yet nobody talks about them. The TV industry
    likes to claim credit for reducing drinking and driving through its
    public service ads. Great. But they at the same time
    REFUSE to take RESPONSIBILITY for also contributing to
    violence in this country through shows that glorify the stuff.
    The book is also fascinating for the author's description of
    the different stages kids go through -- how kids who are 6 perceive the
    same show differently than kids who are 10, and so on. The author's
    a psychologist by trade. Fascinating book -- with critically important
    findings for all of us.
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