Violence and children
Premise
Viewing of Violence by children has always been a source of concern to social psychologists as it has been seen in many experiments that aggression can be a learnt phenomenon and that children exposed to violence, there attitude towards aggression also changes.
| These have been seen primarily when children watch violent programs on television, but today, the aggression by adults also acts as a similar stimulus. The fights that we have on roads, at home, all are aggressive stimuli. War, its viewing, and being in a world that has war, is a cause of concern as there cannot be a more violent stimulus for children than war. It has been seen that the following impacts happen on children who watch violence: |
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Tendency to aggress
When a child watches violence, he gets an emotional arousal that increases the tendency to aggress. This has been shown in various studies and experiments.
ImitationChildren learn through observation, and like to imitate what they see. And in case of violence they imitate it in real life. Toy guns, and mock fights are a reflection of these. But what concerns psychologists are that these can actually precipitate more aggression and result into aggressive behavior. |
Desensitization
By repeated viewing the desensitization of children towards the stimulus takes place. This actually changes their social and moral perception as well. This is not very good for the overall personality of the growing child, as he tends to get desensitized to violence and feels that it’s just another part of life.
DisinhibitionNot only do children get desensitized to violence but also they get disinhibited to it and this makes their individual aggressive tendencies easier to express.
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