Aggression and Violence in This Day and Essay

Aggression and Violence

In this day and age, just about everything is rated. From movies to television shows and even video games, forms of media are given ratings to depict who they are approved for and what type of content the viewer or user can expect. One of the main reasons for this rating system is the prevalence of violent movies, television shows and video games and the psychological theories that suggest that viewing violent activities can lead to acts of violence.

It is important to consider that although there is research that points to the fact that viewing violence can lead to violence, this is not a theory that can be applied universally. There are many people that can view violence and not have such a negative reaction toward it. The problem with this is that there is no way of telling those who can be negatively influenced from those who cannot.

Deciding whether or not the theories of violence and aggression being influenced by the media have any validity is more complicated than it may seem. Those who can identify or believe in a link between the two do so off of the notion that violent, aggressive children are created and not conceived.This dispels the idea that there are biological reasons behind violence in children, or that things like abuse and neglect can make a child more prone to violence.

By nature, children are imitators. They see what the adults and other children around them and often imitate those actions, whether they are of a positive or a negative nature. In this sense, it may be possible that some children are biologically predisposed to a violent nature while other children can be easily influenced by violence they view on television, movies and games and imitate them.

Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory of Aggression states that aggressive behaviors are learned through the….....