Children, Adolescents, and Media Violence
A Critical Look at the Research
- Steven J. Kirsh - SUNY Geneseo
Key Features:
• covers multiple forms of media violence (e.g., animated violence, sports violence, dramatic violence, gaming violence)
• discusses and critiques the five major theories utilized to explain the impact of media violence on children and adolescents • places media violence in the context of other risk factors for aggression
• extends the discussion beyond explicit media violence to address the potential benefits and harm associated with nonviolent media consumption
• 'Research in Focus' boxes highlight key data and statistics
“This is an outstanding book. Key strengths are professional and comprehensive treatment of the literature and reader accessibility. I am a mass communication scholar, and with the aid of Kirsh's text I feel I have a psychologist in the classroom with me. I have adopted this book for my course several times and will continue to do so in the future. Please let me summarize the above review in three words. "This book rocks!" Thank you for this great addition to the literature.”
“It is an excellent book which my students lilted a lot. It is a very good intro into the domain of media violence research for anyone who wants an accessible yet comprehensive coverage of the area. I will certainly continue using the book for my courses and look forward to the new edition.”
"Kirsh strikes a good balance between breadth and depth, presenting a concise yet holistic review of the media violence literature. The book does a great job of integrating diverse findings and providing a deeper understanding of processes underlying media violence effects that can benefit both psychologists and a general audience."
"Since Steven Kirsh pays attention to introduce all necessary methodological aspects as well as discuss the different aspects of media violence research in detail, this book can be used as a textbook in undergraduate as well as graduate courses. However this book is not limited to the context of the university, but also a helpful resource for teachers and parents. They can easily understand the mechanism by which violent media influences children."
A fascinating book: very comprehensive in scope dealing with a wide range of issues and debates. I was especially impressed by the sections exploring different forms of media such as comics and the internet and the debates around public policy and risk.