Plunk the kids down in the den and turn on the tube. Hello, "WWF Smackdown," and goodbye juvenile delinquency!
That, anyway, is the marvelously counterintuitive notion of Jib Fowles, a communications professor at the University of Houston's Clear Lake campus.
The professor argues that, more than three decades of social research notwithstanding, there is little actual proof of any connection between the violent images that appear on television and the increase in violence in American society since the advent of TV. Instead, Fowles contends, the violence we see on television is good for us as a country, and particularly for impressionable adolescents.
Fowles, author of the new book "The Case for Television Violence" (Sage Publications), talked about his theory in a recent telephone interview.
"Television helps the population, placates the population and has a lot to do with our emotional well-being," Fowles said. "Viewers use television content and, in particular, television violence, to help them manage their own emotions. So I see television's violent content as therapeutic for the population."
Acting Out Hostile, Aggressive Feelings
While Fowles' taste runs to police dramas, his son, Nate, enjoys "WWF Smackdown," a pageantry of exaggerated wrestling contests between clearly "evil" and clearly "good" combatants.
"I think that he gets to act out hostile and aggressive feelings," said Fowles, who has written several books about television. "It's not easy to be a 12-year-old."
As the forces for good generally prevail on most shows, Nate is also learning that crime doesn't pay, argues Fowles--an argument that harks back to Aristotle's concept of catharsis. Admittedly, it would be difficult to find many writings bloodier than the classic Greek tragedies or Shakespeare's "Hamlet."
But not everyone sees it that way. Although some scholars find no clear correlation between violent entertainment and actual behavior, Fowles' adversaries include the religious right and the feminist left, virtually the entire medical establishment and leading political figures from both parties.
A September 1999 study released by the Center for Media and Public Affairs that surveyed broadcast television, cable stations, music videos and films drew upon research from the National Institutes of Health, the American Psychiatric Assn. and the American Medical Assn. The report's authors wrote: "Media violence not only increases aggression among young viewers, it breeds a callousness toward violence directed at others."
