The Mean World Syndrome Analysis

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Amelia Phillips SOC100 Brouillette 5 October 2015 “The Mean World Syndrome” Over the past few decades’ media has played an important role in influencing our society. From local news to violent video games, researchers have studied the effects they have on our culture and our beliefs. George Gerbner coined the term “The Mean world Syndrome” where a society believes the world is more dangerous than it really is due to all the exposure and focus in the media. This essay will analyze how media has affected our societies view of violence in the world by iterating the agents of socialization and how they limit our choices and violence in media and what the human cost is. “From movies to television shows to video games to children’s programs to 24-hour…show more content…
Each agent serves a different aspect. Family implements certain values and beliefs. School teaches responsibility and how to interact with authority and follow directions. All import aspect to know for later on in life. School also provides interaction with peers. Social interaction from peers provides an opportunity to interact with like-minded people and a chance to interact with people with different perspectives on the world. This can provide new insight and ways of thinking on certain matters, something that a family would never be able to provide. Mass media shapes the perception that people have on the world. It offers a wide variety of content and lets people see the world and what’s going on around them. Kids grow up watching TV, and looking up to the celebrities, who set trends. Younger kids and teens are impressionable and imitate their idols and that helps shape their personality. These agents of socialization limit our choices immensely because it narrows our view of the world. We see things from our perspective and use our life experiences to make decisions. We accept certain values and ideas because we have internalized them from a young age with all the agents of…show more content…
This idea is illustrated by a poll that was conducted that found out that “73 percent of Americans believe that more immigrants cause higher crime rates”(video). Humor is often used in violence because “it is an excellent communication device”(video). It makes it easier to get away with and who the viewer is inclined to side with. Media has the power to manipulate stories and create problems that don’t exist, for example, the negative portrayal of different races, the H.G. Welles story, showing continuous violence on TV instead of happy news

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