Ferguson Christopher J, Beresin Eugene
Stetson University, United States.
Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, United States.
Prev Med. 2017 Jun;99:69-76. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2017.02.009. Epub 2017 Feb 14.
For nearly half a century, psychologists, pediatricians and psychiatrists have studied the potential impact of media violence on aggression and societal violence, particularly among youth. Despite hundreds of studies, scholars have failed to find consensus on potential effects. Nonetheless, professional organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and American Psychological Association have released policy statements conclusively linking violent media to societal concerns. In reaction, some scholars have accused these professional groups of distorting evidence and failing to inform the public of the inconsistent nature of studies in this field. The current paper reviews recent research on media violence. It concludes that caution is recommended in public statements regarding media effects and that professional groups risk serious reputation damage with policy statements calling for behavioral change without clear reflection of the current evidence-base of the research. Recommendations are provided for practitioners and for science policy.
近半个世纪以来，心理学家、儿科医生和精神科医生一直在研究媒体暴力对攻击行为和社会暴力的潜在影响，尤其是在青少年群体中。尽管进行了数百项研究，但学者们未能就潜在影响达成共识。尽管如此，美国儿科学会和美国心理协会等专业组织已经发布了政策声明，明确将暴力媒体与社会问题联系起来。作为回应，一些学者指责这些专业团体歪曲证据，没有向公众告知该领域研究结果的不一致性。本文回顾了近期关于媒体暴力的研究。结论是，在关于媒体影响的公开声明中建议谨慎行事，专业团体在没有清晰反映当前研究证据基础的情况下发布呼吁行为改变的政策声明，可能会面临严重的声誉损害。本文为从业者和科学政策提供了建议。
