Audience Theory

The Effects Model aka The Hypodermic Syringe Model
This Theory suggests the consumption of media effects (often adversely) the audiences. The audience is influenced, sometimes to replicate what they have consumed. Here the audience is passive and allows images to be "injected" directly to the brain and the audience is powerless to resist.



Case Study

Manhunt
February 2004 Manhunt was linked to the murder of Stefan Pakeerah, only 14 years of age. He was brutally murdered with a hammer and a knife that Warren Leblanc, 17, had mimicked from a violent scene from the video gme. Stefans mother called for the game to banned but only years later Manhunt 2 was released due to a higher demand for the first version being banned. Leblanc got sentanced to life.

I am using this case to see if violent and other disturbing images really are "injected" into our minds. I see how this could seem related to Pakeerah's murder but I don't believe that we copy everything we see on T.V, especially when it's indecent.


Childs Play 3
In 1993 two 10 year old boys lead 2 year old James Bulger to a train track where they violently harrassed him and left him for dead on the train track. This story shocked the nation and outragged most. A while later, the boys were said to have watched Childs Play 3. The film was then banned by politions. However, it is highly believed that it was only banned to cover up the failure of social services, as the young boys were from poor, neglected backgrounds. There was no evidence to prove they had even seen the film!

Again, there is no proof that the children had watched the film and even if they did, they should know by the age of 5, at the oldest, that what they were doing was completly wrong.

Albert Bandura
Albert Bandura created the Bobo Experiment. He put a model in a room with a Bobo doll and the model pushed it aound and beat it as some children watched it on a screen. They were then put into a room with their favourite toys that they were not allowed to touch. Next they were placed into a room with the Bobo toy and hammers. 88% of the children attacked the doll just like they had seen.

This experiment is again not proven. The children were made angry first and placed in a room with the doll. What else were they going to do with the doll? When they hit it, it bounces back up, IT'S FUN!