If a person were to go and turn on their television, most likely to be playing would be a movie or show filled with violence, weapons, and blood. A popular show in recent years has been Dexter. Dexter is about a serial killer, named Dexter, who murders other serial killers and those who have escaped the justice system. Although he is breaking the law, he is in his own way “good”, because he lives by a moral code; he does not hurt the innocent and he tends to follow the social norms. Before its final season, the series was presented on Showtime, which for the most part is an uncensored channel, so there was quite a bit of goriness. In each of the episodes, the killing is quite explicit, Dexter’s preferred method of dealing with his victims is to surgically cut them into sections while they are still alive and dump their bodies into the waters near his Miami home. There is constantly blood everywhere: splattered on the walls, covering parking lots, or even flowing out of bathtubs. For some reason, people seem to be attracted to the darkness that this show is based on, this is due to the fact that we get to see Dexter act on his impulses and deepest desires without any consequences or being looked down on by those around him; whatever the reason we cannot officially conclude that Dexter or any media similar to it, have any influence over the violence in our modern day society as a whole.
Recently, the effect that violent media has on society has been the focus of many psychological studies. According to an article published in the New York Times, research has found that: “Exposure to violent imagery does not preordain violence, but it is a risk factor” (Pozios, Kambam, Bender, 2013). There has yet to be a direct link between violence actually causing people to go on these massive shooting sprees that have been so common lately. It is natural and understandable for the public to want to find some kind of explanation for all the violence and terrorism that is being seen around them, so we recognize why they feel the need to criticize the new video games that involve shooting, and condemn those movies that are full of explosives and car chases, and disparage any television shows that praise such behavior; however there is no sense in completely blaming the media due to the fact that there are plenty of other factors involved such as: “being male or having a low socioeconomic status or low I.Q.” (Pozios, Kambam, Bender, 2013), all of these are contributions to the aggression that may lead to such vicious acts; it is not Dexter solely acting alone.
There will always be people who argue that the media is teaching young children to act in a horrible manner. Many are under the impression that it is actually desensitizing today’s youth, thus causing them to be unable to differentiate between what is proper behavior and what should never be imitated. These people maintain that children that have been desensitized will lack empathy for others and are more...
