Induce vizionarea conţinuturilor media violente agresivitatea în rândul deţinuţilor ? Un studiu experimental

The adverse effects that exposure to violent media has on emotional and behavioral individual functioning is well-documented. Some experimental studies conducted by L. Berkowitz and his associates have shown that viewing media violence increases the likelihood of short-term aggressive and violent behavior in observers. Based on these previous findings, a field experimental study was conducted at Rahova Prison. Forty-nine prison inmates were randomly divided into two experimental groups. Two weeks before the experiment, subjects completed a set of questionnaires that targeted their TV consumption habits, trait- and state-aggression as well as trait- and state-anxiety. In the second phase of our study, one group of subjects watched a 30-minute video montage of violent news, while the other group watched a montage of entertainment. Immediately after watching the video montage, subjects in each experimental group completed again the questionnaires that targeted their state-aggression and state-anxiety. Results did not support our working hypothesis. Some particular circumstances would explain the contradictory results we obtained. These circumstances are briefly discussed.