Serious Youth Violence & Long-term Use of Violent Media

这项拟议的研究的首要目标是促进我们对接触和参与暴力媒体与儿童、青少年和成年时期严重的攻击性、暴力和犯罪行为的关系的理解。具体地说，我们将探讨事先接触媒体暴力对下列人群随后严重攻击性和暴力行为的作用：居住在县和州设施中的被监禁少年犯；参加县日间治疗和分流计划的少年犯；在社会经济困难社区上学的学前班和幼儿园学生；在类似贫困社区上学的高中生；居住在州立监狱的被监禁的暴力和非暴力成年罪犯；以及从儿童中期开始一直持续到成年中期的两组标准化个人。拟议的调查将针对几个具体目标：1)首先，我们将研究青少年犯罪和年轻成年犯罪人口的严重暴力和犯罪行为与他们同时和先前接触暴力媒体之间的联系。2)其次，我们将调查高危青年群体中的暴力和潜在犯罪行为与他们同时和以前接触暴力媒体之间的联系。3)第三，利用现有的两个纵向数据集，我们将研究成年早期和中期的长期预测 从小接触暴力媒体的暴力和犯罪行为。4)第四，在我们的每个样本中，我们将分析可能缓和接触媒体暴力和严重暴力行为之间关系的个人、背景、观看和节目因素。5)最后，我们将调查与接触暴力媒体有关的社会认知因素对攻击性和暴力行为的长期调解。这项调查的结果将有助于我们理解儿童、青少年和成人媒体暴力暴露与同时和随后的严重攻击、暴力、反社会和犯罪行为之间的关系。

The overarching goal of the proposed research is to advance our understanding of how exposure to and engagement in violent media relates to severe aggressive, violent, and criminal behavior in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Specifically, we will explore the role of prior exposure to media violence on subsequent serious aggressive and violent behavior in the following populations: Incarcerated juvenile delinquents residing in county and state facilities; juvenile delinquents enrolled in county day treatment and diversion programs; preschool and kindergarten students attending schools in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities; high school seniors attending schools in similarly disadvantaged communities; incarcerated violent and nonviolent adult offenders residing in a state penitentiary; and two normative groups of individuals enrolled in long-term prospective longitudinal studies that began when the individuals were in middle childhood and since have continued into middle adulthood. The proposed investigation will target several specific aims: 1) First, we will examine the association between serious violent and criminal behavior in adolescent delinquent and young adult criminal populations and their concurrent and prior exposure to violent media. 2) Second, we will investigate the association between violent and potentially criminal behavior in at-risk youth populations and their concurrent and prior exposure to violent media. 3) Third, using two existing longitudinal data sets, we will study the long-term prediction of early and middle adulthood violent and criminal behavior from childhood exposure to violent media. 4) Fourth, within each of our samples, we will analyze the individual, contextual, viewing, and programming factors likely to moderate the strength of the relation between exposure to media violence and serious violent behavior. 5) Finally, we will investigate the over-time mediation of aggressive and violent behavior by social-cognitive factors linked to exposure to violent media. The results of this investigation will contribute critical information to our understanding of the relation between childhood, adolescent, and adult media violence exposure and concurrent and subsequent serious aggression, violence, antisocial and criminal behaviors.