Television Violence, African-Americans, and Social Control 1950-1976 Author(S): Henry Taylor and Carol Dozier Source: Journal of Black Studies, Vol
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Television Violence, African-Americans, and Social Control 1950-1976 Author(s): Henry Taylor and Carol Dozier Source: Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 14, No. 2 (Dec., 1983), pp. 107-136 Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2784315 . Accessed: 07/05/2013 16:39 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Sage Publications, Inc. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of Black Studies. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 128.205.118.121 on Tue, 7 May 2013 16:39:09 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions TELEVISION VIOLENCE, AFRICAN-AMERICANS, AND SOCIAL CONTROL 1950-1976 HENRY TAYLOR CAROL DOZIER Columbus,Ohio Television,over the past three decades, has becomethe primary interpreterof Americanlife and history,and the principal socializinginstitution in the UnitedStates (Cater and Adler, 1974). Because of the great popularityof this medium,the prevalenceof violenceon televisionhas precipitatedan ongoing debate,and a voluminousliterature, about the effect that violent TV programshave on thesocial behavior of children and adults.I One side contendsthat continuousexposure to TV violence stimulatesaggressive anti-social behavior among select members ofthe mass viewing audience, and that this had ledto increasesin violentcrime and juvenile delinquency. TV, thisside argues, not only mirrorsthe violentcontent of social reality,but also contributesto violentbehavior by creating a vastfantasy world peopledwith appealing but violent characters who serve as social role models (Newcombe,1979; Cater and Strickland,1975; Seigal,1957). The otherside argues that television merely reflects theideas that people already have about the world in whichthey live,and that TV violencehas littleeffect on thesocial behavior of JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES, Vol. 14 No. 2, December1983 107-136 ? 1983Sage Publications,Inc. 107 This content downloaded from 128.205.118.121 on Tue, 7 May 2013 16:39:09 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 108 JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES / DECEMBER 1983 eitherchildren or adults(Schwartz, 1973; Barnouw, 1970; Lange et al., 1969;McLuhan, 1964; Klapper, 1960). Both sides in the debate about televisionviolence usually restricttheir inquiry into the complex psychosocial relationship betweentelevision violence and social behavior,to the rather simplisticquestion of whether or not TV violenceis a majorcause ofviolent antisocial behavior in Americansociety today. Histor- ical studies,however, provide a broaderperspective and a much morecogent answer to themore basic questionsof thegeneral natureand basic causes of violencein America.The American experiencehas beenplagued by an epidemicof violence, ranging fromnumerous border or territorialwars, to foreignwars, agrarianrevolts, a full-fledgedcivil war, massacres of Indians, the tortureof slaves,employer bellicosity toward workers, street violencein the slums,gang warfare, KKK lynchingsof blacks, domesticviolence, and the like (Kelley, 1981; Madol and Wakelyn,1980; Boyer and Morias,1971; Franklin, 1956)-all of whichpredate the advent of television.H. Rap Brown'swidely quoted statement,"Violence is as Americanas cherrypie," is, unfortunatelybut indisputably, historically accurate. Seen against the backdropof violencethat is stimulatedby otherhistorical causal factors,any possiblemarginal increase in violentsocial behaviorcaused by watchingviolent cowboy, police, and spy serieson televisionmust be considereda minorfactor in the etiologyof violent crime in thiscountry (Dick, 1979;Ryan, 1971; Fanon, 1963).2 Furthermore,there are no widely accepted explanationsof why television violence might bring about violent antisocialbehavior in some individualsbut not in others,or of how the lone factorof TV violencemight be knownto cause violentbehavior in an individualwho (we somehowassume) wouldnot otherwise commit such acts. It is also an openquestion whetherTV violencemight not "put off' many people in sucha way as to discouragetheir use of violence.After all, manyof today'santi-TV-violence campaigners grew up watchingcowboy moviesand "who-done-its."In short,how can we quantifythe net impactof this complex variable on a complex,historically violent societywhich nearly universally watches television? This content downloaded from 128.205.118.121 on Tue, 7 May 2013 16:39:09 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Taylorand Dozier / TV VIOLENCE, AFRICAN-AMERICANS 109 The criticsof television violence, while condemning violence and recognizingthe importanceof televisionas a learning source,have paid littlesystematic attention to the contentof TV violenceas a sourceof basic ideas aboutthe social order.As an instrumentof socialization, American commercial television is intimatelyinvolved with social conflictand social control. This involvement,as Clark (1969) suggests,is much more fundamentalthan the quiescentpresentation of some people enjoyingthe fruits of society while others do not.Not onlydoes TV uncriticallyreflect the social structureof societyin its selectionand presentationof charactersassociated with class divisions,but it also reinforcesthe notion that there is a fixed orderin society,and thatwhoever tries to upsetthat order will meet with tragedy (Schiller, 1976, 1975; Dorman and Mattchart,1975; Heffner,1973). The hypothesispresented in this articleis that television violence is used as a mechanismof social control in two interrelatedways. First,TV transmitsa conservativeconcept of legitimateviolence and the law enforcementsystem to the mass viewingaudience. By presentingan endless parade of invincible,violent, and generallymorally upright heroes, TV legitimizesthe use of violence-includingdeadly force3-by thosewho defendthe status quo, and reinforcesthe idea that the police are the good guys,altruistically dedicated to the protectionof society from evildoers. Second, because African- Americansare historicallythe most oppressed, exploited, and consistentlymilitant group in the United States, television attemptsto controltheir potential militancy by projectingthe violent black law enforcementofficer as a role model for emulationby black youth: by glamorizing and overrepresenting law enforcementofficers as an occupationaltype among black TV characters,television encourages African-Americans to view police work as a viable careerchoice (DeFleur, 1969). This articleexamines how TV violence servesnot only as a socializingagent which presents to themass viewingaudience thenarrow conservative view of violence and thelaw enforce- mentsystem, but also attempts,through the type of the violent This content downloaded from 128.205.118.121 on Tue, 7 May 2013 16:39:09 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 110 JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES / DECEMBER 1983 black police hero, to play a significantrole in the political socializationof African-Americans. TELEVISION'S EFFECT ON THE VIEWING AUDIENCE This studyis based on thepremise that television constitutes a majorfactor in theshaping of people's perceptionsof social reality,and that programmingwhich featuresviolent TV showsplays a special role in thisprocess by moldingpeople's attitudes,values, and beliefsabout thenature and characterof violenceand thelaw enforcementsystem in Americanlife and history.The basis of television'swide appeal and of its ability to shape people'sideas about differentaspects of social reality is the story tellingfunction of the medium. Gerbnerand Signorielli(1979) suggestthat TV drama and fictionplay an importantrole in conveyinginformation about social reality by demonstratingthe invisibleconnections that show how institutionswork and why.Barnouw (1970) arguesthat this connectionbetween fantasy and realityis drawneven tighter in the docudrama,which intentionally fuses fiction and docu- mentationin orderto enhancea certainview of reality.4This mergerof facts and fantasy,Barnouw points out, makes it even more difficultfor people to distinguishbetween fantasy and reality.No one, of course, believes everythingseen on tel- evision,but manypeople do believethat storylines are based on fact, at least at some level. Television series (with the obvious exceptionof some sciencefiction) purport to depict the actual functioningof real institutionsand to accurately portraythe attitudes,values, and beliefsof the people who performvarious functions in society,and who workfor or deal with various institutions(Monaco, 1981; Barnouw, 1970). Because of television'sability to validatereality, it maynever occurto viewersto questionwhether a depictionis real; and if theydo, theymay conclude that a show is essentiallytrue, "tellingit like it is" (Barnouw,1970). This content downloaded from 128.205.118.121 on Tue, 7 May 2013 16:39:09 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Taylorand Dozier / TV VIOLENCE, AFRICAN-AMERICANS 111 People do seemto believethat television provides a generally accuratepicture of theinner workings of thecorporate world, hospitals,newspaper offices, law schools,the criminaljustice system,and so on, which inner workingsare outside the experienceof themajority