THE SOCIOLOGICAL NORMING OF MEMBERS’ CONCEPTS OF “VIOLENT MUSIC” by Bernard D. Glowinski, BPA A thesis submitted to the Graduate Council of Texas State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts with a Major in Sociology December 2015 Committee Members: Joseph A. Kotarba, Chair Susan Day Richard H. Morley COPYRIGHT by Bernard D. Glowinski 2015 FAIR USE AND AUTHOR’S PERMISSION STATEMENT Fair Use This work is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, section 107). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgment. Use of this material for financial gain without the author’s express written permission is not allowed. Duplication Permission As the copyright holder of this work I, Bernard D. Glowinski, authorize duplication of this work, in whole or in part, for educational or scholarly purposes only. DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my mother, Ms. Liz. Thanks for being MY mom and always answering the telephone. I love you mom. I also dedicate my thesis to my papa, James Glowinski. I owe you everything for teaching me the importance of reading because without the reading, this thesis would not exist. I love you pop. I dedicate this thesis to my great-niece Isabella Rose, who always puts a smile on my face. I dedicate my thesis to my committee chair, Dr. Joseph A. Kotarba. Thank you for your wisdom, guidance, time, and patience. The best way I can ever pay you back is by doing the best I can. I owe Debbie Owens, Diana Felix, Maria Noonan, Nadia Dave, and especially Samantha Waggerman thanks for being there from the beginning and teaching me how to be a student. Other important people in my life include Sammy Wammy, Mr. Jose Ruiz, Ms. Mary Grant, Ms. Tina Marsh, and Dr. William Crisp. Finally, I dedicate this thesis to my family, friends, and everyone I did not have the space to name. Every zig and every zag of my life was required to bring me to this one moment. It was never about luck, only very hard work. Thank you all for making this thesis possible. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS With great sentiment and gratitude, I would like to acknowledge the following institutions and individuals for their assistance in completing this thesis: Dr. Susan Day and Dr. Richard Morley; The Department of Sociology and the Department of Sociology Statistics Laboratory at Texas State University in San Marco, Texas, especially Dr. Kyong Hee Chee, Dr. Gloria Martinez, Dr. Nathan Pino, Ms. Lillian Dees, Ms. Kay Newling, Mr. Colin Pearson, and Mr. Patrick Dew; The Writing Center at Texas State, especially Dr. Nancy Wilson, Mr. Jon Beaubien, and Ms. Rachel Snow; The Political Science Department at Texas State, especially Dr. Christopher Brown, Dr. Thomas Longoria, Dr. Rick Henderson, Dr. Sherri Mora, and Mr. Ben Arnold; Saint John’s University in Queens, New York; Temple College in Temple, Texas, especially Ms. Tina Marsh, Ms. Debbie Owens, and the TRIO program; Dr. Kay Chapoton of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs for the opportunity to attend college; Dr. Raymond Hayworth; my friend Blackie; Mr. Mark Cano; Mr. Tony Gomez; Mr. Jimmy Husted; Mr. Peter Tyler; Ms. Simone Peoples; Ms. Janet Jackson; Ms. Donna Pettit; Mr. Richard Chambers; Mr. Red; Ms. Sweet Cheeks; Ms. Erica Garble; Mr. Mac; Ms. Crazy Elizabeth; Mr. “Road-dog” Randy Morrison; all of my pen-pals; and everyone I did not mention, you know who you are. Thank you. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................... viii ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................1 Theoretical Framework for the Project ........................................................3 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................................5 Violence: Three Different Parts ...................................................................5 Musicology: A System of Semiotic Character and Signs ............................6 More recent years of musicology .....................................................8 Music as language ............................................................................9 Journalism: Fiction or Fact ........................................................................10 Moral entrepreneurs and their not normal perceptions ..................11 Parents Music Resource Center: Their interpretation of the First Amendment ...............................................................................12 Perceptions starting with Plato.......................................................15 Brain priming using Heavy Metal music .......................................16 Religion: Christian Heavy Metal is Sacred ................................................19 Psychology: A Musical Twist of the Brain ................................................21 Neuroimaging: Geographical Mapping of the Brain’s Landscape and Countryside ...........................................................................................23 Electroencephalogram: EEG ..........................................................23 Cardiovascular psychophysiological responses: How the body beats...........................................................................................24 Meditation: The Intervening Variable .......................................................24 Sociology: My Major and Thesis Perspective ...........................................25 Textualists: Words to Describe Words ......................................................26 Contextualists: Individuals to Describe Words..........................................27 Toward A Science of Violent Popular Music ............................................29 vi 3. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................32 A General Meaning of: What is a “Violent Song” ....................................32 Methodology for My Project .....................................................................33 Collecting the rich descriptive data................................................35 The First Survey .........................................................................................35 The Second Survey ....................................................................................36 The Focus Group........................................................................................37 4. RESULTS ..........................................................................................................39 Rich Descriptive Data: The First Survey Breakdown................................39 The Second Survey ....................................................................................55 Nineteen students needed extra credit............................................55 5. ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................61 The First Survey .........................................................................................61 The Second Survey ....................................................................................64 The Focus Group........................................................................................66 6. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION ...............................................................69 A Violent Song Definition .........................................................................69 The Normed List of Five Violent Songs ....................................................70 Violent Music.............................................................................................70 Conclusion .................................................................................................72 APPENDIX SECTION .....................................................................................................74 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................77 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviation Description AFA American Family Association EDM Electric Dance Music EEG Electroencephalogram fMRI Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging HRV Heart Rate Variability IRB Institutional review Board MRI Magnetic Resonance Imaging L Language NAACP National Association for the Advancement of Colored People NCNW National Council of Negro Women NOW National Organization for Women NPCBW National Political Congress of Black Women NRC National Rainbow Coalition PMRC Parents Music Resource Center PTA Parent Teacher Association SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences VA Veterans Administration viii ABSTRACT The purpose of this project was to provide a symbolic interactionist context for an interdisciplinary study of cardiovascular psychophysiological responses to violent music. The study involves an interdisciplinary team of psychological, criminal justice, and sociological researchers. The goal of the study was to examine the mediating effects of mindfulness meditation on the cardiovascular psychophysiological effects of violent music. The sociological component of this study was the assembly