Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions The Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research. If electronic transmission of reserve material is used for purposes in excess of what constitutes "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. University of Nevada, Reno Violent Media Images as Socializing Agents: An Analysis of Role Models A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of BACHELOR OF ARTS IN PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY, AND BACHELOR OF SOCIAL WORK by SHAHNA E. STOUT Mary White Stewart, Ph.D., Thesis Advisor May, 2015 UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA THE HONORS PROGRAM RENO We recommend that the thesis prepared under our supervision by SHAHNA E. STOUT entitled Violent Media Images as Socializing Agents: An Analysis of Role Models be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of BACHELOR OF ARTS IN PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY, AND BACHELOR OF SOCIAL WORK ______________________________________________ Mary White Stewart, Ph.D., Thesis Advisor ______________________________________________ Tamara Valentine, Ph.D., Director, Honors Program May, 2015 i Abstract Socialization begins at the time of birth and continues throughout the life span, with some of the most formative years being those of pre-adolescence and adolescence. During this time, children typically distance themselves from the influence of their parents and seek role models whom they wish to emulate. Advancements in technology have led to subsequent increases in rates of media consumption, especially by youths. Through the increased use and access of media sources, pre-adolescents and adolescents have greater access to their role models. Research has shown that observing violent media images correlates with subsequent aggressive behavior, as well as the formation of beliefs regarding violence and gender inequality in relationships, which are formed during pre-adolescence and adolescence. During adolescence identity formation takes place and the child chooses to either reject certain beliefs or incorporate those beliefs into their identities; if the child incorporates violence beliefs of acceptance, they are more likely to be accepting of the violence in an abusive relationship. This paper examines the current literature regarding socialization and the importance of role models during the socialization process as background to understanding the potential effects of violent media images to pre-adolescent and adolescent girls. The current study looks at two specific image sets of current role models to pre-adolescent and adolescent girls, as the subjects in scenes of violence. By breaking down these images, according to a modified version of Lacey’s (1998) model, the current study attempts to extrapolate the representative meaning of the image sets. The modified version of Lacey’s (1998) model of formal aspects and their meanings will be applied to violent media images of role models to assess the messages received by pre- adolescent and adolescent girls from these images. ii Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the support and dedication of Tamara Valentine, Ph.D., Director of the Honors Program at the University of Nevada, Reno, and Mary White Stewart, Ph.D., my faculty mentor. I owe these two individuals my deepest gratitude. I would also like to thank my family and close friends, for their varied assistance in order to make time for me to complete this thesis; especially my father and stepmother, Jim and Connie Stout, and my dear friends, Linda Houlet and Susan Giguere, all of whom supported me during this lengthy process. Finally, I would like to thank my daughter, Mechayla Stout, who inspired me every day to write this thesis. iii Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………i Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………….ii Table of Contents………………..……………………..……………………………………...iii-iv List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………………...v List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………………….v Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………… 1 Literature Review Socialization………………………..……………………………………………………..4 Feminization of girls……………….……………………………………………………..8 Psychosocial development and the media………………………………….……………12 Role models………………………………………………………………………….…..13 Theories of socialization………………………………………………………………....14 Media use…………………………………………………………………….………….16 Parental controls…………………………………………………………………….…...18 Sociological analysis of media…………………………………………….…………….19 Media analysis……………………………………………………………………….…..21 Media images……………………………………………………………………………25 Influence of violent media images………………………………………………………26 Effects of media violence………………………………………………………………..27 Current Study Introduction……………………………………………………………………………...29 Methodology…………………………………………………………………………….29 iv Table of Contents continued Image set analysis according to Lacey’s (1998) model………………………….……31 Lindsay Lohan set………………………………………………………..……31 Heather Morris set……………………………………………………………..34 Discussion……………………………………………………………………...………36 Interventions…………………………………………………………………..40 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………….41 References……………………………………………………………………………………..43 Appendices A- Bloody for Tyler Shields images……………………………………………………...50-52 B- Bruised Barbie images…………………………………………………………53-54 C- Original Lacey (1998) model of codes and connotations…………………..….55-56 D- Abilock (2012) model of content analysis………………………………………...57 v List of Tables Table 1. Gender Typing……………………………………………………………………….6 Table 2. Modified version of Lacey (1998) model of codes and their connotations……..22-23 Table 3. Original Lacey (1998) model of codes and their connotations……………………..55 List of Figures Figure 1. Abilock (2012) model of content analysis………………………………………....57 1 Introduction From the late 19th century through most of the 20th, the feminist movement achieved significant progress for women and girls alike; however, socialization of girls has not changed at all following the strides made during this time. Socialization occurs much as it always has, beginning at birth with the feminization of girls as they are swaddled in soft, pink blankets and talked to in soothing tones; whereas, in contrast, their male counterparts are wrapped in blue blankets and talked to in a boisterous manner (Schau & Scott, 1984). Socialization continues through adolescence, a time period in which the major tenets of gender role socialization take place, mainly through peer interactions and exposure to media (Williams, et al., 1985). Essentially, in modern society, girls are still socialized to be yielding, meek, and obedient, while boys are socialized to be rigid and maintain a role of dominance over girls and women. From an early age, both boys and girls model the behavior that they observe through agents of socialization, beginning with parents and siblings, progressing to teachers and peers, and maintaining ongoing socialization through the media for the rest of their lives (Lytton & Romney, 1991). Girls typically mimic the behaviors of their mothers during their toddler and early childhood developmental stages when the mother is still the individual with whom they have the most contact, and thus are most connected to (Douglas, 1985). The behaviors that mothers model for their daughters range from household roles to workplace positions, as well as status and roles within intimate relationships. Several theories explain the role of socialization in development, the most notable being those of social learning theory and media dependency theory. Social learning theory, developed by Bandura, dictates that children learn both appropriate and inappropriate behaviors through observation of others. Media dependency theory, developed by DeFleur & Ball-Rokeach, 2 explains the role of media messages in the socialization of individuals, which leads to such matters as desensitization and violent, aggressive behaviors. The notion of gendered media has been proposed by Kimmel (2009) as “his” media and “her” media, in which various media sources send differing messages to boys and girls which in turn perpetuate gender inequalities within society. The ease of access to media sources has increased with advancements in technology. Children and adolescents do not all have the same access to these media sources, but most not only have access to computers, but are required to use them for schoolwork, both at school and in the home for the purpose of completing homework assignments (Beresin, 1999). Likewise, the types of technology utilized by pre-adolescents and adolescents vary on the basis of gender, with boys gravitating toward video game systems and girls spending increasing amounts of time on the Internet. Despite parental controls on computers, girls can access a variety of violent images through seemingly benign topics entered into reputable search engines. The messages that are received by girls regarding these images can be evaluated through a number of mechanisms, which assess the danger inherent to girls’ development of beliefs regarding violence (Lacey (1998); Beresin (1999); Abilock (2012); Hogan (2012)). For generations, pre-adolescent and adolescent children have