HAPPY

VIOLENCE

Alan Miller

Alice Law

Drew Botcherby

Tina Lam

Happy Violence (Gerbner)Childrens shows contain more violence than any other type of programming. Shows designed for kids have about 32 violent acts per hour.

From the ages of 3 to 16, children spend more time in front of the television set than they spend in school.

Happy Violence (Gerbner)

94 percent of childrens shows contained violence. In other words, programs targeted to young viewers have the most violent content.

Happy Violence (Gerbner)

2010 - PresentTarget: 2-11 years old +

Adventure Time

Spongebob Squarepants 1999 - PresentTarget: 2-11 years old

Theories:1. Social Learning Theory

(Bandura) 2. Desensitization to

Violence

1. Social Learning Theory (Bandura)

Children are more likely to re-create behavior if character was

attractive if behavior was

rewarded

CLIP

2. Desensitization to Violence

Weve all seen the studiesExposure to violence makes us more violent and more accepting to violence.But are these shows violent enough to cause an effect?

Methods: Scene: 15 secondsWhat we coded for:1. Is Scene Valid (Act of Violence

Present)? 2. Is Violence discussed?3. Is Violence practiced?4. Who Initiated Violence?5. Is a weapon used? 6. Is blood present?7. Was death a result?8. Is Violence Rewarded in any way? 9. Is Violence Justified?

Coding Sheet

Adventure Time130 EpisodesCoded 4 EpisodesJake SuitToo YoungBeautopiaBeyond This Earthly Realm11 minutes per episode

Spongebob 178 EpisodesCoded 4 EpisodesNew Student StarfishNature PantsWelcome to the Chum BucketMermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II11 minutes per episode

Intercoder Reliability Scores

Used Percentage of Agreement over Krippendorfs Alpha.

Coding Sheet

Findings:Number of violent scenes in Adventure Time is higher than Spongebob Squarepants.

About 32 Violent Acts?

*32 acts of violence per hour

Findings: Sequel effect?There is an upward trend of no. of violent scenes as the series goes on.

Upward

Trend

Findings:More violent acts in Adventure Time are justified (good vs bad guys).Spongebob violence less justified, more slapstick.

Justified?

# of Scenes Where Violence is Justified

Findings:More violence was rewarded in Adventure Time, but rewarded violence represented a small portion of total violence.

Rewarded?

There is one death in both Adventure Time and Spongebob (both monsters).Blood, weapons, and death are very limited in both shows.

Findings:

Further Discussion: Coding how many violent acts instead of number of scenes Attractiveness level of characters (Social Learning Theory) Better code for initiator of the violent act (Lowest intercoder reliability) Code for Gender

The End