Popular culture versus the criminal justice system : an honors thesis (HONRS 499)

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the controversial issue of pop culture (i.e. television, movies, news media, and video games) and it's effects on children. It is widely theorized that aggressive behavior in young children is the result of repeated exposure to unnecessary violence in various forms of media. This paper defines popular culture and looks at psychological and sociological research that has taken place over the past forty years. It also explores several crimes in order to determine whether violence in the media had an effect on the commission of that crime.