An issue that many corporate executives ignore is the possibility that aggressive people seek reinforcement for their own destructive acts. Television violence, for instance, and the widespread public concern accompanying it have led to calls for strict controls on the depiction of violent programs.
In their decision making, some producers do not take responsibility for the equally important minority. Instead, they may gear their content toward the masses, who crave sexually explicit and violent action. Fortunately, this group has the ability to disseminate violent action rationally, realizing that in reality, people who commit acts of violence have to compensate for their actions by taking full responsibility for the harm they cause to others.
Not everyone can distinguish fact from fantasy. Studies show that in one week of content analysis of prime-time output on seven New York City channels, there were 3, 421 acts and threats of violence observed. Children’s fictional entertainment programs had three times the frequency of violent acts or threats recorded in adult programs.
Similarly, aggressive adults are seeking reinforcement for their own anti-social behavior from seeing attractive television characters behave in the same way. Behavioral evidence has indicated that the anti-social effects of violent television portrayals are pest and are most likely to occur among individuals who are already aggressive. The ethical question is, should television submit to mass appeal or take into consideration the effects on certain members of society, including children The consequences of televising violence are not only harmful to some viewers but concurrently affect the television stations in the form of loss of viewers and possibly gaining a bad reputation. Even though many associations have been condemning television violence, their efforts have had little effect on the large money-making corporations.
In his article, " Sex and Violence " , Joe Saltzman states, " If, as producers argue, violence is a part of the human condition, then so is responsibility. In real life, you just do not commit mayhem and then go on to the next scene. "
It is also necessary to realize that violence is part of our nature and of our life. Almost every day we are participants and observers of violence, whether it is natural violence, theatrical or fictional violence, sporting event violence, or political violence. To exclude all scenes of violence form television would be to falsify the picture of life. Television media can " encourage or aid " destructive behavior, not " cause " it. We hope that the decision makers will promote p moral, ethical values in their decision making or at least consider them, in order to help prevent our violent self-destructive behavior.
The " mayhem " Joe Saltzman’s mentioned refers to（）
A. responsibility
B.disorder and confusion
C. violent crime
D. embarrassment
