Key Facts on TV Violence by the Kaiser Family Foundation, Article Review Example

This paper attempts to answer the questions related to socialization and content analysis as a method to study the same. The reading Key Facts on TV Violence by the Kaiser Family foundation provides an excellent starting point to analyze the impact of TV on adolescents and those in the pre-teen and teenage groups. The premise here is that the key concept of socialization or the process by which individuals learns to act according to the norms of society and cultural mores of the specific cultures that they belong to is influenced by the kind of TV programs that they watch and the effect of the same on their behavior.

The reading provides enough pointers on how watching TV leads to increased aggression and instances of violent behavior among teens. The point here is that the concept of nature vs. nurture applies very well here as the reading makes it clear that even in homes that have a high degree of cohesion, teens resort to violent behavior sometimes because they try to ape and imitate their favorite characters on the TV programs that they watch. This indicates a disturbing trend where the process of socialization of boys and girls is indeed influenced by the kind of TV programs that they watch.

It has to be mentioned that content analysis is indeed valuable as it provides insights into the impact of media as an agent of socialization. The reading is an example of how research into the viewing habits of teens and adolescents provides us with starting points from which we can subsequently draw conclusions as to the effect that such viewing has on the sociological theories of human development i.e. those related to self-concept, looking glass-self and role taking. We find that each of these concepts is intertwined with the kind of TV programs that teens watch.