TV Violence, Children, and the Press: Eight Rationales Inhibiting Public Policy Debates

Abstract

Into this problem comes Sissela Bok, applying the talents of the professional philosopher and the insights of the social critic to analyze current public policy debates in the press about television {itself a branch of the press}, children, and violence. Although the depth of her concerns about televised violence is plain from this paper/she aims primarily not to make the case for one policy prescription or another. Rather, her goal is to expose some number of weak arguments whose dominance in current deliberation about the consequences of televised violence seems to her to be out of all proportion to their validity. This paper developed out of Bok's Fellowship at the Joan Shorenstein Barone Center on the press, Politics and Public Policy, and exemplifies the intersection between the press and policymaking that is the focus of the Center's research agenda. After reading Bok's paper/ the careful student of her analysis will be better equipped not only to understand and participate in debates about televised violence, but also better able to critique and contribute to the process of public deliberation in general.