Childhood, Violence and Television: Television Use and Childhood Perception of Violence in Television

Abstract

This report presents the main results attained in a study carried out in 2001 by the Violence and Television Research Group at the Blanquerna College of Communication Science dealing with the use of television and the children's reception of violence on television. In La violencia en la mirada we already pointed to the need to promote a given type of research about violence on television, contextualized in our social and cultural ambit. This would be a type of research not limited to study the television media or "violence" contents in its programme planning, but rather one which would show sensitiveness towards the viewers' protagonism and responsibility as to the use of television and the reception of television messages. The study of violence on television is a complex and difficult issue which requires a methodological strategy which is more sophisticated than the one typically used in most studies on content. That is the reason why the research methodology we have used combines quantitative and qualitative tools in a way which enables the description and analysis of the social use of television in the family field and allows a profound study on the knowledge of how chíldren audiences perceive violence on television. This is the reason why five public primary school centres, located in different areas in the city of Barcelona, were selected, and students ranging from 7 to 12 years of age were chosen. Regarding the quantitative approach, 443 individuals were surveyed through a questionnaire. As to the qualitative approach, 8 discussion groups, (focus groups), were put into practise. The initial purpose is to describe the customs, television uses, and the ways television programmes are consumed, and evaluate the considerations about violence made by boys and girls from 7 to 12 years of age in different social and economic extracts in the city of Barcelona. Secondly - and as primary objective - we pose a qualitative approach to the perception children and pre-adolescent youngsters have about the different types of violence present in fiction television programmes.