eview of some of the significant literature in the field, present a hypothesis about television violence and its impact in teen suicide, and present both the pro and con sides of the argument on imitative behaviors from the media as an effect upon adolescent suicide. Finally, the paper will conclude with an analysis of both arguments, and suggestions for further research and inquiry.
Comparing adolescents in psychological research, it seems that suicidal adolescents have experienced far more stress than their non suicidal counterparts. This stress, most evident in family disruptions, divorce, discord, often combines with other stress related factors in adolescence to cause a predisposition toward suicidal behavior. Using a logistic regression model, Rubenstein, et.al. (1989, pp. 66 67) found that the most dramatic increase in the risk of adolescent suicide comes from the cumulative effects of stress within an adverse situation and imitative behavior so common in children and adolescents.
Depression, of course, is one of the most severe internal risk factors for adolescent suicide. It is, however, depression coupled with other factors that often leads a teenager to the option of suicide. Within the adolescent peer group, the idea of death may not hold the negative implications that it has on the rest of the population. In fact, death is often seen as a viable option when pressures seemingly mount from every direction (Rubenstein, et.al., 1989).
Several character traits have been identified to support the idea that imitative media behavior does significantly impact on adolescent suicide (Gould and Shaffer, 1986; Phillips, 1979). In 1985, for instance, researchers found that mass media portrayals of violence cause similar imitative responses among viewers (Bollen and Phillips, 1982). Using past research to establish a baseline for national violence levels, Baron and Reiss found that coefficient data depicted increased viol...