Custom term paper on Mass Media

According to Pamela J. Shoemaker, Elizabeth Kay Mayfield (2008), basic human behavior is governed by the following patterns:
 If the last manifestation of the specific situation of the stimulus was an event, in which the activity of a man has been rewarded, then the more similar is current situation – the greater is the possibility that he will accomplish this.
 The more frequently, over a given period of time, the activity of one person rewards the activities of the other, the more often the other will carry out this activity.
 The more valuable to human activity is unit, which gives him the other, the more he will perform the activity, which is rewarded by the other.
 The more often people in the recent past received from the other rewarding activities, the less valuable it becomes for anyone, who follows this activity.
 The greater is the damage to a man of the rule of distributive justice – the more likely he will show emotional behavior, which we call anger.
It is essential to note that conflict regulation is possible under some conditions. First of all, each of the conflicting parties must recognize the existence of a conflict situation and recognize the opponent’s opinion right to exist. Parties must also recognize the opposition of their interests. As a fact, failure to recognize this – is a kind of denial of the existence of the conflict, making it impossible to regulate. Further, the more organized are both sides – the easier it is to reach agreement and execution of the agreement. Therefore, an important role in resolving conflicts of postindustrial society plays the development of trade unions, political parties and other associations. The agreement between parties of the conflict requires the implementation of certain rules of the game, providing some stability of the settlement process.custom term paper
As a matter of fact, the media has great influence on the lifestyle of people. This effect applies to both directly through the media on the individual young person, and indirectly – through parents, teachers, peers, media on which, in turn, also have a significant impact. Moreover, the mainstream social norms of the society to a large extent formed by the media. The media create the mutually dual effect on lifestyles of people: on the one hand, they act as a factor that stimulates the formation of a healthy lifestyle among people, on the other – provoke the development of bad habits, chemical dependency, contribute to the development of psychological discomfort, etc.
Nowadays, the most acute is the problem of violence in mass media, especially television. Virtually in all modern dramas, movies and even cartoons there are scenes of violence. The term “television violence” has long been used in the scientific lexicon and combines demonstration of damage to characters of television programs or movies. On the one hand, there are many studies that suggest that watching violent scenes on TV shows and movies associated with subsequent aggression. It was proved that TV violence may cause short-term stimulation and so are called “model effects”. For example, the famous Oliver Stone’s film “Natural Born Killers”. After its release, a wave of looting, robberies, murders appeared all around the world, committed by young people, who claimed after their arrest that they imitated the heroes of this film.
However, on the other side, mass media is an essential element of the culture of the XX century, and a component part of the spiritual life of society and the individual. Mass media in its developed forms and increases the possibility of participation of people in different events, making possible to inform the masses about advances in science and culture, expanding beyond the life-world of every individual to significant scale. In addition to the negative impact of mass media on people, it can be distinguished several positive developments:
 Mass media keeps people informed about all events, and do not allow appearance of information “hunger”.
 Mass media increases overall, including the political, culture of the population.
 Mass media serve for mutual education of authorities and the public.
 Mass media relieve social tensions, according to The Role and Influence of Mass Media (2010).
All in all, there is a considerable impact of the Sociological theories, Functionalism, Conflict, and Interactionism of mass media. Theories apply to the sociological institutions, and they also affect the views of the individuals who are part of the institution. As well, theories influence the approach to social change within the institutions, and it impacts the society as a whole. “Contemporary sociology is somewhat more consistent in its use of the term. Typically, contemporary sociologists use the term to refer to complex social forms that reproduce themselves such as governments, the family, human languages, universities, hospitals, business corporations, and legal systems”, according to Social institutions (2007).
To sum it up, I would like to say that nowadays, mass media have become not only an integral part of popular culture in modern society, but also an important institution of socialization – is the most powerful tool of information to influence the minds of people, mass media is providing an opportunity of visual imagery perception, and therefore a stronger emotional impact on people. Today, unfortunately, very often mass media consciously provoke the conflicts with the aim to boost their ratings and make money and popularity. Moreover, mass media strongly affects the behavior of people, contributes significantly to the character of their interaction with the world, in other words, by promoting certain values, it can generate the appropriate settings in humans. Particularly sensitive to the influence of television are young people. Media set characteristic of modern mass culture ideal personality patterns and behaviors, which are projected on the youth subculture, and thus assigned adolescents to form their value orientations and actual behavior. In this context, particular interest has the analysis of both positive and negative models of social behavior, which are distributed through media channels, as it has direct relevance to understanding the meaningful context and the mechanisms of socialization of adolescents.