the media help create and continuously reinforce the "social scripts" that adolescents act out in their daily lives. Much of what goes on in entertainment (movies and TV) is a reflection of what goes on in the news; the media echo messages young people hear at school - in particular, themes of violence and sex are constantly reinforced" - John Merrow, 1999.
Introduction.
Violence in America, perpetrated by criminals, mentally unstable and easily influenced individuals produce effects that are more far-reaching and destructive to society than the physical damage they produce. It has been proposed that the media, through news reports and fictitious depictions of violence, directly influence others to commit such acts themselves. It is proposed that, similar to a contagious disease, witnessing or reading about a violent crime often can pass the idea of such behavior along to individuals who may never have conceived of such a thing on their own. Human behavior reporting influences future human behaviors (Jennings, 2005).
The purpose of this paper is to discuss and analyze the factors of media influence on the phenomena of violence in our increasingly "wired" society, and to discuss the effect of that influence in terms of psychological and behavioral outcomes affecting law enforcement and criminal deterrence. A better understanding of these factors and their outcome allows for the proposition of solutions and interventions having the potential to manage violence and the way it is handled by police, community leaders and lawmakers. .
Literature Review.
It is important to examine the complex nature between factors, outcome and law enforcement effectiveness; this may be done by identifying and examining the moderating and mediating variables which may influence these outcomes. A literature review is an effective tool to identify and qualify causal factors of influence.
