The Effects Model

The Effects Model is how the consumption of medcia texts effects or influences the audience. It is normally considered that this effect is negative. This is because the audience watching the text is passive, which means they are powerless to prevent the influence. The power lies with the text and the creator. The Effects Model is also known as the Hypodermic Model. This idea is saying that the message in the text is injected to the audience. Like a powerful syringe like media text. Therefore the audience is drugged, addicted, doped or duped into the text.

Key evidnece for the Effects Model

-1). The Frankfurt school theorised in the 1920's and 30's. The mass media acted to resrict and control audiences to the benefit of corporate capitalism and goverment

-2). The Bobo Doll experiment

This is a very controversial piece of research that appartently proved that children copy violent behaviour. The Bobo Doll experiment was conducted in 1961 by Albert Bandura. In the experiment children watched a video where an adult violently attacked a clown toy called a Bobo Doll. The children were then taken to a room with attractive toys that they were told not to touch or play with. The children where then led to another room with the Bobo Doll. 88% of the children imitated the violent behaviour that they had earlier beeen shown. 8 months later 40% of the children reproduced the same violent behaviour. The conclusion reached was that children will imintate violent media content.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdh7MngntnI

This link is a YouTube video of the Bobo Doll Experiment.

There are some other incidents that support the Effects Model.

The film Child's Play 3 in the murder of James Bulger in 1993.

The game Manhunt in the murder of Stefan Pakearah in 2004 by the friend Warren LeBlanc.

The film A Clockwork Orange (1971) ina number of rape and violent attacks.

The film Severance (2006) in the murder of Simon Everitt