Most Canadians believe crime has risen from the past. In a recent poll done by an independent Canadian Research foundation called Angus Reid, they found that a large percentage of Canadians believe that crime rates have increased. However, this is not the case, in fact, there has been a noticeable decrease in crime in Canada (Siegel and McCormick 2016). This concept of increasing crime is perpetuated by the large amounts of information on crime readily available to the masses through media. Media is defined as any form of communication through television, newspapers, radio, video games, or internet. The events that are regularly depicted in the media tend to be the most eye-catching stories, and generally, the most eye catching topics are crime
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The idea is that because people see these stories so much they begin to grow numb to emotions associated with said stories. By stunting emotion, one loses empathetic responses and becomes more violent (Funk et al 2003). One theory that is presented by this view is the idea that the media “desensitizes the viewers to the true consequences of violent actions” (Funk et al 2003). For example, if one was to rob a bank and never get caught, and the media reports this transaction, this may lead individuals into thinking that they too can rob a bank without the consequences. Therefore, changing their perception on crime by thinking the good outweighs the bad. In relation to desensitization video games have also played a vital role. Video games are not the traditional form of media, but have become increasingly common. However, the issue of violent video games influencing the youth who play video games still remains. The White House has recently come out with a video on YouTube demonstrating the gruesome violence that some of these video games show (White House, 2018). On top of showing violence, many of these games incentivize these violent actions through in game loots. For example, in Call of Duty which is a massive online first person shooting game, you earn levels and accolades by killing more. By incentivizing these violent actions with rewards, people, but especially children and teenagers, become desensitized to the violence that is shown in their lives from a young age, thus changing their perception of crime through a form of
The idea is that because people see these stories so much they begin to grow numb to emotions associated with said stories. By stunting emotion, one loses empathetic responses and becomes more violent (Funk et al 2003). One theory that is presented by this view is the idea that the media “desensitizes the viewers to the true consequences of violent actions” (Funk et al 2003). For example, if one was to rob a bank and never get caught, and the media reports this transaction, this may lead individuals into thinking that they too can rob a bank without the consequences. Therefore, changing their perception on crime by thinking the good outweighs the bad. In relation to desensitization video games have also played a vital role. Video games are not the traditional form of media, but have become increasingly common. However, the issue of violent video games influencing the youth who play video games still remains. The White House has recently come out with a video on YouTube demonstrating the gruesome violence that some of these video games show (White House, 2018). On top of showing violence, many of these games incentivize these violent actions through in game loots. For example, in Call of Duty which is a massive online first person shooting game, you earn levels and accolades by killing more. By incentivizing these violent actions with rewards, people, but especially children and teenagers, become desensitized to the violence that is shown in their lives from a young age, thus changing their perception of crime through a form of