EFFECT OF VIOLENT FILMS ON NIGERIA CULTURAL VALUES
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EFFECT OF VIOLENT FILMS ON NIGERIA CULTURAL VALUES
Chapter one
Introduction
Background of the study.
The most major worry in the argument over violent films has been whether they encourage aggressive behaviour among spectators, particularly young people (Evra 1990).
Researchers have also discovered that excessive exposure to screen violence can lead to issues in other aspects of social behaviour. For example, it might cause people to become scared of the world around them while nevertheless embracing violence in real life as demonstrated by others (Evra 1990).
Violence is a global phenomenon that affects all parts of the world. Antisocial behaviour in humans is believed to be linked to a variety of physiological, psychological, household, and cultural factors.
The learning contexts in which a kid is exposed are also thought to contribute to an increase in violent behaviours and attitudes, as well as an inclination to societal practices, values, and standards (Berkowitz, 2001).
The media, as a specific learning circumstance, is thought to contribute to the development of antisocial attitudes and behaviours in children and teenagers (Ibid).
While social scientists investigate the primary causes of violence, such as social environments, cultural factors, family instruction, and group membership, parents, teachers, politicians, and school administrators continue to blame the media for increased cultural alienation and attitudinal change among adolescents (Fraser and Staub, 1996).
Considerations about the effects of films date back to the 1920s. At the time, Western countries conducted the first organised social scientific research or examination into the impact of these impacts.
It was meant to investigate the negative effects of films on society. During the 1950s, when this medium became a popular source of mass entertainment and information, similar concerns about possible dangers arose, particularly among young audiences (Gunter 1994).
Many people are concerned about the values and attitudes that can be instilled by exposure to certain types of media content, including enculturation and violence in films (Kubey and Larson, 2005).
Nigerian youngsters are rapidly adopting alien cultural norms that are incompatible with the Nigerian way of life [1]. Nigerian youth may not be solely guilty for a lack of appreciation for our culture.
The mass media is one of the most well-known engines of cultural imperialism. Television, with its visual, auditory, and motion capabilities, has emerged as one of the most significant modes of communication in recent years.
Television programmes are broadcast at the local level to a local audience, at the national level to a national audience that includes people of many ethnicities and religions, and at the global level to an international community or audience that lives in different countries on different continents.
Global television, which involves satellite transmission of programmes from one country to many others, is the most active form of cultural imperialism.
For example, school principals, moms, and young people were polled about their perceptions of the issues that influence youth home cultures. The findings revealed that violent messages in rap music and violence in films are seen as factors impacting teens’ formative processes (Kandakai, Price, and Telljohann, 1999).
Also, and most critically, the issue of cultural promotion in the developing countries has been hampered by young people’s naïve acceptance and practice of Western cultures. However, the findings suggest that film, as a medium of mass communication, makes a significant contribution.
The media, as a secondary agent of socialisation, has had a significant impact on the lives of many people from diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. Its importance in people’s lives, particularly among youth, cannot be overstated.
This is backed by Iorza (2014), who stated that “youth are the most vulnerable victims of cultural imperialism.” Socialisation and culture are two sides of the same coin, thus they are inexorably related.”
William (1977) and Devadas and Ravi (2013) described culture as an ongoing inherent aspect of every society’s life that is learned, taught, and passed from one generation to the next through various agents of socialisation.
It suffices to say that no culture exists without a way of life that is unique to them, and that this way of life necessarily influences their interactions both internally and externally. Members of a society’s interactional process culminating in a value system that reflects their worldview.
People’s values may refer to their opinions of worthy or unworthy matters, preferred or disliked attributes, and other aspects of their worldview. When a cultural group holds and defines a specific worldview throughout time, it matures into cultural value and eventually becomes a legacy.
Against this backdrop, Kluckhohn, as cited in Daramola (2005), states that “culture is a social legacy that an individual acquires from his group, which comprises of values, customs, beliefs, language, religion, technology, emotional patterns, behavioural patterns, and among many other socio-cultural symbols”.
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