Media influences on addictive behaviour

• Media has an influence on addiction (through movies, shows) which encourage addictive behaviours such as gambling.
• Media glamorises addictive behaviours which removes the stigma associated with the behaviour which making it come accross as socially acceptable.

e.g. Trainspotting -Recreational drugs

• Showed the world of a heroin addict
• Even though the movie was dark and disturbing, the movie came accross as fascinating for a mainstream audience.

Sulkenen (2007)

• Collected 140 scenes from 47 films that represented various forms of addictions. 
  

• Films about drug use, such as American beauty (1999) showed a sense of achievement when consuming drugs and also feeling joy out of the effects.
• Enjoyment was generally compared to the dullness of ordinary life.
• In Human Traffic (1999)- Showed how the use of ecstasy is portrayed as a way of resolving relationship problems.

Representation of smoking in films

• Research has proven that media representations of smoking is influential towards teenagers causing them to take up the habit.

Waylen et al.(2011)

• Examined 360 of the top US box office films released between 2001-2005 which exhibited smoking.
• Findings- Teenagers who watched films that glamorized smoking were more likely to start smoking.Also found a correlation between teenagers smoking and the number of films they watched that were associated with smoking.

• Treatment of addiction is often interfered by factors such as:
  • A limited number of professionals who are able to administer the treatment
  • The motivation for an addict to attend treatments etc.
• This has led to other ways of providing support/ education for individuals.
• Biggest form of intervention is through media
  • Promotes healthy lifestyles
  • Behaviour change- E.g. stop smoking
  • physical exercise

Television support for problem drinking

Bennett el al.(1991)

• Evaluated a BBC TV series "Psst...the Really Useful Guide to Alcohol"
• Matched pairs design- Viewers of the series compared against non-viewers
• Findings- Even though the results showed an improvement in alcohol related knowledge, they still did not show a change in attitude or alcohol consumption.

Research support

Point- Despite various studies showing how addictions are represented in film media, only a few studies have assessed whether if these representations actually have an effect on viewers.

Elaborate- Evidence- Sargent and Hanewinkel (2009)

• Tested whether teenagers exposure to smoking from films influenced their initiation into smoking
• Surveyed 4384 teenagers aged 11-15 and re-surveyed them a year later
• Findings- Individuals who did not smoke when first surveyed, exposure to films about smoking over the year had a significant impact as to whether they had begun to smoke when re-surveyed.

Link

Real world application- As several ethical issues are raised regarding what materials is broadcasted through mediums such as televisions and how studies have shown how vulnerable teenagers are to be influenced into smoking; this means that materials with behaviours such as smoking or gambling may need to be broadcasted after childrens bedtimes.

An alternative perspective

Point- Researchers such as Sulkunen (2007) who claim that films portray addiction in a positive/ glamorised way, Boyd (2008) argues that films do frequently represent the negative consequences of addictions such as drugs or alcohol.

Elaborate- For example illegal drug use and addiction are represented by violence, crime, sexual degradation and moral decline.

Link- In US, film makers are provided with script-to-screen advice about how to represent drug use and addiction in films. Also financial incentives are offered if they do so in a negative way.

Correlation

• Most of the evidence about the impact of media on addictive behaviour is correlational
• Therefore difficult to determine cause and effect- There may be confounding variables. (e.g. genetics, personality)

Age bias

• Explanations and research mainly focuses on younger viewers