Moral Development, Effects of Media Violence on

The corruption of children’s moral values due to media violence has long been a significant concern among media scholars, parents, educators, and policy makers. However, studies examining the effects of media violence on children’s moral development have been scarce in comparison with other areas of media violence research. Despite this, a handful of studies have produced empirical evidence showing televised violence’s relation to children’s moral development. Researchers have turned to well-established psychology theories on moral development as their theoretical frameworks. These theories include the cognitive developmental approach developed by Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg, the affective approach developed by Martin Hoffman and Nancy Eisenberg, and the socialization approach [Page 258]developed by Albert Bandura. Given that the narratives of most violent media content deal with justice-based ...