Popular Culture and Global Violence: Sensitizing or De-sensitizing?

• In Event: Examining Perceptions and Depictions of Violence

Abstract

Popular culture is awash with images and representations of violence. According to Moore (2015: 16), approximately 50 per cent of crime news focuses on violence, not to mention fictional and other depictions of violence. The effects and consequences of these popular culture products have long been debated in both academic and civic realms. This presentation will explore the ongoing tension between the contrasting views that violent representations and images in popular culture serve a sensitizing function versus a de-sensitizing function. We will outline the perspective that the sensitizing function of violence in popular culture produces empathy and has thus contributed to a decline in global rates of violence (Pinker, 2015). In contrast, we will also explore the perspective that violent representations serve a de-sensitizing function and contribute to greater levels of global violence (Evans and Giroux, 2015). The paper aims to open up a conversation about the role, place and influence of popular culture when it comes to matters of crime and violence.

Authors

• Nickie Phillips, St. Francis College

• Alyce McGovern, University of New South Wales