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Psychic Plasticity, Resilience, and Reactions to Media Violence

What Is the Right Question?

Baylor College of Medicine, Peaceful Schools and Communities Project, and Menninger Clinic, Houston, Texas

Tanya Bennett

Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas

This article develops answers to the question, "Are there psychiatric processes or some general psychological predisposition that makes nondiagnosed people susceptible to media violence consumption in a way that would lead to lifelong aggressive behavior?" The authors discuss the assumptions they make about what this question is trying to answer, review factors known to precipitate destructive aggressiveness, and clarify environmental exposures' being a small part of a long list of precipitants. They discuss neuroplasticity, how the brain interacts with and is structurally and functionally altered by the environment, and introduce resilience, which enables some to respond functionally to trauma and others less so. They mention their work examining exposure to violence within schools and the impact it has on school climates and vulnerable children, illustrating the importance of social factors relating to aggression. The authors conclude by reformulating the question, allowing human psychopathological reactions to be seen in their glorious, nonparsimonious complexity.

Key Words: media • violence • neuroplasticity • resilience • posttraumatic stress disorder

American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 51, No. 8, 1155-1183 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0002764207312017


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				T. Grimes and L. Bergen The Epistemological Argument Against a Causal Relationship Between Media Violence and Sociopathic Behavior Among Psychologically Well Viewers American Behavioral Scientist, April 1, 2008; 51(8): 1137 - 1154. [Abstract] [PDF]