> Rather than wondering whether to tell parents to monitor > their kids TV viewing you might advise them to be much > more concerned about 1. the level of economic disparity > in the culture and 2. the prevalence of hand guns. Let's > remember that the US and Canada are both exposed to nearly > identical TV and yet the rate of US homicide is ten times > (per capita) what it is north of the border. When I start > seeing data that suggests that the effect of TV violence > approaches this level then I'll get interested in the debate.
> So in answer to your question I would suggest that you tell > parents to worry about what their kids watch on TV only after > they have made the strongest possible effort to 1. eradicate > poverty and 2. control guns. With all due respect to you, Don, that seems to be giving a disrespectful response to a very genuine concern held by many parents. The purpose of therapy is not to patronize them with an ivory tower lecture, but to help them as they struggle with difficult life circumstances. > Of course, a lot of people would prefer simpler solutions and > it's a lot easier to blame the TV than to look for real causes. This statement is indeed true. And some parents will blame television programming because they don't want to look at other causal factors that might be more complex, difficult, and painful to discuss. Part of the role of the therapist would be to help the parents identify and address the real causes rather than looking for a convenient scapegoat. I think this is an important question for psychologists to address. How do we apply this line of research? If there truly is no scientific evidence showing that watching aggressive or salacious television programming *causes* harmful behavior (and from previous posts to this list it seems that indeed there is no scientific evidence showing causality), then do we as ethical psychologists tell our clients that they should not worry about what kind of television programming their children watch because research has shown that there is no evidence to support their worries? Or do we tell them that psychological research has not yet conclusively demonstrated a causal link and thus we don't know scientifically whether or not there is a causal relationship? There is sometimes a great divide between ivory tower research and the concerns of people working in the trenches. As a scientist-practitioner, I'm interested in how scientific research can be applied to these kinds of real-life situations. Many of my students are also interested in the application of our research. Rod ______________________________________________ Roderick D. Hetzel, Ph.D. Department of Psychology LeTourneau University Post Office Box 7001 2100 South Mobberly Avenue Longview, Texas 75607-7001 Office: Heath-Hardwick Hall 115 Phone: 903-233-3312 Fax: 903-233-3476 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage: http://www.letu.edu/people/rodhetzel --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.325 / Virus Database: 182 - Release Date: 2/19/2002 --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
