The Case for Television Violence

Taking the provocative stand that television violence has been misinterpreted, this book posits that rather than undermining the social order, television supports order by providing a safe outlet for aggressive impulses. Fowles demonstrates that the scientific literature does not support what many believe; asks readers to question their viewing habits; explains that the anti-violence critique is best understood as the key issue in the conflict between high and popular culture; situates the arrival of televised violence within the historical context of the disallowance of traditionally sanctioned targets of aggression.

"The Case for Television Violence is a dense, dry and devastating dissection that surely counts as one of the most important books about American culture to appear in the last decade." --Andrew O′Hehir, "The Myth of Media Violence," Salon.com, 3/17/05

The Case for Television Violence makes the provocative argument that television violence has been misinterpreted. Rather than undermining the social order, television supports it by providing a safe outlet for aggressive impulses. Media scholar Jib Fowles challenges the conventional wisdom by: 1) demonstrating that the scientific literature does not say what many believe it says; 2) calling attention to the viewing habits and behaviors of the reader and those the reader knows; 3) explaining that the anti-violence critique is most profitably understood as the signature issue in the conflict between high and popular culture and 4) situating the arrival of televised violence within the historical context of the disallowance of traditionally sanctioned targets of aggression.

The Case for Television Violence will intrigue scholars and students of Media Studies, Cultural Studies, Politics and Mass Communication.