Violent media depictions a main cause of aggression in viewers. Aggression; an unprovoked attack or warlike act; the practice or habit of being aggressive or quarrelsome. Media; a means of communication that reaches the general public; radio, television, newspapers, and motion pictures. The effects of violent media depictions results in: a greater level of acceptance to domestic violence towards women, causes children to accept aggression more readily as a way to solve problems, and viewing television drama results in increased acceptance of the use aggression to maintain law and order. .
The effects of exposure to sexually violent films on judgments of domestic violence victims. Viewers of violence against women have become more comfortable after exposure to sexually violent films. "Violence in the real world becomes much more acceptable after you have seen infinitely greater violence on the screen" (Maslin,1982 ). As viewers become less sensitive to sexualized violence aimed at women they begin to judge actions against women in the real world as less degrading , less violent and less offensive then originally believed. This posses a threat to women in society because it enables men to be more aggressive in there actions towards women , while at the same time offering less sympathy for rape victims and sexually assaulted victims. "participants exposed to the filmed violence against women expressed less sympathy for the victim portrayed in the rape trail then the controlled group" (Mulllin and Linz, 1995).
Children who habitually watch more media violence behave more aggressively and accept aggression more readily as a way to solve problems. "Children who had just seen a violent film were more likely to hit other children, scream at them, threaten them, and intentionally destroy their toys" (Rowell , 1996). This type of aggression is directly related to the viewing of violent media depictions.