Media Violence: Relevant Links

ACT—Adults and Children Together—Against Violence is a violence prevention project that focuses on adults who raise, care for, and teach children. It is designed to prevent violence by helping these adults to be positive role models and learn the skills to teach children nonviolent ways to resolve conflicts, deal with frustration, and handle anger. Decades of research have shown that early childhood is a critical period in a child's life when children learn basic interpersonal skills, problem-solving, and self-control. It is a good time to teach positive behavior and the skills needed to get along with others. ACT is one of the few violence prevention programs to focus on this important time in a child's life. The ACT Project includes a national media campaign and training for community professionals. This site includes a bibliography of books and publications relevant to parents for violence prevention for children.

PsychologyMatters.org is a web-based compendium of psychological research that demonstrates the application and value of psychological science in our everyday lives. Within 19 content areas, individual and interrelated studies, all of which found statistically significant effects and that have had important applications in society, are described. Some of the studies we report on started out as basic research and led to unexpected results and valuable applications. All of the studies demonstrate the important role that psychology and psychological research play in addressing societal and human needs. This compendium is a living document. As psychological scientists continue their research, new and important discoveries and applications will be added.

A pioneer in its field, the Center for Media Literacy (CML) is a nonprofit educational organization that provides leadership, public education, professional development and educational resources nationally. Dedicated to promoting and supporting media literacy education as a framework for accessing, analyzing, evaluating and creating media content, CML works to help citizens, especially the young, develop critical thinking and media production skills needed to live fully in the 21st century media culture. The ultimate goal is to make wise choices possible. Incorporated in 1989, CML is an independent, nonpartisan 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

The Encyclopedia of Death and Dying contains essays of social, psychological, and philosophical slant not only on all issues relating to death and dying but also on violence and the potential effects of media violence. The essays are especially relevant to the challenges of parenting.

eNotes.com features high-quality study guides, lesson plans, and other reference material in various academic areas.

The Free Expression Policy Project (FEPP), founded in 2000, provides research and advocacy on free speech, copyright, and media democracy issues. In May 2004, FEPP became part of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. Along with its opposition to forms of censorship, this site offers considerable information on research and publications arguing that the effects of entertainment violence are not primarily negative. In that respect it presents points of view that are not consistent with many of the positions I take in my book Our Faith in Evil. But this site is valuable for clarification and understanding of particular opposing lines of argument and their popular appeal.

The Lion & Lamb Project was an initiative by parents for parents, providing information about the effects of violent entertainment, toys and games on children's behavior. The Project's Parent Action Kit details specific steps parents can take to reduce their children's exposure to glorified "entertainment" violence. Due to the fact that The Lion & Lamb Project no longer exists, they now only provide the resources available on this website. This site offers a wealth of information on research and publications that make a case for the negative effects of entertainment violence and provides a comprehensive set of links to other web sites containing related material.

The Media Education Foundation produces and distributes video documentaries to encourage critical thinking and debate about the relationship between media ownership, commercial media content, and the democratic demand for free flows of information, diverse representations of ideas and people, and informed citizen participation. MEF has grown to become the nation's leading producer and distributor of educational videos designed to inspire students and others to reflect critically on the structure of the media industry and the content it produces. This site includes a long list of links to other relevant media information sites. MEF was founded in 1991 by Sut Jhally, Professor of Communication at the University of Massachusetts and includes among its board of advisors activists and academics such as Noam Chomsky, Michael Eric Dyson, Todd Gitlin, Robert W. McChesney, Ellen Wartella, Cornel West, and, until his death in January of 2006, George Gerbner.

It is the mission of the National Center for Children Exposed to Violence (NCCEV) to increase the capacity of individuals and communities to reduce the incidence and impact of violence on children and families; to train and support the professionals who provide intervention and treatment to children and families affected by violence; and, to increase professional and public awareness of the effects of violence on children, families, communities and society.

National Institute on Media and the Family
www.mediafamily.org
Contact information can be found on the web site

Founded by David Walsh, Ph.D. in 1996, the National Institute on Media and the Family, the leading organization examining the impact of electronic media on families, has worked tirelessly to help parents and communities watch what our kids watch. Follow these links to learn more about who we are and how you can become part of the MediaWise movement. The National Institute on Media and the Family is the world's leading and most respected research-based organization on the positive and harmful effects of media on children and youth. The National Institute on Media and the Family is an independent, nonpartisan, nonsectarian, and nonprofit organization that is based on research, education, and advocacy. Its MediaWise® movement is being adopted in communities throughout the country to help families make wiser media choices and encourage parents to “Watch What their Kids Watch.” Our mission is to maximize the benefits and minimize the harm of media on children and families through research, education, and advocacy.

Interpersonal violence is one of the most important issues facing our nation’s youth. Although many institutional and community-based efforts have been directed towards alleviating this problem, information about these efforts is not always easy to find. To fill this need, the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center web site and call center, 1-866-SAFEYOUTH (723-3968), serve as a user-friendly, single point of access to Federal information on youth violence. Developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other Federal partners, the Resource Center provides current information developed by Federal agencies or with Federal support pertaining to youth violence. A gateway for professionals, parents, youth and other interested individuals, the Resource Center offers the latest tools to facilitate discussion with children, to resolve conflicts nonviolently, to stop bullying, to prevent teen suicide, and to end violence committed by and against young people. Resources include fact sheets, best practices documents, funding and conference announcements, statistics, research bulletins, surveillance reports, and profiles of promising programs.

The Parents Television Council was founded in 1995 to ensure that children are not constantly assaulted by sex, violence and profanity on television and in other media. Our national grassroots organization has nearly one million members across the United States, and works with television producers, broadcasters, networks and sponsors in an effort to stem the flow of harmful and negative messages targeted to children. We are a nonpartisan organization that works with elected and appointed government officials to enforce broadcast decency standards. Most importantly, the PTC produces critical research and publications documenting the dramatic increase in sex, violence and profanity in entertainment. This information is provided free of charge so parents can make informed viewing choices for their own families.

Denis was Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. Denis died in late December of 2010 and will be greatly missed. His site is still live and continues to offer a wealth of articles relating to philosophy, art, literature, and culture and contains many of his book reviews and journalistic pieces written for various newspapers. Denis always selected interesting topics and his evaluative, critical commentaries never fail to be provocative, witty, and entertaining. He was also the founder and editor of what is now one of the most visited web sites in the world: Arts and Letters Daily. If you have not seen this web site, go directly to: www.aldaily.com. As if that were not enough, he was also the founding editor of the journal Philosophy and Literature (which began in the 1970s) and remained editor until his death. To view the web site for this journal go to: muse.jhu.edu/journals/philosophy_and_literature/

This site is a blog relating to the history of the Isla Vista riots of 1970 and the counter-cultural movement at the University of California at Santa Barbara from 1968 to the present. It is also a link to Malcolm’s book on this period, which is the definitive documentary account of the Isla Vista riots leading to and following the burning of the Bank of America on February 25th and 26th 1970—an event that is also the subject of my own work-in-progress, a novelistic account entitled: The Bank of Amerika Marshmallow Roast. Those interested in the history of surfing should visit Malcolm’s main web site at: www.legendarysurfers.com where entrance to the current Isla Vista blog can also be found.

Stephen C. Rose Blog
http://stephencrosehome.blogspot.com

Stephen describes his site in the following way: Stephen C. Rose Home is a personal blog which offers hopefully prescient information based on analyses of past and present happenings. Predictive themes include the end of oil, the need for a centrist politics, the collapse of the "mainline" church, the prospects for religious enterprises and, most pertinently, the question of human settlements -- their shape and scope. His running comments on the candidacy of Barack Obama are especially interesting and insightful.

Gabriel Books (Northampton, MA) was opened in 1993 by John and Patty Riley, booksellers since 1972. They began selling books as Madeleine Books in Santa Barbara (Isla Vista), California. They opened the Globe Bookshop in Northampton in 1980, which was subsequently sold prior to the opening of Gabriel Books in 1993. Gabriel Books specializes in antiquarian and scholarly books with strengths in art, literature, philosophy, science and history as well as nature, cooking and gardening. Books are bought, sold and appraised. If you are looking for a classic or unusual book in fine used condition, make this site your first stop.

Mark Shaw
www.markshawbooks.com

Mark is a former defense attorney, columnist for the Aspen Daily News, and television legal analyst for ABC, CBS, and ESPN who is now a full time writer and author of over 15 books. Many of his books have been biographies which include studies of the lives of well-known figures such as Melvin Belli and Thomas Merton as well as sports celebrities such as Don Larsen and Jack Nicklaus and golf course architects Pete and Alice Dye. Mark also holds a Master's degree in theological studies and hosts a blog for those interested in Thomas Merton called "Merton and Friends" at www.merton.markshawbooks.com. Visit his web site for a complete listing of his books and interests and for further details on his own amazing and unusual life story.

Reilly Ridgell

Like myself, Reilly is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara and a writer. His book Green Pearl Odyssey (2010) is a fascinating story of a great chase adventure through a series of islands in the South Pacific. Reilly derived his knowledge for this novel from two years of volunteer work in the Peace Corps in the islands of what used to be called Truk (now called Chuuk) in Micronesia. He is also the author of a widely used textbook, Pacific Nations and Territories and co-author of its elementary level version, Pacific Neighbors. Reilly also wrote a very interesting anthology titled Bending to the Trade Winds: Stories of the Peace Corps Experience in Micronesia. Reilly now lives on the island of Guam and is a dean at Guam Community College.
Follow this link for more about Reilly and Green Pearl Odyssey--a book I highly recommend, especially for those like myself who often dreamed of living in the South Pacific but never fulfilled that dream. Also like myself, Reilly has written a novel set in Isla Vista, California (next to the UC Santa Barbara campus), during the time of the burning of the Bank of America (1970). This book is titled The Isla Vista Crucible and was published in February of 2012 by Savant Books. Follow the above link for the Amazon listing of this work of historical fiction and a complete book description and access to the "Look Inside the Book" feature.