Discuss the effects of short term and long term exposure to violence

Researchers have long known that children who grow up in aggressive or violent households are more likely to become violent or aggressive in future relationships. Most of us have experienced bullying or violence at least once in our life, and some experience it for long periods of time than others. The short-term and long-term effects of this to an individual will be the focus of this essay.

According to Olweus (1992), short term exposure to violence typically leads to anger, depression, higher rate of illness, lower grades than non-bullied peers, and suicidal thoughts and feelings. Long term exposure to violence, on the other hand, leads to lingering feelings of anger and bitterness, difficulty in trusting people, avoidance of new social situations, increased tendency to be a loner and low self-esteem.

Barbara Wilson carried out a study investigating the short-term effects of media violence, where elementary school children were exposed to one episode of MightyMorphin Power Rangers. She found that the children demonstrated significantly more intentional acts of aggression afterwards compared to those that did not watch the program.

Carney and Hazler found that bullying affects our cortisol levels, which is a type of hormone secreted when we are stressed. The researchers measured cortisol levels in the saliva of 6th-grade students, and asked them to fill out a questionnaire on their experience of being bullied or watching someone being bullied. Cortisol levels were measured first thing in the morning and just before lunchtime. Lunchtime was chosen because it is one of the less supervised times of the day, when adolescents are more likely to be bullied or observe someone being bullied. They found that bullying appears to cause a spike in cortisol levels. However, Carney and Hazler found that humans who experience long-term bullying had lower levels of cortisol compared to those who experienced short-term bullying.

Elliot et al carried out a survey to discover if bullying at school affects people in later life. The survey of over 1000 adults shows that bullying affects not only your self-esteem as an adult, but your ability to make friends, succeed in education, and in work and social relationships. Nearly half (46%) of those who were bullied contemplated suicide compared to only 7%. The majority of the adults reported feeling angry and bitter now about the bullying they suffered as children. This shows that long-term effects of violence can cause us to feel angry and bitter.

Patterson et al (1989) wanted to see if children are affected by aggression at home. Families with at least one very aggressive child were compared with families with a normal child. They were matched for family size, socio-economic status, and many other factors. They found that aggressive children were more likely to become from home where less affection was shown and more arguments and punishment occurred. This study shows that long-term exposure to violence can cause individuals to become violent themselves, because of social learning theory, which is based on the assumption that people imitate behaviour by observing other people.

Having the support of family members and peers, who can be confided in when one has been bullied, tends to lessen the impact of bullying.