Psychological Analysis:
AmericanViolence in the British Media
by
M. Murray

The Question

How does the violence portrayed in the media affect the British consumer’s view of life in America?

Violence in the United Kingdom’s media is dealt with in a much different way than violence in the U.S. While the United States censored sexual scenes in Eyes Wide Shut, British censors cut scenes from Fight Club. A fairly high volume of news stories relating to the US focus on the violence of our society – the Mirror refers to the United States as the ‘land of the free-to-kill-as-you-please’ (Nov. 23, 1999) and much of the British media seems to share this sentiment. How does this portrayal affect the average British citizen’s view of the United States?

Methods/Results:

I conducted a survey of ten British people who have never been to the USA, five males and five females from a variety of age groups. I asked them various questions to determine what their views on American society are and what media they felt influenced their opinions that way. The conclusions I draw will be based on my observations on their answers.

• 80% felt that America has more of a crime problem than Britain.
• 70% felt that this was because handguns are legal
• 50% believed that the news media influenced their vote
• Only 10% believed the news might be sensationalized or one sided regarding US crime rates
• 70% felt that there are a lot of news items about violence in America
• 50% felt that American movies influenced their vote
• 60% felt that Britain would have similar/worse crime rates if guns were legal
• 80% felt that guns/violence and America go hand in hand, that they are part of our cultural identity
• Only 20% said that they wouldn’t want United States because of fear of violence

Conclusions

The portrayal of violence in British media is probably due to its sensational nature; other than that there is little aside from the occasional financial or political item that would have direct impact on (and therefore be of interest to) a British consumer. But regardless of whether the news is one-sided or not, the fact of the matter is that a majority felt that America is more violent because of the legalization of guns, and that the ‘cowboy mentality’ still prevails in America. One woman half-jokingly said that when there are arguments Americans take out their guns to settle them. Half of the surveyed group said that the high content of violence in American movies/television shows led them to believe that violence or crime is almost a part of everyday life for a US citizen. Many expressed concerns over visiting larger cities (New York, Los Angeles) because of the crime rates.