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  Vol. 151 No. 5, May 1997 TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Violence and Weapon Carrying in Music Videos

A Content Analysis

Robert H. DuRant, PhD; Michael Rich, MD; S. Jean Emans, MD; Ellen S. Rome, MD, MPH; Elizabeth Allred, MS; Elizabeth R. Woods, MD, MPH

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1997;151(5):443-448.


Abstract

Background
The positive portrayal of violence and weapon carrying in televised music videos is thought to have a considerable influence on the normative expectations of adolescents about these behaviors.

Objectives
To perform a content analysis of the depictions of violence and weapon carrying in music videos, including 5 genres of music (rock, rap, adult contemporary, rhythm and blues, and country), from 4 television networks and to analyze the degree of sexuality or eroticism portrayed in each video and its association with violence and weapon carrying, as an indicator of the desirability of violent behaviors.

Methods
Five hundred eighteen videos were recorded during randomly selected days and times of the day from the Music Television, Video Hits One, Black Entertainment Television, and Country Music Television networks. Four female and 4 male observaers aged 17 to 24 years were trained to use a standardized content analysis instrument. Interobserver reliability testing resulted in a mean (±SD) percentage agreement of 89.25%±7.10% and a mean (±SD) {kappa} of 0.73±0.20. All videos were observed by rotating 2-person, male-female teams that were required to reach agreement on each behavior that was scored. Music genre and network differences in behaviors were analyzed with {chi}2 tests.

Results
A higher percentage (22.4%) of Music Television videos portrayed overt violence than Video Hits One (11.8%), Country Music Television (11.8%), and Black Entertainment Television (11.5%) videos (P=.02). Rap (20.4%) had the highest portrayal of violence, followed by rock (19.8%), country (10.8%), adult contemporary (9.7%), and rhythm and blues (5.9%) (P=.006). Weapon carrying was higher on Music Television (25.0%) than on Black Entertainment Television (11.5%), Video Hits One (8.4%), and Country Music Television (6.9%) (P<.001). Weapon carrying was also higher in rock (19.8%) and rap (19.5%) videos than in adult contemporary (16.1%), rhythm and blues (6.9%), and country (6.3%) videos (P=.002). The videos with the highest level of sexuality or eroticism were found to be less likely to contain violence (P≤.04).

Conclusion
Because most music videos are between 3 and 4 minutes long, these data indicate that even modest levels of viewing may result in substantial exposure to violence and weapon carrying, which is glamorized by music artists, actors, and actresses.

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1997;151:443-448



Author Affiliations

From the Department of Pediatrics, Bowman Gray School of Medicine of Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC (Dr DuRant); Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass (Drs Rich, Emans, and Woods); Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio (Dr Rome); and Division of Neuroepidemiology, Children's Hospital, Boston, Mass (Ms Allred).



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