Why do you think our society is more violent than it used to be?

"We're the MTV generation, we experience neither highs nor lows" "Really, what's that like?" "Eh..."

I think some of it has to do with population concentration increasing... but prisons... look. Do you really expect putting someone who's committed a crime to rehabilitate them? It seems more likely, to me, to encourage violent and criminal behavior. Putting more people in prison isn't the answer, especially when so many crimes are victimless and are only crimes because of an outdated sense of morality. Strictness isn't the real issue in schools, it's what the schools really teach. Same with parents. In both cases I think they teach kids to be violent little craps - that's the example that the schools and the parents often give.

If you think the world is more violent now than at any time in the past, you're nuts, and you probably think your generation invented sex. It's just not true. However, with overpopulation and the division of rich and poor ever widening, there's bound to be conflict that causes more violence as we all struggle for the same amount of limited resources.

I have given this one a lot of thought. unfortunately, I won't express it well, but here goes (it'll likely be a shotgun blast of the ideas floating about that becomes less coherent the further I go). There is definitely more violence, but most of the answers above aren't worded in a way that I could choose them. population is increasing, which is causing strife, less so in the US since the growth rate is ( I think) pretty low. there is definitely more overt violence in movies and TV, that is because the producers need it for the shock value so people will continue to see the movies. we are mostly numb to violence in this media. Also, our (news)media is a lot quicker and more thorough (they beat things into the ground) as far as any scandal or violence or bad news in general. There is so much focus on 'all the news now' that they have to put in things that may not have made it in years past simply to fill the time that they have devoted to it. this helps perpetuate the view that here is more violence than there really is. I think it has increased, but not as much as the news thinks or conveys. Our system of laws need to be reworked. prisons are overcrowded, and mostly with minor offenders that shouldn't have to be there. the overcrowding and conditions don't really do much for rehabilitation. The laws need to be looked at and reworked because the government is not a nanny or parent to anyone. nor should it be. The schools shouldn't be set into this position either. The problem is twofold. The way things are today, parents seem to need to take jobs to get or maintain a certain standard of living. This takes the parents out of the house (I didn't pick the option because it was worded incorrectly), also there is the issue of single parent families. This seems more common now than it was several years ago. The other problem is that people don't want to take responsibility(not all people, but enough). A combination of these two factors means that kids aren't being raised the same way, and they aren't being taught to be responsible. In the case where the parent(s) aren't around I realize that the kids can probably fend for themselves in the way of microwaving a premade (prepackaged) meal, but there is no one looking after them telling them right from wrong. They aren't being told that what is on TV isn't real, and shouldn't be imitated in life, and they aren't getting a proper reprimand when they do something wrong (whether it is a spanking, or a grounding etc.. there is a definite line between abuse and correction, most people don't want to be bothered to figure this out, so it black or white, but that is another survey entirely). Then there is the aspect of responsibility. There are far too many people who are willing to pass the blame and say 'it wasn't me, it's not my fault'. that is extremely prevalent in the workplace, and it transfers to the home just as well. 'the kid didn't learn that in my house' or 'society is to blame' or 'he grew up in a broken home'. People are living thinking beings, and this makes them able to make choices. it doesn't matter to the degree 'the experts' would have you believe the environment, there is still a choice involved when someone chooses violence over something else. It all comes down to the way they are taught in the home and the way that they are taught by TV. Based on what they have learned they make choices that perpetuate the cycle. people aren't taught to think for themselves. now that I am rambling I will stop..

a lot of the choices make it sound like people would be less violent, if Big Brother were watching over their shoulder I don't think that's the case.. respect for life doesn't seem to be important to people..

I have to vote for movies making violence appear "normal". Poor-rich? Back in the middle ages the gap was HUGE and not crossable. Parental strictness? I don't think so. 100 years ago, if you pulled a gun on someone it was a serious act with serious implications. Now, you see it on the movies and TV all the time as "a thing to do". No responsibility, no long term consequences. I think actually though, violence is dropping. Most studies show that. Back 100 years ago, the main impetus for prohibition was the number of wives and children being beaten by drunk husbands. It was thought, then, as "sad but normal." Now it's thought of as a serious crime that should be reported.

**Daver, I heard that the dip in violent crime was more due to a population dip (related to baby boomer and their children waves).

I think that many parent's now aren't setting a good enough example. It's not that they aren't strict enough, sometimes it's because they are too strict, or they discipline kids by beating them. Then the kid grows up thinking, "Oh, my dad used to beat the crap out of me when I was a kid, so it's ok for me to beat my wife/kid/husband/whatever." Also, many males try to live up to the "male expectation" and the only way they know of is to either go have sex with someone, even if with force, or by going out and beating up someone.

That's my opinion at least

I think there is some influence on this from the breakdown of the socializing family structure. I do *not* think this stems from "mothers...working and away from home", rather from increased individual mobility and increased divorce rate. The "extended family" that was a prevalent social structure in the last century has all but evaporated as a *living unit*; children live with one or two parents and their siblings rather than in a larger family group. IMHO, the latter promotes better socialization. *** reality: what a tome! I think you hit the nail on the head in tagging "responsibility" as part of the problem. *** bpersei: I think your answer is interesting because it raises the question of domestic violence vs. "random" violence, the two being quite different...

I think that our society is widely and, for the most part, incorrectly perceived as more violent than it used to be because of the "If it bleeds, it leads" mentality of TV news producers and the almost complete takeover of the American mind by TV news.

No supervision...no accountability for one's actions....no boundaries....no imagination...no respect....too much "Poor Baby" crap...too many excuses for unacceptable behavior...etc, etc, etc.
Great! now I'm p*ssed. Be back after I shoot something.

I think that there are a number of social factors at work, but I'm also not convinced that our society *is* empirically more violent than ever. Human history is replete with violence; I think our techniques for dealing with it have changed. But I do think that many parents are not strict enough with their kids these days, that an increasing population would have an effect, that prisons are overcrowded and let more offenders loose, and that economic disparity also is part of the equation. Do I have Scientific Evidence to back up these feelings? No, they're just feelings.

Not so much that tv/movies have caused violence, more like they have desensitized us to it.

Access to weapons, too much free time, lots of stupid people.

The world has become so 'small' that I think we just hear more about it and we are too lenient on the really hardened criminals.

**bpersei: Thank you, that's what I've been trying to say for months.

In the US, the blame is squarely on the drug war. Prohibition increases violence.

Rats. It's just too crowded and, like rats, when we're crowded together we go nuts. I also think that our pace of life is too fast and that adds to stress and violence.

I don't think society has gotten more violent. I just think that reporting has gotten better. Look back over the last hundred years. Have deaths by firearm gone up or down? I think you will find the answer interesting.

***seanhuxter: "we all struggle for the same amount of limited resources" -- that's just not true. People are resources. People create resources. We compete for relative affluence, but we're all living more comfortably than people did 100 years ago.

Violence is actually decreasing, at least in the US. Media coverage of violence is increasing. The recent "increase" in school shootings, for example, just doesn't exist. A fewer number of shootings are being publicized more...if I remember, I'll get the actual numbers when I get home.
**OK...I'm home now and this survey came up again. In the US, from 1990 to 1995 the number of murders per 100,000 went from 9.4 to 8.2 while the number of separate evening newscasts on specific (current) murders in the US went from 80 to 375.

"Mothers are working and away from home." assumes a parent at home is enough. families being scattered, and at best "nuclear" instead of multi-generational or extended increase alienation, tension, fear, etc.

simple lack of morals, values, respect for others and socialization

I'd agree with most of these. The fact is television, cinema etc. is so influential these days, there is almost unlimited access to any subject, people are going to heavily influenced by it. Children, especially are susceptible to tv. It is not looking good. The increse violence, rape, drugs on tv is influencing society as a whole and it shuld stop