Media violence and child abuse

This study examined the television watching habits of families who had contact with Butte County Children's Services. Respondents completed a questionnaire which requested the television shows watched most often by the parent(s) and the child(ren). Responses were analyzed for violent content. Of the 300 surveys distributed, 18 were returned.;There was no significant difference between television watching habits of parents who had younger children in the home as compared to those who had older children in the home. The division point between ages of children was 7 years. Knowledge of the amount of parental exposure to violent media, specifically in the form of television programming, could be helpful to social workers in developing case plans to work with the family. In order to ascertain whether parental exposure to violent media increases the risk of child abuse, future research needs to have a comparison group of parents who have perpetrated child abuse and a group of those who have not. These comparison groups were not established in this study due to Butte County Children's Services confidentiality guidelines.