Haugen, D. M. , & Musser, S. (Eds.). (2009). Media Violence. Detroit, MI: Greenhaven Press.

Haugen, D. M. , & Musser, S. (Eds.). (2009). Media Violence. Detroit, MI: Greenhaven Press.

As a product of the opposing viewpoints series, the book presents a collection of essays that act as a model for several contrasting opinions in the debate concerning media violence. The book’s sections juxtapose scholars that believe media violence has a causal relationship with youth crime and authors that perceive the war on media as another moral panic that amplifies the problem for various political reasons. The book highlights the arguments of some of the best media scholars and maintains an interdisciplinary approach in its arrangement. The author’s range from Henry Jenkins, a comparative literature professor, to Jonathan Harbour, an instructor of game development, and even includes political documents from the federal communications commission.

This reader is a great place to start when in the infancy of a research project concerning media violence. The book led me to a number of great scholars in the field, and helped me locate articles to strengthen my bibliography. More specifically, reading Jenkins’ article in this text has definitely made me want to locate other articles by him. I identified with Jenkins viewpoint on media violence because he wants to move away from scholarship that only researches the effects of media violence, and instead embrace research the elucidates the meanings behind America’s depictions of violence.