CHILDREN’S PERCEPTIONS OF ‘SCREEN’ VIOLENCE

The emergence of information and communication technologies (ICT), as a primary agent of socialisation, has raised concerns for child practitioners and researchers alike. This influential medium carries messages and images that have both positive and negative effects and are used in relative isolation from adult influences. A particular source of consternation is recent findings which suggest that violent ‘screen'' content is adversely impacting on children''s behaviour, socialisation and social development. Working from a child participatory perspective, this study aimed to explore children''s perceptions and experiences of ‘screen'' violence and the subsequent impact it has on their well-being. Within this process there is an attempt to understand how children assign meaning to these violent ‘screen'' images at an interpersonal and broader social level. This study utilised a broad epistemological framework of social constructionism and the theoretical perspectives of social learning theory, social reinforcement theory, social script theory, cue theory and framing theory are employed as theoretical base for the research..