Final answer:
Bok suggests that repeated exposure to violent media can desensitize people and increase cognitive accessibility to violent behaviors, thus lowering their resistance to committing lethal violence. Exposure to 200,000 violent acts by high school graduation can increase aggressive tendencies, supported by research linking media violence to increased aggression and desensitization.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to Bok, certain methods of presenting lethal violence can diminish people's natural aversion to committing such acts. For example, exposing individuals to violent media, such as television, movies, and video games, has been shown to have a desensitizing effect on viewers and can be correlated with aggressive thoughts and behaviors. This exposure leads to increased expectations that violence is a solution, creates more violent behavioral scripts, and boosts cognitive accessibility to violent behavior, thereby reducing the viewers' inclination to view violence negatively and potentially lowering their resistance to engaging in violence themselves. Methods to help readers understand feelings of fear can include nonaggressive language, concrete language, and vivid descriptions that recreate images and quotes from firsthand experiences.
Psychological research indicates that repeated exposure to violent acts, through various forms of media, not only potentially affects aggressive behavior by teaching people to emulate these actions but also desensitizes them to violence. This exposure is significant considering that a child graduating high school may have seen up to 200,000 violent acts through media, leading to an increased likelihood of both physical and relational aggression.