Rock Music And Behavior

0053-100 |
The Influence of Rock Music on Adolescents |
How rock music affects teen behavior |
|
Rachel Secharan |
8/27/2012 |

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Abstract
My research falls under the subject of psychology, and more specifically, adolescent behavior. I incorporated the specific detail of rock music and how it affects and influences adolescent behavior. Knowing I wanted to do something withpsychology I looked into human behavior, and after reading an article about a ban on certain rock songs and video, I decided something so personal to me ought to be further researched and investigated in order to get the full story on many theories being put out.
Finding research proved to be a bit difficult however. Standard information, such as facts about adolescence, the brain, music media, androck music specifically, could easily be picked up on the internet and in newspapers and magazines. The harder part was to find information and research on the psychology aspect of it. Through one article, I was able to find a book focused on music’s affect on adolescents, primarily rock and hip hop music. Through the sources of the previously mentioned article, and the book itself I was able tofind other resources that expanded on specific points and facts that I could use to broaden my research into older scientific journals and publications.
After combing through my books, articles, and statistics, I decided to first give general information about all the parts, and then tie it all together by answering my initial question. After analyzing the data, and many claims in opposition ofrock music and its messages I turned to look at the opposite side of how it actually affects the adolescent rather than what an adult claims but does not actually know. In conclusion, I found that although not by the same means, rock music does affect the behavior in teens. However, it purely drives an already existing force within the individual.
Table of Contents
i. Abstract
ii. Contents
1...Introduction
2… What is an Adolescent?
4... Music Media and Rock Gods
5… Music on the Brain
6… How Teens Use Music
8… How Music Uses Teens
11…Conclusion
I. Bibliography

The Influence of Rock Music on Adolescents
Introduction
Rock and roll has been around for over 50 years, becoming a bigger part of music media as the years pass, with teenagers being the biggest audience. This begs thequestion, to what extent does rock music influence adolescent behavior? Many believe that rock music can alter an adolescent’s frame of mind, thoughts, and behavior, subtly promoting explicit messages of sex, violence, and drug abuse, and turning the young generation into rebellious miscreants. In order to investigate these claims one must delve into what exactly is an adolescent and how musicaffects the development and thought processes of these young adults, which then manifests themselves into real life behavior and actions of the world’s future generations.
Adolescents, recently defined as people 10 to almost 25 years of age, spend a large part of their days consuming all forms of music media, from listening to the radio, to watching music videos; they are constantly absorbing themessages that rock music, along with many other types of music, puts out. Parents, teachers, and scientists alike are all concerned that these messages have a negative effect on the development of their children. President Clinton in his 1996 State of the Union Address called upon the entertainment industry, with specific mention of the music industry, for being responsible for raising the nation’schildren and influencing their future. (Christenson, 36) Along with the president, many other politicians, parent groups, and even the news media has spent copious amounts of time and money in opposition of, what they say is, the “satanic” qualities of rock and roll music. They petition for censorship and even expulsion of the music genre all together. In response, the entertainment business...