David Buckingham has done a lot of work on this topic, with particular
reference to children and the effects of screen violence. His publications
include:
Moving Images: Understanding Children's Emotional Responses to Television
(Manchester University Press, 1996)
After the Death of Childhood: Growing Up in the Age of Electronic Media
(Polity Press, in press - publication early 2000.)
Children's Television in Britain: Defining the Child Viewer (British Film
Institute, 1999) with Hannah Davies, Ken Jones, Peter Kelly.
In Front of the Children: Screen Entertainment and Young Audiences (British
Film Institute, 1995) which he edited with Cary Bazalgette.
His webpage at the London University Institute of Education is at
http://www.ioe.ac.uk/ccs/buckingham/ and you should have no difficulty
finding his email address.

Best wishes


At 21:53 03/12/99 +0100, you wrote:
>>I'm looking at theories on the emotional effects of screen violence for
>>film and TV spectators.  I've found a great deal of debate in TV studies on
>>such "effects."  Can anyone point me to a good overview, or specific
>>leading voices, in film studies on this issue?  I'm especially interested
>>in any application or refutation of Aristotle's ancient theory of
>>catharsis, as a purging/purifying/clarifying of fear and sympathy (or
>>terror and pity) through the watching of violent action onstage.
>>
>
>The best overviews available are:
>
>Gauntlett, David (1995) Moving Experiences: Understanding
>Television's Influences and Effects. London: John Libbey.
>
>Freedman, Jonathan (1984) Effect of television violence on
>aggressiveness. Psychological Bulletin. Nr 2:227-246.
>
>Freedman, Jonathan (1986) Television violence and aggression: A
>rejoinder. Psychological Bulletin. Nr 3:272-278.
>
>Freedman, Jonathan (1988) Television violence and aggression: What
>the evidence shows. I Oskamp, Stuart (ed) Television as a Social
>Issue. Applied Social Psychology 8: 144-162. Newbury Park: Sage.
>
>Cumberbatch, Guy & Howitt, Dennis (eds) (1989) A Measure of
>Uncertainty: The Effects of the Mass Media:. London: John Libbey.
>
>When it comes to catharsis theory, none of the studies conducted has
>supported the 'purging' effect of fictitious violence. Then again,
>neither has the studies  on aggressive behavior as an effect of media
>violence (although lots of 'em claim to have found proof for such an
>effect).
>
>Ulf Dalquist
>
>
>Ulf Dalquist                               Phone: +46-(0)8-39 21 68
>Petrejusv 18                        Cell phone: +46-(0)739-88 17 05
>121 38 Johanneshov Sweden            E-mail: [log in to unmask]
>
>----
>Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite
>http://www.tcf.ua.edu/ScreenSite
>
>

----
Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the
University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu