Calling one and all that spend most nights on Netflix watching law and order! Good news, it can actually be good for you. I first saw this article while surfing E! News; I was shocked to find out that watching a Netflix show can be good for you. After I read the article and researched the study it made sense that watching crime shows over and over again can increase our known perception on sexual violence.
There was a study to prove this in Northwestern University using 313 college freshman as participants I felt as though using college students as the participants made the most sense because most college students watch a show on Netflix constantly especially those who watch Law and Order, NCIS, or CSI. I never watched any of those show religiously. I only catch them when I am flipping through the channels, however, I started to watch Chicago PD when it premiered last year and instantly loved it and found myself gaining more knowledge on the tactics of staying safe in an environment and what I should do as a young girl who doesn’t have the strongest muscles and feels too weak to protect herself. The study uses facts about the social cognitive theory that such storylines in these crime shows will ultimately reflect on the audience being safe and avoiding crime.
The study also found that people watching the show are learning the dangers of being involved in the federal system and making them more cautious to do the right thing. I agree with this study and the findings that they have concluded because I believe any television show that can be informative about real life issues is worth the binge watching. To take this study further I would have seen exactly what kind of content created the most educational understanding. I would further evaluate this study by seeing who watches law and order more, guys or girls and then relate back to the content of the episodes to understand if it helps males or females more with sexual content.
I remember reading that study the other day and being so excited! I watch Law and Order basically everyday, so hearing that it was “good” for me got me excited. I agree that it probably helps people be more aware of the law and sexual assault, but do the cons outweigh the pros? I have binged watched Netflix for hours at a time before, which isn’t good for my health. Laying bed for hours on end causes weight gain and a lack of Vitamin C. So what is more important, safety or health? It is definitely something to think about!
Law and Order SVU is one of my favorite television shows. It is so interesting because it is so real. While I do not live in NYC, the issues that are discussed in the show are relevant to everyone. I have found myself gaining more knowledge on the legal process. I think SVU has made me a smarter person. However, I am a little confused with the study that you mentioned. How was the the study at Northwestern conducted. Did they randomly choose the 313 college freshman? From there, did the participants simply fill out a survey about what shows they watch? Or, were some told to watch crime televisions and others told not too? I think more studies should be conducted that can test for more specific results. Although, this is an interesting find. I decided to do my own research on the benefits of crime television. I found an article from SUNY Albany. The article discusses the benefits of crime shows for attorneys. The authors of the article claim that watching shows such as CSI benefit attorneys in predicting outcomes for their own cases. So, not only do crime shows teach an average girl like me something new, they are also beneficial for people who actually work in the legal field. That is pretty cool!
Law and Order is one of my favorite shows to watch. A lot of my friends are actors who work in NYC so I am always finding them on there as small roles or extras. It is like a game for me to watch Law and Order.
But in all seriousness, I just read a blog about binge watching being linked to your emotions. I think that both blogs share a similar theme and it would beneficial for you to look at it. I think that binge watching any netflix show is probably bad for your health. But, this is a very interesting topic and one worth looking into further. Good work!
I appreciate the relevancy of your blog post as most of us have Netflix accounts and the majority of us tend to spend way too many hours watching countless television programs. One of the issues I found with this type of experiment or study that claims that a person is “binge” watching. What is the definition of ‘binge?’ How many episodes does this entail? This could be a problem in the studies because they do not have a set or precise number for each experiment. Does the measurement take time into account? There are many third conflicting third variables that I can imagine will mess up the data. Here is a website that shows studies about Netflix binge watching, the negative effects, and the definition of binge.
http://mic.com/articles/110164/science-has-bad-news-for-people-who-binge-watch-tv-shows
The results of this study are interesting to me. If the reason behind the decrease in rape myth acceptance is something in the content of Law and Order or if it is in the presentation? It is a little muddy to me. Also, if the results are a reflection of the content, then wouldn’t there be a similar decrease if someone watched something like the news a lot? People watch the news everyday and it would be interesting to see how the data from this study would compare to a study done on people who watch the news. Interesting blog post!
Although I do not binge watch Law and Order on Netflix, I do turn it on when I am flipping through channels. I feel as if crime shows do actually teach me what is best to do if I were ever in a situation where I did not feel safe. Most of them are pretty realistic as well. I like how you proposed ideas of how to take this topic further, but I feel as if you should have included that in this article and expanded it to get all of your ideas into the blog. Hopefully you are writing your next blog about these ideas because I am interested to see what the studies show!