Do we live in a fear based society ?

[andy]

I have always been interested int he transmission of fear/anxiety by means of what Rachman (1978) described as information transmission. Today I listened to a report on two sad deaths in Turkey of Avian flu. The effect of this is to terrify people. We do seem to live in a scoiety that thrives on fear. We fear what we do not understand or identify with. I believe that a major part of my work in a variety of services and environments is to persuade people that they should attempt to avoid living in fear. To me Avian flu may have parallells with BSE and CJD which was effectively going to wipe out the planet. Cognitive therapists are interested in optimism as a construct which in effect mediates the effects of fear. I think we may need to train members of the media in these techniques.

[ged]

I don't think there is much motivation on the medias part to reduce the anxiety culture. On the contrary, they seem to profit from it.

As ever, there is a website about it ;)

http://www.anxietyculture.com/anxiety.htm


Silly thing being that there is lots and lots to be afraid of, without "spinning" avian flu into the modern Black Death. Mainly the unaccountability of these multinational media conglomorates, which have the ability to flavour the worlds events to optimise their profits margins. For example. :p

Ged

[dave]

My work in childrens services and schools is often influenced by media hype. I am always a little uncomfortable that in my work I encounter teachers who are genuinely scared of being assaulted. There is a balance to be struck between ignoing the issue and exaggerating it. For example verbal aggression if far more common than physical assault. Therefore, if a pupil swears and shouts at a teacher it does not mean that they will be physically assaulted.

[anon_e-mouse]

if a pupil swears and shouts at a teacher it does not mean that they will be physically assaulted.

Sometimes the fear of being in front of a pupil that swears and shouts is enough. It would not be fair to say that one type of assault is worse than another type of assault.

I would agree that in some cases a group might feel that when faced with decisions on an individuals behavioral that they might see the reduction in physical assault but with an increase in verbal assault as a success for the client.

But this doesn't detract from the fact that if a person has been assaulted it is their feelings that determine the severity, it is subjective.

[Randall P. McMurphy]

I have always been interested int he transmission of fear/anxiety by means of what Rachman (1978) described as information transmission. Today I listened to a report on two sad deaths in Turkey of Avian flu. The effect of this is to terrify people. We do seem to live in a scoiety that thrives on fear. We fear what we do not understand or identify with. I believe that a major part of my work in a variety of services and environments is to persuade people that they should attempt to avoid living in fear. To me Avian flu may have parallells with BSE and CJD which was effectively going to wipe out the planet. Cognitive therapists are interested in optimism as a construct which in effect mediates the effects of fear. I think we may need to train members of the media in these techniques.

The fact Bush 'used' the Media (Murdoch quite willingly went along with it) to win two elections based on fear shows how effective it can be. Why would a media corporation who gets the man they want elected stop using this strategy? I think it was Michael Moore in Bowling for Columbine who showed the difference in the reporting of news between the U.S. and Canada especially in relation to crimes involving fire arms commited by Afro Americans.