The Impact of Mass Media on the Occurrence and Expansion of Personal Quarrel

Personal quarrel, like many other crimes is due to various factors. This study aimed to investigate the effect of mass media content on the occurrence and expansion of personal quarrels; in other words, to determine the influence of mass media, among other social factors (such as family, socioeconomic status, location and environment) on the occurrence and expansion of personal quarrels.

Using a descriptive-analytic survey method this study was conducted on 210 clients referring to the police station (Abouzar, Falah). The required data were gathered through a field study and a researcher-made questionnaire. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by logical method and the reliability was calculated using Cronbach's alpha. The total alpha was .89. Findings and

Pearson correlation coefficient (at 99% level of confidence) indicated that the significance level of "mass media" variable with the t-test coefficient was .714 and so the significance level at .000 was significant. The beta coefficient of the mentioned variable was .412. The present study, emphasizing on the correlation between effective factors and personal quarrels, revealed that the "mass media" as the independent variable affected the personal quarrels to a large extent. This means that mass media have both positive effect (production and broadcasting special programs for public awareness about the negative consequences of personal quarrels, inviting experts, providing scientific reports and broadcasting documentaries of personal quarrels scenes) and negative on the audience (via presenting the beneficiaries to youth and adolescents and modeling through the media).