Rep. Murphy Leads Discussion on Violence, Politics

U.S. Rep. Timothy Murphy and a group of panelists examined the connection between violence and political rhetoric at Sewall Center Wednesday night.

In the wake of last month’s Tuscon shootings, which killed six and critically injured Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords at a political event, RMU faculty as well as experts from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and WQED discussed how the 24-hour news cycle and the role of media may feed into violent behavior.

“Exposure to violence breeds violence,” said A.J. Grant, chairman of RMU’s Department of English Studies and Communication Skills. “With so much of it in the media and in the public’s eye, the real question we should be asking is, why don’t we see more violence in this country?”

Darryl Ford Williams, vice president for production at WQED multimedia, said new media tools such as Twitter have changed the way news is reported.

“I think back to the 1980s and how different it was in terms of what presented by the media,” Williams said. “A lot of the things that are commonplace on television and in newspapers today would never have been shown back then. We censored the material, in a way, but only to protect the viewers from seeing things that we considered too much or too graphic.”

Grant said the public has become accustomed to viewing graphic images in mainstream media. 

“The amount of content that is aired, and the nature of that content, has made this generation desensitized to violence and other offensive material,” Grant said.

RMU student Kevin Williams said Arizona shooting suspect Jared Laughner’s exposure to violence in the media may have contributed to his alleged attack on the congresswoman. 

“He was 22 years old, just a year older than I am,” Williams said. “He grew up watching the same things that I saw. I can’t help but wonder if that didn’t trigger his actions.”

Edward Mulvey, a psychiatry professor at UPMC, said roughly 5 to 10 percent of  violent crimes are committed by people with mental disorders.

“But post-diction is much simpler than prediction,” he said.

Murphy said he was unsure if violent attacks, such as the one involving Giffords in Tuscon, can be fully avoided.Dealing with unstable constituents may be par for the course for public officials, he said.

“As public officials, we all get calls on occasion from someone who is hotheaded or have someone come by the office that is upset or has a mental illness that leads them to letting their frustrations pour over into their actions,” he said.

“The First Amendment can sometimes be a burden,” Murphy said.

Murphy said public discussions are the first step to understanding and helping those with mental illness.

“This is fantastic,” he said. “I’m so proud to have been a part of this, and I’m glad Robert Morris University was courageous enough to host this event.”