Children and the Movies: Media Influence and the Payne Fund Controversy (Cambridge Studies in the History of Mass Communication) [Hardcover]

Garth S. Jowett (Author), Ian C. Jarvie (Author), Kathryn H. Fuller (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521482925 | ISBN-13: 978-0521482929 | Publication Date: January 26, 1996

Children and the Movies analyzes the first and most comprehensive study of the influence of movies on American youth, the Payne Fund Studies. First published in 1933, these studies--reproduced here in their entirety--are intrinsically important for their insights and conclusions regarding the effects of movies on behavior. They are, moreover, an important landmark of modern social science research, demonstrating the rapid evolution of this discipline in American academic institutions over the first three decades of the century.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a wealth of unpublished Payne Fund material....This excellent, timely study is meticulously researched and clearly written." Choice

"It is a work of careful research meant for the serious scholar...valuable for fleshing out an important part of the history of sociological study concerning children and the movies." Harry Eiss, Journal of American Culture

"This is a remarkable book....They make for fascinating reading and should prove valuable for future generations of social scientists and historians who are doing their own research on youth subcultures in twentieth-century American cities....The authors and Cambridge University Press should be commended." David Nasaw, American Studies

Book Description

Children and the Movies: Media Influence and the Payne Fund Controversy analyzes the first and most comprehensive study of the influence of movies on American youth, the Payne Fund Studies. First published in 1933, these studies are intrinsically important for their insights and conclusions regarding the effects of movies on behaviour. They are, moreover, also an important landmark of modern social science research, demonstrating the rapid evolution of this discipline in American academic institutions over the first three decades of the century.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (January 26, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521482925
• ISBN-13: 978-0521482929
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,937,675 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in Cape Town, South Africa. Left there in 1958, moved to London, England, and then to Canada in 1960. Moved to Houston in 1979. He completed his Ph.D.(History) at the University of Pennsylvania and is currently a professor of communication at the University of Houston. Garth Jowett's book, FILM:THE DEMOCRATIC ART (Little, Brown, 1976) is widely acknowledged as one of the most significant contributions to the emergence of the study of motion pictures as a social and cultural factor in American life. His later book, written with co-authors Ian Jarvie, and Kathryn Fuller, CHILDREN AND THE MOVIES: MEDIA INFLUENCE AND THE PAYNE FUND STUDIES (Cambridge University Press, 1996) is considered to be the definitive examination of the Payne Fund Studies and their important place in American cinema history. Jowett and co-author Victoria O'Donnell's book, PROPAGANDA AND PERSUASION (4th ed. Sage Publications, 2006) has been a widely used text for nearly twenty-five years, and has helped to develop the emerging field of propaganda studies. He has published widely in the fields of film history, popular culture and propaganda.