The Effects of Rap Music on Violent Behavior among African American Research Proposal

The Effects of Rap Music on Violent Behavior among African American Teenagers - Research Proposal Example Rap music is gaining popularity and momentum day by day, leaving parents, government officials and health authorities worried about the consequences of watching this form of music genre. This is because; this form of music has some components of aggressiveness and sexual activities in the lyrics and video which can instigate teenagers to perform immoral acts because of fantasizing and role modeling. The beat, rhythm and lyrics of the songs make the listeners listen to the rap songs again and again and make them feel that the content of the songs is the realistic form of the outside world. Many studies have reported various effects of rap music on the adolescents and youth who watch and listen to them. Some of the effects include aggressive behaviors, poor academic performance, health-risk behaviors and suicidal ideation. Of these, aggressive and violent behaviors are very important because, they can have a devastating impact on the society. Rap music has its origins from the African- American community and it is interesting to know what effects this genre of music has on the population from where it has come. Thus this research aims to explore the effects of rap music on the violent behaviour of the African –American teenagers. The study will be a prospective study over 12 months period. The enrolled participants will be asked to record the number of hours they listen to rap music or watch music video and the type of songs they view or listen. After 12 months, the outcomes will be measured. The main outcome that will be measured is violent or aggressive behavior. Other measures which will be measured include academic performance, sexual practices and behavioural problems. The data will be analysed using univariate and covariate analyses.