ABSTRACT
The relationship between adolescents and songs is profound, yet the nature of this relationship is hotly contested. Teenagers perceive a powerful positive role of music in their lives, describing the ways they use music to regulate their emotions (Saarikallio & Erkkila, 2007) and describing how music therapy can make them “feel better” (McFerran, 2010b). Contemporary music can be a forum for presenting the voice of young people, or at least their consumer instincts since it is they who purchase the music and make it popular (Mark, 1988). Some adult activists worry about the nature of this voice, with the Parent-Teacher Association of America arguing that the aggressive, pejorative, and sexist lyrics commonly found in some genres of music have a negative influence on the development of their children (Scheel & Westefeld, 1999). Researchers have sometimes adopted this perspective, claiming that music can have a causative influence, determining the thinking of young people and priming them for aggressive or suicidal thoughts and behaviors (Anderson, Carnagey, & Eubanks, 2003; Rustad, Small, Jobes, Safer, & Peterson, 2003). Hip-Hop music, along with metal, has been a 174major focus of such criticism. Evidence from correlational studies frequently identifies a relationship between “psychological vulnerability” and a preference for rap or metal music (Lacourse, Claes, & Villeneuve, 2001; North & Hargreaves, 2005; Stack, Gundlach, & Reeves, 1994; Tarrant, North, & Hargreaves, 2001), but the limitations of survey research mean that the direction of the influence within the teenager-music relationship cannot be determined. The idea that music leads to negative behavior is not well supported, and therefore the suggestion that Hip-Hop music may be contraindicated for vulnerable teens is a simplistic reading of a complex topic.
