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Violence is becoming increasingly present in modern society. Its consequences are manifested in a large number of injuries and premature deaths and thus violence is becoming a great problem for public health. My decision to undertake this research was spurred by the fact that violent behaviour among adolescents is increasingly present in Slovenia and because of the influence of the visual media on human perceptions of the real world. Considering the increasing significance that the media have on the life of modern man and on the psychosocial development of children and adolescents, I endeavoured to evaluate the influence of violence in the media on violent behaviour of adolescents. The research group was comprised of 62 adolescents of both genders in the age group from 15 to 19 years who are inmates of adolescent rehabilitation centres. The control group comprised 87 gender and age compatible high school students. A questionnaire was given to both of these groups that evaluates family conditions, violence in the family, attitudes towards violence, violent behaviour, autoaggressivness and behaviour related to the media. In order to evaluate aggressive behaviour as individualised characteristics we used the standardised Buss-Durkee questionnaire. Adolescents from the research group differed from the control group in the experience with violence in the family, in their personal violent behaviour, in attitude toward violence, in autoaggressivness and in their response, experience and motivation for accepting violence in the media. These differences were statistically significant. The research showed that adolescents with unfavourable family experiences and a higher degree of aggressive behaviour are more receptive to violence in the media than adolescents who have grown up in more favourable conditions and who have not developed noticeable aggressive behaviour. Violence in the media is most probably only one of the various factors that increase violent behaviour among adolescents.