Although violent video games are thought to encourage real world violence, they actually help to prevent it. I am focusing on violent video games and how they affect juveniles because I feel that this issue needs to be looked at in the criminal justice community. It is an unnecessary distraction to blame the actions of a disturbed youth on a form of entertainment that has been used by millions of people without incident. A review article published in The Psychiatric Quarterly found that many studies which claim to indicate an increase in aggression due to video games are, in fact, biased! Once the bias is taken into account, the studies no longer find any correlation between youths who play violent video games and youths who demonstate aggression and violent behavior. (Ferguson, 2014)
There are those who believe that playing video games that are violent cause a reduction in brain response to real life violence. This is because the violent game affects a part of the brain hypothesized to cause desensitization. It is then thought that this “desensitization” to violence predicts that those who play these games will become violent themselves later. (Bartholow, Bushman, Sestir, 2006) This is a blanket assumption based on an affect seen on a part of the brain that is not yet proven to control “desensitization.” Admittedly I am not a scientist, but I find it difficult to make the leap from “proven desensitization” to predicted future violence.
Introduction
The debate about media violence has been going on for hundreds of years. The newest form of media being scrutinized is videogames. I will be taking you through this debate and sharing with you some things that you may find surprising. This is not a new topic and has ...
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Ferguson, C.J., Olson, C.K. Video game use among “vulnerable” populations: The impact of violent games on delinquency and bullying among children with clinically elevated depression or attention deficit symptoms. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 2014.
Olson, C.K., Kutner, L.A., & Warner, D.E. The role of violent video game content in adolescent development: Boys’ perspectives. Journal of Adolescent Research, January 2008, pages 55-75.
ScienceDaily, "Could Violent Video Games Reduce Rather Than Increase Violence?" 2009
Web. 23 Apr. 2015.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514213432.htm
Snyder, Howard N., and Sickmund, Melissa. 2006. Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.
http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/nr2006/downloads/nr2006.pdf
The article “Do Video Games Kill” written by Karen Sternheimer addresses the widespread question; are video games the cause for “young killers”? (220) Sternheimer believes concern for the influence of video games may have on youth is spiraling out of control. She puts most of the blame for this out of control concern on the media. She also writes some about the politicians and the Juvenile Justice System. Sternheimer suggests that there are other factors to blame for violent behavior: poverty, the neighborhood, unemployment, family violence, divorced parents and mental illness (218). While it may be that juvenile crimes have declined, and personal backgrounds effect actions, it cannot be proven that video game violence has no to little effect on
"Do Violent Video Games Cause Behavior Problems?" The Premier Online Debate Website. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
The shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado killing thirteen students and teachers shocked the world. “They were video gamers who seemed to be acting out some dark digital fantasy. It was as if all that exposure to computerized violence gave them the idea to go on a rampage – or at least fueled their urges” (Carey 1). The shooters of this incident learned their deadly skills from video games. Seventy percent of children ages eight to eighteen have access to violent video games at their home. “Boys who play Teen or Mature-rated games for a minimum of 40 minutes a day may witness over 180 incidents of aggression per day, or 5,400 incidents per month”(Smith, S.L., Lachlan, K.A., & Tamborini, R). Children that play violent video games at such a young age and experiencing such violent actions will start to increase in aggressive thoughts, feelings, and aggressive behavior.
The experiment demonstrated that violent video game exposure can cause desensitization to real-life violence. Participants who chose to play violent video games were less physiologically aroused by real life violence than nonviolent game players were. They concluded that players who play violent video games essentially become “used to the violence.” Even playing a violent video game for just twenty minutes can cause a person to become less psychologically aroused when viewing actual footage of people being beaten, stabbed, and shot. Desensitization can have some very negative impacts on society. Desensitization could possibly reduce the amount of attention that a certain individual pays to a violent incident involving another person. If they don’t pay attention to the incident then they can’t help the person who very well may need help. Second, the person must recognize the event as an emergency. Desensitization might reduce how seriously another person takes the injury, this decreases the likelihood that the desensitized person may view this incident as an emergency. If they do not view it as an injury then the individual might not feel like they need to help. There is a good chance that the person is in need of help but because the desensitized person doesn’t view the situation as an emergency, then they won’t receive any. According to this study, desensitization could reduce sympathy for the victim, increase beliefs that violence is normative, and decrease negative attitudes towards violence, thereby decreasing feelings of personal responsibility to aid another person in need of
After a long school day, most students find themselves mentally exhausted by an intensive curriculum. Rightfully so, most developing teenagers make an attempt to find an activity to release some stress, and veer away from the rigorous, mental activity of the school day. Hence, most of these children turn to video games. With the recent increase of technological sources, video games has acted as yet another option for after school activity. With admiration for brutal, destructive, and harsh forms of entertainment, it can be seen how violent games can affect the behaviors of young men and women who are constantly exposed.
Many people believe violence in video games result in violent outbreaks and unhealthy behavior in real world. Since the first Nineteen Eighties, violence in video games became a part of a political issue leading advocates to create theories that these styles of games are corrupting society. Studies have been created to seek out if there's a link between violent video games and violent behavior. Are these video games shaping today’s generation of youths to be violent? I believe that there's no correlation between violence in video games and violence in our society. I think this first of all, improves a large form of general skills, secondly, there are several alternative factors that contribute into creating society violent and finally, crime rates decrease because the quality of those forms of games increase.
The allegation that videogames cause violent behavior in children has been present as long as videogames themselves. Some researchers said that the Sandy Hook shooter, Adam Lanza, was one intense gamer. “Seung-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech Shooter was seen by his roomates as odd because he never joined them in video games.”(Beresin) This debate will continue to go on in this country as long as there are horrific crimes that occur. There is much written in the research regarding this issue, and many differing views. The research that is presented in the next few paragraphs supports the theory that it is not the graphic video games that produce aggressive behavior, but other factors in a child’s life that create violent actions.
In “The Effects of violent video games, do they affect our behavior?” Brad J. Bushman argues that violent video games have had “hundreds of additional studies have shown a link between violent media exposure and aggression.”(Bushman 1) Bushman points out why are video games more harmful than violent TV programs, how are video games good for you, and why do people deny harmful effects of violent video games. He gives a good reason on why video games are harmful that violent TV. He states that players are likely to relate themselves with the character, the player also perceives the same visual as the character, and also that the player gets rewarded after a violent scene such as killing. Bushman also states how some people claim that violent
Porter, Guy, and Vladan Starcevic. "Are Violent Video Games Harmful?." Australasian Psychiatry. 15.5 (2007): 422-426. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Oct. 2013.
By far the largest concern of technology today is video games. There have been so many experiments and studies to try and figure out if video games have a negative or positive effect on our children. A growing body of research is linking violent video game play to aggressive cognitive, attitudes and behaviors (D.A. Gentile, 2004). Video games can obviously be dangerous for our children causing aggression, bad performances in school and obesity. Although we cant blame all of these problems on the use of video game...
“Contrary to the claims that violent video games are linked to aggressive assaults and homicides, no evidence was found to suggest that this medium was a major (or minor) contributing cause of violence in the United States.” (Markey, 290)
The children roaming in our present society have gotten more violent, their minds are slowly corrupting as the generations pass by, and all for what? This dramatic change in society is being brought by present day video games, which ultimately contribute to youth violence, for they alter behavior and can be seen in the daily, natural lives of the kids in today’s environment.
Some people believe that violent video games can cause behavioral problems. This is not true; it is only their opinion. They may say people that play violent video games start having behavioral problems, and what was that cause? It is only people and it has no effect on them, only their own action and their weak mental health issues. The violent video games for computers and consoles’ sale rate went up but violent crime offense went down. Video games are for players to have fun without causing any harm while they are playing. Why do they believe that behavior problems were caused by violent video games? They do not seem to realize that television and movies also have violent scenes. Some examples of popular violent movies include First Blood, Expendables, Dark Knight, Spiderman, and Superman. All action movies have shooting, explosions, and fighting. Horror movies are filled with violence as well, such as Halloween, Scream, and Saw. Horror shows and movie are showing stabbings and serious harm. Even Television shows, like the Three Stooges, Cops, wrestling and America's Funniest Videos! Children's cartoons have violence as well; Disney animated films, Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Watership Down.
“90% of pediatricians and 67% of parents agreed or strongly agreed that violent video games can increase aggressive behavior among children” ("Do Violent Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence?”). Pediatrics and parents are aware that kids that play violent video games see a change in their behavior. Many cases they see the kids with anger problems and causing them to do violent acts. Violent video games have been around for many years where some older titles, such as ‘Mortal Kombat’ and 'Grand Theft Auto’ both are some of the most controversial ones. The video game industry has been growing and with the large amounts of violent video games being produced. “Total US sales of video game hardware and software increased 204% from 1994 to
Willoughby, T., Adachi, P. C., & Good, M. (2012). A longitudinal study of the association between violent video game play and aggression among adolescents. Developmental Psychology, 48(4), 1044-1057. doi:10.1037/a0026046