Video Games and Violence - Essay Example

Your Videogames and Violence I. Introduction In the light of the recent events pertaining to the violent shootout in Aurora, Colorado, the interest in the field of relationship between videogames and violence has sprung up again. There are a lot of theories about this and most people believe that playing videogames is the reason why people can get quite violent, or at least can influence violent acts that lead people to commit violent acts. This essay tries to maintain the point that videogames can heavily influence violent behavior in people, particularly the youth. II. Videogames and violence Before the argument starts, let us define what videogames and violence first. Videogames are electronic games. It uses video-interface to harness the human interaction needed for the game to play; to have a visual feedback on a video device, usually a television. Videogames have been around for more than fifty years as it started in 1947.Two men, Thomas Goldsmith and Estle Ray Mann, invented and patented something called “cathode ray tube amusement device” and this was the game now that we know as the videogame. There are many platforms of videogames. One can play videogames in a personal computer, or in a videogame console. There are also videogames that can play in handheld devices too. Some videogames are specialized as they are only available in arcade platform. These were popular during the 80s and the 90s but then the advent of the personal computer made the arcade platform quite obsolete. Many people, especially the die-hard fans, have considered video games as an art form; many also consider videogames (or videogaming) as an industry. Videogames these days usually have extensive plotlines and characterization, and the player usually has to fulfill a mission that is parallel to the plot and the character he is taking on the game. Some games are quite complex with their plots and twists, with various characters that the player can be in the game. The graphics quality of videogames is also quite the thing for fans. Many videogames boast realistic images that simulate real-life situations. These graphics are top of the line, with a quality akin to Hollywood level special effects. Sounds of these videogames are also worth mentioning as they can also be quite realistic. There are many kinds of video games. There are strategy games, simulation games, arcade games and role playing games. Most people tend to say that role playing games like Call of Duty or Counter Strike, role playing games that involve the use of guns and killing, are the main reason for the surge of violent behavior in some people. There are other games like Grand Theft Auto, which in turn lets the player play a character in the criminal underworld: he gets to play as a carjacker and kills people and steals cars in order for him to win. Along with that “situation” are some realistic settings and environments that can lead to some sexual nature of the game. The environmental simulation in these games for most people, are the reason why some people can get stimulated to participate in violent acts. These games do simulate violent environment and settings and they can actually inspire some to do similar acts. The realistic graphics and sounds add more to the experience, making it a more stimulating game. Violence, according to World Health Organization (WHO) is “an intentional use of physical force power” threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation” (WHO, 2012). Violence is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, taking in 1.5 million lives per year. Most of it is due to suicide, homicide and wars/conflict. However, these deaths are nothing compared to the toll it has taken on many people’s lives when it comes to injuries. The victims of violence can also suffer life-long mental and emotional damage (apart from common physical trauma) that can lead to unproductivity at some point of their lives. Because of that, violence, therefore, can slow down a person’s development or growth. There are studies that show that violence is strongly related to income levels, gender inequality, drugs and alcohol (and other substances), and the lack of nurturing relationships between parents and children. Other causes of violent behavior can be personality disorders and genetic predisposition of a person, and the event of witnessing or experiencing a violent act. Because most videogames simulate a violent environment (particularly those with guns like Call of Duty), many people say that the players actually experience violent acts, and have violent behavior vicariously, through games. For them, this makes it enough reason for the players to be influenced by games to have violent behavior. III. Videogames Influence Violent Behavior Because of the premise that violent videogames can stimulate aggression with the exposure to simulated violence, many people have postulated that videogames do influence violent behavior to its players, particularly the youth. There are several studies to support that, and we will tackle them one by one. There is a 2008 study that states that most players of mature-rated games, primarily of the middle school age, have participated in bullying. 60% of these gamers have played mature-rated games and 39% have not. It is also noted that the children who play violent videogames at the beginning of the school year figures a lot more in disciplinary action as they show more aggressive behavior than that of their peers. An FBI report (2000) entitled The School Shooter: A Threat Assessment Perspective includes “playing violent videogames” in their list of behaviors associated with the profile of the school shooter. There is also a study that states that violent behavior can be learned through playing video games. This is through the premise that video games reward avoiding videogame players by wins. Because of these wins, the player is conditioned to think that by adopting violent behavior, he would also “win” in life. Violent videogames also causes the player to associate pleasure and success with the ability to inflict pain and to behave violently/aggressively to others. Thus, they tend to exhibit a more aggressive behavior even if they are not playing as they are conditioned to do so (Grossman and DeGaetano, 1999). The observation above is also related to a study that states that playing violent videogames can make the player desensitized to violence (Reagan, 2008). This is specific to role playing games with killing in the theme. In these games, when the player gets killed, the screen goes blank and the player disappears then makes way for another version of the player. In short, the player has multiple lives. Because of these “multiple lives” in games, the player has been desensitized to death and is more likely to exhibit aggression. The study even states that brain activity in the area that is known for empathy has been reduced, meaning the player has reduced efforts for empathy. The study by Professor Funk in 2004 linked lower empathy rates to higher exposure to violent video games. In the study, violent video games were the only medium that can lower empathy scores with children ages ten and eleven. It should be noted that empathy is the ability of a person to understand another person’s feelings and is believed to inhibit aggression and violent tendencies in a person. Because of the reduced empathy and higher levels of aggression, the player can indeed commit more violent behavior as he can walk around the society virtually without conscience, with an aggression that has been acquired through being exposed in violent images courtesy of videogames. Villani, Olson and Jellinek (2008) also found out in their study that children often confuse reality and fantasy. This is also true for videogames. The children get confused with reality violence and videogame violence and they think that videogame violence is real, and that it is the right way to solve problems. And since videogames require active participation, the children with sophisticated games that are designed to make them identify with the characters get more confused, making them immerse themselves in a very realistic simulation that can make them believe that violence is the solution to everything. There are also physical evidence that violent videogames can indeed cause changes to the person playing it, as the person gets aroused after playing a videogame with a violent nature. In a study conducted by Barlett, Branch, Roedheffer and Harris (2009), the children who played with violent videogames usually have aggressive thoughts and behaviors immediately after playing, and only returning to normal after at least four minutes. The children’s heart rates also increased (indicating stress) and it took about ten minutes for it to return to the normal heart rate. The more violent it is (the more blood the game shows), the more aggressive thoughts it generates. Simulation games are also used by the US Army as it can train its players to be killers. In fact, the US Marine Corp has obtained rights to Doom II to create Marine Doom to train soldiers. The US Army has another simulation game called America’s Army that is designed to train and prepare recruits (Reagan, 2008). IV. Videogames Do Not Influence Violent Behavior There are other people who do not believe that videogames do not deliver that big an impact when it comes to violent behavior, though. There are those who believe that violent video games are still video games that promote cooperation and socialization to peers of the players. Most proponents of this school of thought always say that “context matters”. According to Rosanna Gudango, PhD, “My own research (Ewoldsen, Eno, Okdie, Guadagno, DeCoster, & Velez) indicates two important and understudied factors on the violence and video game debate: 1) context matters - people playing violent video games with friends do not show increases in aggression and engage in cooperative behavior; 2) immersion matters - our most recent data indicate that immersion mediates the relation between video games and aggression.” For her and her co-authors, videogames are social tools, and they are seen as vital connections of socialization for youth, with their peers. Additionally, they say that playing videogames is the norm in the youth sector. That means if you are not playing videogames, you can be ostracized in one’s own social group. That would entail more problems for the child or the adolescent and can be seen as the cause of violent behavior too. Another problem seen with the “videogames promote violence” argument is that it takes a lot of time and exposure for the player to get really affected by the violence in the game. If the person does not religiously play a violent videogame, then chances are there will be no behavior change. The studies mentioned that the players thoughts of aggression return to normal after four minutes and that heartbeats return to normal after ten minutes. There are also studies that say that violent videogames do not really influence people to make aggressive actions or behaviors, as what some people imply (mainly because of the military’s action of using videogames for their recruits). According to an article by Eric Kain (2012), a guest for CNN, a criminal profiler named Pat Brown, said that “Videogames only help one get in the mood for killing”, meaning, the thought of killing someone is not really because of videogames. This is because the players get inspired by the violent acts. He was careful to note that the player who are inspired by violent acts are psychopaths. True enough, these people are genetically predisposed to committing violent acts. Most of those who commit shootings and mass murders are psychopaths, whether or not they are influenced by video games or not. There are also theories that say that playing violent videogames are only circumstantial. Some say that the children of broken families, say, the mother and father of a child separate, can lead the child to be alone most of the time, drawing the child more to the videogame console. The angst because of his parents’ situation may be the cause of violent behavior, not the videogame. Psychologist Patrick Markey also stated that it’s not the videogame, but rather, the player that should be taken into consideration. According to him, the people with personality traits (combination) of high neuroticism and low on agreeableness are candidates for the people who are more easily negatively affected by playing violent videogames. He also stated that the competition in the videogames, not the violent content, is a more telling variable when it comes to aggressive behavior in the players. It means, competitive games, irrespective of the level of violence, produce more aggressive behavior compared to noncompetitive games. V. Conclusion Videogames are relatively new. Compared to television and comic books (which were also sensationalized at a certain time when it came to the subject of violence), it is new and susceptible to prejudice as people are not really experienced with it. Add to the fact that most of the critics are mostly people of the older generation and they do not really play video games. However, there are physical changes that occur when one is playing violent video games. There are changes in the brain when the players play violent video games for at least a year, everyday (Park, 2011). The physical changes that occur affect the person’s empathy centers and other emotions but increases aggressive behavior. This may also increase a person’s violent tendencies. Bullying also increases with the exposure to violent video games, as evidenced by some children playing videogames at the start of the school year as compared to those who have not. But then, these only happen if the people are exposed to videogames for a long time; and if they are predisposed to violence. But the fact that violence and aggression is can be linked by playing violent videogames is intact and will continue to be, until it has been cleared and declared safe. References: Bartholow, Bruce, Bushman, Brad and Sestir, Marc. Chronic violent video game exposure and desensitization to violence: Behavioral and event-related brain potential data. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 42, 2006. Elsevier Press. Web. Barlett, Christopher, et al. How Long Do the Short Term Violent Video Game Effects Last? Journal of Aggressive Behavior, vol 35, pp 225-236. 2009. Web. Grossman, Dave and DeGaetano, Gloria. Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill: A Call to Action against TV, Movie & Video Game Violence, 1999. Web. Dietz, Tracy. An Examination of Violence and Gender Role Portrayals in Video Games: Implications for Gender Socialization and Aggressive Behavior, 1998. Sex Roles Journal, Volume 38, No. 516, pp. 425-441. Web. FBI. The School Shooter: Threat Assessment Perspective. FBI, Department of Justice, 2000. Web. Herz, JC. Joystick Nation. Little, Brown, and Co: New York, 2002. Print. Krug et al., "World report on violence and health", World Health Organization, 2002. Web. Kutner, Lawrence and Olsen, Cheryl. Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth about Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do, Apr. 2008. Web. Park, Alice. How Playing Violent Videogames May Change The Brain. Time. Web. December 2, 2011. Reagan, Michael. US Military Recruits Children: Americas Army Video Game Violates International Law. Truthout website, July 23, 2008. Web. Read More