Violence in Video Games - Assignment Example

Violence in Video Games: A Critical Review I. Violence in video games A. Violence in video games relates to violence in real life Violence in video games is blamed for a high crime rate among youth 2. Video games cause aggressive behavior in people B. Violence in video games has nothing to do with violence in real life The violence in video games has been blamed for causing aggressive behavior onto those who participate in playing them. However there are also those who believe that the violence in video games is irrelevant to the violence or heightened crime rates in real life. II. The violence in video games has some sort of result on society as a whole A. The violence in video games absolutely relates to the heightened crime rate - especially among youth - in today's world. B. The violence in video games has absolutely nothing to do with the heightened crime rate or violence - among youth or not - in today's world. B. The violence in video games has absolutely nothing to do with any form of heightened crime in today's world - among youth or not. 1. Statistics show that the violence in video games has nothing to do with the aggressiveness of people a. Duke Ferris (2005) shows graphs and statistics which prove that in fact the crime rate among youth has actually decreased over the past decade rather than increased, showing that the violence in video games does not have an affect on the violence of the persons who participate in the playing of them. b. During the time that such games as Grand Theft Auto and GTA 3 came out, the crime rate actually decreased; this is a very powerful statistic, considering that these two games are infamous for 'producing violent behavior'. In order to come to a proper conclusion in regards to the actuality of how the violence in video games relates to the violence and aggression in real life, and to focus on both sides of the argument before coming to a drawn conclusion. Violence in Video Games: A Critical Review The subject of violence in video games is one of much controversy, and yet perhaps relatively overlooked facets stemming from the media. If we stop to consider the vast number of persons - especially youth - who participate in the playing of video games and the amount of time they spend doing so, most would be quite surprised. The media itself is an unlimited resource for the public, and can be considered as both a negative and positive element in today's world. In order to come to a clearer and more knowledgeable viewpoint on the subject of violence in video games, we must thoroughly examine both sides of the argument, and fully understand the subject matter before coming to a conclusive decision. The aim of this paper is to discuss all of this, as well as the separate elements which relate to the violence in video games. This is what will be dissertated in the following. It has been said that "Playing violent video games like Doom, Wolfenstein 3D or Mortal Kombat can increase a person's aggressive thoughts, feelings and behavior both in laboratory settings and in actual life, according to two studies appearing in the April issue of the American Psychological Association's (APA) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology." (Willenz, 2000). The violence in video games is considered to be much more harmful to a person when compared to that of television or movies, because of the fact that video games are interactive, whereas these other forms of media are not. There have been numerous studies done in attempts to conclude whether or not the violence in video games actually has anything to do with persons being violent in real life; most came to the same conclusion, that yes, they do. Psychologists Craig A. Anderson, Ph.D., Karen E. Dill, Ph.D., say that "One study reveals that young men who are habitually aggressive may be especially vulnerable to the aggression-enhancing effects of repeated exposure to violent video games." (Willena, 2000). A quote by Anderson and Dill in regards to their study says that: "The present research demonstrated that in both a correlational investigation using self-reports of real-world aggressive behaviors and an experimental investigation using a standard, objective laboratory measure of aggression, violent video game play was positively related to increases in aggressive behavior. In the laboratory, college students who played a violent game behaved more aggressively toward an opponent than did students who had played a nonviolent video game. Outside the laboratory, students who reported playing more violent video games over a period of years also engaged in more aggressive behavior in their own lives. Both types of studies - correlational - real delinquent behaviors and experimental - laboratory aggressive behaviors have their strengths and weaknesses. The convergence of findings across such disparate methods lends considerable strength to the main hypothesis that exposure to violent video games can increase aggressive behavior." (Holmes, 2005) There is also the potential factor that the violence in video games actually has nothing at all to do with the violence of people in the real world. Although the fan base for this point of view is relatively smaller than the other, the basis of their argument is no different. As Duke Ferris stated: "video games are not the cause of this epidemic of youth violence in America." (Ferris, 2005). Ferris also believes that the whole concept that the violence in video games has anything to do with a heightened crime rate in the real world is a lie manufactured, distributed and perpetrated by the media. He is very straightforward and faithful in his belief in this. He also says that the events of Columbine sparked the mainstream media flow of picturing gamers as "odd shut-ins dangerously close to the precipice of violent behavior" (2005). Violence in the 1950s was linked to rock and roll, just as it is linked to video games today. Which goes to show, perhaps this is proof that video games got a rather bad reputation, and that in all actuality they have nothing to do with any form of crime rate today, youth or not. There must also be the comparison of video games to movies; of the two, video games certainly get the short end of the stick when it comes to respect. When we take a look at the facts, however, we see that "In 2004, 54 percent of games were rated "E" for everyone, 33 percent were rated "T" for Teen, and only 12 percent were rated "M" for MatureCompare that to the 55 percent of movies rated "R" and only 8 percent rated "G"." (Ferris, 2005). There are also the statistics on youth crime rate, as well as crime rate in America altogether. The results show that rather than increasing over the past decade, the crime rate - especially among youth - has in fact dropped. This could only mean one thing, and that is that we must believe that the violence in video games really has been over exaggerated by the media, considering that through logical statistics we can see there is a decrease rather than an increase in the crime rate. There are many different stances which can be taken on this subject matter, although often times it will severely strong towards one side or the other. After this review, perhaps we can see that this means other forms of media have also gotten a bad reputation for enforcing violence in the world as well, but video games are certainly the most attacked out of all forms of media. The whole idea that youth violence in America is out of control now seems utterly confusing, when we see that the statistics of youth crime and homicide rate has actually been decreasing. So perhaps from now on, rather than blaming something entirely on a factor without knowing the actual truths, we should take a moment to gather and view the factual statistics, in order to come to a better understanding on the subject matter before taking a stance and exaggerating the blame on (video games). Works Cited Ferris, Duke. "The Truth About Violent Youth and Video Games." Game Revolution. 2005. 12 April 2006 < http://www.gamerevolution.com/oldsite/articles/violence/violence.htm> Holmes, Leonard. "Violent Video Games Produce Violent Behavior." About. 2005. 12 April 2006 http://mentalhealth.about.com/cs/familyresources/a/vidgameviolence.htm Willenz, Pam. "APA Press Releases." APA. 2000. 12 April 2006 < http://www.apa.org/releases/videogames.html> Read More