Video Games and Violence

Paragraph 1 For quite some time now, video games that involve significant amounts of violence have been blamed for growing numbers of violence by young people, the demographic most likely to play these games. Debate about this has even reached the courts, with both sides of the argument claiming that the scientific literature supports their opinions. Some experts involved have proclaimed that the debate is scientifically settled and that only people holding personal concerns and biases oppose these established truths. Scientifically, two competing social theories have been formulated about the potential effects of video game violence. The first is that video games increase because violence they teach players how to be violent and reinforce violent tendencies. The second theory is that video games have a possible beneficial effect, because they provide a socially acceptable outlet for the release of aggression and thereby promote better mental health.

Paragraph 2 Articles reviewing the effects of video games on general populations have found links between playing violent video games and changes in behavior, and/or thought process, with some finding that people who played realistically violent games for 45 minutes had a greater increase in violent and aggressive feelings than persons who played unrealistically violent video games or non-violent video games for the same period. What seems clear though is that certain populations are more at risk and/or are more likely to play violent video games than others. Studies suggest that at-risk individuals are usually male, have pre-existing personality disorders or traits, for example a conduct disorder, have pre-existing mental health conditions, have had difficult or traumatic upbringings, and are insecure with poor self-esteem. Children with attention deficit disorder were also seen to be at a higher risk of showing addictive behavior to violent video games and that violent video games might be a significant risk variable for aggressive behavior in persons who already have aggressive personality traits. There are, of course, plenty of other groups of people (probably the majority of users) who play and enjoy video games, with or without violence, that have no character disorders at all. Another recent key report which relies on parents' self-report of their children's video game playing behaviors suggests that spending a large amount of time playing violent video games was correlated with troublesome behavior and poor academic performance. The same study also indicates that children who played more educational games had more positive outcomes.

Paragraph 3 What is interesting is that the comic book debate of the 1950's is eerily similar when compared to the current debate about the effects of video games on children. In 1954, the US Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency held hearings on the effects of comic books on America's youth. The primary focus of the Senate hearings was 'crime and horror' comic books, some of which graphically showed horrific images, such as dismembered bodies. Concerns were voiced that these comics would lead to a decline in public morals, an increase in violence and aggression, an increase in general lawlessness, and societal disrespect and deterioration. Medical and social science experts became involved in the debate, writing articles in trustworthy journals. Many of the concerns that dominate the current video game debate were also expressed and it could show the frequently experienced perception that violent behavior is always more prevalent in the present than in the past and that people just search for a scapegoat on which to blame it.

Paragraph 4 Although many articles have suggested a connection between violent video games and aggression, several studies have found no such relationship. One study in fact showed that non-gamers and excessive gamers both had lower self-reported mental wellness scores than low to moderate gamers. This finding suggests that excessive playing may be detrimental, but that there are some protective and non-harmful consequences to playing in moderation. This finding is in line with social theory, which suggests that video games, like sports, may provide an outlet for individuals to work through aggression and, therefore, have better mental functioning and overall lower levels of aggression. The same study points to the positive attributes of violent video game playing, such as improved visual-spatial coordination, increased peripheral attention, and increased decision-making capabilities. People who play a lot of video games also generally have better overall computer skills than people who do not.

Paragraph 5 Another study examining the multivariate risk issues for youth violence shows that the most common positive predictors of youth violence were delinquent peer influences, antisocial personality traits, depression, and parents or guardians who use psychological abuse in family relationships. The factors that were not found to be predictive of youth violence included neighborhood quality, parental use of domestic physical violence in intimate relationships, and exposure to violent television or video games.

Paragraph 6 A recent neurological study provides further evidence that video games do not increase violent behavior by users. The study examines whether there was a change in brain imaging that suggested a loss of distinction between virtual and actual violence in players of violent video games compared with controls. What was found was that the ability to differentiate automatically between real and virtual violence was not diminished by a long-term history of violent video game play, and nor were gamers' neural responses to real violence subject to desensitization processes. This would indicate that video games do not cause people to lose their grip on what is real in comparison with what is fantasy.

Paragraph 7 Many questions are raised by the split nature of the scientific literature regarding violence and video games and it should also be remembered that a correlation does not prove a causation. Stakeholders need to examine the current video game debate in order to decide how to sensibly influence social policy.