Literature Review

Violent Gaming Influences Crime

Carden 2009 states in this article to the university that statistically people who play violent video games are also those who are more likely to commit crimes more than others, and some experts infer from this fact that violent video games encourage violence. On its face, the connection seems clear.

However he also states that there could be a real, but casual relationship between the gamer and violent aggression. Whether the relationship is correlation is deeper and a lot more complex that thought. He also explains that those that are likely to go out and commit crimes are agreeably more likely to be drawn to playing violent games and therefore what we observe is simply correlation explained by a third factor. The fact that in this we feel we have to relate violent games to real violence when in proven theory it is the other way around.

“Video games that promote crime is further complicated by the idea that violent video games might actually serve as a substitute for violent crime — that is, people who are likely to commit violent crimes might be able to get their violence "fix" by playing video games instead of committing crimes” (Carden:2009)

"One study reveals that young men who are habitually aggressive may be especially vulnerable to the aggression-enhancing effects of repeated exposure to violent games and the other study reveals that even a brief exposure to violent video games can temporarily increase aggressive behaviour in all types of participants." (Anderson: 2008)

Anderson 2008 performed studies on individuals to test the impact on gaming and violence. The first study involved 227 college students who completed a measure of trait aggressiveness and reported their actual aggressive behaviors in the recent past. They also reported their video game playing habits. They found that students who reported playing more violent video games in junior and high school engaged in more aggressive behaviour inside and outside of school.

On his second study, 210 college students played either a violent or nonviolent video game with an opponent. After a short time later, the students who played the violent video game felt an urge to punish an opponent if they had been beaten while those who only played the non violent game showed no aggression or rises in stress towards there opponent.

"Violent video games provide a forum for learning and practicing aggressive solutions to conflict situations. In the short run, playing a violent video game appears to affect aggression by priming aggressive thoughts” (Anderson: 2008)




Violent Gaming Reduces Crime

Within Kierkegaard: 2009 report he covers these areas of how violent games could reduce real violence out on the streets.
Award-winning video games, such as the Grand Theft Auto series, thrive on murder, theft, and destruction on every imaginable level explains Kierkegaard, and gamers boost their chances of winning the game by a virtual visit to a prostitute with subsequent violent mugging and recovery of monies from gangs.

Kierkegaard points out that these violent games are growing more realistic with each passing year and most relish their plots of violence, aggression and gender.
But, he asks, "Is there any scientific evidence to support the claims that violent games contribute to aggressive and violent behaviour?"

Kierkegaard explains, there is no obvious link between real-world violence statistics and the advent of video games. If anything, the effect seems to be the exact opposite and one might argue that video game usage has reduced real violence.

Kierkegaard gathered evidence to back his theory: "Violent crime, particularly among the young, has decreased dramatically since the early 1990s, while video games have steadily increased in popularity and use”. In 2005, there were 1,360,088 violent crimes reported in the USA compared with 1,423,677 the year before.

Reference List

Carden, A. 2009 “Video Games and Violence” http://mises.org/story/3528
Accessed 20/10/2009

Anderson, C. 2008 “Violent Video Games Can Increase Aggression” http://www.apa.org/releases/videogames.html
Accessed 20/10/2009

Kierkegaard, P. 2008 “Could Video Games Reduce Rather than Increase Violence”
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514213432.htm
Accessed: 20/10/2009