Do Violent Video Games Increase Adolescence Violence
Do Violent Video Games Increase Adolescence Violence?
Fred Saucer
Jonathan Varhola
SOC 2000-09
April 14, 2014Do Violent Video Games Increase Adolescence Aggression?
The debate over violent video games causing aggression in young people can be traced back to the 1976 release of the game Death Race. The object of the game was to run over screaming "gremlins" with a car, at which point they would turn into tombstones. Controversy erupted because the "gremlins" resembled stick-figure humans, and it was reported that the working title of the game was Pedestrian. After protestors dragged Death Race machines out of arcades and burned them in parking lots, production of the game ceased. (Jeffrey Hendricks, Steven Jacobson, & Natalie Leppard, 2014). However, video game advocates contend that a majority of the research on the topic is deeply flawed and that no causal relationship has been found between video games and social violence. (Jeffrey Hendricks, Steven Jacobson, & Natalie Leppard, 2014). Using sociological imagination helps us find the relation between increased aggression in youth’s and violent video games. It is essential to understand the effect of the relationship between youth’s aggression and violent video games because it offers a view into people’s fear of the unknown. In this paper I will examine how our fear of loss of control can cause mass confusion and misinform the public on a minor issue.
Even though video games are thought to make young people lazy, resistant, and feed bad habits, games sales continue to grow. Even the top ten most played and sold games are violent. Take GTA (Grand Theft Auto) for example. A game series that was started in 1997 is one the most played and popular game series of all time. Last fall, in GTA 5’s release is sold 1 billion copies in a matter of three days. The main point of the game from the initial game was only to steal cars, make money, and cause as much chaos as possible while doing it. However, as the games
Fred Saucer
Jonathan Varhola
SOC 2000-09
April 14, 2014Do Violent Video Games Increase Adolescence Aggression?
The debate over violent video games causing aggression in young people can be traced back to the 1976 release of the game Death Race. The object of the game was to run over screaming "gremlins" with a car, at which point they would turn into tombstones. Controversy erupted because the "gremlins" resembled stick-figure humans, and it was reported that the working title of the game was Pedestrian. After protestors dragged Death Race machines out of arcades and burned them in parking lots, production of the game ceased. (Jeffrey Hendricks, Steven Jacobson, & Natalie Leppard, 2014). However, video game advocates contend that a majority of the research on the topic is deeply flawed and that no causal relationship has been found between video games and social violence. (Jeffrey Hendricks, Steven Jacobson, & Natalie Leppard, 2014). Using sociological imagination helps us find the relation between increased aggression in youth’s and violent video games. It is essential to understand the effect of the relationship between youth’s aggression and violent video games because it offers a view into people’s fear of the unknown. In this paper I will examine how our fear of loss of control can cause mass confusion and misinform the public on a minor issue.
Even though video games are thought to make young people lazy, resistant, and feed bad habits, games sales continue to grow. Even the top ten most played and sold games are violent. Take GTA (Grand Theft Auto) for example. A game series that was started in 1997 is one the most played and popular game series of all time. Last fall, in GTA 5’s release is sold 1 billion copies in a matter of three days. The main point of the game from the initial game was only to steal cars, make money, and cause as much chaos as possible while doing it. However, as the games
References: Saleem, M., Anderson, C. A., & Gentile, D. A. (2012). Effects of Prosocial, Neutral, and Violent Video Games on Children 's Helpful and Hurtful Behaviors. Aggressive Behavior, 38(4), 281-287. doi:10.1002/ab.21428 Peckham, M. (2013). Researcher Says Linking Video Games to Gun Violence Is a 'Classic Illusory Correlation '. Time.Com, 1. Whiteman, H. (2013, November 29). "Violent video games reduce teens ' self-control, study Jeffrey Hendricks, Steven Jacobson, & Natalie Leppard, (2014). "Video Games ProCon.org." ProCon.org Mar. 2014. Web. 17 Mar. 2014. Paramjit, Joshi T., M.D., Fritz K. Gregory, M.D., and Sood "Bela" Aradhana, M.D. Children and Video Games: Playing with Violence. Children and Video Games: Playing with Violence. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. New Releases." Violent Video Games and Young People. Harvard University, n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. Heiken, Elisa. "Gamasutra: Elisa Heiken 's Blog - How Social Casual Games Meet Our Unmet Psychological Needs." Gamasutra Article. UBE Tech, 22 Jan. 2014. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.