violent video games increase aggression in adolescents

8/4/2019 Violent Video Games Increase Aggression in Adolescents

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Violent Video Games Increase Aggression in Adolescents

While the number of violent crimes among teens has decreased over the last fifteen years,

the brutality involved in adolescent crimes being committed has increased (Thompson). Horrible

acts of violence, such as the Columbine shootings, have been linked to the influence that

graphically violent video games, games which reward players for hunting down and shooting

human targets, have on children (Layton). Playing violent video games not only causes a

physiological change in the brain that increases aggressive behavior, but also desensitizes

adolescents, and teaches them, through classical conditioning, that violence is the right way to

deal with their anger.

As of 2009, the video game industry had grown into a nearly $20 billion industry in the

United States alone (Riley), where over 90 percent of children and adolescents play video games

for an average of 30 minutes a day (Violent). An alarming trend within the video game

industry is the growing number of games with violent content.

Cheryl K. Olson, ScD, co director of the Center for Mental Health and Media at

Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston states Its not the violence per se thats the problem;

its the context and goal of the violence, when addressing the issue of violent media and its

effects on violent behavior. She continues, There are definitely games kids shouldnt be

playing, for example, those where hunting down people and killing them is the goal.

(Violent).

Unfortunately, a number of popular video game titles do have the primary objective of

hunting and killing human opponents. For example, the controversial game Manhunt, consists

of scenes where the player is encouraged to kill gang members, or hunters, in gruesome ways,

using weapons ranging from plastic bags, baseball bats, crowbars, and various bladed items, to


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firearms. The player is encouraged to execute his opponents quickly and violently to gain more

stars at the end of each level. If the player is running low on life points, he can find painkillers to

replenish his health. He is also encouraged to throw items, such as severed human heads, to

distract his enemies. Manhunt was banned in several countries, due to its graphic content, and

was implicated by the media in a murder. Jason Julier, game reviewer for gamestyle.com, had

this to say about the series:

After Vice City, it was fairly obvious that Rockstar North had only just begun a

journey into depravity. The satisfying carnage and destruction of the Grand Theft

Auto series was about to be left behind, and fashionably displaced by a more

personal, brutal, sickening and intense form of violence. This isManhunt. Its

rules are simple: kill or be killed.

Backed up with snuff-inspired video-feed sequences (and appropriate foul

language), this breaks new ground for a video game. Each killing sequence is

intense, ugly and memorableIt forces the player into the role of a killer where

soft emotion is simply not catered to. You must learn to move through each

environment avoiding contact, observing your prey and delivering that final, gut-

wrenching blow. Satisfyingly, the harder you press a kill button, the more intense

the kill.

It is disturbing to think that this kind of content is being viewed by young players. If

reviewers, who support this game, describe it as a journey into depravity, based on snuff-

inspired sequences, how could this possibly be suitable material for anyone to engage in? Many

adolescents spend several hours a day, several days a week, playing video games where the


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player takes on the role of a killer. Craig A. Anderson, an expert on the harmful effects of

violent video games on children, explains that video games are interactive, engrossing, and

require the player to identify with the aggressor. It is clear how behavior can easily be affected

by such graphic images, especially since game play uses repetitive motions and rewards (the

harder you press the kill button, the more intense the kill), that encouraged the player to

participate in virtual violence.

Classical conditioning is a proven behavioral learning technique where desired behavior

is rewarded, and undesirable behavior is punished. Through this process, learning occurs from

interactions with the environment, which shapes behavior through internal mental states, such as

thoughts, feelings, and emotions (Cherry). The unconditioned stimulus occurs naturally, and

triggers a response. For example, when one smells food, he may experience hunger. The

conditioned stimulus occurs after becoming associated with the unconditioned stimulus, which

eventually becomes a trigger to a conditioned response. In the previous example, if a whistle

was blown on multiple occasions when the favorite food was smelled, one would be conditioned

to feel hungry at the sound of a whistle (Cherry). These techniques are commonly used to

reward and discipline animals when training pets. Violent video games often contain elements

of this type of conditioning where the game rewards desired behavior, such as killing an enemy.

In addition to conditioning, there is physical evidence that violent video games have an

affect on the developing brain of adolescents. In a study conducted by the Indiana University

School of Medicine, 44 adolescents were divided into 2 groups and randomly assigned to play

one of two games, Medal of Honor and Need for Speed. The children were given MRIs of

their brains immediately following their 30 minute game playing sessions. Medal of Honor

contains lifelike war violence, and the objective of the game is to complete missions, which


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involve killing human enemies to reap rewards. Although the game Need for Speed is a high-

octane, action-based racing game, the brain scans for the children who played this game did not

show the negative effects that the children who played Medal of Honor showed (Kalning).

The brain scans for the Medal of Honor children showed an increase in activity in the part of

the brain known to be responsible for aggression and emotional arousal. At the same time, the

childrens brain scans showed a reduction in brain activity in the areas known to be responsible

for self-control, inhibition, and attention (Kalning). The main difference between these games is

the violent content (Kalning). This was the first study that was able to physically show the

effects of game violence on the brain (Kalning).

Video games containing excessive violence also cause desensitization. A study

conducted in 2006 by Psychologists from Iowa University, was able to demonstrate this

desensitizing affect on game players. The study was conducted using 257 students. Each

student had their heart rate and galvanic skin response measured before exposing them to any

violent content. Students were then randomly selected to play one of eight video games for 20

minutes (Psychologists). Four of the video games were violent in nature, and four were non-

violent. After the 20 minute session had concluded, a second set of heart rate and galvanic skin

responses were recorded (Psychologists). Each student was then exposed to 10 minutes of

actual violent TV content, from news and other sources. Heart and skin responses were

monitored and recorded throughout the 10 minutes of TV exposure (Psychologists). The

students that had been playing violent video games showed a much lower skin and heart rate

response when exposed to actual violence on the TV, compared to the students that had been

playing non-violent video games (Psychologists). The conclusion was that playing violent


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video games even for relatively short periods of time can desensitize individuals to real life

violence (Psychologists).

Violent video games have a stronger affect on behavior, due to their conditioning content.

On June 7, 2003, afterplaying Grand Theft Auto day and night for several months

(Bradley), 18-year-old Devin Moore was arrested on suspicion of car theft, and brought into the

Fayette, Alabama police station to begin booking. Devin Moore did not resist arrest or

processing at first, but suddenly attacked an officer and stole his gun, shooting him and another

officer in the head. He ran down the hallway, shot the 911 dispatcher, also in the head, then stole

a set of car keys on his way out the door, leaving all three dead (Bradley). Devin Moore escaped

the police station, got in a police car and drove away (Layton). Devin Moore did not have a

criminal record prior to this event (Bradley). Attorney Jack Thompson filed a law suit as a

result of the Devin Moore case, claiming that the Grand Theft Auto video game conditioned

Devin to react the way he did (Bradley). Thompson states:

What were saying is that Devin Moore was, in effect, trained to do what he did.

He was given a murder simulatorHe bought it as a minor. He played it

hundreds of hours, which is primarily a cop-killing game. Its our theorythat,

but for the video-game training, he would not have done what he did.

The events of Moores crime are strikingly similar to the game play of Grand Theft

Auto, a game centered around stealing cars, where the player takes on the role of a freelance

criminal whose goal is to rise in ranks through organized crime by completing tasks that range

from simple deliveries to contract killings. The popular series has evolved its focus on

becoming a crime lord, encouraging the player to commit a variety of virtual crime, including

killing innocent bystanders and police officers. In a review of Grand Theft Auto IV on the


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popular gaming site, ign.com, Hilary Goldstein writes the following: The series cheered (and

criticized) for glorifying violence has taken an unexpected turn: its gone legit sure, youll still

blow up cop cars, run down innocent civilians, bang hookers, assist drug dealers and lowlifes and

do many, many other bad deeds

It is frightening to think that these behaviors are being supported by the entertainment

industry. Outside of video games, one would never encourage children to commit such acts.

However, they are being encouraged, and are heavily advertised, and are supported by many

viewers. Although government regulations have imposed a rating for these games (rated M for

mature), that does not stop adolescents from playing them. Video games of all ratings are

easily obtained, and they are addictive. As long as teens can get their hands on this type of video

game, they will continue to play, and be influenced by, these acts of violence.

A study was conducted in 2000 that exhibits increased aggression among players of

violent games. College students were used to determine how they would react to each other if

given the opportunity to enact a punishment on another student after participating in violent

video game play (Larkin). The students were split up, and half played violent video games while

the other half played non-violent video games (Larkin). After playing the video games, the

students were pitted against each other in a simple head to head reaction time contest (Larkin).

The winner was able to punish the loser by exposing them to an audio blast (Larkin). Of the

winners, the students that had been playing violent video games delivered the loudest and longest

punishments to their opponents (Larkin). This study suggests that violent video games condition

aggressive behavior.

The first person shooter game, Wolfenstein 3D, is known among gamers as the game

that spawned this genre. The player takes the role of William BJ Blazkowicz, an American


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soldier of Polish decent, who is trying to escape the Castle Wolfenstein by killing Nazis during

the WWII era. Looking down the barrel of his gun, Blazkowicz runs through repetitive mazes

and secret corridors blasting away his enemies, which is portrayed with spurts of blood and

dismemberment. The more damage sustained by the lead character, the bloodier his face, which

is displayed at the bottom of the screen, becomes. Additional points are earned for stealing Nazi

gold.

After the Columbine shootings, the media revealed that Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris

had played a lot of violent video games, including Wolfenstein 3D, Mortal Kombat, and

Doom before their attack on the high school that resulted in 13 deaths (Layton). A lawsuit was

filed against Sony and Nintedo by Linda Sanders, the wife of the teacher shot and killed by

Klebold and Harris at Columbine High School (Layton).

Although none of the mentioned law suits have been won in a court of law, there is

growing evidence that supports their claims. There is physical evidence that confirms the theory

that violent video games have a negative impact on players. Brain scans have shown the effects

of violent game play, where a visible increase of activity takes place in the part of the brain that

is responsible for aggression, and a decrease in the area responsible for self-control and

inhibition are seen. Children who played violent video games also had measured desensitization

to real life violence, according to one study, and the audio blast test showed that violent games

increased aggression among the students who played them, when they delivered longer, louder

blasts to their opponents than those who played non-violent games. While national crime

statistics indicate that school violence has decreased nationwide in the last 15 years, the crimes

that are being committed are increasingly violent. There are many reasons for the decline in the

number of crimes, such as an increased awareness of the problem, resulting in more after-school


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programs, anti-bullying initiatives being put into place, a higher police presence in schools, and

stricter penalties for minors who commit violent crimes. When adolescents play violent video

games, they are trained, through classical conditioning, and desensitization, to react in a violent

and aggressive manor when faced with issues that stimulate anger.


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Works Cited

Anderson, Craig A. and Douglas A. Gentile and Katherine E. Buckley. Violent Video Game

Effects. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc, 2007. Print.

Bradley, Ed. Can a Video Game Train Someone to Kill? 60 Minutes. 4 March 2005.

CBSNews.com. Web. 20 September 2010.

Cherry, Kendra. Introduction to Classical Conditioning.About.com Guide. Web. 19 September

2010.

Could Violent Video Games Reduce Rather Than Increase Violence? ScienceDaily. 15 May

2008. Web. 2 October 2010.

Goldstein, Hilary. Grand Theft Auto IV Review.IGN.com. 25 April 2008. Web. 2 October

2010.

Hatfield, Daemon. Wolfenstein 3D Review.IGN.com. 15 June 2009. Web. 2 October 2010.

Julier, Jason. Manhunt Review. Gamestyle.com. Web. 2 October 2010.

Kalning, Kristin. Does Game Violence Make Teens Aggressive?MSNBC. 8 December 2006.

Msnbc.com. Web. 20 September 2010.

Larkin, Marilynn. Violent Video Games Increase Aggression.Lancet. Vol. 335. 29 April 2000:

1-7. Print.

Layton, Julia. Do Violent Video Games Lead to Real Violence? 2006.Howstuffworks. Web.

20 September 2010.

Psychologists Produce First Study On Violence Desensitization From Video Games.

ScienceDaily. 27July 2006. Web. 20 September 2010.


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Riley, David. 2009 U. S. Video Game Industry and PC Game Software Retail Sales Reach

$20.2 Billion.Npd.com. Web. 3 October 2010.

Study: Violent Video Game Play Makes More Aggressive Kids. U.S. News and World

Report. 3 March 2010.National Science Foundation. Web. 21 September 2010.

Thompson, Kevin D. Despite Drops in Juvenile Crime, Savage Attack on Deerfield Beach

Teenager is a Sign of Increasing Brutality, Some Experts Say. Palm Beach Post. 18

March 2010. Web. 20 September 2010.

Violent Video Game Feed Aggression in Kids in Japan and U.S. ScienceDaily. 4 November

2008. Web. 20 September 2010.

Violent Video Games Increase Aggression Long Afterthe Game is Turned Off, Study Finds.

ScienceDaily. 20 September 2010. Web. 2 October 2010.

Violent Video Games Lead to Brain Activity Characteristic of Aggression. ScienceDaily. 5

October 2005. Web. 2 October 2010.

Violent Video Games Linked to Aggression in Children, Teens.Health News: Whats New. 3

November 2008: 1-6.Health.com. Web. 3 October 2010.

violent video games increase aggression in adolescents

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