Game Violence Debate Killed?

Study says simulated violence is not the same as real violence.
by Micah Seff
February 28, 2007 - In a recent issue of the American Sociological Association's Context magazine, sociologist Karen Sternheimer put some heavy doubt into the theories that videogame violence directly result in real-world violence. Sternheimer claims that there is no such correlation, and that the reality might be exactly the opposite.

Sternheimer cited as evidence of this trend the fact that as annual sales of videogames and accessories has risen to over $10 billion, juvenile homicide arrests have fallen 77%. According to Sternheimer, students now have a chance of less than 7 in 10 million of being killed by school-related violence.

In a very frank and forthright manner, Sternheimer stated, "If we want to understand why young people become homicidal, we need to look beyond the games they play."

Like many have argued before her, Sterheimer contends that videogame violence has been used as a straw man argument. Rather than paying attention to more pertinent issues that might nurture violence -- such as poverty, instability, domestic abuse, unemployment, and mental illness -- reactionaries have been directing their ire at the games industry, effectively exonerating these other factors of their impact.

"It is equally likely that more aggressive people seek out violent entertainment," Sternheimer said. "After adult rampage shootings in the workplace, which happen more often than school shootings, reporters seldom mention if the shooters played video games."

Sternheimer seemed to disagree with the analytical methods of a 2001 study which found that videogames did increase aggressive behavior, stating: "They don't offer much insight as to why a few isolated kids, and not the millions of others who play these games, decided to pick up real weapons and shoot real people."

While the debate is far from over, it's nice to see sociologists looking critically at the issue.

i've always gone with the theory that if someone absolutely needs to release some energy, i'd rather someone blow shit up in the virtual world as opposed to the real world



good article.

GTA is a really good way to get stress out.

I've never seen a study that said anything different from this one in any convincing way, but I've often heard or read interpretations that claim a clear correlation. I think this is a case of complete misinterpretations of studies becoming almost sacrosanct. It's about time this ridiculousness is debunked.

I've never been a very violent person(unless actually provoked).

Glad to see this result.

I am a pretty peaceful person. I played the first 3 Mortal Kombats, most of the Grand Theft Auto series and plenty of shooters. I own guns, never have they been pointed towards a person.

I'm working on a theory that watching porn is not the same as having real sex. Can I a $30,000,000 grant?

can i be a test subject?

You're not old enough to play this game, son.

http://www.columbinegame.com/

game of the year!

O RLY? You dont need to do a fuckin research to know that, just look at Japan.

So can everyone finally STFU about this one, now?

http://us.i1.yimg.com/videogames.yahoo. ... ok/1212550

Video games turn kids into killers? Not so, says new book
Just because you play as a criminal doesn't mean you'll become one.

By Ben Silverman

While their digital pastime is often credited with eroding the state of contemporary literature, gamers have found an unlikely ally within the pages of a new book.

Penned by Harvard Med School researchers Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olsen, "Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do" refutes common conceptions about the causal relationship between violent video games and violent behavior.

In other words, playing a few hours of GTA IV will not result in your kid stealing a car, careening through traffic and gunning down civilians.

"What I hope people realize is that there is no data to support the simple-minded concerns that video games cause violence," Kutner told Reuters News Service in an interview.

Their findings are a result of a two-year study of over 1,200 middle-school students. Unlike most studies set in sterile lab environments using psychological triggers, much of their data was collected by -- brace yourself -- actually talking to their young subjects.

The researchers did note a link between mature-rated titles and aggressive behavior, as a significant number of both boys and girls who played M-rated titles reported getting into more fights over the past year than kids who didn't play M-rated games.

However, Kutner and Olson point out that this simply demonstrates a correlation between violent games and aggression, not that one causes the other, suggesting the possibility that the kids attracted to mature-rated games were naturally aggressive to begin with.

Ultimately, "Grand Theft Childhood" advises parents concerned about their child's behavior to consider a wider range of factors than just their interest in violent games, including bad grades, too much fighting and, of course, obsessive gaming, so you might want to start trimming down those marathon sessions of Halo 3 when mom's around (or better yet, get her to play along with you).

Dude, are you kidding? There are still people who seriously believe the world is flat.

guns dont kill people, videogames do

only when you sharpen the edge of the disc and slice people with it

nunchuck hit maybe?

Wow, that's a shocker.

One big flaw of those studies is that only focoused on american society.

Japan a lot of people play a lot of very violent games...and we all know how low are homicides rate there and peaceful they are.

Europeans too play a lot of video game.

Did they evaluate a connection between amount of time playing video games and the lack of development of real world skills and experiences?

They found that a kid that plays 3 hours of video games a day typically spends 21 hours not playing video games