The Effect of Violent Video Games on the Human Psyche
April 19, 2008
On the 20th of April 1999, Eric Harris and his friend Dylan Klebold killed 13 students at Columbine High School and then killed themselves. According to both of their mothers, the two boys were big fans of the first-person shooter video game “Doom”. Is it too large of a leap in logic to infer that this violent video game led the duo to commit this horrific act of brutality?
The argument that violent video games provoke violent crime is not unique to video games. From the dawn of distributed media, critics have insisted that social decadence is incited by the popular phenomenon of the day. For instance, if you were a youth during the 1950’s you would have been subject to the anti-comic book crusades of Fredric Wertham. Similarly, in the 1960’s, Elvis Presley and the Beatles were detested by some as moral deviants causing a teenage rebellion, promiscuity and drug use. There have been many others through history.
Enter the era of the video game. This relatively new form of entertainment has not gained the level of public acceptance that its popular predecessors attained. The generation that has grown up with comic books is now the legislative and parental authority who may have forgotten the controversy of their own youth. It is that generation that is now perpetuating the age old struggle of parent versus child, contending that video games have a negative effect on the adolescent mind.
There have been more than 200 scientific studies dealing specifically with the effect of violent video games on the human psyche. While the American Psychological Association has concluded that violent video games can increase aggression (Dill 1), several more recent studies have discovered that violent video games only influence the behavior of children who already show aggressive or violent tendencies. (Arendt 1).
A joint study by the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Department of Education found that only 12 percent of those involved in school shootings were attracted to violent video games, while 24 percent read violent books and 27 percent were attracted to violent films (Vossekuil 15). In fact, the generation of children who have grown up with video games (from approximately 1993 to present) have the smallest violent crime rates ever recorded (Ferris 1).
Although it is clear that video games do have an effect on the psyche, it is not necessarily a negative one. A New Zealand study by Paul Kearney concluded that first-person shooter video games actually improve the players cognitive abilities and went so far as to suggest that the future of learning revolves around three dimensional worlds that inherently promote learning (7). Since video games are primarily designed as fictitious entertainment, their intent is to immerse the audience in a fictitious world. This immersion is no different than other good works of fiction, from the novels popular in the 19th century to the films of the 20th century.
In addition to the scientific evidence that suggests video games have a positive effect on the mind, the legal system, including the Supreme Court of the United States, has ruled that video games are also protected under the first amendment. The implication is that the courts have found no conclusive evidence that video games incite violent acts. Otherwise they would not be protected under the first amendment. Any words that exhibit a clear and present danger to the security of the public are punishable by law. Therefore the first amendment would not protect video games if the judicial system felt that they truly caused violent brutality.
In a unanimous decision by a panel of three judges, the Honorable Richard A. Posner, of the Seventh Circuit, declared the Indianapolis Arcade Ordinance (a city ordinance which sought to restrict children’s access to violent arcade video games) to be unconstitutional, reaffirming that children have First Amendment rights. In his ruling, Judge Posner stated that:
"To shield children right up to the age of 18 from exposure to violent descriptions and images would not only be quixotic, but deforming; it would leave them unequipped to cope with the world as we know it. Maybe video games are different. They are, after all, interactive. But this point is superficial, in fact erroneous. All literature (here broadly defined to include movies, television, and the other photographic media, and popular as well as highbrow literature) is interactive; the better it is, the more interactive. Literature when it is successful draws the reader into the story, makes him identify with the characters, invites him to judge them and quarrel with them, to experience their joys and sufferings as the reader’s own. Protests from readers caused Dickens to revise Great Expectations to give it a happy ending, and tourists visit sites in Dublin and its environs in which the fictitious events of Ulysses are imagined to have occurred. The cult of Sherlock Holmes is well known. When Dirty Harry or some other avenging hero kills off a string of villains, the audience is expected to identify with him, to revel in his success, to feel their own finger on the trigger. It is conceivable that pushing a button or manipulating a toggle stick engenders an even deeper surge of aggressive joy, but of that there is no evidence at all." (1)
In conclusion it is, in fact, too large of a leap in logic to infer that violent video games can incite individuals to commit brutal crimes in reality. Those individuals who have difficulty differentiating the fantasy world of video games and the real world we live in would have the same trouble if video games never existed.
This conclusion has been shown to be true for a number of reasons. First, the criticisms railed against the video games of today are no different that the criticism leveled against any other popular youth media in its prime. Second, although there has been a considerable amount of scientific study researching the specific affect that violent video games have on children, there is no conclusive evidence to show that these games affect the behavior of the majority of the population. Third, even the legal system has concluded in numerous cases that there is no evidence to support the argument that violent video games incite violent acts. It simply is not true.
Modern society can now confidently move violent video games into the same category as their literary and visual counterparts of the last few centuries and continue on to the next morally outrageous popular media of the future. YouTube.com here we come.
Works Cited
Anderson, Craig. "Effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal and prosocial behavior: a meta-analytical review of the scientific literature" iastate.edu. Vol.12 No. 5, Sep. 2001. iastate.edu. 6 Apr. 2008 <http://www.psychology.iastate.edu/faculty/caa/abstracts/2000-2004/01AB.pdf>
Arendt, Susan. "Study: kids unaffected by violent games" wired.com. 2 Apr. 2007. Wired.com 6 Apr. 2008 <http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/04/study_kids_unaf.html>
Dill, Karen. "Violent video games can increase aggression" apa.org. 23 Apr. 2000. American Psychological Association. 6 Apr. 2008 <http://www.apa.org/releases/videogames.html>
Endestad, Tor. "Computer games and violence: Is there really a connection?" Digra.org. 2 Jun. 2005. Digra.org. 5 Apr. 2008 <http://digra.org:8080/Plone/dl/db/05163.54594.pdf>
Ferris, Duke. "The truth about violent youth and video games" gamerevolution.com. 19 Oct. 2005. gamerevolution.com. 6 Apr. 2008 <http://www.gamerevolution.com/features/violence_and_videogames>
Gentile, Douglas. "Violent Video Games: The Newest Media Violence Hazard" iastate.edu. 16 Oct. 2003. Iastate.edu. 6 Apr. 2008 <http://www.psychology.iastate.edu/~dgentile/106027_07.pdf>
Kalning, Kristin. "Does game violence make teens aggressive?" MSNBC. 8 Dec. 2006. Microsoft. 5 Apr. 2008 <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16099971/>
Kearney, Paul. "Cognitive Callisthenics: Do FPS computer games enhance the player’s cognitive abilities?" Digra.org. 23 Sep. 2006. Digra.org. 5 Apr. 2008 <http://www.digra.org:8080/Plone/dl/db/06276.14516.pdf>
Posner, Judge Richard. "American Amusement Machine Association, et al. v. Kendrick, et al., 244 F.3d 572" FindLaw.com. 23 March 2001. FindLaw. 6 April 2008 <http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=7th&navby=docket&no=003643>
Vossekuil, Bryan. "Safe School Initiative Final Report" ed.gov. May 2002. U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Department of Education. 6 Apr. 2008 <http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/preventingattacksreport.pdf>
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6 Responses to “The Effect of Violent Video Games on the Human Psyche”
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Related linked article: http://www.theurbansherpa.com/blog/permalink.php?id=1519
Gracias. Good ideas. I’ll become your constant reader and subscribe on RSS.
I really enjoyed reading this article. I happened upon it by chance while researching media violence for my English class.
Your point of view is truly refreshing.
Also: thank you for having such wonderful sources, I have cited a few of them as well. Most gave me the information I needed to properly finish my paper.
-Vee
who is the author of this article?
Nelson – I am the author of this article. I wrote it for a humanities class at the University of Central Florida. To cite it you can credit “Parrishco” or Drew Parrish. The MLA form for citing works can be referenced from the list above.
Thank you for all of the other positive comments!
Would a college professor have trouble accepting this as a credible author?