Does video games make us

violent?
Proof of concept presentation
05/02/18
Jess Bennett
Proposed Dissertation Enquiry
For my Dissertation Enquiry I want to look at violent video games and what makes them violent. I want to look
at history of gaming and if it is the game that gives these people range and aggression or is it some other
means, such as television, movies, magazines. I want to look further in why video games are being penalised
more and not the movies that they watch. I want to look at who are playing these games and the age in which
they are playing them. I want to look at crime that are being blamed because of these games. Lastly I want to
look at if it is the games that are enraging the youth or just the up bring of them.
Proposed Chapter 3 Case Studies
For my chapter three I want to dig deeper into crime that has been blamed by video games and to get a better
understanding if it’s the video game itself or just the person causes the crime and trying to blame something
for it. I want to look into a couple of cases such as the Columbine High School shooting. The theory was that
they were fans of the game doom and they wanted to recreate parts of it. This is an interesting statement and
its unsure if its correct or not. This is what I want to talk about, weather it was the game that drove these two
students to kill or their up bring. There are two sides to this argument and I want to include both positive and
negative statements.
Video games that are redeemed to be violent
and have a high age rating.
• Call of Duty franchise
• Grand Theft Auto franchise
• Mortal Combat
• Street Fighter
• Medal of Honour
• Doom
• Wolfenstein
• Battlefield Franchise
• South park game
• Manhunt
• Mass effect
• Saint row franchise
• Fall out Franchise
Video Documentary
• Game over: gender, race and violence in video games
Game Over is the first educational documentary to address the fastest growing segment of the media through
engaging questions of gender, race and violence.

• BBC Horizon 2015 || BBC Science | Are Video Games Really That Bad ( BBC Documentaries 2015
)
The video game industry is a global phenomenon. There are over 1.2 billion gamers across the
planet, with sales projected soon to pass $100 billion per year. But their very popularity fuels the
controversy that surrounds them. They frequently stand accused of corrupting the young - of causing
violence and addiction. But is this true?

• Joystick Warriors: video game violence and the culture of militarism

It Draws on the insights of media scholars, military analysts, combat veterans, and gamers
themselves, the film trains its sights on the wildly popular genre of first-person shooter games,
exploring how the immersive experience they offer links up with the larger stories we tell ourselves as
a culture about violence, militarism, guns, and manhood
Books
• The video Game Theory reader (Mark j.p. Wolf)
This book brings together exiting new work on the many video games are reshaping the face of entertainment
and our relationship with technology.

• Stop teaching our kids to kill : a call to action against TV, movie and video game violence ( DeGaetano,
Gloria)
This is about child in the U.S. That are exposed to thousands of dramatized acts of violence and murder by age
18, desensitizing him or her to the consequences of violence. The authors note the similarity between video
arcade games and simulators used to train military and police personnel in shooting. They explore the scientific
studies, statistics, and social trends pertaining to growing violence among youth.

• Violent video game effects on children and adolescents : theory, research, and public policy
Violent video games are successfully marketed to and easily obtained by children and adolescents. Even the
U.S. government distributes one such game, America's Army, through both the internet and its recruiting
offices. Is there any scientific evidence to support the claims that violent games contribute to aggressive and
violent behaviour?

• Before the crash : early video game history

consider much of what was going on during the pre-crash era: arcade games, home game consoles, home
computer games, handheld games, and even early online games. The technologies of early video games are
investigated.
 Websites
• No evidence to support link between violent video games and behaviour: https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-
events/news/2018/research/no-evidence-to-link-violence-and-video-games/
-Researchers at the University of York have found no evidence to support the theory that video games make players more
violent.

• Do video games make people violent?: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-33960075

-This is an article to show us if video games are violent or not.

• Do Violent Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence?: https://videogames.procon.org/

- This website show use the percentage of American kids between the ages of 12-17 playing video games.

• Understanding the Effects of Violent Video Games on Violent Crime: (pdf) http://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp11042.pdf
- This Pdf file shows us the risk of why video games are the result for real life crimes

• Top 10 Violent Crimes Tied To Video Games: http://listverse.com/2017/10/28/top-10-violent-crimes-tied-to-video-

games/
This website is a top 10 crimes of children who blame video games for their crimes
Articles on the internet
• Violent Video Games and Hostile Expectations: A Test of the General Aggression Model (Brad J. Bushman
Craig A. Anderson, Iowa State University)
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.491.1692&rep=rep1&type=pdf

• Effects of violent video games: https://www.scribd.com/document/366469004/effects-of-violent-video-

games-on-aggressive-behavior-aggressive-cognition-aggressive

• Are Violent Video Games Bad for Kids? Who Cares:

https://www.psychdadphd.com/blog/2016/6/20/are-violent-video-games-bad-for-kids-who-cares

• UK Press Pins Blame For Sandy Hook Massacre On Video Games:

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2012/12/uk_press_pins_blame_for_sandy_hook_massacre_on_video_g
ames
Key Images

Fig 1. Killers Call of Duty Fig 2. video games (2014) Fig 3. GTA 5 (2013)
Obsession (2012)
 • Anderson, C.A. (2000). Violent video games increase aggression and violence

Bibliography Available: http://psych-server.iastate.edu/faculty/caa/abstracts/2000-

2004/00Senate.html

• Anderson, C.A., Dill, K.E. (2000). Video games and aggressive thoughts,
feelings, and behavior in the laboratory and in life. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 78, 772–790.

• Episode 4: Violent Video Games’ Effects On Children [Documentary website]At:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9JVIbK7bG4

• Do Violent Video Games Contribute to Murder( 2015)[ Article and video] At:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/slightly-blighty/201508/do-violent-video-
games-contribute-murder

• Bushman, B. J., & Anderson, C. A. (2001). Media violence and the

American public: Scientific facts versus media misinformation.
American Psychologist, 56, 477-489

• Dill, K. E., Anderson, C. A., Anderson, K. B., & Deuser, W. E. (1997).

Effects of aggressive personality on social expectations and social
perceptions. Journal of Research in Personality, 31, 272-292.
Geen, R. G. (2001). Human aggression (2nd ed.). Philadelphia: Open
University Press
Illustration

Fig 1, Killers Call of Duty Obsession (2012) [newspaper cover] At:

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2012/12/uk_press_pins_blame_for_sandy_hook_massacre_on_video_games

Fig 2, video games (2014) [poster] At:

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/video-games-saints-or-psychopaths-082814#1

Fig 3, GTA 5 (2013) [videogame cover] At:

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/gtawiki/images/7/76/CoverArt-GTAV.png/revision/latest?cb=20130826184215