February 28, 2007 -
Do Grand Theft Auto and Gears of War cause youthful players to commit real-life violence?No, says a well-known sociologist at the University of Southern California.
Writing in the latest edition of Contexts, a quarterly journal published by the American Sociological Association, USC's Karen Sternheimer (left) says we need to look beyond video games for the roots of youth violence:
Politicians and other moral crusaders frequently create “folk devils,” individuals or groups defined as evil and immoral. Folk devils allow us to channel our blame and fear... Video games... have become contemporary folk devils because they seem to pose a threat to children.
Such games have come to represent a variety of social anxieties: about youth violence, new computer technology, and the apparent decline in the ability of adults to control what young people do and know. Panics about youth and popular culture have emerged with the appearance of many new technologies... cars, radio, movies, rock music, and even comic books...
Beyond political posturing, Sternheimer argues that the media contributes to the fear of video games in modern society, while the actual root causes of violence are largely ignored:
The biggest problem with media-effects research is that it attempts to decontextualize violence. Poverty, neighborhood instability, unemployment, and even family violence fall by the wayside... Ironically, even mental illness tends to be overlooked in this psychologically oriented research.
Subtle racism may also be at play in the video game violence debate, according to Sterheimer. She argues that the influence of games is largely seen as corrupting middle-class white male adolescents:
Blaming video games meant that the shooters were set aside from other violent youth, frequently poor males of color, at whom our get-tough legislation has been targeted... The video game explanation constructs the white, middle-class shooters as victims of the power of video games, rather than fully culpable criminals. When boys from “good” neighborhoods are violent, they seem to be... created by video games rather than by their social circumstances. White, middle-class killers retain their status as children easily influenced by a game, victims of an allegedly dangerous product. African-American boys, apparently, are simply dangerous.
Sternheimer is the author of It's Not the Media: The Truth About Pop Culture's Influence on Children
and Kids These Days: Facts and Fictions About Today's Youth.
Comments
Re: Violent Games Don't Cause Youth Violence, Says USC ...
While I was looking at reasons why violent video games are blamed, I found this site.
http://thechez.net/2010/03/03/violent-video-games-an-excuse-for-the-parentally-impaired/
Re: Violent Games Don't Cause Youth Violence, Says USC ...
The only reason that we have people blaming these problems on games is because they don't want to blame themelves.
Re: Violent Games Don't Cause Youth Violence, Says USC ...
I am against all violence on TV or Internet. Maybe they are right about youth violence but I think it doesn't help them to grow with definit moral foundations. It can reflect on other aspects of their life. I believe that we must limit access of our children to such visions as much as possible. Then we'll how does it reflect on their future interests.
I think that government should provide funds to improve the vision of situation because we grow future of our country and money doesn't metter now. Any children organization shouldn't pay their money for such investigations or even get installment payday loans to check these pounts.
Re: Violent Games Don't Cause Youth Violence, Says USC ...
You have a good point of view; this gives us the idea on how we should view video games effect on youth. Well many would probably involve video games or even computer games to many violence and crimes that is happening to our society now days. This is part of factors that affecting the behavior of many children. Also many other factors like television, immoral movies and other media related technologies. But poverty as you have said is also a factor involving to terrible way of living of many youth. Hundreds and thousands of jobs that are on the chopping block are reported every day, and the unemployment rate seems to climb another hundredth of a percentage point every day. Mass layoffs have come from nearly every company that previously were thought of as bedrocks of industry, like Boeing, Microsoft, Bank of America, and the list goes on. Many experts have said that it will hit a peak by the end of 2009, and then a decrease in unemployment by the beginning of 2010. For so many people afflicted, this will be too long a wait, as the effects of mass layoffs only make the economic woes so much worse.
thought police!
first off this is why their are ratings that slot not so apparent and apparent violence in categories from cartoon to realistic from 6 to 17 if you think 17 is to young then preahps thats the problem to have you and other thought police protect others from life to the point they are more messed up by bing fully ignorant of it...
Ethel
so because parents cant parent lets ban media because parents cant parent?
"If the media can have such a strong impact on our acceptance of sexualization, why not on our acceptance and internalization of violence?"
Because its not porn,pron has a direct effect on you while violence has a in direct one one can be taught to control,also "porn" is fun to do with other beating people up less so altho both get you into as much trouble *L*
you really need to relook at kids and game ratings because they rate games ahell of allot better than movies.
because most "negative messages"/illicit sex/sex/violence happens in 17+ games while 13+ get lightly sexualized themes (OMG a cute woman,OMG couples and flirting).
this is not a "goverment" matter unless you want a bland state controlled media,this falls on the heads of parents and partially on the goverment for not doing a better job to help parents IE programs to hep them teach and grow their children.
In the end the world is a horrible place,you cant protect kids from life and dodging the question by putting bland media blinders on is just as assnie...
I also disagree with her idea that video-game blaming is racist. I would expect middle-class children's parents to have more time to be involved with the media their children are exposed to - meaning that exposure to violent video games and any negative influences of the games is the parent's fault. A poor family's parents are more likely to be too busy earning a living to monitor children effectively - something for which they cannot be blamed. But the middle-class family whose children learn violence from games would have no excuse for not being there to educate and influence their children rather than letting games do it. It's the old "Where are the parents?" question.
However, I agree with her completely that anti-video game lobbyists and politicians tend to be demonizing idiots. IMO they would be better off urging funding to educate parents on the importance of parental involvement and the importance of monitoring their children's entertainment. And concerned parents should be lobbying for education to help children digest media better, including advertisements, stereotypes, and the lack of realism present in all media. Perhaps get busy writing letters to video game developers asking for more wholesome family-friendly media and more informative parental advisory labels (although games are already labeled more clearly and specifically than movies, if I recall). Maybe those parents should even try playing some games themselves so they are in a better position to help their children interpret any negative messages, like parents are urged to do with their children's TV watching.
Possibly because they didn't want low income housing and entitlement programs, they wanted an equal chance to earn their own living and have somewhere for their family to live.
It should also be noted that 'them' is simply 'us with less money'. It's worth bearing in mind.
If not poverty and/or factors that are often a result of poverty - such as the "shitty" parenting that you speak of, what would you blame when people choose to "act like animals", as you so eloquently put it?
Also, your reasoning is more than a little dubious. 400 years? Last I checked, slavery ended some 150 years ago; the time preceding that can hardly be considered an opportnuity to "acclimate". But enough about history - let's talk about today (This also plays into why othe ethnic groups have been able to acclimate more easily than black folks, but I'm not going to go there right now.) Firstly, your anecodatal evidence doesn't say much other than the fact that violence in YOUR neighborhood got worse when more black people moved in. Secondly, nobody is excusing anything. Some of us are simply saying that subtle racism may be a factor in the way that the media perceives video game violence. When the argument is viewed in this (correct) light, a lot of what you're saying just comes off as hot air.
How about generations of black leaders blaming a white power structure because it doesn't wait hand-and-foot on an entire race that hasn't managed to acclimate itself after 400 years despite billions spent on low income housing and entitlement programs while dozens of other groups acclimated with little trouble? I grew up in a shitty housing project that was about equally distributed among racial lines of white, Hispanic and black. It was rough but I remember my mother could walk across the complex to the corner store without getting knocked over her head for her purse. Over the years as the racial makeup changed over to all black the crime skyrocketed. Many of the guys i grew up with didn't turn out to be drug dealing, gun toting gang members. Poor doesn't equal violent. Shitty parenting and lack of respect for societal norms does. Yes, I'm be simplistic but I so fucking tired of this excuse for shitty behavior and people like this claiming that , once again, whites are to blame.
I simply can't believe what this bitch is trying to pawn off as research.
You do make a great point. There are always automobile accidents, so why not just ban automobiles too? See? Obviously these legislators have no common sense at all and this kind of anti-free speech behaviour is not tolerated and only bring shame to the human race.
Remember an old experiment by UCSF's Dr. Sonya Brady which proposed a possible link between playing violent videogames and more permissive views towards using marijuana and alcohol?
http://www.gamespy.com/articles/701/701037p1.html
GP covered it too, I'm sure.
Well, Dr. Sternheimer had also commented on that study as well.
http://www.gamespy.com/articles/703/703756p1.html
Great interview. Beats the O'Reilly Factor interview.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,96012,00.html
O'Reilly is such a... Well, we know how unethical and disrespectful towards those he disagrees with. A very familiar tactic.
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
Wish I was someone important :(
http://www.destructoid.com/bluewolf72-on-positive-gaming-30057.phtml
I mean hey, I can play that game too though!
100% of criminals breath air. We obviously need to ban air.
100% of criminals drink liquid. Drinking liquid causes violence!
100% of school shooters had skin. Obviously skin is to blame for these acts, so we need to get rid of it.
99% of crime is committed by people with teeth. Coincidence? I think not.
Hey, that was pretty fun! I guess now I know why they love doing it so much!
In the end they don't care about the "why" of the violence. All they are about is the violence. They only pay attention to the why when it serves their agenda.
I'd say that it's more of a 'class' thing than a race thing at the end of the day.
Additionally, I think a large part of the problem of media perception of the game industry is that no one really speaks for us. We have people going into court showing some of the worst things you can do in the GTA series, Postal 2 and all manner of games that either A) Don't sell well or B) are already being blasted from within the gaming community as garbage.
Why isn't someone in there showing a game like Halo, where you're a hero and saving the world? Or what about Call of Duty or Rainbow Six, where you're stopping Nazi's and terrorists? These are all M rated games as well, but they're not violent for violences sake...
People will never take these studies seriously until they start seeing some of the other M rated games that are out there. And they'll never see those games unless we, the industry/gamers, show them.
I agree with that assessment, and should have been more specific when I alluded to the supervening factors that are a result of poverty (as opposed to poverty itself, per se).
For some, it may be directly related to being poor and being unable to financially take care of one's self and one's family. There is no doubt that that sort of crime exists.
But there is also the "reputation" that is taken into consideration. Not so much to be "rich" and being allowed to hang out with the "beautiful people", but rather not being seen as porr while living in what may be considered a "poor" neighborhood. Whether it's money or materials, for some, the more you have, the better you look. Not necessarily "cool", just not "poor".
For others, it may be out of a fear of not having anything, so having "enough" is never considered because to that individual, there is always the chance of losing it all.
nightwng2000
NW2K Software
I would submit that poverty, regardless of one's race, is often a driving factor in crime, as well as the driving factor in surrounding cultural elements that also contribute to crime.
@ Eric
On a semantic bent, "slightly irrelevant" doesn't make sense. Something is either relevant or it's not. As far as the blanket rejection of Sternheimer's "warm and fuzzy" rejection of her somewhat race-based theory goes, there's definitely more than a little truth in what Meggie said. Sternheimer isn't "presenting society as racist"; rather, she's arguing that remnants of the more (overtly) bigoted scoeity that preceded that of today influences adult thought with regard to the media's effect of children. I fail to see how pointing out reality makes one "perpetually offended."
I don't know if I agree with the "subtle racism" aspect of her piece, but otherwise I feel it is pretty spot-on.
You can't follow a story without beeing interupted every 5 minutes with solid 10 minutes of messages. Als an european citizen we had it easy up until 10 years ago with the introduction of commerial broadcasts cooperations.
Before that only before or after a broadcast. Its Every time you hit that brick wall when they go out for a message just when you're getting into the story.
That should have had some social impact. Now youth is escaping into internet and games. Up until now beyond the grasp of the big coorparations. (not everybody finds out that there is sports, reading, music, art etc.)
To a certain degree, I'll agree, there is a little bit of 1984 in there, but that is par for the course these days, that in itself is a symbol of a loss of trust in those in 'command', something possibly far more dangerous than computer games, but far from uncommon between the 'Rulers' and the 'Educated Elite'.
As for the focus of crime being Narcissm, I'm not so sure, I wouldn't say there is any particular 'focus' on crime, that's the whole reason why blaming 'Urban Demons' is such a bad thing in the first place. I think a variety of things make a criminal, the need for attention, boredom, adrenaline buzz, as well as the more 'mundane' things such as poverty or greed.
Dead on. Every "white kid with gun" case is thought of as extreme and winds up being turned into anti-game fodder, while "black kid with gun" incidents are considered business as usual.
That's not...it's a rather layman view compared to the whole, if you will. There is more to it. As violent video games can just as easily attract someone who is the opposite of your example person, someone who is more of a pacifist than violent. I mean, it's not untrue, but it's dividing the issue; all sides should be seen in perspective, not just "Well, those who are more accustomed to violence would be more attracted to it." But also, what about them is attractive, what is it that generates the associated stimuli, perspective of social culture, etc.
I, myself, think there should be a joint study, to look at it as a whole, socialogy, psychology, other scientific studies that would be involved (perhaps neurological and chemical aspects), as a whole research project. I agree with what she said, she couldn't have said it better. But I think more interest should be taken by others.
I'm in Love.
Ok, so I don't know her well enough to call it True Love.
But it's definitely something more than just Lust.
I'm definitely going to have to take some time tonight or this weekend to follow up on this Sociologist's writings. I hope there are plenty of them online. While there will probably be other issues I won't agree with her on (just being pessimistic), certainly what she's said here really struck a positive cord for me.
:: sigh ::
nightwng2000
NW2K Software
Your average person just doesn't want to think that they are quite similar to a murderer. They don't want to believe that, if they were in that person's situation, they wouldn't have resorted to violence. Thus there must be something simple and tangible that separates criminals and themselves. There must be an "evil gene" that the killer had to begin with, or a hypnotic trigger that turned them from choirboy to maniac. It *can't* be the case that whether or not someone kills another person is based on their entire life history and upbringing, recent emotional state, and the situation they found themselves in. Because if that were the case, they could be a potential killer too.
Yea, videogames are machinations of satan that causes poor little white boys to kill people, despite the fact that said whites boys have suffered physical and and emotional damage prior to ther'e crime.
White power!!!!!!!!!!!
/sarcasm
A factor in this is probably because the development is mostly male...We should diversify~!
In most "habitual" addictions I'm willing to bet the addiction is to the endorphins, not the activity that triggers them. You're addicted to the feeling of comfort/satisfaction. Whereas with alcoholism and drug abuse, you're addicted to the chemical effects of the drugs you are doing.
This is likely why it's easier for a gaming addict to switch to golfing, or vice versa, but not so easy for a heroin addict to switch to alcohol. Different drug effects...
Problem is, a lot of people read 'addiction' and immediately think 'Drugs', which is a bad image to give. People WILL kill over drugs. However, Video Games are addictive like Bowling or Fishing, it is a hobby, but marriages have broken up over bowling and fishing, and the same can happen with computer games, it's the art of moderation.
Look at it this way, if one man murdered another because he thought he was killing a fish after capturing, would there be any question whatsoever that the man was affected by far more than fishing?
Not all addictions form because someone has a lack of self control. Especially with when it comes to alcoholism. Some people are genetically predisposed to it.
...
broken children don't become so from one singular influence, and if your common sense says otherwise you're obviously not playing with a full deck.
Youth Violence comes out of youth themselves. They should be the ones who should be blamed, and should know that they must exercise self-control before any disaster occurs.