Aggression and violent behaviour Essay

The media of video and computer games is a phenomenon, which has developed rapidly since its first incarnations of simple graphical games, to today’s 3D rendered worlds which players are able to inhabit and explore as they wish. The gaming culture which has followed plays an integral part in contemporary society not just for the youth market but also for many adults, as a gateway to escape their everyday lives and express themselves within a gaming environment. This is the new media format much like television and radio with their introduction into the mainstream, the need to study and explore the implications has attracted scholars, and business’s to explore this new media, attempting to understand its effects on contemporary society. The amount of money and time spent by consumers on these game platforms and software has pushed them to the front of the entertainment market place, with several multinational companies vying for market dominance within this expanding industry (Calvert 2002). The research into violent video games and post play aggression is one of the key study points for this media source. The idea of played aggression transferring into real world situations generates a moral panic within society, and so researches are keen to discover any links with play and real life aggression or to dispel the fears of the public which have been scare mongered by the mass media. Moral panics such as video nasties are similar to the notion of game panics, both are especially aimed at young children for whom society deems to be susceptible and vulnerable to impressions from the mass media, and in this essay’s case their exposure to violent video games. The key to the difference with the notion of game panics is the interactivity between the player and the game mechanics, the player is able to decide what happens within the game as long as its within the game boundaries, for violent games this includes the abundance of killing computer generated characters, and this is the concern of the parents and oppositions to the graphic games available. Recent events such as the school shootings in Columbine, America have led to increased magnification on the topic and therefore more studies are being conducted trying to theorise a link between play and post play. The main research within the gaming context on violence and aggression is aimed towards the effects playing these games has on children. Jeanne B Funk’s writing on children and violent video games highlights these concerns. She explores the notion that children are ‘high risk’ players, and after playing the video games they become desensitised to violence, and deviant behaviour within the society that they belong. Funk doesn’t place a total blame on the games however as she draws on research into pre existing problems within the Childs personality developed within the environment and social surrounding which the child has grown up in, stating that playing these games could lead to the increased development of these problems. Dave Grossman, a US military trainer on the realities of war has a much different perspective to the debate on video games and aggression. He states that the continued playing of the game conditions and trains the youthful player into a killing machine, perfectly honed to kill on sight without a thought for the consequences. He develops the argument of Acquired Violence Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AVIDS), liking the disorder to the virus Aids. ‘The disease doesn’t kill you but simple destroys your immune system’ (Grossman). Arguing that the use of violent video games simple desensitises players, trains them to kill (stimulus response) with no thought for the repercussions of their actions. These two studies outline two different ideas on the argument of video games and aggression, but neither conducted first hand testing of the hypothesis of post play aggression. A frequently cited paper that presents evidence supporting the claim that violence in video games leads to violence in real life is: Video Games and Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings, and Behaviour in the Laboratory and in Life by Craig A. Anderson, Karen E. Dill. The research draws up the hypothesis of General Affective Aggression Model (GAAM). The model included both existing research on human learning and expression and research into media violence effects. The study consisted of two separate tests, a real life test and a laboratory-based test on game players to analyse a link between game play and post play behaviour. Goldstein disputes the merits of laboratory tests on the basis that they are floored due to the subject not playing the game but merely doing as they are told, so the same feelings, and experiences are different to those when the subject is truly playing the game in the comfort of their own home, with individual aims to achieve. The findings of the Anderson and Dill study supported the GAAM model in that post play aggression was evident. This is one of the few studies which have been conducted with any credibility on the topic of game panics, yet the topic is still wide open due to the lack of empirical research for which solid conclusions on the links between play and post play can be drawn. Freedman states that the lack of experimental research is fundamental in not being able to draw a clear link. He states that the demand factor, where the subject believes he has to react in a certain way and the ability to measure post play aggression are two factors which have thus far underlined the research in to video games and violent behaviour. These problems could be rectified by the increased proportion of studies, of by the drawing up of a new study method designed specifically for the examination of video games and not one which has been used to monitor other forms of media and post exposure behaviour. The existing research available on the topic of post play aggression is extremely limited with few pieces able to be seen as complete and giving a total answer to the questions answered. The idea that competitiveness within a game is equally to blame, as violent content needs to be explored as the arousal experienced from winning or losing a competition such as a sports simulation can increase the adrenaline within the body causing an outburst of violence (Fienberg 2002). Similarly the link needs to be addressed that not everyone who plays violent games will go out and kill people and so the link between characteristics innate to the individual are to blame for more severe violent acts and the video games at the moment are being lined up as scapegoats for individuals actions and more research needs to be conducted on the subject. Bibliography 1. Anderson, D.A. & Dill, K . E. (2000) Video games and aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviour in the laboratory and in life [online]. Washington: APA Journals. Available from http://www. apa. org/journals/psp/psp784772. html [Accessed 20/10/03]. 2. Funk, J. B. (2001) Children and violent video games: Are there high-risk players? [Online]. Chicago: Playing by the rules conference. Available from  http://culturalpolicy.uchicago.edu/