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Charlene Fitero
Professor Wills
Composition 100
14 December 2012
Violent Video Games
Media is the main means of mass communication where violence has a strong
hold on and influence over its audience. Through means of films and images, messages
are able to transcend internationally, raising awareness for a certain cause or promoting
an idea of some sort. In Sontag’s article, “Watching Suffering from a Distance, " she
depicts the role of violence and its correlation to the media. "No one after a certain age
has the right to this kind of innocence, of superficiality, to this degree of ignorance, or
amnesia” (437). In other words, there is no blind eye to the harsh reality of the sufferings
humans have inflicted upon each other after reaching adulthood. “The images say: This is
what human beings are capable of doing…Don’t forget,” (438). The pictures shown in
the article, display the actions of manslaughter of men, women, and children. Although
these images are shown to haunt our minds and remind us of the reality of violence, other
means of media, such as video games contrast with this idea greatly. Violence is
incorporated in the majority of most video games for pure entertainment, such as Grand
Theft Auto (GTA). The name of the series means, “motor vehicle theft,” and the reality of
the games subdue American culture by taking the existence of society’s lowest epitomes,
such as racism and stereotyping, and make a comedic satire for its players enjoyment.
This parody built on the foundation of our current time holds great controversy for its
violent nature and mature content. The series takes place in fictional towns modeled after
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American cities, making the surroundings surreal and realistic. The gameplay has a story
mode where players are given the role of a criminal and must complete assigned
missions, engaging themselves in illegal activity, in order to progress. As the protagonist
successfully finishes a task and advances, their rank in the criminal organization rises,
however the reason differs in every GTA game for the main character to come out on top.
The antagonists in the game are the police who try to stop the player from committing
any crimes by having police chases, gun-fire, and hand to hand combat. Also, other
characters who have betrayed, or deceived the protagonist are enemies that try to prevent
you from completing your missions. Due to the games intense violence, blood, sexual
content, and use of explicit language, it is rated “M” for Mature and 18+ to keep this kind
of gameplay exposure out of reach from adolescents. Unfortunately, this protection
method proves to be ineffective and children across America are interacting with this
virtual reality. Playing these types of violent video games cause children to view
violence with an adolescent sense of humor while facing desensitization with its
connection to moral value and increase in aggressive behavior.
Jeanne B. Funk’s journal entry, “Playing violent video games, desensitization, and
moral evaluation in children," focuses on the psychological development of children and
ethical values aged 5 to 12 in relation to their disposition on violent video games and
desensitization ethically. “Several recent reports confirm that video games have a
significant presence in the lives of children and adolescents.” (414.) To figure out the
outcome of moral evaluation and how it is linked to violent video games, Funk conducted
experiments of short-term and long-term play on video games. Short-term exposure did
not show much change in a child’s behavior or moral values. In contrast, long-term
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exposure proved to reduce empathy in children and strengthen the attitude towards
violence as the solution to justify certain situations. “Relationships between video game
playing and empathy were examined in two surveys. Although no significant
relationships were found with self-esteem, adolescents whose favorite game was violent
had lower empathy scores on the 7-item ‘‘fantasy empathy’’ subscale of the Interpersonal
Reactivity Index.” (417). Although “some children may be at higher risk for negative
impact than others,” (432) it was concluded that not all children experience an in increase
in aggravated behaviors associated with violence due to violent video games.
In the article, “A Longitudinal Study Of The Association Between Violent Video
Game Play And Aggression Among Adolescents,” it covers the affiliation between violent
video games and aggression. They describe several different theories as to why there is
an association between violent video game play and aggressive behavior. “Adolescents
who play violent video games may imitate the aggression that they observe in the games
(Bandura, 1977)” (1044). This particular theory stood out to me personally, because I
have a little 9 year-old nephew who has had a recent change in vocabulary because of
video games he has played that contain explicit language. Although there is no change in
his behavior, the way he speaks is unpleasant and rude. The research further shows that
long-term video game play and aggressive behavior over adolescent years are evaluated
by the socialization of the games (violent video game play predicts aggression over time)
versus selection hypothesis (aggression predicts violent video game play over time). The
study favored the socialization hypothesis, as the results showed that violent video games
have predicted higher levels of aggression over time. However, no evidence was found
for the selection hypothesis. The range of video games in this examination, also includes
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nonviolent video games. The results for nonviolent video games, had the test subjects
experience no negative effects.
Perhaps this is “Due to the fact that nonviolent video games often differ from
violent video games on several dimensions, such as competitiveness and pace of action”
(1055). I have two brothers and like most boys, they have loads of video games, which
consist of violent and non-violent types. I love playing the video games with them, such
as Mario Party and I also play other games with them such as, Call of Duty: Black Ops;
two very different video games in both game design and plot. Whenever we play Mario
Party, a game that has a variety of mini-games that is rated “E” for Everyone, it is solely
just family, fun in defeating the challenges the game throws at us. Call of Duty: Black
Ops is rated “M” for Mature because it revolves around an open world that is manifested
in a zombie apocalypse, in which the players fight for survival. In comparison, my
brothers get more aggravated as their anxiety increases while shooting the zombies in
Black Ops. They yell at the television screen and are “on edge” for the longest time. They
get so engrossed into the game that any slight distraction irritates them.
In Soraya Murray’s article, “ High Art/Low Life The Art of Playing Grand Theft
Auto,” she critiques the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andres in a negative outlook.
She depicts “the militaristic culture of violence” in the playing game as the reason for the
increase in popularity, causing the company Rockstar Games to produce its latest edition
of the series, Grand Theft Auto: San Andres, with more violence than ever. The article
provides a strong distaste for the design of the game and the storyline because she feels
the very vulgarity this game displays, leaves a deep impression on the minds of children.
Along with the realism, she claims that there is a lot of interaction with the stimulated
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environment that involve stealing cars, gangs, and gunfire. Since video games require
characters to be controlled by players, this interaction can desensitize a person to
violence. GTA is a virtual reality with fictional scenarios based off our world and “by
learning how to effectively navigate a stimulated body within this manifestation, the
quality of place comes to life” (92). The familiar feel of the environment in the game in
contrast to the real world, may cause confusion among adolescents. They could find it
morally acceptable to apply violence as the solution to certain problems in real life, like
in the game. Viewing violence as a justifiable answer in reality to any case, displays how
these children have already been desensitized. They have grown numb to the feeling of
guilt and the drastic affects violence can actually cause.
Jacqueline Savaiano article, “Are Video Games Really So Bad?” revolves around
the effects of violent video games it has on children in the United States. It addresses the
concerns of parents and the desensitization of children toward violence. “Do graphically
violent games desensitize children to violence? Do such games teach kids to take
pleasure in the suffering and death of others? Are even nonviolent e-games addictive?”
(Time 153.18). Not all children who play violent video games are affected in a negative
manner. In disposition to my argument, there are some cases where even video games
help stimulate the mind. A majority of violent video games require critical and strategic
planning. On same games, players are able to go online and cooperate with one another in
order to defeat the level. Patricia Greenfield is a psychology professor at UCLA and has
studied the relationship between video games and intelligence and found a positive
correlation. “Her research attributes an increase in worldwide "nonverbal IQ" (spatial
skills, the use of icons for problem solving and the ability to understand things from
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multiple viewpoints) to the spread of video games” (Time 153.18). This positive side
effect from playing video games, however, resulted in the lack of important social skills.
When children play video games, the session usually lasts for hours with no interaction
with people from the real world. "It's unfortunate that in our society we are more
concerned with raising IQ than with people having a social intelligence and
responsibility," Patricia Greenfield said.
Many people play video games and even though there are rating systems
on the games set for children, teens, and adults- many parents overlook that crucial factor
and just pick the popular games in stores when buying the game for their child. Kids are
able to get their hands on extremely violent video games every day, and underestimate
violence by the impression video games partake as a source of entertainment. It builds up
a child’s tolerance level for violence due to constant exposure to simulated aggressive
behavior, which desensitize in moral value. However, it is not just video games that
contribute to the desensitization process. I t is in fact, all forms of media. The media is an
everyday part of life and will always be there. Even though the violence incorporated in
the media tend to affect children more because they are still at an adolescent mind set,
teens, adults- young and old are under its influence as well.
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Works Cited
Funk, Jeanne B. "Playing violent video games, desensitization, and moral
evaluation in children." Journal of applied developmental psychology 24.4
(2003): 413-436. Web. 15 November 2012.
Murray, Soraya. "High Art/Low Life: The Art Of Playing Grand Theft Auto." PAJ: A
Journal Of Performance & Art 27.80 (2005): 91-98. Academic Search Complete.
Web. 15 Nov. 2012.
Jeong, Eui Jun, Frank A. Biocca, and Corey J. Bohil. "Sensory Realism And Mediated
Willoughby, Teena, Paul J. C. Adachi, and Marie Good. "A Longitudinal Study
Of The Association Between Violent Video Game Play And Aggression Among
Adolescents." Developmental Psychology 48.4 (2012): 1044-1057. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 19 Nov. 2012.
Jacqueline Savaiano, et al. "Are Video Games Really So Bad? (Cover Story)." Time
153.18
(1999): 50. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Nov. 2012.
ProCon.org. "Video Games ProCon.org." VideoGames.ProCon.org. ProCon.org, 25 Oct.
2012. Web. 18 Nov. 2012