Literature Review (so far)

Due to violence in video gaming, it has increased the aggressive behaviour and the amount of crimes with the younger generation. However different studies have shown that this is not the case and violent games do not change the aggression levels at all. GrayBill (1987) showed through a study that with sixth graders he found that with violent and non violent games the aggression levels didn’t change showing that violent games have no effect of teenagers. However with a different study by Cooper and Mackie (1986) it showed the complete opposite result when testing a violent game verses a non violent game with fifth grade girls, which they found out with the study that they became more aggressive in different ways.

In more recent studies it has shown the same result as with Cooper and Mackie. Anderson and Bushman (2002) said that violent games promoted various forms of aggressive behaviour. However this was only an opinion and more proof would be needed to answer the question of if violent games were promoting aggressive behaviour in teenagers. Another study by Walsh (2000) showed that the reason behind teenagers and children having so many games is because of parents not being aware of the rating by the Entertainment Software Rating Board. This shows that parents do not know about how violent the games are, suggesting that the reason behind children playing games is due to the parents being made unaware. Vince Mathews (2006) through a more recent study hesitated to make the statement that is it video game violence that made teenagers more aggressive, however what he does believe is that with this study it should encourage parent to make sure to look more closely at the type of games they let their children play.

“Based on our results, I think parents should be aware of the relationship between violent video-games playing and brain function” (Mathews 2006). This shows that games do affect parts of the brain to release aggressive behaviour. The researcher believes that if parents were made more aware of how a violent game can affect a child then maybe less children would be aloud to play them.

 A valid point made by Gentile and Andrerson (2003) suggested that it is because of violent acts being repeated throughout the game the childrens aggressive behaviour is increased. However researcher Patrick Kierkegaard states that crime have decreased due to the increase of violence in gaming. “Violent crime, particularly among the young, have decreased dramatically since the early 1990s, while video games have steadily increased in popularity and use”. Similar findings were made by Christopher J Ferguson (2010) who mentions in an article saying that recent research shows that in Europe and the United States that they are having less behaviour problems since video games have grown in popularity and that violent games are not the problem with youth.

 "Recent research has shown that as video games have become more popular, children in the United States and Europe are having fewer behavior problems, are less violent and score better on standardized tests. Violent video games have not created the generation of problem youth so often feared” (Ferguson 2010). So this shows that in his research that it isn’t video games that are the problem with youth but the problem is the actual teenagers and their personalities. Through all of these findings the researchers results are inconclusive, as the facts show that since the increase in violent games that youths are less violent in the United States and Europe, however many studies argue otherwise. He will use the research methodology to conclude on the final conclusion.

Sources

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/147715-research-says-video-games-cut-violence no date, Kierkegaard Patrick, “Researcher thinks video games cut violence” {Internet}

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16099971/, “Does video game violence make teens aggressive”, 2006, Mathews Vince, {Internet}.

http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/kooijmans.html,  1986, Cooper and Mackie, “Effects of Video Games on Aggressive Thoughts and Behaviors During Development” {Internet}

http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/kooijmans.html, 2002, Anderson and Bushman, “Effects of Video Games on Aggressive Thoughts and Behaviors During Development” {Internet}

http://www.pamf.org/preteen/parents/videogames.html, 2000, Walsh, “The Impact of Video Gaming on Children”, {Internet}

http://www.pamf.org/preteen/parents/videogames.html, , 2003, Gentile & Anderson, “The Impact of Video Gaming on Children”, {Internet}

http://www.massively.com/2010/06/15/mmo-family-video-game-violence-provokes-aggression-in-some-kids/, 2010, Ferguson Christopher J, “ MMO Family: Video game violence provokes aggression in some kids but not others”, {Internet}