My other Psychology course that I am taking this semester is Abnormal Child Psychology. In this course, part of the weekly lesson sometimes includes an embedded discussion supported by yammer. The instructor will pose a question related the topic and the class posts their comments and replies to other posts, etc., like a discussion board. Perhaps some of you are familiar with this. A recent question from one of the lessons was, “What impact do you think violence in the media (e.g., TV, movies, video games) has on the development of antisocial behaviors?” The majority of those who responded to the question, myself included, stated that there was little evidence linking watching violence on TV or video games to violent behavior. So, I think I should first apologize to Professor Brian Crosby for being so adamant in my incorrect response and then I will bury my head in embarrassment.
The chapter on Media and violence was an eye opener for me because I truly did have the misconceived belief that there was no link to media violence and aggressive or violent behavior. I now know how wrong I was. I did not just leave my beliefs with the Schneider, et al text. I also read some interesting articles on line regarding copycat crimes. I knew about those of course, but thought they were more the exception than the rule. And perhaps they are. However, as our text explains, research studies show an increase in aggressive behavior, attitudes, and greater acceptance of violence in those who are continuously exposed to TV violence (Schneider, Gruman, Coutts,2012).
I was curious to see if I could find an article that related to true crime directly to a violent show or video game. There are many, unfortunately. The one I found of particular interests related to the video game Grand Theft Auto. Many of you may know that this is one of the most notoriously violent video games out there. A young man, Devin Moore, after playing this game for several hours, was arrested for being suspected for stealing a car. When they got him to the station, he was able to take the officer’s gun from him and shot two police officers and a 9-1-1 call dispatcher. All were fatally wounded in the head. He was living the video game. He also had other contributing factors, however. So, did they cause his behavior or did the game? Perhaps in this particular case there were both genetic and environmental risk factors at play. However, it was the video game that he emulated (Bradley,2004). He actually made a comment to that effect at the station before he shot the officers in the head. In addition to Devin Moore, there are a host of other copycat convictions based on movies such as Benjamin Darras and Sarah Edmondson for the movie Natural Born Killers; Thierry Jaradin for the movie Scream; and Vadim Mieseges for The Matrix movie. All committed horrendous murders after watching these movies and simulating characters from them (Clark,Dove, 2015).
Resources
Coutts, Larry M., Gruman, Jamie A., Schneider, Frank W.(2012). Applied social psychology. New Delhi, India: Sage Publications
Clark, J., Dove, L. (2015).10 notable copycat killers. Retrieved from http://www.howstuffworks.com/
I think you addressed an important issue that has had a significant impact on today’s society, in particular the youth. As you indicated in your discussion, the impact of violence in television shows, movies and video games is critical. I do not think enough people consider the impact and amount of desensitization that is associated with the prevalent violence in television shows, movies and video games.
However, I would encourage you to read the following article: Violent Video Games and Real-World Violence: Rhetoric Versus Data by Patrick M. Markey, Charlotte N. Markey & Juliana E. French. The article presents a compelling stance refuting the argument that violent video games are a source of violence in society. The authors contend that data representing the actual violence in the American society does not coincide with the use of violent video games and in fact the data indicates homicide rates have declined while violent video game usage has increased.
Regardless the study presents an argument that disputes the current popular belief that violent video games are a source of violent behavior. I think that the prevalence of violence in the American society is a complicated and dynamic interaction of environment and genetic components.