Real Life Violence - Dissertation Example

 Real Life Violence Applying psychological theories to the possible effects of violent video games on a person and how it might desensitize someone from real life violence Introduction There is ample evidence available that violent video games, in some degree of severity, maintain the ability to produce long-lasting impact regarding desensitization to violence. The content and/or duration of the video game play seems to maintain an important factor in whether the child, adolescent or adult figure is affected negatively based on what is witnessed in terms of aggression, bloodshed or hostility as offered by video game developers. This is due to physical changes in the brain that have been measured scientifically when exposed to violent game content as well as the psychological and sociological development capabilities of the player. This paper describes the impact of violent video games and the positive relationship between desensitization and criminal behaviour produced as a result. The facts of violent content A 1994 study involving a large sample population of 307 youths between fourth and sixth grade identified a negative relationship between violent video game play and youth empathic responses (Funk, Baldacci, Pasold & Baumgardner, 2004). Empathy, by most practical definitions, is the level of personal attachment held to other individuals in society and the willingness of the individual to recognise that internal thoughts, needs and lifestyle position of humans. It has been argued in the psychological domain and business researchers that empathy is a necessary function of quality global relationships, peer development and adult functioning, especially in a team-based community structure (Moran, Harris & Moran, 2007). Video game content sustaining situations that lead to hostility or aggression works as a form of operant or classical conditioning that changes a person’s long-standing social or intellectual programming related to sustainment of positive emotional awareness or care regarding others. In the business environment, the importance of empathy is required and is often delivered via training in order to build a higher focus on team methodology and improve organisational culture. In adulthood, empathic training is also reinforced in couple therapy or other social scenarios in order to improve relationships. Therefore, the integrity of empathic reasoning is necessary in order to act as a deterrent for possible future criminal behaviour since these issues focus on sharing inner feelings and maintaining a listening posture that identifies respect and camaraderie for others in society. Conner (2009) identifies that violent video games have a tendency to blunt others’ altruistic tendencies, which involve sociological principles such as remaining selfless and philanthropic as a member of society. An experiment was conducted that identified those who are regularly exposed to violent video games had longer response times when responding to an emergency as well as responding much more slowly when viewed images of a woman in distress (Conner). Why is this? The research data did not uncover specific cues, however examination with psychological texts and the theories borne of it identified several potential clues to this phenomenon. First, “being unexpectedly attacked produces fear and surprise in the individual” (Morris & Maisto, 2005). Images from some video game content induce this type of surprise in the individual especially when the content involves activities of militants being ambushed in the virtual environment. It is not unlikely that routine exposure to this type of content elicits fear responses and some form of anxiety that instils these slow responses in the real-world. Second, it is commonly understood that culture tendencies that are at the heart of one’s sociological beliefs, such as individualism versus collectivism, impacts the altruistic capacity of an individual by nature or nurture (Morris & Maisto). Video game content, in this case, would then only enhance already lingering notions of altruism, however it is clear that more humane personality constructs are reduced through ongoing exposure to this type of content. Cognitive psychologists might differ and offer that this content is much more of a catalyst for violent behaviour rather than just enhancing long-standing cultural principles. Doran (2010) identifies that video game content actually creates a rewiring process in the youth’s brain that makes them more agreeable and open to violent behaviour. However, this might be attributed to the current state of cognitive or emotional development that the child is currently experiencing as part of their adjustment and identify formation process. A younger child would not have the physical brain structure and development to rationalize abstractly, thus being more prone to influence by the game’s content. An older child may have the capacity, based on their current stage of psychological development, to recognize, clearly, fantasy from reality and thus be much less impacted by the game content. A 2000 study supports this notion, involving a group of young male and female youths. This study identified that the strongest outcome of aggressive behaviour was linked to the male students based on frequency of play whilst the female group in relation to time duration of play (Colwell & Payne, 2000). The use of this study as justification for cognitive development theory simply illustrates that the results are not consistent among youth groups and the level to which the child exhibits hostile activities directly related to content differs on a variety of factors including gender, development, and style of reasoning directly related to the personality of the individual playing the games. “Each time people play violent video games, they rehearse aggressive scripts that teach and reinforce vigilance for enemies and aggression against others” (Wolf, 2008, p.29). This is usually true when the content of the video game is kill-or-be-killed personal interaction with the main character playing a role of constant personal jeopardy against virtual opponents. How should this be compared to criminological philosophy? It should be tied directly to attribution theory in criminology which involves an internalized desire to make the punishment directly fit the crime, an eye-for-an-eye mentality (Akers & Sellers, 2005). If the individual maintains inherent capabilities and thought processes where retribution for criminal behaviour is deemed to be a just cause, it is more likely that their activities will seek vengeful retaliation against others that the individual has perceived has caused them harm. With ongoing game play, these aggressive scripts become learned methodology that would only enhance retribution attributions and philosophies in the face of ongoing social onslaught or receipt of hostility stemming from others. Criminological theory also describes the different personality constructs of an individual as related to criminal behaviour. Inherently, there are several types of personalities as proposed by Demelo (2001) that include social conformists, ritualists and rebels. Conformists are those that are bound by social principles and seek to react and respond according to these established cultural ethical principles and norms. The ritualists will abandon long-standing goals in favour of new goals if they are deemed more sufficient to their current lifestyle. Rebels create their own goal-setting parameters and protest their environment usually using radical revolutionary behaviours (Demelo). How can this impact aggressive or hostile behaviour based on game play? A 2004 study identified that those who had the strongest outcomes of hostility were those who felt that the action and images had a template of masculinity that challenged their self-concept and were generally people who felt socially inadequate and weak (Newman, 2004). It is likely that a conformist who places significant value on established ethical and cultural norms would be less impacted having found their own identity through social and peer networks. The rebel, however, would inherently reject lifestyle or their own views on what constitutes an acceptable personal goal. Add to this an individual that has not found their identity through social networking or other peer reference groups and the outcome could be a maladjusted person that is fuelling a proverbial fire related to new learning provided by hostile game content and delivery. Some video content produces aggression in what is referred to as aggressive cognition whereby the individual daydreams and creates mental scripts when provoked, as supported by 35 research reports with 54 independent sample groups (Brennan & Johnson, 2004). A rebel personality would already maintain these internal characteristics related to personality and be more apt to respond aggressively when provoked by a challenger in the real-world environment. It was necessary to identify with the different personality constructs in order to understand why it is difficult to classify and predict the outcome of hostility and aggression with violent video game players. Each group sustains, by nature or nurture, their own unique concepts related to social conformity and peer interaction that will impact their rational decision-making when faced with a choice about whether to commit a crime against others or whether to concretely weigh potential negative outcomes as a result of hostile behaviours. The research studies so far offered as research support identify that results conflict depending on the lifestyle, age, gender and psychological programming of different sample groups. There are a substantial volume of personalized factors related to sociological beliefs and psychological development that indicate the level to which an individual responds to a scenario using criminal behaviours. For instance, an individual that has learned since their youth using operant conditioning strategies, those that are reinforced or punished and thus changing behaviours, would likely not respond to the classical conditioning that is provided by violent game content. There are too many adjustment and personality factors to identify a clear rationale for why video game content might act as a catalyst for ongoing criminal response. In reference to some more hostile games, “one sees that they get extra points for shooting somebody in the head as opposed to shooting them in the body, thus you have to wonder exactly what are the values we’re teaching our children” (licc.org.uk, 2003, p.1). This statement strongly reinforces the notion that cultural and sociological characteristics come into play when determining whether violent video games inhibit or increase criminal response. Operant conditioning attempts to use positive reinforcement as a means to reduce negative behaviours by changing the style by which a person is rewarded for their sociological contributions. Extra points for more fatal assaults reinforces positively that shoot-to-kill methodology comes with higher reward and thus the operant conditioning outcome would be to remain focused on fatal shooting objectives rather than lower-scoring body blows. According to another supportive 2001 report, a common video game feature is the lack of consequence for destroying others in the virtual environment (licc.org.uk). It could be, then, that the operant conditioning strategies attached to the game, either intentional or otherwise, provide the template for long-standing learning that reinforces more reward for higher levels of aggression against others. Again, this is a cultural dynamic or a learning strategy that assists in corresponding to potential hostile or aggressive outcomes in the video game player. During earlier youth and adolescence, the brain is evolving and learning new motor and cognitive pathways to assist in abstract reasoning, personality and self-control (among many other concepts related to behaviour). Honore (2008) identifies, offering research support, that video game play for only thirty minutes can lower a child’s activity in the frontal lobe, an area of the brain that is understood to control impulse and sustain concentration. This is another example of physical rewiring that takes place in the face of imagery and during actual game play. Could this scenario, then, be linked to psychological or criminological theories to explain why adults or adolescents commit criminal actions? Perhaps so. Under classical criminology theory, an individual makes the decision to commit a crime based on solid, rational beliefs and assessment after analyzing the pros and cons of whether to commit the act (Akers & Sellers). The key word is rational in this case, assuming that the individual maintains the healthy, physical cognition necessary to abstractly consider the scenario before taking action. Youths that are exposed to hostile video games are being physically rewired, according to many research scientists, thus impacting the nature by which their front lobes or other brain centres assist to making rational and abstract decisions. A youth that has been influenced, physically, thus impacting concentration and impulse control would be less likely to rationalize their decision based on what would be considered normal social function and programming. It might, then, be linked directly to the age group and level of cognitive development currently being experienced by the youth that impacts future criminological decision-making. If the child is irrational due to learning and brain structure catalysts provided by video games as a youth, then biological factors are directly involved and might have to be considered when constructing an appropriate retaliation or punishment for their criminal behaviours. “If a problem cannot be denied or completely repressed, we may distort its nature so that we can handle it more easily” (Morris & Maisto). This is referred to as projection under psychodynamic theory where one’s own failures are projected onto others during social assessment. For instance, a corporate business executive who maintains feelings of guilt regarding their rise to authority and therefore project ruthless and ambitious sensations onto colleagues during assessment as part of a defence mechanism. This is an individualized strategy that is based on many cultural and sociological dimensions that have impacted the individual throughout their lifetime and developed associated lessons about ethics, morality and consequence. In this case, a projectionist would likely be unaware they are using these defence strategies and thus find no fault with their behaviour in the process but only respond with this strategy over and over again since it brings no consequence or punishment as mandated by a more lenient social environment throughout youth and early adult life, as one example. However, maladjusted reasoning in this fashion can lead to fixation especially if something occurred during a person’s early developmental years related to psychosexual development (Morris & Maisto). This can be applied to criminological theory using individual trait theory that suggests criminal behaviour is more difficult to classify since individualized and unique traits act as the factor to drive criminal behaviour as influenced by social principles and social environments (Cullen & Agnew, 2002). A person with a tendency to repress or project hostilities to others might assess an individual as being aggressive when it is the individual himself that maintains aggressive posturing and behaviours, thus acting without regard to established social principles of self-control. However, the evidence provided thus far involving case studies and experimentation regarding video game content and frequency would act only as a medium for supporting already pre-established values that are distorted under psychodynamic theory. Conclusion There is no set, universal definition that can clearly indicate whether violent video game play is directly related to rises in criminal behaviour or whether it will always act as a predicted and forecasted catalyst for a person’s response to others’ empathic needs or maintain higher levels of self-control when assessing a potential crime against humanity. There are clearly biological principles at play, however development at the physical level is mostly attributed to youth exposure to video games. This might lead to long-term adult maladjustment, but again it serves classical criminological theories that individual traits make it difficult to predict whether criminal behaviour will be an outcome of careful assessment. The main lesson learned is that video games can influence behaviours however finding predictive templates for its causes is still not supported fully by concrete research data. References Akers, R. & Sellers, C. (2005). 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