Games and Violence in Adolecence, Research Paper Example

The question of whether or not violent video games causes an increase of violent behavior in those who are exposed to them for long periods of time is both complex and ambiguous. This is particularly true in regard to young people. Some studies exist which have conclusively tied a tendency to violent behavior with the prolonged watching of violent movies and TV. However, studies also exist which show that the impact of video game playing on violent behavior in children and young adults is negligible. One reason that it is difficult to determine the true impact of violent video games on those who play them is because of the inverse relationship between violent behavior and video games. In other words, because people with violent tendencies which I already exist tend to gravitate toward video games, it is nearly impossible to determine what kind of impact, if nay, the games have on an individual who is already inclined toward violence.

That said, the article “Media Violence and Youth Violence: A 2-year Longitudinal Study” (2008) concludes that violent video games, like violent movies or TV, can operate as a “risk factor” in those young people who are disposed toward acting out violently. The more risk factors that act as an influence on any individual means, according tothe study, that there is a greater cahcne of a violent act being committed by any given person. This means that violent video games, like drug-abuse, gang membership, poverty, and victimization all contribute to the potential of inciting a person to act violently. What the article demonstrates is that video games are not, in themelves, a cause of violkence in children or teenegrs, rather, video games are a contributing factor in some cases of violent behavior among children and teeens.