Literature Review
The subject of this essay is computer games and the violence associated with it. Computer games have often been associated with an increase in aggressive tendencies in players of games encouraging violence and have been linked to crimes as severe as murder. There have been many studies that investigate why such violence happens and they have generally found that people who play video games with violent content are generally more aggressive individuals than those who do not.
The sources associated with this essay are generally investigative papers that reflect the results of experiments used to determine whether or not violent games do exacerbate human violence. There are those that suggest that the gamer is fuelled by a desire to see the plot of the game through to the end, creating an addiction [Selfe, 2007)] while others suggest that increased user input increases violent tendencies [Markey, 2009]. There have been contradictions to the latter however [Williams & Skoric, 2005] but there have usually been notable differences between one investigation and another; for example the type of game used. The only real exception to using an investigation as a research method is to obtain a personal experience of the life of a gamer and report on the ground level [Hattenstone, 2009].
There may be a general bias in favour of computer games contributing to the violence of minors because of both the content of the game and the addictiveness of such games and the effects it has on people. The plan is to study the aspects of different game types to conclude whether gaming violence increases teenager aggression.
Reference:
(Dmitri Williams & Marko Skoric) Communication Monographs Vol. 72, No. 2, , pp. 217–June 2005. 233 Internet Fantasy Violence: A Test of Aggression in an Online Game. [Online]
Available at http://dmitriwilliams.com/CMWilliamsSkoric.pdf [Accessed 18 October 2009]
Selfe, Cynthia L,. 2007,. Gaming Lives in the Twenty-First Century. [E-Book] New York: Palgrave.
Available at University Library/Digital Library/e-books http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/E-books
[Accessed 18 October 2009]
Markey, Patrick M., 2009. An examination of psychoticism and motion capture controls as moderators of the effects of violent video games. Computers in Human Behavior, March, v25 i2, p407(5)
Hattenstone, H., 2009. Weekend: Teenage kicks: What do we really know about Britain's teen boys beyond all the negative headlines?
The Guardian
