Study links Violent Video Games to Lower Crime Rates

Studies are studies and they're all flawed in one way or another and anyone can find a study to reinforce just about any opinion. That said ....

The reason why is hysterical:

The results are very interesting. According to the study, in the days after a popular violent video game was released the crime rate drops a statistically significant amount. The authors attributed this to something they call an “incapacitation effect,” which basically means that the video games are occupying so much of the would-be criminal’s attention that they don’t have time to go out and commit violent crime.

TTAG Post

The Study

Too busy playing video games to go out and commit a crime.

I always figured the bulk of action is due to lack of hobbies or interests. We could end terrorism by flooding hotbeds with porno and video games. Incapacitate your enemy with vices and pointless entertainment.

Apparently the same has been said about the wider availability of pornography, this has lead to less rapes being committed, i dunno if it true, but it kinda makes sense. I picked up a book in a store where I used to work called(I think) 'Why Bad Men Do What Good Men Dream', I didn't read it but just had a flick through, I wish I had read it now because I could at least expound on what I believe studies like these show, ah well.

Here's a link, hope its not too off topic: www.humanistsofutah.org...

reply to post by seabhac-rua

Simon posits that if we deny our dark side, it can only obscure our understanding of violent offenders and impede our ability to both know ourselves and control our own, at times, unacceptable impulses.

Bad Men Do What Good Men Dream

At the risk of nerding out:

The Vulcan heart was forged out of barbarism and violence. We learned to control it, but it is still part of us. To pretend it does not exist is to create an opportunity for it to escape. -Tuvok

It makes sense but I dont believe it was considered in the findings of the study.

Rather than the violent acts of video games satisfying the urge to commit a violent act in reality the video game was simply a fixation that proved for a period of time to be more engrossing than committing crime or spending fruitless leisure time idle or "hanging out" that would lend one to perceive commission of a crime as a thing to do.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


I grew up in a rough area, there were a lot more kids out looking for trouble back then. The same area is a quiet pleasant suburb now, there are still a few dodgy types around, but generally its relatively safer to walk the streets day or night. A friend of mine works for a large international music store chain, he says that gaming sales eclipse everything else, music, movies etc. Is this why when I get off the bus and walk the 100 or so meters to my house I am less inclined to be hyper alert?? All the would-be trouble makers are in their bedrooms mashing their joypads??

Originally posted by seabhac-rua
reply to post by thisguyrighthere

 

All the would-be trouble makers are in their bedrooms mashing their joypads??

edit on 24-6-2011 by seabhac-rua because: (no reason given)

That's what the study suggests.

Though there will be a time when paying for their games and hardware becomes an issue.

Imagine being mugged so some kid can get Modern Warfare 3 or having your home burglarized during a new releases lull to fund the holiday hot titles.

I've know more than a few people to lose their jobs over video games keeping them up all night or enticing them to call out sick. Does a player so occupied by a game have the potential to do whatever it takes to get their hands on that game like a drug addict?

Cycles of low crime may give way to short bursts of crime.

I've know more than a few people to lose their jobs over video games keeping them up all night or enticing them to call out sick. Does a player so occupied by a game have the potential to do whatever it takes to get their hands on that game like a drug addict?
.

I know quite a few blokes who smoke a lot of weed and spend most of their time gaming, usually at night. Being stoned and completely engrossed in a game is how they get their kicks. One friend of mine, who has had his brushes with the law, is a GTA addict. He gets some kind of release from this game, and if you're in his company after he's been playing for a length of time you will definitely get the impression he's got an imaginary crosshairs on everybody he sees. Is this a good thing? I don't know, but since he's gotten into gaming he's been out of trouble, so?

According to official statistics, violent crime in the US has peaked around 1990 and has been decreasing since. This was when violent video games such as Wolfenstein or Doom were introduced. Maybe there indeedd is not just a correlation, but a causation? It could make sense..

Video Games are art, violent crimes are not caused by video games,comics,mangas but the violent acts are caused by the state of the country, states, provinces and yes even education plays a huge role in violent acts caused by the youth, just why does education play role in violent acts?


Because usual the murder has a record of been bullied and humiliated in school, again other aspects play a role in violent behaviors but diffidently video games are not the cause of it.