Can playing violent video games increase the chances that someone will commit violence?

While there is no concrete evidence to support this theory, there is certainly enough circumstantial evidence to make it a hard theory to write off. Take the example of Daniel Petric, for instance. Petric spent as much as 18 hours playing the Halo videogame series, according to an article on cleancutmedia.com as well as articles from several other news websites. When his parents protested the amount of time he was dedicating to the violent video game and took his newly purchased Halo 3 game away, the teenager responded by shooting both parents a few weeks later, killing his mother and seriously wounding his father.

So how much effect could playing violent video games have had on Petric's actions?

In normal, everyday life without modern media, the likelihood of extreme violence being witnessed by any one person is significantly less. Personally, I have never even witnessed one person hitting another with intent to harm in real life, much less any significant violence. All the physical violence I have ever been exposed to has been through some form of media. And for someone such as myself who goes out of her way to avoid most violent media, I certainly feel like I have seen a plethora of violent acts too numerous to count in movies, on television, in video games, and on the internet. So what of the child or adult who goes out of the way to watch violent action films, bloody slasher movies, or like Petric, play violent video games?



Composite picture by SharkD. Original photos by
David Vignoni and Mysid.
Picture from Wikimedia Commons

 In this fascinating article from the Canadian Media Awareness Network website by Jonathan L. Freedman, both long-term and short-term research regarding the effects of media violence from the past several decades are compiled and summarized. While the article is careful to note the arguments against the theories of media effects on violence and known issues and limitations with the studies that were addressed, the overall conclusion of the studies noted seems to be that there is a viable relationship between media violence and aggressive behavior.

In relation to Petric's story of violence, this article indicates that his interactions with the Halo games could have had any of several different effects. For example:

 

• He could have been desensitized by the constant exposure to violence into feeling that violence is 'not real.' 
• Could have caused him to have less sympathy for victims of violence.
• Could have made him believe or feel that violence is a normal, everyday part of life.  
• Could have increased his level of aggression.

While we may never know for sure how significant a role these possibilities played in this act of violence, I believe every parent should regard these connections as serious possibilities and regulate how much violence their children are exposed to.

Video: Judge from Petric trial speaking on the effects of video games on the brain.

Video  posted on Youtube by The Chronicle - Telegram, a newspaper in Elyria, Ohio