Did Video Games Contribute to the Decline in the Crime Rate?
Christine Lusey
2011/06/24 19:00:00
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The last 20 years in America saw a sharp drop in the crime rate. And according to the FBI, the last two years, despite the harsh economic conditions, continued the trend. What gives? One surprising theory has video games playing a positive role in crime reduction.
A BBC article posits various theories for the drop, including a rise in the use of potentially incriminating camera phones, a fall in the demand for crack cocaine and an increased use of crime mapping computer programs, among others.
Also included is a reference to a recent study called "Understanding the Effects of Violent Video Games on Violent Crime," from the University of Texas at Arlington and Baylor University and the Centre for European Economic Research.
The study cites the "voluntary incapacitation" effect - basically, if people are playing video games, they're not out committing crime. And they found that the time spent playing violent games tended to offset any of that oft-speculated aggression that supposedly rouses gamers to commit crimes.
A BBC article posits various theories for the drop, including a rise in the use of potentially incriminating camera phones, a fall in the demand for crack cocaine and an increased use of crime mapping computer programs, among others.
Also included is a reference to a recent study called "Understanding the Effects of Violent Video Games on Violent Crime," from the University of Texas at Arlington and Baylor University and the Centre for European Economic Research.
The study cites the "voluntary incapacitation" effect - basically, if people are playing video games, they're not out committing crime. And they found that the time spent playing violent games tended to offset any of that oft-speculated aggression that supposedly rouses gamers to commit crimes.
Read More: http://kotaku.com/5814601/violent-video-games-cont...
Top Opinion
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Ben 2011/06/24 21:20:05Yes
+7I saw a thug robbing some guy in an alley one day and then all of a sudden a video game came from around the corner wearing a cape and everything and he captured the robber and flew him to the front of the county jail omg we're saved so yeah video games do stop violent crimes!
A kid comes home angry and goes and kills a whole bunch of people on a first-player shooter game vs. beating up the kid next door (or other person).
Video games seem like an easier way to release anger without resorting to violent crime.
This is not about starving kids stealing or robbing to feed themselves. That kind of thing was much more prevalent before the 1950s and decreased afterward. If anything, the juvenile delinquency and gang activity of the 50s-80s was more often among kids who were not that bad off.
I realize the issue is not black and white, however... if some kind of ennui is a motive for juvenile violent/destructive crime, video games may be filling that hole.
The inverse porn/commercial sex trade to rape/sex offense correlation argument is out there, too. I'm sure you've seen that.
It's counter-intuitive, I know. We see the gangbanger culture glorified in all media, including games, and then we see that same kind of activity in the streets. But somehow, on the whole, things aren't as bad as they were back in the 80s and there are less minors committing violent or destructive crimes every year.
It sounds sensible enough, but if the virtualization is not then stimulating more aggressive behaviour outside the game, does that not support the possibility that games are helping to keep violent and destructive behaviour off the streets? Presumably a control was done gauging the amount of aggressive behaviour exhibited by the same individuals in the absence of virtualization options, both before and after over significant enough periods to garner an average...?
Even if it is true that the virtualization is restricting the behaviour there are other mechanisms at work in games... Skinner box methods that would likely encourage more time spent on violent activity in the virtual world than would be exhibited in real world aggression. Kids inclined to acting out violently might also be more prone to video game addiction.