I have no doubt that this debate will continue to rage on, but for what it’s worth a lengthy study published in the Journal of Communication has concluded that we’ve been right all along, and there is no connection that can be drawn between video games and youth violence.
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The research, led by US psychologist Christopher Ferguson, saw two separate historical studies being conducted, the first evaluating a potential correlation between the violent films and societal violence between 1920 and 2005, while the second put video games under the microscope through the year 1996 to 2011.
According to the study, an increase of violent films in the latter half of the 20th century coincided with decreased societal violence, while the rising popularity of violent video games also coincided with less youth violence. The study into video games took into account data obtained from the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB), in order to analyse fluctuations in the amount of violent games being developed, though despite violent games gaining traction the amount of societal violence among youth actually dropped.
Speaking about the results of the study, Ferguson released a press statement saying: “This research may help society focus on issues that really matter and avoid devoting unnecessary resources to the pursuit of moral agendas with little practical value.” He also pointed out how the amount of media attention devoted to the vilification of violent video games is as a result of the “limited amount of resources and attention” that has been put upon the act of reducing crime itself.
Though many will still continue to claim that violent games are the cause of all the ills of the world, this is perhaps the most well-rounded study devoted to the issue yet. If people still refuse to believe that there isn’t a direct link between violent and mature video games, then it’s clear that they are simply ignoring the facts of the matter.
