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Video Games

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Adolescents, Crime, and the Media

Part of the book series: Advancing Responsible Adolescent Development ((ARAD))

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Abstract

In recent decades, the phenomena of video game violence have attracted both considerable controversy, and multiple legislative efforts to regulate or censor violent games cross-nationally. Both scholars and politicians attempted to link violent video games to several high-profile mass shooter incidents, although such efforts have since been discredited. Video game research largely inherited the problematic issues of television research regarding methodological weaknesses. Despite this, the effects of video games on aggression have been generalized to public health concerns by some scholars. However, research on video game violence, like television violence, has returned only weak and inconsistent effects. Research using the best methods is least likely to return evidence for “harm” due to video games.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    r = 0.15

  2. 2.

    r = 0.04

  3. 3.

    r = 0.36

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  1. Department of Behavioral Sciences, Texas A&M International University, Laredo, TX, USA

    Christopher J. Ferguson

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Ferguson, C.J. (2013). Video Games. In: Adolescents, Crime, and the Media. Advancing Responsible Adolescent Development. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6741-0_7

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