This paper provides an overview of the theories that explain the assumption that violent video games are likely to lead to juveniles’ criminal behavior. It also provides an example from the media that illustrates one of the theories under discussion.
Throughout time, multiple theories have been applied to explain the violent behavior of juveniles. Key theoretical models of human aggression that relate juvenile violence to video games are behavioral theories, cognitive theories, and emotional theories.
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"Violent Video Games Resulting in Criminal Activity among Juveniles".
One of the most widespread behavioral explanations of the relationship between violent video games and criminal activity in juveniles is the social learning theory. According to it, violence occurs after the child models his or her behavior after watching it multiple times in a game. The modeling of violent behavior typically occurs in the situations when the child is constantly exposed to violence and thinks it to be commonplace. After the child sees the violent behavior, he or she retains it, and given enough potential and motivation enacts it.
Within the framework of this theory, imitation plays an important role, where young people are believed to imitate the models of behavior they see in video games to solve their own problems. Disinhibition, too, plays an important role in causing violent behavior. It is about undermined learned social sanctions directed against the use of violence. As a result of watching video games fraught with violence, reduced inhibition leads people to legitimize the use of violence in reality. Also, according to the desensitization hypothesis, repeated exposure to games’ violence leads to a reduction in emotional responsiveness and increases acceptance of real life violence.
On the cognitive level, the criminalizing effects of violent video games on behavior of juveniles are explained as a result of changes in the cognitive sphere: in values, attitudes, and beliefs which stem from exposure to violence in games. Cultivation hypothesis relates exaggerated violence perception in youngsters’ reality to overtly violent video gaming and constant exposure to it.
Another aspect of cognitive impact is priming. This hypothesis assumes that when juveniles hear or witness violence in the media (including video games), similar ideas get activated in their brains for some short periods afterwards. These thoughts will activate other ideas semantically related to those and form tendencies of violent behavior. One example is people’s changes in beliefs of justification of other people’s criminal behavior. Another example is reduction in inhibitions about aggressive behavior participation.
Emotional theories of the violent effects of the video games on the young people relate mostly to arousal due to violence in the video games. For example, the excitation transfer theory posits that violent games are a source of too intense affective reaction. If aggressive modes of behavior have already been instigated in viewers as well as if dispositions exist, arousal that stems from violence in the video games intensifies individuals’ motivated asocial feelings and causes them to engage in destructive actions.
One of the examples of how criminal behavior evolved as a result of young people’s modeling of the behavior after some violent patterns is the case of Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. These two juveniles killed thirteen victims at Columbine High School back on 20 April 1999. Later, Klebold and Harris turned their guns on themselves. To model the criminal conduct, both killers used the Internet resources in order to model recipes as to how to make various explosives, including pipe bombs. The boys created a whole arsenal where they had guns, knives, and up to a hundred explosives. As it is explained by the social learning (modeling) theory, the boys conduct was also modeled by their playing violent video games (Doom), as well as listening to violent music. It later appeared that the killers actually planned to blow up the school in order to drive the victim count to the hundreds. Whereas precise motives of the violent behavior remain a mystery, without a doubt, violent video gaming and music have made their contribution in modeling the behavior of the boys.
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