Critical Perspectives

Dissertation Proposal
OGR
Jess Bennett
19/02/2018
Do video games make
us violent?
Dissertation Synopsis
In my dissertation I want to discuss how we relate violence to video games, and to see if this fact is true
or not. I want to look at present games and how realistic they have become. I also want to discuss the
way VR has risen in the past few years, and how children could see this as being real life for them. The
way these brains are, or if they are rotting the new generation of children who do grow up around these
video games and who are more prone to be violent because of this. Is this true or not, this is the
question that everyone asks themselves, and I want to find out if it is or not.
Chapter 1 synopsis
for my chapter 1 I am going to look at violence before video games. What causes these people to be
violence and how gender is a big factor in this argument. How that there were violence and crime in the
world even before games existed. I want to show that people even before games blamed various
products such as magazines, comics, books, films and what is shown on the tv were blamed for making
kids violent as they would copy what was shown. I want to show how past events and history have had
an effect on the way we see video games and how they make the young consumer who is playing this
makes them feel.
Chapter 2 synopsis
For chapter 2 I want to look at age rating on video games and how more young children play these
games. I want to look at arguments for and against weather these kids do become more aggressive as
they grow up playing these age restricted games, the blame of the parents that allow there young to
play or blame of the children that come addicted to such violence. Or arguments that games of a violent
nature are educating our children for the world outside.
Chapter 3 synopsis
For my final chapter I want to look at VR and how it immerses you in and how its so realistic its hard to
tell if its real or not. Could vertical Reality be the cause of violence as it confuses the brain whether this
is real or not. Or is it just the console as it can also be immersive in the way it draws you in to play it.
There are many arguments whether new technology of the gaming world are becoming to real for
people and also too realistic which can also confuse the mind. I want to add to this that serious crimes
that are blamed by video games. Is this true or false do these video games make criminals or is it just
the criminal who need to blame someone or something blame the games that they play.
 Research Pro-forma
Author: Mark J.p. Wolf & Bernard Perron
Critical position: Professors
Title: The Video Game Theory Reader
Place of publication: New York & London
Date: 2003
Key points: video games are reshaping the
face of entertainment and our relationship
with technology. It discusses the
relationship between video games and
other media.
Quotations:
Author: Patti M. Valkenburg
Critical position:
Title: Childrens responses to the screen
Place of Publication: Mahwah, New Jersey
Date: 2004
Key points: five types of research on the effects of media violence.
Laboratory experiements, field experiments,
correlational studies, causal-correlational studies and
Meta- Analyses.
Quotations:
“The more exposure children have to
the media violence, the more aggressive they are.”
Research Pro-forma
Author: Craig A. Anderson, Douglas A. Gentile & Katherine E. Buckley Author: Barrie Gunter

Critical position: professor, assisted professor & completing her PHD in Critical position: professor
psychology
Title: The effects of video games on children ( the myth unmasked)
Title: Violent Video Games Effect on children and adolescents
Place of publication: Sheffield, England
Place of publication: New York
Date: 1998
Date: 2007

Key points: has video games given rise to public concern about the effects they
Key points: prior violent video game research, have on youngsters. Is games worse that television violence?

(MMORPG)- massively multiplayer online role-playing game

Quotations:

Quotations: “ no excessive blood and violence and no sex” (kent, 2001. p. 465) “Gender differences in effects of video games play have been observed, but
may depend on whether players compete as indivuals or cooperate with
others.” (Lightdale and Prentice 1994)
Research Pro-forma
Author: Dave Grossman & Gloria De Gaetano
Author: Mark J.p. Wolf
Critical position: Author & educator of the fields of media
violence Critical position: Proffessor

Title: Stop teaching our kids to kill Title: Before the crash (early video game history)

Place of publication: New York Place of publication: Detroit

Date: 1999 Date: 2012

Key points: even if we conscientiously monitor our own children, Key points:
we cannot prevent other peoples children from being drawn into
aggression of video game violence.

Quotations: Quotations:

“The incident that brought the issue to public attention, was the
columbine High school massacre, in Littleton Colorado.”
Research Pro-forma
Director: Jeremy Smith, Nina Huntemann, Sut Jhally
Title: Game over(Gender, Race & Violence in Video Games)
Production company: Media Education Foundation
Place of publication:
Date: 2000
Key points:
Video and computer games represent a $6 billion a year
industry. One out of every ten households in American owns a
Sony PlayStation. Children who own video game equipment
play an average of ten hours per week. And yet, despite
capturing the attention of millions of children worldwide,
video games remain one of the least scrutinized cultural
industries. Game Over is the first educational documentary to
address the fastest growing segment of the media through
engaging questions of gender, race and violence.
Director: Nina Huntemann, Roger Sorkin, Sut Jhally
Title: Joystick Warriors
Video Games, Violence & the Culture of Militarism
Production company: Media Education Foundation
Place of publication:
Date: 2012
Key points:
Drawing on the insights of media scholars, military analysts,
combat veterans, and gamers themselves, the film trains its
sights on the wildly popular genre of first-person shooter
games, exploring how the immersive experience they offer
links up with the larger stories we tell ourselves as a culture
about violence, militarism, guns, and manhood.
Research Pro-forma
Director:
Title: Are Video Games Really That Bad
Production company: BBC
Place of publication:
Date: 2015
Key points:
The video game industry is a global phenomenon. There
are over 1.2 billion gamers across the planet, with sales
projected soon to pass $100 billion per year. But their very
popularity fuels the controversy that surrounds them. They
frequently stand accused of corrupting the young - of
causing violence and addiction. But is this true
Director: Meet the Professor
Title: Episode 4: Violent Video Games’ Effects On Children
Production company:
Place of publication: YouTube
Date: 2015
Key points: it discusses the dozens of studies showing that
children and adolescents who spend a significant amount
of time playing violent video games become more
aggressive in their thoughts and actions. The relatively
new brain scan studies show that brain chemistry is altered
when video games are played for long period of time, and
permanent brain re-wiring can result, with attendant
negative effects such as conduct disorder, aggression,
“mean world syndrome,” and depression.
Bibliography
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Lightdale, J. R., And D. A. Prentice (1994) Rething sex differences in aggression. Personality and social psychology bullentin 20: 34-44
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server.iastate.edu/faculty/caa/abstracts/2000-2004/00Senate.html
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