Video games and crime : research into the connection between violent video games and deviant behaviour

Abstract

Soon after video games became popular, the public saw the emergence of violent video games on the market. Depicting violence, gore, nudity, drugs and other mature content, they spawned the debate on whether these games can affect players and increase their chances of showing aggressive or deviant behaviour, or not. There has been strong support for both sides of the argument, with books being written for both hypotheses and academic research conducted with the aim of gaining more information and making it clearer. However, despite this being a hot topic, no indisputable conclusion has been reached, and the debate carries on to this day. The aim of this dissertation is to try to explore the issue with regards to people’s experiences with violent video games (both in the present as well as when they were children), as well as their opinions on violent video game effects and video game rating systems. A questionnaire was distributed, and the results compared with the findings of previous literature.