GTA: San Andreas and psychological consequences

  • Thread starter Pengwuino
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In summary, So i got San Andreas, the newest game in the Grand Theft auto series and i was wondering something. A lot of people thought the first 2 grand theft auto 3 series games have provoked a lot of violence in the youth culture because they are mimicking the game. This latest game has one feature where you rob people's houses! Now, if i was some impressionable kid, I'd think that this would be something I could do very easily! Anyone think this will have any adverse effects on the minds of kids or young teens?
  • #1
Pengwuino
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So i got San Andreas, the newest game in the Grand Theft auto series and i was wondering something. A lot of people thought the first 2 grand theft auto 3 series games have provoked a lot of violence in the youth culture because they are mimicking the game. This latest game has one feature where you rob people's houses! Now, if i was some impressionable kid, I'd think that this would be something I could do very easily! Anyone think this will have any adverse effects on the minds of kids or young teens?

For some reason this is, for some reason, something that raises some flags in my mind. Anyone else thinking like i am? :)
 
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  • #2
if video games affected behavior, then we'd be running from ghosts in dark rooms while eating yellow pills. OMG, ur right!
 
  • #3
uhh lol that's a funny eg yourdad...but there is a difference between reality and imagination in a virtual environment and I'm sure kids can tell the difference.

and if kids are playing san andreas there parents should be beat over the head.
 
  • #4
If a kid isn't aware of the consequences for taking such actions, then yes, he can pretend to take on a role of a thief that breaks into people's houses. The kid is just playing. Every kid has to learn his/her limitations and other things, and that's partially done by pretending to be different people or things and trying them out. But the fear, "OMG! he's going to grow up to be a thief," or something like that is preposterous. Kids tend to explore the world they live in, and to no suprise, they get themselves in trouble.
 
  • #5
neurocomp2003 said:
uhh lol that's a funny eg yourdad...but there is a difference between reality and imagination in a virtual environment and I'm sure kids can tell the difference.
Right, you think so? It shifts boundaries of what is acceptible. My boyfriend is playing it right now (quite addicted he is) and I sometimes come and sit next to him and watch peoples brains blown out, it is sick. How shocked will the kids be when they see a real person's head taken off, are they conditioned to see it as virtual reality?

I can't help but cringe everytime a woman is beaten and thrown out of the car, or stomped to death. Do the kids have the same emotion? I doubt it.
 
  • #6
for me this is kind of a tough question because i have played violent video games for as long as i can remember and i don't do the things i do in this virtual world (besides applying experiences in shooter games to playing paintball). however, some people who already have dificulty distinguishing between what's real and what's imaginary might be empowered by these video game experiences.

parents with children who Do have problems with reality vs. imaginary should be sensoring matierals they view. its the same idea as taking a 10 year old to see a horror movie in a theater in that the fault is almost entirly on the parents IMO
 
  • #7
Well i was basing this thread off of how "they" say that children can lose sight of the line between reality and virtual reality in video games and movies and such. Didnt they say the guys at columbine were mimicking The Matrix?
 
  • #8
Pengwuino said:
Well i was basing this thread off of how "they" say that children can lose sight of the line between reality and virtual reality in video games and movies and such. Didnt they say the guys at columbine were mimicking The Matrix?

Last I remembered, I believe they said that the columbine guys were more influenced by the archaic computer game Doom (whose third generation counterpart is out on the markets now), the precursor to all modern computer first person shooters. Though the Matrix allusion would make sense with the long trenchcoats and all.
 
  • #9
monique i think misinterpreted my post..it was a response to the post above it where yourdad mentions then why aren't kids running aroudn chasing ghosts.

in VR a child can tell the difference between what is fake and what is reality in terms of perception not consequences...for example take the 8-10 year kid who hung a 2-3 year old on a coat hangar...because he/she saw it in caspar...the ghost isn't the one being hanged on the coat hangar it was a child...now i mean if a ghost was to be hanged on the coat hangar...i dont' think the child would go out and find a ghost...
but to the child...hanging a kid on a coat hangar is the reality regardless of the consequences. Now video games are addicting...especially FPS...and i have the urge to join the army just to use a gun...so games where the individual can portray the reality are dangerous...however playign a game like starcraft or natural selection or avp...well you can't really go killing aliens in reallife
 
  • #10
From a CBS article on a boy who commited a violent crime after being a car theft suspect:
According to Moore's own statement, he lunged at Officer Arnold Strickland, grabbing his .40-caliber Glock automatic and shot Strickland twice, once in the head. Officer James Crump heard the shots and came running. Moore met him in the hallway, and fired three shots into Crump, one of them in the head.

Moore kept walking down the hallway towards the door of the emergency dispatcher. There, he turned and fired five shots into Ace Mealer. Again, one of those shots was in the head. Along the way, Moore had grabbed a set of car keys. He went out the door to the parking lot, jumped into a police cruiser, and took off. It all took less than a minute, and three men were dead.

"The video game industry gave him a cranial menu that popped up in the blink of an eye, in that police station," says Thompson. "And that menu offered him the split-second decision to kill the officers, shoot them in the head, flee in a police car, just as the game itself trained them to do."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/17/60minutes/main702599.shtml
 
  • #11
Monique that article: shows that GTA is one of the games that is a real perception of our reality...its not like stealing a spaceship in some games.
or doing jedi mind tricks...or being a predator and jumping off high buildings to hunt down aliens.

And in those types of cases you can only blame the parents/guardians for not supervising what the boy can play. And its not like he can't get the same training from a movie or the army.
 
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  • #12
motai said:
Last I remembered, I believe they said that the columbine guys were more influenced by the archaic computer game Doom (whose third generation counterpart is out on the markets now), the precursor to all modern computer first person shooters.
That was wolfenstein, actually.
 
  • #13
It's not clear to me that whenever a game is cited as an influence for a violent crime that it is anything more than speculation, bad use of psychology, or simply an excuse. But I think we can pretty much agree that it's best for young children not to be exposed to this sort of stuff.
 
  • #14
neurocomp2003 said:
Monique that article: shows that GTA is one of the games that is a real perception of our reality...its not like stealing a spaceship in some games.
The topic of discussion is GTA, not spaceships.
 
  • #15
Monique said:
'The video game industry gave him a cranial menu that popped up in the blink of an eye, in that police station," says Thompson. "And that menu offered him the split-second decision to kill the officers, shoot them in the head, flee in a police car, just as the game itself trained them to do.'

That's why video games are so effective as training tools for soldiers and police personnel.
 
  • #16
No matter how many violent, realistic computer games a kid plays at a young age, if he's been brought up properly then he knows the difference between reality and fantasy, and knows that going out onto the street and kicking grannies is wrong.

These kids who go out shooting people know exactly what they're doing. By all means, express doubt over the quality of their upbringing, but singling out computer games as a direct cause of their actions is just silly sensationalism.

I've played GTA quite a bit, and I'll say that it's a fun game. It's addictive, it's violent, and it's often pretty gory. The 'missions' on the game are inherently, and morally outrageous. But it's a game, and never once have I felt the need to go and kick a prostitute, rob a shop, or procure a load of hand grenades and start a violent escapade involving the police, FBI, and army. In the game, the consequences are (usually) "Game Over", and you start again, whatever. It's blatently obvious to even the most deluded juvenile delinquent that in real life, there are consequences of such actions.


A lot of the kids who are allowed to play 18 certificate games at the age of 5 are allowed to do so because their parents don't give a damn. The same parents are unlikely to give a damn about teaching their kids the difference between right and wrong, are unlikely to care as much about their childrens' education, and are more likely to live in a neighbourhood where crime is prevalent.


/controversial rant
 
  • #17
...Over-dependence on video games could foster social isolation, as they are often played alone.

Practicing violent acts may contribute more to aggressive behavior than passive television watching. Studies do find a relationship between violent television watching and behavior.

Women are often portrayed as weaker characters that are helpless or sexually provocative.

Game environments are often based on plots of violence, aggression and gender bias.

Many games only offer an arena of weapons, killings, kicking, stabbing and shooting.

Playing violent video games may be related to aggressive behavior (Anderson & Dill, 2000; Gentile, Lynch & Walsh, under review).

Questions have been raised about early exposure to violent video games.

More often games do not offer action that requires independent thought or creativity.

Games can confuse reality and fantasy.

In many violent games, players must become more violent to win. In "1st person" violent video games the player may be more affected because he or she controls the game and experiences the action through the eyes of his or her character.

Academic achievement may be negatively related to over-all time spent playing video games. (Anderson & Dill, 2000; Gentile, Lynch & Walsh, under review)

Questions to ask: Is the violence rewarded or punished? What are the consequences? How graphic is the violence? Is the violence against humans or inanimate objects? Is the violence sexual?
[continued]
http://www.mediafamily.org/facts/facts_effect.shtml [Broken]
 
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  • #18
monique: but like i said i was responding to the 2nd post when you quoted me...
and i doubt this thread is just talking about just GTA even though it is entitled that.

brewnog:
"most deluded juvenile delinquent"-are they juveniles when they firs start out?
like you said its about the parents...but when the parents dont' care OR care to much...the games then become effectors to the child.

IMO parents are to blame first but should take the majority of blame while game makers do have some fault in the matter
 
  • #19
IvanSeeking, I'm not sure that the website you're citing is all that trustworthy, frankly, given that they're one of those "family-oriented" organizations.

Here's something a little more balanced:

http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3141144 [Broken]
 
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  • #20
neurocomp2003 said:
brewnog:
"most deluded juvenile delinquent"-are they juveniles when they firs start out?

Well, yes, we're talking about children here.

neurocomp2003 said:
IMO parents are to blame first but should take the majority of blame while game makers do have some fault in the matter


The game makers do take responsibility by making clear the content of the game, and classification bodies make sure that the content of the game is clearly labelled on the certificate (on the box), and age restrictions on the sale of the games are imposed. If parents choose to breech these restrictions, then that's no fault of the game.
 
  • #21
that's what angers me about parents who blame the makers... to me, GTA is suprisingly devoid from reality, it's games like the getaway which push the boundaries, to me, swearing is worse than violence, violence tends to be either completely devoid from reality, like shooting limbs off in GTA, or realistic in a game which is devoted to full reality, like SOCOM, where the violence is just like the violence you would see if you were on a miltary squad...
 
  • #22
juvenal said:
IvanSeeking, I'm not sure that the website you're citing is all that trustworthy,

Maybe not. It looked fairly balanced in that a list of positives is also given.
 
  • #23
My bf is addicted, I can't get him out behind of that game :cry: is it really that addictive?
 
  • #24
Monique said:
My bf is addicted, I can't get him out behind of that game :cry: is it really that addictive?

Scarily so.

I had to ask my housemate (who owns it) to remove the playstation from the living room while I had exams on. You just sit down and start playing it, and 3 or 4 hours disappear instantly. It's utterly absorbing, and I've never even been interested in computer games, definitely don't have an addictive personality, and usually have an incredibly short attenti

The maps are so immense that you don't even have to break the law to find things to do. You can spend days (literally, real life days) just exploring the different places. You can spend hours just 'pimping' and racing cars, going out on dates, gambling, going to the gym etc without even involving yourself in any of the game plot. And when you do need a crime fix, the missions are so varied (and often ludicrous!) that it's impossible not to be entertained.

I've never even owned a computer game, but I just couldn't fail to be amazed by the depth of GTA. While it isn't really realistic, it is like another world.
 
  • #25
Is it more addictive than PF?
 
  • #26
Monique said:
My bf is addicted, I can't get him out behind of that game :cry: is it really that addictive?

Yah... its that addictive. Best bet is to break up with him. Heres my number...:wink:
 
  • #27
Ivan Seeking said:
Is it more addictive than PF?

I find myself constantly coming back to PF after a while of leaving to check the new posts :D but i do leave...

In GTA, its just... play play play play, nonstop, can't stop, WONT STOP!
 
  • #28
Monique said:
My bf is addicted, I can't get him out behind of that game :cry: is it really that addictive?
Did you try taking off your clothes and blocking the TV?

Be creative and you'll get him away from it. :biggrin:
 
  • #29
Smurf said:
Did you try taking off your clothes and blocking the TV?

Be creative and you'll get him away from it. :biggrin:

wouldnt work for me.. its THAT powerful...
 
  • #30
I don't believe you. You're telling me there's absolutely no way a girl could get you away from that video game without getting violent? Don't believe you for a second, you just have no imagination. That just makes it easier for her to do it to you because you'll be surprised.
 
  • #31
Pengwuino said:
I find myself constantly coming back to PF after a while of leaving to check the new posts :D but i do leave...

In GTA, its just... play play play play, nonstop, can't stop, WONT STOP!
That sounds familiar, the game plan now is that my bf will play play play play, nonstop, and when he finally finishes the game: never touch the x-box again. Ofcourse I don't agree and think it would be nice if he could do some other stuff in between (he literally sits down at 7 pm and plays until 2 am.. everyday, unless he has to cook).


Smurf said:
Did you try taking off your clothes and blocking the TV?

Be creative and you'll get him away from it. :biggrin:
That does work, for a while, until withdrawal kicks in: "must.. play.. gta.." :bugeye:
 
  • #32
i think it is not a problem of video games creating a violent society but rather the converse. We are constantly bobarded with images of war and violence in the news and on TV, video games are only a side effect of that.

why is it that movies such as Saving Private Ryan can be shown on Cable TV were people ahve there heads blown off and entrails hanging out when one nipple could condem a show. What is the sense of that?! Is a constant portrayal of violent deaths better than a nipple, a piece of the human body?

not saying that movies are moraly wrong, this stuff hapens in real life, but that it is unfair to put the blame on vidio games andunfair that some things are deep ok when others are forbiden by censors.
 

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