Roundtable TV Program Links Videogames to a Murder

The curse of every gamer is the reality that there are still some among older generations who believe the interactivity and par-for-course violence in videogames are threatening to turn all youth into slavering serial killers. Enter American actress Stefanie Powers, and Anne Diamond, fitness columnist and occasional anti-gaming harpy for that jester factory of a paper The Daily Mail, who were interviewed on April 13th on a topical program, The Wright Stuff, on UK’s Channel 5.

Discussing the shooting murder of teenager Agnes Sina-Inakoju by two 20-year-olds allegedly trying to perform a hit on a rival gang member, Powers concluded – without a shred of evidence – that the culprit of the matter was “rap music and the horrible video… I say the horrible video culture”. In regard to the murder weapons, which had been stashed under the bed of a 15-year-old friend of the killers, Diamond had this to contribute: “Well in fact, having just that sort of armory under his bed – just like you’d have a couple of Nintendo’s and a PlayStation under your bed.”

It is unclear whether Diamond believes the teenager learned to hide firearms under his bed by doing the same for consoles, or whether she is laboring under the delusion that the 3DS is a new assault weapon. The interview continues with the usual unsubstantiated drivel about violent imagery and desensitization. From The Escapist:

We don’t really need reports to tell us [that violent video games cause anti-social behavior] do we? Common sense tells you if you expose a child to violent imagery and a lot of it for many hours a day for many years on end, it’s going to have an effect.

How long will it take before people catch on that there is no causal link and (from the literature surveyed) barely any correlational link? Diamond’s skepticism of academic studies and appeals to “common sense” do not entitle one to ignore the dearth of any powerful associations. The Entertainment Software Association has an excellent survey of literature pointing out the problems with existing experiments testing links between videogames and aggression or violence. Cheryl K. Olson, coauthor of Grand Theft Childhood indicates procedural problems in a 2004 study:

Some researchers use “aggression” and “violence” almost interchangeably, implying that one inevitably leads to the other. Aggressive play that follows exposure to games or cartoons containing violence is not distinguished from aggressive behavior intended to harm […] The muddled terminology and unspoken assumptions can undermine the credibility of studies.

In 2007, C. J. Ferguson studied the available research for possible publication bias (the idea that studies yielding positive or significant results are more likely to be published than those that show negative results or that come back positive against a null hypothesis). His meta-analysis shows problems with both publication bias and the actual methodology of the research itself:

Aside from the experimental association between playing violent video games and aggressive thoughts, which appears to be strong, the experimental association between violent video games and aggressive behavior, prosocial behavior, and physiological measures indicates that only a relatively small number of studies (see Rosenthal & Rosnow, 1991 for a discussion) would render the results as having a trivial effect size.

Literature like this and like the Byron Review commissioned by the UK’s government underline the need for more varied research on the topic with more standardized terminology and units of measurement. To say that the preponderance of evidence suggests a strong link is an overstatement of massive proportion, and flies in the face of our current understanding of violent behavior.

UK-based consumer group Gamer’s Voice has already filed a complaint against the The Wright Stuff, pointing out to network Channel 5 that opening the segment as they did on the program with the infamous “No Russian” sequence from Modern Warfare 2 sort of defeats the purpose of protecting our precious children from violent images. Gamer’s Voice took a formal approach to the issue, emphasizing the need for a level-headed response.

CVG, in turn, has launched an effort to highlight and ridicule the ignorance of people like Powers and Diamond called W.R.O.N.G. – or “stop the Witless and Ridiculous Opinions of Non-Gamers”. The last part of that acronym is apt, since apparently all it takes to become an “expert” on videogame violence is to watch a YouTube clip or look at some brain slides five minutes before you go on air, as in this memorable fiasco.

Gamer’s Voice, however, took issue with the tone of CVG’s response which was criticized as flippant and counter-productive. “If we all just respond in such a manner however then we just reinforce their opinions and views. So one has to ask; are we all really prepared to sink the same level as Anne Diamond?”

Levity can be a powerful force for union and motivation, and while it is correct to avoid tactics like “Amazon-bombing” or personal threats, there is nothing wrong with calling a spade a spade. Anne Diamond and Stefanie Powers, using the influence they gained in careers unrelated to psychology, technology, or videogames, spoke on a TV broadcast about an issue they had not bothered to research thoroughly, breaching the trust of those who place stock in their opinions. The freedom of speech that allows hacks like these to spread lies on television should be exercised by all rational people, by pointing and laughing wherever they turn up.