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Violent Games Credited With Reducing Crime Levels

Posted by Soulskill on from the batman-still-unappreciated dept.

maroberts writes "According to a research paper produced from a collaboration between the University of Texas and the Centre for European Economic Research, violent video games may induce aggressive behavior, but the incapacitation effect outweighs this and produces a genuine reduction in violent crime. This paper was referenced in a BBC news story giving reasons why the US crime rates are falling (at least outside the prisons!)"

10 of 209 comments (clear)

  1. Fuck you guys, someone has to say it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Correlation does not equal causation.

    Just because we like the results, doesn't make it true.

    1. Re:Fuck you guys, someone has to say it by jellomizer · · Score: 3, Insightful

      There could be a lot more extra factors.

      1. Birth Control is far more commonly used now then in the previous generation. Perhaps there are less unwanted kids and more planned children who are better cared for so they don't become criminals.

      2. Revival in religion. Yea I know this is Slashdot and a lot of the readers here are Atheists or against religion in one form or an other, but there has been a resurgence in religious people. Which teaches at least to stop people from doing unorganized violence.

      3. Greater tolerance. Towards People of difference races, religions, and sexual preferences. I am not saying it is perfect but it is getting better.

      4. Improved conditions for the poor. Sure the gap between the rich and the poor is growing however the poor now have a better standard of life then they did in the past.

      5. Internet, A wealth of stuff to keep you pacified for long periods of time.

      6. Stranger Danger. We as a culture has grew up in fear of everyone outside your house, there is a lot less talking and gossiping with neighbors, thus less violence as everyone is so afraid of everyone else that they will dare not to do anything to shake the cage.

      7. Aging population. A good part of the population is getting too old to beat the crap out of each other.

      8. 9/11 changed everything. Knowing or at least reconfirming that there are "outsiders" who are after us keep us united.

      9. Gang awareness and prevention programs, including suburban towns.

      10. To many camera, Every (well nearly every) one has a phone with a camera, any crime can have someone taking a picture or a hd movie of it.

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    2. Re:Fuck you guys, someone has to say it by dargaud · · Score: 3, Interesting

      1. Birth Control is far more commonly used now then in the previous generation. Perhaps there are less unwanted kids and more planned children who are better cared for so they don't become criminals.

      Actually access to abortion, not just birth control, has been singled out _in the US_ as the main cause (and not just correlation) in the drop of violence in the last 20 or so years. The causation has been determined thanks to the delay between access to abortion in a community and the time it takes for the unwanted kids to grow up into criminals. Choice quote: "Legalized abortion appears to account for as much as 50 percent of the recent drop in crime". More

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      Non-Linux Penguins ?
    3. Re:Fuck you guys, someone has to say it by dkleinsc · · Score: 3, Interesting

      2. Revival in religion. Yea I know this is Slashdot and a lot of the readers here are Atheists or against religion in one form or an other, but there has been a resurgence in religious people. Which teaches at least to stop people from doing unorganized violence.

      Unfortunately, there's at least one study that strongly suggests that atheists are less likely to commit crime than religious adherents.

      4. Improved conditions for the poor. Sure the gap between the rich and the poor is growing however the poor now have a better standard of life then they did in the past.

      The poor in the US have an income that's basically identical in real dollars to the income of the poor in 1970. For instance, this graph from data from the US census.

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  2. There's less crime because they don't go outside. by Senes · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They develop violent feelings but they take it all out on their fictional characters. They stop going outside (thousands of years of children spent their days outside because they lacked TV and vidya) so they aren't around other people even if they have all kinds of aggressive hormones flowing to compel them to pick a fight with the next person they see.

  3. Re:Not the cause. by simoncpu+was+here · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Nope. Abortion selects against unwanted children, who are most likely to develop without loving parental guidance.

  4. Re:Similar to how pornography reduced sex crimes.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's because tentacle monsters are just visitors to japan and come from a far more sexually repressed society. When they get to japan they just go berserk.

    On the other hand, it's well known that permanent resident tentacle monsters in japan are very polite and productive members of society.

  5. RTFA by Moraelin · · Score: 3, Insightful

    RTFA. Srsly.

    Both TFA's don't just talk about crime levels, they talk explicitly about reducing VIOLENT crime levels. So, yes, it's a good thing, regardless of how you feel about petty crime.

    Besides, I don't think the goal of the police is to worry about people's existential angst. Crime is something that one can objectively measure, while communities' feelings are subjective and unpredictable. You can't say that the police failed to do their job, if some scaremongering politician makes them feel less safe in spite of reduced crime.

    Or to quote Dara O'Briain, who puts it the best: "[i]I give out when people talk about crime going up, but the numbers are definitely down. And if you go, "The numbers are down", they go, "Ahh, but the *fear* of crime is rising." Well, so fucking what? Zombies are at an all-time low level, but the fear of zombies could be incredibly high. It doesn't mean you have to have government policies to deal with the fear of zombies.[/i]"

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  6. Idle Hands are the Devil's Tools by SoTerrified · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Something my grandfather knew and my great-grandfather... Many crimes are crimes of opportunity, usually linked to boredom. There have long been clear statistics that kids who play sports, play an instrument, or have dedication to a hobby are far less likely to be involved in crime. If someone is playing video games... They're not bored, and they're not out finding crimes of opportunity. Keep kids busy and they stay out of trouble.

  7. Re:We need to give up the quota system. by adonoman · · Score: 3, Informative

    If you just want to reduce how safe a community feels, then just reduce media coverage of crime. There's little correlation over time between crime rates and "feeling safe". It's nearly entirely based on how much our politicians want to keep up afraid, so we'll support their agenda, and how much the news is trying to boost ratings by being sensationalistic. This is why there are no "crime rate" stories for the 5 years in a row when the rates are falling, and on the 6th year, when it ticks up a bit, every local station is all over the "story".