[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 27 (Tuesday, February 26, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H636-H637]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
VIOLENT MEDIA AND GUN VIOLENCE
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Wolf) for 5 minutes.
Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I am concerned about the failure to discuss
mental health issues and the impact of the violent media in the whole
debate following the tragic shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. There
needs to be a three-legged approach to this problem. It is
disappointing that the President only addressed the issue of guns in
the State of the Union speech.
In a number of these tragic shootings, there has been a pattern of
the shooters' playing violent video games. Do you remember Columbine?
And do you remember the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado? Now
comes a report from the Hartford Courant. I quote from the Hartford
Courant:
During a search of the Lanza home after the deadly school
shootings, police found thousands of dollars worth of
graphically violent video games. And detectives working the
scene of the massacre are exploring whether Adam Lanza might
have been emulating the shooting range or a violent video
game scenario as he moved from room to room at Sandy Hook
spewing bullets, law enforcement sources have told the
Courant.
Before he killed his mother and set off for Sandy Hook
Elementary, Adam Lanza destroyed the hard drive on his
computer, which probably kept some of the records of the
games he played and whom he played with. He also may have
destroyed any chance to see if he had a manifesto or had
written down anything indicating that he planned the
shootings, or why he chose the elementary school.
Soon after the Newtown shooting, I asked the National Science
Foundation, which is funded as a result of the subcommittee which I
chair, to pull together experts, some of the best experts--and the
National Science Foundation picked them--from across the country to
look at the impact of all three contributors to mass violence. Earlier
this month, the National Science Foundation released its report.
This is the report, ``Youth Violence: What We Need to Know,'' which
supports my belief that rampage shootings are a result of multiple
factors, including access to firearms, mental health issues, and
exposure to violent media, including violent video games. This report
can be found on my Web site. I would urge anyone who really wants to
see what we need to do to go look at the National Science Foundation
report. It is guns, it is mental health issues, and it is violent video
games.
It is easy for the President of the United States to take on the NRA.
Why hasn't he asked the entertainment industry to play a greater role
in this debate? Common sense tells us that the level of violence on TV,
in the movies and in many video games is a problem. One only has to
read the piece from the Hartford Courant to understand that this is a
very serious problem.
You have to look at guns, you have to look at their mental health--
and, quite frankly, the administration has not looked at mental health,
and this Congress is not looking at mental health--and you have to look
at violent video games and media. The administration is not looking at
that, and, quite frankly, this Congress is not looking at it.
Media Violence and Youth Violence
Brad J. Bushman, Ph.D., Professor of Communication and Psychology,
Margaret Hall and Robert Randal Rinehart Chair of Mass Communication,
The Ohio State University & Professor of Communication Science, VU
University, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
When violent shooting sprees occur, people want to identify
``the'' cause. Violent behavior is very complex and is caused
by multiple risk factors, often acting together. One possible
risk factor is exposure to violent media (e.g., TV programs,
films, video games). Of course, it is impossible to know
whether exposure to violent media causes shooting sprees
because researchers can't use guns in their laboratory
experiments! However, in one experimental study, we measured
what could be considered assaultive behavior. Dutch boys
(Mage=14) played a violent or nonviolent video
game for 20 minutes, and rated how much they identified with
the game character (e.g., ``I wish I were a character such as
the one in the game''). Afterwards, they competed on a task
with another ``boy'' where the winner could blast the loser
with loud noise through headphones. They were told that the
highest noise levels (i.e., 8, 9, or 10) could cause
``permanent hearing damage.'' Boys who played a violent game,
and identified with the violent character in that game, did
in fact administer potentially damaging noise blasts. During
the debriefing, one boy said, ``I blasted him with level 10
noise because he deserved it. I know he can get hearing
damage, but I don't care!'' Another boy said he liked the
violent game ``because in this game you can kill people and
shoot people, and I want to do that too.'' A third boy said,
``I like Grand Theft Auto a lot because you can shoot at
people and drive fast in cars. When I am older I can do such
things too. I would love to do all these things right now!''
A comprehensive meta-analysis of violent video game
effects, which included 381 effects from studies involving
130,295 participants from all over the world, found that
violent video games increased aggressive thoughts, angry
feelings, physiological arousal, and aggressive behavior.
Violent games also decreased prosocial behavior (e.g.,
helping, cooperation) and feelings of empathy for others. The
effects occurred for males and females of all ages,
regardless of the country they live in. Similar effects have
been found for all types of violent media (e.g., TV, film,
music and music videos, comic books). A meta-analysis of 26
studies involving 13,661 participants found that violent
media exposure is also significantly linked to violent
behavior (e.g. punching, beating, choking others), although
the effects are smaller than for aggressive behavior. This
makes sense because violent criminal behavior is rarer and
more difficult to predict than less severe aggressive
behavior. As one example, a recent CDC-funded, cross-
sectional study involving incarcerated delinquents (and a
comparison group of high-school students), parents/guardians,
and teachers/staff, found that consumption of violent media
was related to serious violent behavior such as using a
weapon against another child.
It is well known that people who consume a lot of violent
media come to view the world as a hostile place. People who
consume a lot of violent media also think violence is
``normal'' behavior, because media characters often use
violence to solve their problems.
It is useful to consider a child's life as filled with a
succession of social problems that must be solved. The child
uses a set of programs (called scripts) for solving social
problems. In theater, scripts tell actors what to do and say.
In memory, scripts define situations and guide behavior: The
person first selects a script for the situation, assumes a
role in the script, and behaves according to the script. In
many shooting sprees, the perpetrator puts on a uniform
(e.g., hockey mask, trench coat, movie costume, military
uniform), as if following a script. This allows the
perpetrator to identify more closely with other killers. The
perpetrator then gathers up a bunch of guns and ammunition,
goes to a place where there are a lot of people gathered,
kills as many people as possible, and then often kills
himself. For most people, carrying out such a script would be
impossible. But it can occur for some people who don't
experience negative emotions or who see such acts as
normative, or for whom performing such an act might be
perceived as achieving a sense of accomplishment and
``leaving their mark on the world.'' Consider, for example,
statements made by the two killers at Columbine High School.
Dylan Klebold said, ``Directors will be fighting over this
story.'' Eric Harris added, ``Tarentino, Spielberg.''
There is also a downward spiral between aggression,
rejection, and consumption of violent media. Aggressive youth
tend to be rejected by their peers, and therefore spend their
time consuming media (often violent
[[Page H637]]
media) and associating with other aggressive youth (who have
also been rejected by others), which, in turn makes them even
more aggressive.
Aggressive youth often consume violent media because it
allows them to justify their own behavior as being normal. A
child's own aggressive behavior normally should elicit guilt,
but this guilt is relieved if the child who has behaved
aggressively consumes violent media. The reduction in guilt
that consuming violence provides makes continued aggressive
and violent behavior by that child even more likely.
Violent media often contain guns, and research has shown
that the mere presence of guns, even at a subliminal level,
can increase aggression. In summary, violent behavior is very
complex and is caused by multiple risk factors, often acting
together. One possible risk factor is exposure to violent
media (e.g., TV programs, films, video games). Although it is
not the only risk factor, or the most important risk factor,
it is one of the easiest risk factors to change. Other risk
factors (e.g., being male, social rejection) are difficult or
impossible to change. Parents can, however, restrict the
amount of violent media their children consume.
Parents are the key, but producers of violent media can
help parents out. For example, there could be a universal
rating system on all media (TV, films, video games), with
universal symbols that are easy for parents to understand.
The PEGI (Pan European Game Information) system, for example,
has five age-based ratings (3+, 7+, 12+, 16+, 18+) and six
well-recognized symbols for potentially objectionable
material (violence, sex, drugs, discrimination, fear,
gambling). The current rating system is like alphabet soup
and is confusing to parents (e.g., R for movies; TV-MA for
TV, FV for fantasy violence in video games). Another possible
idea is to put warning labels on violent video games. In
1964, the U.S. surgeon general issued a warning on tobacco,
and that warning appears on all tobacco products. In 1972,
the U.S. surgeon general issued a warning for violent TV
programs: ``It is clear to me that the causal relationship
between televised violence and antisocial behavior is
sufficient to warrant appropriate and immediate remedial
action . . . There comes a time when the data are sufficient
to justify action. That time has come.'' Warning labels are
like a double-edged sword. On the one hand, parents find
warning labels informative.' On the other hand, they are like
magnets to children.
Educating parents about the research on violent video games
is also important. This is an uphill battle, however, because
the source of news and information for parents is the mass
media, and the mass media are reluctant to report that
violent media are harmful.
Almost all of the research on violent video games has been
conducted using single-player video games. But players often
play with others. In a pair of studies conducted in our lab,
participants were tested in pairs with an ostensible partner
of the same sex (actually a confederate). Participants in the
cooperative condition were instructed to work together with
their partner to get as many points as possible by killing
enemies and staying alive. Participants in the competitive
condition were instructed to try and kill their partner more
times than their partner killed them. Participants in the
control condition played the game in the single player mode.
After gameplay, participants competed with their ostensible
partner on a task in which the winner could blast the loser
with loud, unpleasant noise through headphones. In both
studies, participants in the cooperative condition were less
aggressive than participants in the other conditions. More
research on multi-player games is clearly needed.
More research is also needed on what types of individuals
are most strongly affected by violent video games. Many of
the spree shooters have been described as ``social
outcasts.'' Are such individuals more likely to behave
aggressively after playing a violent game? Are such
individuals more likely to play violent games alone?
Research should test whether aggression is enhanced by
playing in a first-person compared with third-person mode,
and by whether the enemies are realistic humans versus
aliens. Some research has shown that the gorier the video
game, the larger the effects, but more is needed.
____________________