Is there a connection between violent video games and violent crime?
“So, if falling crime rates coincide with the rise of violent video games and increasing violence on TV and at the cinema, should we conclude that media violence is causing the drop in crime rates?” (Hugh Mackay). According to a report by the FBI in 2015, there were an estimated 1,197,704 violent crimes committed in America. The FBI created a pie chart of violent crimes committed in 2015. Aggravated assault was the largest violent crime committed in 2015. Robbery followed in second, but surprisingly murder was the smallest violent crime committed. The 2015 violent crime total was 0.7 percent lower than the 2011 level and 16.5 percent below 2006 level (FBI). With the rise in media and technology, this makes people wonder if there is a correlation between media violence and the slow drop in crime rates. Could Hugh Mackay be onto something? Could the media violence be causing the decline in rates? Could
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The relationship between mental illness and violent crime is complicated because of the involvement of many other confounding risk factors. In a study by BMC Psychiatry, they analyzed psychiatric and neurological disorders in relation to the risk of convictions for violent crime, taking into account early behavioral and socioeconomic risk factors. Five diagnostic groups were analyzed: anxiety-depression/neuroses, personality disorders, substance-related disorders, mental retardation, and neurological conditions. The conclusion that the BMC Psychiatry found was that mental retardation, substance-related disorders, personality disorders, and early behavioral problems are important predictors of convictions for violent crime in men (Moberg). Video games didn’t cause these people to become violent criminals. People were violent because they had psychiatric and neurological