Desensitization To Violence

Before trying to determine whether desensitization to violence and video games are correlated in any way, we should mention first what is usually meant by �desensitization to violence’. Young people becoming desensitized to violence means that "they gradually come to not be aroused by violent scenes and to not be bothered by violence in general". The dominant argument in this respect is that because children perceive screen violence as play or spectacle, they somehow become "immune to the horror of violence, which makes them as a result less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others, or even aggressive towards others".

It seems that there is no controversy concerning the effects of violence viewing on young people. Most scientists agree that there are negative effects from exposure to media violence and one such effect is desensitizing to violence. However nobody ever distinguishes between actual violence and fictional or simulated one, as is the case with video games. Do those scientists really believe that the teenager, who laughs while seeing a game character being relentlessly beaten, is equally insensitive when he sees his mother, for example, being beaten by his father? Is there some kind of selective insensitivity then?

There is also a tendency for oversimplification of a very complex issue: the building of personality. In my view, sensitivity is an integral part of an individual’s character and not something that can be added to their character by means of an external influence. It cannot be removed either. Being or not being sensitive depends on the same numerous factors that condition the building of personality. It takes therefore more than exposing oneself to violent material in order to become insensitive to anything or even aggressive and violent. After all, the kind of violence we are talking about, fictional or simulated, is everywhere and has always been. Literature, poetry, films, tv movies, games, every form of art, all are full of violent content. From Homer who was a master in depicting violent scenes to Shakespeare and to contemporary film makers we have been exposed to such a vast amount of violence viewing that we should all be completely desensitized to it by now. Are we?

As for aggressiveness and violent behavior related to media violence, there couldn’t be a funnier argument, in my opinion. Aggressiveness is not a learned thing. It is an instinctive response to dangers (real or feared) that threaten an individual’s life and happiness. People never become aggressive because they saw similar behavior on screen. They are aggressive if and when they have a reason to be. If, for instance, they feel threatened, or are actually attacked or insulted, and if they have enemies or rivals or competitors whom they hate and want to harm or to defeat. Also if they are cheated or betrayed. If aggression is not normal reaction in all these cases, then what is. Of course, aggressiveness is not expressed in the same way by all individuals. The way it is expressed depends mainly on the individual’s cultural level. The more lower their culture, the more likely to express aggressiveness by exercising physical force. In this case media may be useful to them in providing new fighting tricks and techniques. However these people would look for this kind of information anyway, even if it wasn’t offered by the media so abundantly. Still, imitating violent actions is not the cause of their aggressiveness. People of a higher culture, on the other hand, are more likely to cope with conflict situations using reason. They have less reasons to be aggressive, but when they are, they express their aggressiveness by means of verbal violence which, of course, is never to be found in video games. A civilized person would never resolve conflict using his fists even if he had previously killed some thousand little men in Streetfighter or Mortal Combat or whatever fighting game. To those who might argue that these views do not apply to children or teenagers because children develop value systems from what they see, I would say that being primitive or civilized has nothing to do with age. After all, in some parts of the world (where children do not have computers and do not play video games), engaging in real fighting, throwing stones at each other, and getting injured on a daily basis is children’s play. There, the sight of real blood, which would make even the most game-holic American faint, is not a shocking experience at all.

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