timmah said:
My brother works at a facility that treats people with autism spectrum disorders, and the most violent cases he sees are commonly addicted to violent video games (and I mean, really, really addicted). They also tend to have parents who coddle them & give them whatever they want, so that may be part of it as well. Removing the access to violent media, as well as changing the parental dynamic usually results in a very positive change over the next year of treatment. |
Isn't it a bit of an assumption to think that violent videogames are a cause in those situations rather than a symptom, though? What if violent people seek out violent media? When a child psychopath kills a dog, do we say that killing dogs is the reason he has become a psychopath? I have a lot of trouble with the causality some people seem eager to assign automatically. I still think violent people seek violent experiences, and that's always been the case whether games exist or not.
Violent media should definitely be kept away from people with certain mental problems but I don't think we can just assume that they wouldn't be violent regardless.