Christopher Ferguson Violent Video Games Dogma Fear And Conscience Analysis

In the article Violent Video Games: Dogma, Fear and Pseudoscience, Christopher Ferguson discusses how poor or inaccurate research has led to a public misunderstanding of the effects of violent video games. In the article he discusses how much of the research, which has been misrepresented or disingenuous with its results or conclusions, has led to claims of negative effects which may be incorrect based on these issues. As part of this, I wanted to review how the people have viewed violent acts and attributed video games to their effect. Ferguson (2009) stated that after the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007 two individuals, Phil McGraw (Dr. Phil) and Jack Thompson, made claims to the public that the shooting was related to violent video games. I wanted to see if these points were made independent of the other factors associated the issues Ferguson was presenting. Ferguson …show more content…
Phil McGraw. In the Larry King Live segment regarding the shooting they discuss being able to identify mass shooters with the intent to treat them prior to acting. Dr. Phil (2007) states that “these kids are playing video games, where they’re on a mass killing spree” and “mix it with a psychopath, a sociopath or someone suffering from mental illness”, these are the types of people that would make such acts. This suggests to the public that mental illness is a main factor, but that video games are an instigator. Ferguson (2009) in closing states that even in studies he has noted as inaccurate, the “research on video-game violence find[s] that they have either no effect or only very weak effects on aggression” (para. 20), defined very broadly. While this is not in complete antithesis to McGraw’s statements, it doesn’t completely invalidate them. If there is an issue with violent video games it could discussed as a factor if incorporated with the appropriate