"Moral Panic" Behind Attempts to Link Games, Violence

It seems like it’s rare for a month to go by without a story appearing in the popular press in which the frequent enjoyment of violent games by today’s youth is linked to a specific violent act by members of said youth. Behind the press reports, the academic community has been engaged in a hot debate over whether the evidence supports a connection between the violent content of games and any behavioral effects. One of the researchers who has argued forcefully that it’s not is Christopher Ferguson, who has just published a paper that argues that the continued societal focus on games as a causal factor in violence is an example of what’s termed a “moral panic.”

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