Assignment task:
Criminogenic media refers to media content that is hypothesized as a direct cause of crime. A continually debated issue is the causal position of the media. Does exposure to media precede or parallel aggressive or criminal behavior? In other words, do the media cause changes in subjects or do predisposed individuals selectively seek out and attend to media content that supports their already preordained behaviors?
Public interest in the relation of mass media to copycat crime emerged with the entertainment media of the 19th century, with one of the earliest examples being how-to manuals for terrorism. Growing concern that media messages could influence people to commit crime also sparked investigations and censorship drives against the media in the early 1920s. Despite these early concerns, research and industry and government responses, specific knowledge about criminogenic media effects is still sparse. For a crime to be a copycat crime, it must have been inspired by an earlier, media-publicized or generator crime, that is there must be a pair of crimes linked through the media. The perpetrator of a copycat crime must have been exposed to the media content of the original crime, and must have incorporated major elements of that crime into his or her crime.
A number of crimes each year are linked to movies, books, music, and music videos, television programs, and other media products. Video games have been especially targeted as crime generators, and one game, Grand Theft Auto, has undergone great public scrutiny, due to its story line and a number of crimes that have been described as caused by playing the game. Released in October 2001, the game story of Grand Theft Auto III revolves around a character "Niko Bellic" who has been betrayed by his girlfriend during a bank robbery and is sent to jail. While he is being transferred to jail, an attack on the police convoy sets him free. As Bellic, the game player begins to work his way up in the criminal world. The gamer undertakes various missions, such as bank robberies, assassinations, stabbings, street racing, car-jacking, and prostitution. Killing a police officer warns a large number of points in the game.
In June 2003, an officer found 18 year old Devin Moore sleeping in a stolen car and Maoor was taken to the Fayette, Alabama police station. During questioning, Moore grabbed the officer's gun and shot him twice, once in the head. Another officer heard the shots and came running, and Moore shot him in the head. Moore then shot the dispatcher, picked up the keys to a police cruiser, which became his getaway car. All of his criminal acts had counterparts in the game. After he was captured, he was quoted as saying "Life is like a video game."
At trial, it was revealed that Moore had no criminal history, had purchased Grand Theft Auto as a minor and had played the game for hours a day over several months and had played the game hours before stealing the car he was arrested in. Described as a compulsive, violent video game player, his attorneys argued the "GTA" defense, that he had lost touch with reality and was acting out the virtual violence of the game. The defense was unsuccessful, and he was sentenced to death in 2005.
Two other incidents have been attributed as GTA copycats. In 2008, in Thailand, a 19 year old high schooler wanted to act out the game's car-jacking scene. He carjacked a taxi and murdered the driver. He wanted to know if was as easy as it was in the game. In June 2008, in New York, six teenagers mugged and beat a man, attempted a carjacking and vandalized a vehicle before being arrested. They confessed they were imitating acts in the game.
Other copycat crimes have been reported around the world. A 14 year old British boy was murdered by a 17 year old allegedly influenced by the game "Manhunt". In the game, players gain points with more vicious killings, and the killer was described as obsessed with the game. In the U.S., the beating death of a 7 year old by two teenage babysitters was attributed to the game "Mortal Kombat." In China, a teenager burned a classmate after dousing him with gasoline. The offender was quoted that he had "lost himself" into a "Fire Magician." A 43 year old woman in Japan was arrested for killing her virtual-reality husband. Divorced in a cirtual game, "Maple Story", the woman killed the online avatar of her ex-virtual reality husband by hacking his computer. When he discovered that he was virtually deceased, the victim complained to the police who arrested the woman on suspicion of illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data.
Questions
1. Based on your readings in the text of various criminological theories, and the information provided here, can media outlets, such as video games can help to criminal that was not already predisposed to crime, or do they only affect people who already have a criminal disposition? Explain your answer.