Ep. 10: Moral Combat--Why the War on Violent Video Games is Wrong (Violence & Video Games Part 1)

In a time of nation-wide unrest and division, it's surprising to hear that politicians from both sides of the aisle are united on one thing: violent video games are bad and must be stopped. Blamed for everything from school shootings, suicide, and even rickets, video games have been shouldering the burden for our society’s ills for a long time now (or, at the very least, ever since comic books and ozzy osbourne have taken a back seat as the source of all evil).

Politicians, pundits, and even psychologists, are quick to point a finger at the guns in video games in order to make sense of the guns in the hands of real life people, especially when those guns are in the hands of school shooters. But is playing too much Call of Duty really causing killing sprees?

Christopher Ferguson and Patrick Markey are two psychology experts who have been on the front line of the violent video game debate for years. Their new book, Moral Combat: Why the War on Violent Video Games is Wrong, debunks the stark picture media, politicians, and other personalities tend to paint in order to sway public opinion about the impact of gaming. In this episode, with complete honesty and extensive research, the informative (and often entertaining) Ferguson and Markey duo lays the data out on the table to reframe the conversation on the real life effects of gaming.

Patrick M. Markey is a professor of psychology, the director of the Interpersonal Research Laboratory at Villanova University, and a former president of the Society for Interpersonal Theory and Research. Markey received his doctorate from the University of California.

Chris Ferguson is professor of psychology and director of the Psychotechnology Lab at Stetson University as well as a fellow of the American Psychological Association. He has a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Central Florida.

This episode kicks off Gaming Broad(cast)'s new mini series exploring the relationship between violence and video games. 

Stuff we mentioned...
Moral Combat: Why the War on Violent Video Games is Wrong
American Psychological Association
APA Review in 2015 Confirms Link Between Playing Violent Video Games and Aggression
Hillary Clinton on video game violence (comparing it to lung cancer)
James Dallas Egbert III (Michigan State University student whose suicide was blamed on Dungeons & Dragons)
Mazes and Monsters with Tom Hanks
Assassin’s Creed 4
The families of Columbine victims sue the makers of DOOM, blaming them for tragedy
Leland Yee (politician against violent video games, later charged with real life arms trafficking)
Proof that Chris really did meet with Former Vice President Joe Biden and talked about video games
Hilary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Donald Trump on the same page when it comes to games
Games for Change
Transfer of Learning
The Oregon Trail (video game)
 

JD (The Broad)
Website: GamingBroadly.com
Twitter: @JayDeeCepticon
Instagram: @JayDeeCepticon

Patrick M. Markey, PhD (The Cast)
Website:PatrickMarkey.com
Twitter:@PatMarkey

Christopher J. Ferguson, PhD (The Cast)
Website: ChristopherJFerguson.com
Twitter: @CJFerguson1111

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