The Grand Theft Auto game and it negative impacts on Children

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Institution

Course code and Name

Due: 23rd July 2023

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The Grand Theft Auto Game and Its Negative Impacts On Children

Introduction

Grand theft auto popularly known as GTA has undergone several change and designs

since 1989. The computer game was designed by three programmers, David Jones, Milly Dailly

and Paul Farley. David Jones was the first designer of the game started working on the game in

1994 at Dundee Head quarter Zerachy Clarke joined the team of the game designers in 1997 who

is currently recognized the game designer. The first design was great which allowed the player to

work as a police or as a criminal bombing around the town. However, the game faced a

limitation of being bug ridden which made the game designed and at the moment working as a

demo to crush when being played. The game also faces a major setback of having the cars

colliding. Through the design and the improvement of the game into a game that could be played

on the play station’s console, the designers and programmers met a change of memory not being

enough, the game required a larger memory than what the console for play station had at that

moment. In an interview Paul Farley one of the designers of the game stated that by allowing the

players pick a mission made the game a free and open which made it more great because it

allowed the player to explore the game for a more longer time of about two three hours (Stuart,

2020).

The design of the city on which the GTA was played on was a rigorous task by the

programmers and the game developers. Having little resources and budget. They only had one

personal computer and much of the information was obtained through interviews on the movies

they were watching and the songs they were listening to. The designers had to go to the library in

order to collect the information of the design of the city for the game (Stuart, 2020). The other

major challenge the designers faced was the visuals of the game not being great and despite the
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challenges faced while designing the game, the game has remained number one form of

entertainment in the globe. Several version and improvements of the game has been made to

ensure that the GTA fun has a variety of choices on the game. Currently the GTA franchise has

over seven standalone and four expansion packs with enough contents for the gamers. Through

the improvement of the game, from different versions, GTA has become more entertaining to its

fun. However, the company, Rockstar Games suffered a big loss which has affected the

company’s business and the employees’ motivation when version six of the game leak on the

internet when the hackers attacked the company’s server. (Lieberum, 2023).

The games evolution from the 2001 version of bird’s eye view to the current GTA 3

which allows the player to be part of the games by putting him in the shoe of the Claude a

vengeful character in the game makes the game to be more entertaining to the player. The

excellent gaming features has made the game to be an avenue where the players can meet

virtually on almost a daily routine and have discussion just like the social media sites. The

introduction of GTA$ and shark cards has also made the game to be an avenue where the

players can trade from the points earned as they paly virtually and use the same to purchase the

gaming merchandise such as cosmetics and the gaming assets (BBC, 2022).

GTA, grand theft auto, has met a hug negative criticism citing that it has been promoting

criminal activities, violence, mature rated content and alcohol abuse. The criticism force the

Rockstar Games Company to pull down scenes in one of the versions. The designers of the game

allows the player to take the full control of the games features hence reasons why its critics

claims it promotes societal vices. However, the freedom enjoyed by the players made GTA5 to

make a lot of profit and increase in its popularity. In GTA 3 three the player were allowed to be
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in the shoe of the character and could hire sex worker an evidence that the game contained

mature content with some episodes of the game (Jones, 2020)

Literature Review

Video games have a greater impact both negative and positive on the youth’s behavior.

Some of the positive impacts of playing video games are; they awaken psychological functions,

improves brain function, and boost on their psychomotor activities. However, the negative

impacts of playing video games out weighs positive impacts of video games on the youths. For

GTA the designers excluded the children characters in their game versions. GTA being a violent

game full of guns, and scenes which depicts pole dancers and prostitution and blood splattering

on the camera screen have a negative impact on the child development. Research findings have

shown that children who play video games whose content are violent are said to are more

aggressive, have low sympathy level and poor anger management (Greenwood, 2010). Over 98

percent of the pediatricians practicing in the united states of America have been once as about

the correction between the aggressive behavior of children who are exposed to violent media.

The research findings have found that children who are exposed to excessive violent media has a

negative effect on the child’s aggression (Warburton & Braunstein, 2012). A child with

aggressive though is likely to have been exposed to excessive violent media GTA games being

one of them. Further findings have also shown that such kinds have desensitization to violent

behavior and their pro-social behavior are also poor and lack of empathy.

Methodology

I will use meta-analysis and literature review to analysis the negative effects of playing

GTA by the children under the age of eighteen years. From several research conducted on the
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negative effects of playing GTA by young children, it evident that the game which has violent,

mature content and weapons such gum have a negative impact on the child playing the game.

The child is to be desensitized on the violent behavior, they are more aggressive and lacks

empathy, and have a lower pro social behavior. Studies have shown that increased moral salience

in a given video game was characterized by decreased moral violation by the player of the game.

The findings have also shown that once the player is more familiar with game less negative guilt

was reported however, the player enjoyed the game more (Hodge et al., 2019). Another research

has also shown a strong correlation between playing video games such as GTA with violent

content with the violent behavior of children. The children who are exposed to violent behavior

become immune and numb to violence hence a conclusion that the violent video games results in

the desensitization of the child of the violent act. In addition, the research findings have also

shown that in the process of imitating the violent behavior, and were said to be more aggressive

A longitudinal intervention study which employed multiple test to find out the negative

effects video games such as the GTA on the players’ moral, empathy, aggression, and pro-social

behavior. A large sample of ninety healthy participants who were subjected to violent GTA

video game and non-violent video game, the participants in the research were subjected to a

variety of battery tests such as the computerized behavior test used to test the aggressive

behavior of the participants and the questionnaire. The findings in this study have shown that

short term effects of playing non-violent games had an effect of increased aggression and

decreased willingness of helping behavior (Kühn et al., 2018).

Analysis of the findings

From the findings it is evident that short term exposure to the violent video games such as

GTA V had a correlation with aggressive behavior among the subjects under study. The subjects
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also exhibited decreased willingness to help. However, the findings should be subjected to

standardization so as to be used for generalization of real life situation on the correlation between

aggressive behavior and the prosocial skills and playing of the violent video games such as the

GTA. Secondly, for the longitudinal studies the effects studies for a short period of time is not a

representative of the long term effects on the subjects under study behavior.

Contributions

The finding of this research are vital to a parent in selection of the online or any form of

media their children should be exposed to. Secondly the research finding of this research can also

be vital for further research on the generalization which already exist between the correlation

between exposure to violent video games such as GTA on the child’s behavior and reactions and

responses to violent behavior most of the research findings are not conclusive due to the sample

picked, methodology used and the longevity of exposure to the experiment plays a vital role in

ensuring credibility of the research findings.

Conclusion

In conclusion, GTA video game contents violent, adult meant for adult and promotes

criminal activities such as reckless driving and use of guns. The negative effects of playing the

game out weights the positive impacts. The research findings and other research has shown that

playing violent video games such as GTA 5 leads to children emulating violent behaviors

through emulation of such behavior, they become more aggressive and develop poor pro-social

behaviors.
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References

BBC. (2022). Bugzy Malone’s Grandest Game - The undeniable influence of Grand Theft Auto. BBC.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5m1SXGxGbB4C9zZlx0qw9dH/the-undeniable-influence-
of-grand-theft-auto

the source examines the transitions of GTA from birds eye view to the latest

version which allows the player to be in the shoe of the characters in the unlike in GTA 1

released in 2001. The gaming platform has also provided the players with an opportunity

to meet virtually as friends. The GTA teach has also introduces the online shark cards and

the GTA$ to enable the players purchase the gaming merchandise such as cosmetics and

cars

Greenwood, D. (2010, June 22). Grand Theft Auto Is Good for You? Not So Fast. . . Scientific American.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/grand-theft-auto-is-good/

It is a research finding on the effects of children playingvideo games . the

research findings shows thatmajority of the children play video games for fun. However,

the negative impacts of playing video games are more than the positive impacts

Hodge, S. J., Taylor, J., & McAlaney, J. (2019). It’s Double Edged: The Positive and Negative Relationships
Between the Development of Moral Reasoning and Video Game Play Among Adolescents. Frontiers in
Psychology, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00028

is a research article which examines the correlation between playing video games

and the moral of the adolescent playing the game. the research finding has shown that

there positive and negative correlation between the player of the game and their morals.

The findings of the research are based on the variables obtained during the study.

Jones, C. (2020). GTA Explained: Why The Grand Theft Auto Series Is So Controversial. ScreenRant.
https://screenrant.com/grand-theft-auto-gta-series-controversy-explained-why/

The source analyses the contents of the GTA version. it is evident that most of the

version contains materials which promotes violence the game having been inspired by a
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real world crime. The source further explain the controversies underpinning the game as

promotimg mature content, ERSB rated it as for adult content only

Kain, E. (2013, September 18). Do Games Like “Grand Theft Auto V” Cause Real-World Violence? Forbes.
Retrieved June 22, 2023, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2013/09/18/do-games-like-
grand-theft-auto-v-cause-real-world-violence/?sh=757e99073241

The source an article from Forbes, it list some of the reason why they is a call to

censor the GTA 5 video game which has sparked increased shooting cases in United

states of America, the source which is an interview states that there has been research on

the relationship between playing violent games and violent behavior.

Kühn, S., Kugler, D., Schmalen, K., Weichenberger, M., Witt, C., & Gallinat, J. (2018). Does playing violent
video games cause aggression? A longitudinal intervention study. Molecular Psychiatry, 24(8), 1220–
1234. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-018-0031-7

a longitudinal intervention study study in which the subjects of the research were

subjected to violent and non violent video games and their behaviour determined before

and after the research. The study showed that short term exposure to the games had an

impact on the subject's aggressive behaviour and willingness to help.

Lieberum, H. (2023, June 10). “The Most Expensive Game Ever Made!” GTA 6 Release
Date Revealed: Get a Sneak Peek. Fortress of Solitude. https://www.fortressofsolitude.co.za/gta-6-
grand-theft-auto-6-the-biggest-leak-in-gaming-history/

The sources gives an overview of GTA and the the Riocker Game a company that

is behind the design of the game has been making an improvement on the game making it

more entertaining to the player. The source further states the major challenge that the

company has faced through hacking of their servers which has affected their business and

emotions.

Stuart, K. (2020, April 16). How we made . . . Grand Theft Auto. The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/may/18/how-we-made-grand-theft-auto

the source gives the historical background of how GTA was designed to a more

interesting game. The games was designed first in 1994 and the three designers of the
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game David Jones, Milly Dailly and Paul Farley together with a team of other

programmers have ensured a greater improvements on the game to make it better. The

author of this source further states how it was daunting task when designing the game.

The Video Games Your Child Plays Has an Effect on Their Behavior. (2023, May 12). University of Utah
Health | University of Utah Health. https://healthcare.utah.edu/the-scope/kids-zone/all/2021/08/video-
games-your-child-plays-has-effect-their-behavior

This is research conducted by the University of Utah Health on the effects of

video games on a child behaviour. The research findings have shown that children who

play violent games are more aggressive and numb to violent behavior.

Warburton, W., & Braunstein, D. (2012). Growing Up Fast and Furious: Reviewing the Impacts of Violent
and Sexualised Media on Children.

the source is a chapter three of the book by W. Warburton & D. Braunstein (Eds.)

Growing Up Fast and

Furious: Reviewing the Impacts of Violent and Sexualised Media on

Children. The book gives informations on the positive and negative impacts of

video games
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