Psychologist links rape to violent video games
Sure, violent video games may have a bad rap and are somewhat gory, but isn't blaming the popular genre for rape going just a little too far?
Well, not for psychologist and book author Carol Lieberman, who told FoxNews that digital sexual situations and acts have a definite influence on real-world sexual violence.
"The increase in rapes can be attributed in large part to the playing out of [sexual] scenes in video games," she said.
Lieberman made the rather controversial remarks in the context of an interview about BulletStorm, which Fox seems to have focused its conservative gunsights on.
So, what doesn't Fox like about the game?
- Players are rewarded for shooting enemies in the buttocks.
- An "excess" of profanity. WTF?
- Too "gruesome," as body parts explode all over the screen.
- "Explicit" sexual acts, "topless" means cutting a player in half, while "gang bang" refers to killing multiple enemies.
"If a younger kid experiences Bulletstorm's explicit language and violence, the damage could be significant," claimed Dr. Jerry Weichman, a clinical psychologist at the Hoag Neurosciences Institute in Southern California.
"Violent video games like Bulletstorm have the potential to send the message that violence and insults with sexual innuendos are the way to handle disputes and problems."
But Hal Levy of the National Youth Rights Association seemed to disagree with Weichman's dire assessment.
"One thing that tends to be ignored is that if Bulletstorm consisted solely of beating people up, it wouldn't be fun to play," he opined.
"It's been praised for encouraging innovative thinking. Bulletstorm involves developing new moves and dispatching of enemies creatively. Plenty of emotionally unstable adults will play the game and they'll be fine."