The quite incredible claim that video games are somehow to blame for an increase in rape has been proffered by a prominent US TV psychologist and author.
Carol[e] Lieberman told Fox News that interactive entertainment was "in large part" directly responsible for a recent surge in sexual violence.
"The increase in rapes can be attributed in large part to the playing out of [sexual] scenes in video games," she is quoted as saying, without offering a droplet of evidence whatsoever.
Her shock claim arrives in a Fox News piece examining the mature themes of People Can Fly's upcoming FPS Bulletstorm. Its title? "Is Bulletstorm the Worst Video Game in the World?"
In it, Fox News claims that the 'worst part' of Bulletstorm (also possibly the 'worst game', remember) is its in-game reward system, Skillshots.
It reports that the mechanic "ties the ugly, graphic violence into explicit sex acts, [where] 'topless' means cutting a player in half, while a 'gang bang' means killing multiple enemies".
It continues: "And with kids as young as 9 playing such games, the experts FoxNews.com spoke with were nearly universally worried that video game violence may be reaching a fever pitch."
Dr. Jerry Weichman, a clinical psychologist at the Hoag Neurosciences Institute in Southern California, told Fox: "If a younger kid experiences Bulletstorm's explicit language and violence, the damage could be significant... 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 such claims will not come close to the shocking assumptions of Carol[e] Lieberman.
Who is Ms Lieberman? She appears to be the same doctor who wrote self-help books called 'Bad Boys: Why We Love Them, How to Live with Them and When to Leave Them' and 'Bad Girls: Why Men Love Them & How Good Girls Can Learn Their Secrets'.
Her website claims that "everyone from Oprah to Larry King, Katie Couric to Bill O'Reilly... think of Dr. Carole when they need a 'house call'". She has reportedly appeared on the BBC, CNN, The Today Show and Good Morning America amongst others.
And get this - she has her own extraordinary tagline: "The doctor who helps you stay sane in an insane world."
Yeah. We're not quite feeling that one right now.
Her email, if you're interested in getting in touch, is publicly available.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/28 ... ous-claim/
