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Game 'can produce model citizens'

A prize-winning student has claimed playing Grand Theft Auto (GTA) could turn young gamers into model citizens.

Psychology student Chris Whitehead said the controversial game could help change awkward teenagers into confident, well adjusted leaders-of-men.

The game, in which players rob and murder their way through the criminal underworld, has attracted criticism for its violent, amoral content.

Chris, who is in the final year of his degree at Sunderland University, said adventure games such as GTA IV helped socialise young people, teaching them communication and leadership skills and how to work as part of a team.

His research won him the university's 2008 psychology prize.

The 22-year-old of South Shields, South Tyneside, who hopes to find a job as an occupational psychologist in industry, blamed the controversy surrounding GTA IV on parents who allowed their children to play games aimed at adults.

"A lot of research has shown a link between aggression and video games," he said.

"However, these studies always took children and exposed them to violent video games intended for adults. I would argue that the main cause of this link is due to parents ignoring ratings and allowing their children to play games not suitable for them. Games such as Halo, Call of Duty and even Grand Theft Auto have the potential to become a powerful learning tool.

"My research found that these games help develop skills such as teamwork, spatial and co-ordination skills. Team objective based games require a lot of communication between players to allow them to complete objectives, and playing such games can definitely improve these skills and potentially help develop leadership styles."

In the forerunner to GTA IV, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, players could pay a prostitute for sex, then kick her to death. You could kill policemen, distribute porn, mule cocaine for the mob and throw Molotov cocktails into the street. You could murder characters with Gatling guns, chain saws, meat cleavers and screwdrivers.

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