Does violence on TV beget violence in the community? Has the video game Grand Auto Theft increased crime, and educated young minds in criminal ways?

I came across an interesting Canadian website Media Awareness Network which has some intresting articles on this topic.

eg.

"The debate over media violence has eluded definitive answers for more than three decades. At first blush, the debate is dominated by one question—whether or not media violence actually causes real-life violence. But closer examination reveals a political battle. On the one hand, there are those who blame media violence for societal violence and want to censor violent content to protect children. On the other hand are those who see regulation as the slippery slope to censorship or a smokescreen hiding the root causes of violence in society.

One thing is certain: the issue of media violence is not going away. Increasingly the debate is focusing on the "culture of violence," and on the normalization of aggression and lack of empathy in our society."