Crime, Punishment, and Video Games

Kristine Levan · Steven Downing

Nov 2022 · Rowman & Littlefield

Ebook

244

Pages

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About this ebook

Moving beyond discussions of potential linkages between violence and video games, Crime, Punishment, and Video Games examines a broad range of issues related to the representation of crime and deviance within video games and the video game subculture. The context of justice is discussed with respect to traditional criminal justice agencies, but also expanded throughout to include issues related to social justice. The text also presents the potential cultural, social, and economic impact of video games. Considering the significant number of video game players, from casual to competitive players, these issues have become even more salient in recent years. Regardless of whether someone considers themselves a gamer, video games are undoubtedly relevant to modern society, and this text discusses how the shift in gaming has impacted our perceptions of deviance, crime, and justice. The authors explore past, present and future manifestations of these connections, considering how the game industry, policy makers, and researchers can work toward a better understanding of how and why video games are an important area of study for criminologists and sociologists, and how games will present new promises and challenges in the years to come.

About the author

Kristine Levan is an associate professor of Criminology in the Department of Culture, Society, and Justice at the University of Idaho. She received her Ph.D. in Criminology from The University of Texas at Dallas. Her primary research interests focus on perceptions of crime and depictions of crime and justice in various forms of media, including video games. Her work has been published in outlets including Games and Culture and Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law, & Society.

Steven Downing received his Ph.D. in Criminology from The University of Texas at Dallas. His research focuses on deviant and criminal subcultures (both off and online), as well as popular media representations of crime by employing mixed qualitative methods and ethnography. He has published numerous journal articles on these topics in journals such as Deviant Behavior and Games and Culture.

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