About the Bibliography

The following annotated bibliography comprises articles and books pertaining to video game violence—specifically, research concerning Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto (GTA). I can by no means argue for the completeness of this bibliography, for the scholarship on media violence is vast and continues to grow alongside a dynamic media. The works on this bibliography represent several viewpoints concerning media violence’s effects on children and pulls from several disciplines ranging from art studies to criminology. While this bibliography cannot encompass every aspect of media violence, it has attempted to provide a selection of articles and books pertinent to video game violence as it relates to one overarching question: Does the violent acts evident in GTA have a causal relationship to youth crime later in the life course? I have chosen GTA because it has become the symbol for depicting the threat of media violence in recent years and has been an interest of many media scholars. Furthermore, GTA provides an excellent script for my own research as it focuses on the pursuit of the American dream.

About the Project

Rockstar Games’ highly successful video games franchise, Grand Theft Auto (GTA), has become a popular symbol in recent years for depicting both the decaying values in American society and the potential threats media violence poses to impressionable teenage youth. Much of the current research, examining the causal relationship between violent video games and youth crime, delineates exposure to gratuitous violence as the primary instigator of aggression later in the child’s life course. Theorists, over the last decade, have argued that aggressive arousal, imitation, cultivation, and desensitization (to name just a few) can accurately explicate the stimulation, or lack thereof, of youth crime following a child’s participation in the violent acts of virtual worlds. While all these arguments give valuable insight into the effects violent video games have on children, they simultaneously ignore an important aspect of new media: rhetoric.

The projected essay examines the casual relationship of violent games and youth crime through an analysis of GTA IV’s rhetorical strategies. Rockstar Games, rather than just exposing children to violence, provides justification and condemnation for the criminal acts in GTA by focusing the game’s action on Niko Bellic’s pursuit of the American dream. Only through the acquisition of material goods can Niko move up in the social world and be seen as a success in his peers' eyes. However, the story of GTA IV strongly indicates that wealth cannot be obtained through conventional means. Using social strain theory (see Merton’s entry), I will argue that GTA IV portrays the world as unfair and ridden with conflict due to a society that upholds certain common symbols of success for all of its citizens while simultaneously restricting access to those aspirations for a large number of individuals. Niko must strive to achieve his goals in GTA IV through criminal innovation because he has been socialized to desire wealth but was not granted the conventional means to acquire it due to his minority status. GTA thus justifies crime by promoting the pursuit of material goods, through the game’s dialogue and product placement, and instead of promoting conformity as the means to wealth persuades children that crime is the only possible method for the acquisition of the American dream.

Bibliography Findings

The works on this bibliography should prove helpful for the initiation of my own research. Although several scholars have touched on the conflict evident in GTA (see Barrett and Murray), criticism on GTA has failed to incorporate the theoretical frameworks of Merton and Agnew as a means to explicate the game's possible effects on children. Violence in the media provides many directions for future research in literary studies, psychology, and criminology. Ideally, this bibliography can provide a starting point for students desiring to undertake a project within this field and add to the great debate concerning the threats media may or may not pose to America’s children.

Grand Theft Auto IV. (2008). [PS3 game] New York, NY. Rockstar Games.

Grand Theft Auto IV. (2008). [PS3 game] New York, NY. Rockstar Games.

Grand Theft Auto IV (GTA) immerses the player into the world of Niko Bellic, a survivor of the Bosnian war, who comes to America with the hope of obtaining the American dream. Niko initially enters into a world of crime to protect his brother from loan sharks, and works various missions in order to alleviate his brother’s debts. The game has been extremely controversial over the years because of it gratuitous violence and the protagonist’s ability to have sex with prostitutes. GTA IV is the first of the series to allow the protagonist to make moral choices that effect the outcome of the game. The game also acts as a simulator, such as the Sims, by allowing the player to date women and alter their appearance. The game was highly successfully upon its release and received perfect critiques by many game reviewers. Because of the games controversial nature, it is often cited by the media as a cause of youth crime and as a result has become a significant interest in media scholarship.

Haugen, D. M. , & Musser, S. (Eds.). (2009). Media Violence. Detroit, MI: Greenhaven Press.

Haugen, D. M. , & Musser, S. (Eds.). (2009). Media Violence. Detroit, MI: Greenhaven Press.

As a product of the opposing viewpoints series, the book presents a collection of essays that act as a model for several contrasting opinions in the debate concerning media violence. The book’s sections juxtapose scholars that believe media violence has a causal relationship with youth crime and authors that perceive the war on media as another moral panic that amplifies the problem for various political reasons. The book highlights the arguments of some of the best media scholars and maintains an interdisciplinary approach in its arrangement. The author’s range from Henry Jenkins, a comparative literature professor, to Jonathan Harbour, an instructor of game development, and even includes political documents from the federal communications commission.

This reader is a great place to start when in the infancy of a research project concerning media violence. The book led me to a number of great scholars in the field, and helped me locate articles to strengthen my bibliography. More specifically, reading Jenkins’ article in this text has definitely made me want to locate other articles by him. I identified with Jenkins viewpoint on media violence because he wants to move away from scholarship that only researches the effects of media violence, and instead embrace research the elucidates the meanings behind America’s depictions of violence.

Walkerdine, V. (2007). Children, gender, video games: Towards a relational approach to multimedia. Houndmills, England: Palgrave Macmillan.

Walkerdine, V. (2007). Children, gender, video games: Towards a relational approach to multimedia. Houndmills, England: Palgrave Macmillan.

Walkerdine’s study derives from the psychoanalyzed discussions of twenty-four students which took place during an after school video game club. The book’s primary argument suggests that video games provide an outlet for males and females to perform masculinity. Games create an imaginary space for the player to dominate in their fantastical unconscious. By mastering the game’s various levels, children demonstrate their ability to succeed in a masculine realm. Thus, the inability to beat a particular game may cause frustration for male players, as their masculinity is being called into question, and only by winning can achieve a sense of success. Walkerdine argues that females’ express a confused femininity while playing video games because they desire to win yet simultaneously desire to help others. Females often chose games or avatars that have dichotomous protagonists that are cute and powerful. For example, Pokemon’s Pikachu is an androgenous mouse (cute) with a dangerous electrical shock (powerful).

Walkerdine’s book is very interesting however, by relying on psychoanalysis as its primary theoretical framework, the book does stretch its arguments a bit far. Walkerdine’s discussion of video games and the performance of masculinity will aid my discussion of social strain because it provides another realm in which people are given aspirational references and thus a desire to succeed. Interestingly, Grand Theft Auto (GTA) uses the video game, a technology that fosters the desire to win, in order to portray the minority’s social strain, a structural force that impedes an individual’s capability of success.

Barlett, C. P. , Anderson C. A. , Swing, E. L. (2009). Video game effects confirmed, suspected, and speculative: A review of the evidence. Stimulation

Barlett, C. P. , Anderson C. A. , Swing, E. L. (2009). Video game effects confirmed, suspected, and speculative: A review of the evidence. Stimulation & Gaming, 40, 337-403.

Barlett et al. present a detailed review of scholarship pertaining to the effects of video game violence on children. The article summarizes several opposing views within the debate on media violence. Barlett et al. categorize the views into two distinct sections that either suggest video games have positive or negative effects on children. Likewise, Barlett et al. do a wonderful job of defining the various theories pertinent to the study of media violence and video games studies. The article briefly covers everything from the video game’s ability to aid a student’s hand-eye coordination to the promotion of narcissistic thoughts in children while playing games.

The review does an excellent job of juggling the many opposing views concerning media violence and presents much of the conflicting evidence that supports the claims of many scholars in a single coherent essay. Thus, the article is essentially an annotated bibliography that can lead scholars of video game studies to an immense amount of information; much of which is the best in the field. Therefore, I would argue that the article is worth reading simply for its extensive bibliography and the authors’ ability to compress an immense amount of information into a well-written concise article.