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.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
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.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
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).
Friday, July 9, 2010
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.
Carnagey, N. L. , Anderson C. A. & Bushman B. J. (2007). The effect of video game violence on psychological desensitization to real life violence. Jou
Shubuya A. , Sakamoto A. ,Ihori, N. , & Yukawa S. (2008). The effects of the presence and contexts of video game violence on children: A longitudinal
Shubuya A. , Sakamoto A. ,Ihori, N. , & Yukawa S. (2008). The effects of the presence and contexts of video game violence on children: A longitudinal study in Japan. Stimulation & Gaming, 39, 528-539.
Akiko Shibuya et al. offer the first longitudinal study concerning the effects of video game violence on children in Japan. The group took a sample of fifth graders (male and female) and surveyed their understanding of violence in video games over a two-year period. When the children entered six grade they were surveyed again to determine the answers to three major questions: (1) Does playing video games that contain violence cause later aggression in the life course? (2) Which contexts of video game violence lead to the aggressive behaviors being studied? (3) Which contexts of video game violence decrease later aggression in the life course? The study found mixed results and suggests that males are more susceptible to later aggression than girls. Likewise, interactivity, justification, and the extent of violence in video games affect the manner in which a child perceives the violence depicted in video games.
The study demonstrates that interactivity and unjustified violence increase the likelihood that a child will demonstrate aggressive tendencies later in the life course. Grand Theft Auto (GTA), according to Murray and Farman, creates a realistic depiction of crime due to the game’s hypermediation and grants the player limitless freedom. Therefore, GTA would likely cause later aggression if Shibuya et. al. are accurate in their findings. Unexpectedly, Shibuya et. al. found that players typically perceive extensive violence as socially unacceptable. As a result, games with extensive violence are likely to decrease later aggression. As the first of its kind, the study lacks empirical support and confuses rather than illuminates the effects of video game violence on children due to its mixed findings.
Agnew, R. (2002). Strain, personality traits, and delinquency: Extending general strain theory. Criminology, 40 (1), 43-70.
Agnew, R. (2002). Strain, personality traits, and delinquency: Extending general strain theory. Criminology, 40 (1), 43-70.
Addressing the major criticisms of Robert K. Merton’s strain theory, Agnew’s general strain theory (GTS) analyzes an individuals’ perceptions of strain rather than just the blockage of goals by a rigid social structure. For a brief overview of Merton’s strain theory see the annotation for Merton’s “Social Structure and Anomie.” Agnew’s GTS shifted stain theory’s focus from long-term goals to the more immediate desires of social beings. Agnew thus suggests that strain not only derives from the blockage of goals but rather three distinct forces generate social strain in an individual’s life:
others may (1) prevent individuals from achieving their positively valued goals, including monetary, status, and autonomy goals; (2) remove or threaten to remove positively valued stimuli . . .(3) present or threaten to present individuals with noxious or negatively valued stimuli. (p. 44).
Agnew’s GTS remains the most authoritative reiteration of Merton’s original framework and has been tested many time throughout the last decade. However, since it is a relatively new theory there is little empirical evidence of its validity. Agnew’s work has successfully stimulated new scholarly interest into social strain’s effect on criminal activity and should be on any bibliography discussing crime and social strain. Agnew’s GTS will provide the foundation for my own argument concerning Grand Theft Auto and will work perfectly alongside Merton’s work by adding to his original argument.
Merton, R. (1938). Social structure and anomie. American Sociological Review, 3 (5), 672-682.
Merton, R. K. (1938). Social structure and anomie. American Sociological Review, 3 (5), 672-682.
Merton’s seminal essay of sociology outlines social strain theory as an intellectual framework that can explicate the cause of crime in America. Merton posits when social structures create aspirational references for the population at large and simultaneously restrict those aspirations for individuals within that population, criminal activity occurs on a considerable scale. When an individual desires more than he/she can possibly achieve he/she must cope by adapting into one of five modes of reaction: conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion. Innovation, the mode most pertinent adaptation to criminal activity and my essay concerning Grand Theft Auto (GTA), occurs when an individual accepts the cultural aspirations but rejects the conventional means for their obtainment. Instead of working for the American dream, innovators turn to crime as a means of acquiring the material goods they desire but are unable to obtain due to a strained existence.
Merton's strain theory will work wonderfully in my analysis of GTA because the game focuses on Niko Bellic’s journey to acquire the American dream. Merton writing in the late 30’s used the concept of the American dream to construct his argument and claims when people cannot obtain the dream they may turn to crime instead. Certainly, the hip-hop culture Barrett, and Murray argue Rockstar appropriated to construct CJ’s universe in San Andreas express feelings of strain and the desire for innovation; 50 Cent’s album title, Get Rich or Die Trying, pretty much says as much. Albeit Merton’s theory is over seventy years old, it remains a founding framework in the field of criminology and has been recently revamped into Agnew’s General Strain Theory. It is important to read Merton in context with Agnew to evaluate the theory and address the frameworks' limitations.
Farman, J. (2010). Hypermediating the game interface: The alienation effect in violent videogames and the problem of serious play. Communication Quart
Farman, J. (2010). Hypermediating the game interface: The alienation effect in violent videogames and the problem of serious play. Communication Quarterly, 58 (1), 96-109.
Farman, relying heavily of the terminology of Bolter and Grusin, argues that games have developed hypermediated interfaces over the last decade and as a result have blended real life experience with virtual reality. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (GTA) provides an excellent example of Farman’s point because it provides an interfaceless interface through it’s “mapping of virtual space onto material space (or vice versa)” (p. 98). Rockstar Games generates a sense of realism within the GTA by recreating Southern California as the setting for San Andreas. Furthermore, by including other technological devices like cell-phones and navigation units, GTA creates verisimilitude through hypermediation. Farman suggests the hypermediation of game interfaces alienates the player because it forces the “loss of clear boundaries between the virtual and the material in the digital age” (p. 101). Thus, the verisimilitude of violent acts in games are the true threat to children rather than the depiction of the act itself. GTA through hypermediation either becomes a violent gang simulator for the player a satire on media and violence. These two views derive from the player’s ability to alter the appearance of CJ. For example, if players places CJ in a chicken suit, that greatly contrasts the violent acts in the game, they can detach themselves from the game’s hypermediation and realism.
Farman’s article provides an interesting way of understanding media violence that contrasts the many psychological viewpoints on this bibliography. Farman’s argument could be incorporated into my own argument to demonstrate how the interfaceless interface generates the realism of the immigrant/minorities strained American experience. As stated in Murray’s annotation, Farman and Murray provide support for each other’s arguments and should be read in context with each other. Farman does a great job of depicting GTA as a cultural object that can either promote or hinder social change depending on how the player perceives the game’s interface.
Murray, S. (2005). High art/low life: The art of playing Grand Theft Auto. PAJ: Performing Arts Journal, 27(2), 91-98.
Murray, S. (2005). High art/low life: The art of playing Grand Theft Auto. PAJ: Performing Arts Journal, 27(2), 91-98.
Murray’s essay focuses on the gaming industries’ expansion of technology and their current agency to develop highly sophisticated worlds that grant players limitless freedom. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (GTA) serves as the case in point for Murray’s work because the game makes the quality of its virtual space come alive by recreating Southern California by representing the states’ vernacular, fashion, music, and topography within the game. The art of playing GTA, as argued by Murray, stems from the player’s ability to successfully navigate the world Rockstar Games created. She argues that video games have become highly interactive and that only by becoming familiar with the protagonists’ surroundings can the player complete the game. For example, gamers playing GTA become aware that Ganton, CJ’s home turf, provides a considerable amount of freedom from authorities due to the cities’ dilapidation and population consisting of minorities. On the other hand, once the protagonist ventures into affluent neighborhoods of San Andreas police presence is aggressive.
Murray’s study provides insight into my own argument concerning Rockstar Game’s depiction of social strain in GTA. She argues the game, as depicted in its regulation of police presence, portrays the world as unequal and conflicted. Furthermore, her article provides support for both Barrett and Farman’s arguments. Like Barrett, Murray focuses on GTA’s negative African American stereotypes and suggests that the hip-hop communities’ accommodation of values evident in Scarface have provided the foundation for Rockstar Games appropriation of black culture. Murray’s article adds to Furman’s discussion of the interfaceless interface by giving it a sociological bent and I would strongly suggests that both Furman and Murray’s articles should be read together and absorbed in context with each other.
Barrett, P. (2006). White thumbs, black bodies: Race, violence, and neoliberal fantasies in Grand Theft Auto. The Review of Education, Pedagogy, and C
Barrett, P. (2006). White thumbs, black bodies: Race, violence, and neoliberal fantasies in Grand Theft Auto. The Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, 28, 95-119.
Paul Barrett’s article provides a thought-provoking analysis of Rockstar Games’ representation of the inner city African American experience in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (GTA). Barrett suggests the game presents black bodies as a disposable commodity and reinforces negative racial stereotypes by attempting to define the essence “blackness.” Rockstar Games relies on hip-hop culture as the foundation for their appropriation of black society in GTA and embraces the danger, aggression, and violence in albums like 50 Cents’ Get Rich or Die Trying. Barrett concludes, “the implication [of theses games and albums] is that blackness is a style, something that can be taken on and off” (p. 100). Therefore, white players construct black culture as they see fit when playing GTA and black individuals playing the game must accept a dangerous neoliberal representations of their own culture.
Barrett’s article is very strong and provides a lot of evidence for my own argument. He delineates the social conflict evident in GTA and argues that the game implies that African Americans should accumulate wealth by any means necessary. The game—Barrett argues—“suggests that the problems that African Americans experience is due to individual failure” (p. 114). Thus, GTA portrays African American’s as inherently strained by society and endorses violence as an acceptable means for coping with a troubled life. The article works perfectly in context with the theoretical foundation laid out by Merton and Agnew and provides support for their (and my own) arguments. Although Barrett uses CJ of San Andreas as the focal point of his argument, the essay is extremely applicable to the imagery of immigration and social strain throughout Niko Bellic’s journey in GTA IV.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Samuels, R. (2010). Grand theft automodernity: Globalizing individualism and cultural nihilism from Eminem to The Matrix. New media, cultural studies,
Samuels, R. (2010). Grand theft automodernity: Globalizing individualism and cultural nihilism from Eminem to The Matrix. New media, cultural studies, and critical theory after postmodernism: Automodernity from Zizek to Lacalau. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Robert Samuels’ essay examines Grand Theft Auto (GTA) from a psychoanalytical perspective. He argues that GTA has become a pop cultural icon because it provides “a space for individual freedom and a sense of liberation from social determinism and political correctness” (p. 123). Using the theories of Freud and Lacan as his foundation, Samuels suggests that violent games like GTA allow the user to simultaneously affirm and deny violent tendencies through a cathartic release. The user ironically distances him/herself from violent acts in games through the process of displacement. Likewise, the game’s creator, Rockstar Games, demands that the audience not criticize its content and relies on Freudian understandings of humor to convey the game’s controversial message. Samuels suggests that videos games, like GTA, generate a chimerical universe for their protagonists that decreases the complexity of social relationships by relying on cultural stereotypes and clichés as their foundations.
Albeit Samuel’s essay is interesting and thought provoking it is far from the strongest on the bibliography. He continually relies on the same block quotations (literally reproducing quotes previously discussed to make another argument) and authors to prove his points. Furthermore, the work relies heavily on psychoanalytic theory which is useful in literary and rhetorical studies but not encouraged as a reliable theory in the social sciences. Therefore, Samuels’ article slightly deviates from the sociological direction I desire to take within my current research. However, Samuels briefly includes an explication of the psychological foundations of capitalism which could be useful in my discussion of social strain. He states “the very important economic task of translating the social construction of demands into the realm of individual desires is accomplished by producing an obsessional (sic) and narcissistic subject through the circulation of cultural fantasies and ironic splitting” (p. 130-131).