1st Edition
Video Games, Crime, and Control Getting Played
Discussing the state of play in contemporary popular culture, specifically the role of crime and crime control in the video game medium, this book discusses the criminological importance of video games.
Pulling together an international group of scholars from Brazil, Canada, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States, this edited volume analyzes a wide range of noteworthy video games, including Bioshock, Death Stranding, Diablo 2, Beat Cop, The Last of Us, Disco Elysium, Red Dead Redemption, P.T., Spider-Man, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and Grand Theft Auto. The book thus seeks to advance dialog on video games as important cultural artifacts containing significant insights regarding dominant perceptions, interests, anxieties, contradictions, and other matters of criminological interest.
Covering policing, vigilantism, different forms of violence, genocide, mental illness, and criminological theory, Video Games, Crime and Control will be of great interest to students and scholars of Criminology, Media Studies, and Sociology, specifically those focusing on Game Studies and Cultural Criminology.
- Introduction
- Kevin F. Steinmetz & Jonathan A. Grubb
2. Chains in Bioshock: The Illusion of Freedom and Free Will
- Melissa A. Petkovsek
3. The Apprehensive Violence of Death Stranding: Meditations on Ropes and Sticks
- Kevin F. Steinmetz
4. “Are You Sure the Only You is You?”: Domestic Violence and Critiquing the Other in the Spectral Remains of P.T.
- Sara Skott & Karl-Fredrik Scott Bengtson
5. Demonology, Dark Fantasy, and the Devil: Representations of Early Criminological Theory and Justice in Diablo 2.
- Chad Posick
6. “We’re Thieves in a World that Don’t Want Us No More”: The Red Dead Redemption Series as a Case Study of the Philosophies of Punishment
- Shon M. Reed, Logan P. Kennedy, & Breanna Boppre
7. Making Light of Darkness: Crime and Justice in LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
- Colin Atkinson
8. Fighting Fire with Fire: Disco Elysium and procedural (In)Justice
- Edward L. W. Green
9. To Serve and Protect from Behind the Mask: Miles Morales in Marvel’s Spider-Man and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Policing, Justice, and Representation
- Christina Fawcett & Steven Kohm
10. Cynicism in Police Simulation: A Case Study of Beat Cop
- James Popham, Andrea Corradi, Michael Ouellet, Sarthak Pal, Chris McDiarmid, Jocelyn Booton, & Michelle Goodridge
Biography
Jonathan A. Grubb is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Georgia Southern University, USA. His research centers on the spatiotemporal clustering of crime, victimization of vulnerable populations, perceptions and attitudes of professionals working with victims of domestic violence as well as human trafficking, and arson within urban environments. Recent publications include, Crime TV: Streaming Criminology in Popular Culture which utilizes modern television shows as a frame for understanding criminological theory.
Kevin F. Steinmetz is a Professor of Criminology in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work at Kansas State University, USA. His scholarship cuts across multiple areas including cybercrime, criminological theory, racial inequality and criminal justice, gender and crime, as well as crime, criminal justice, and popular culture. He is the author of Hacked: A Radical Approach to Hacker Culture and Crime and Cybercrime and Society. His works have also appeared in prestigious outlets, including The British Journal of Criminology, Theoretical Criminology, Critical Criminology, Crime Media Culture.
"This incredible book is the comprehensive criminology of video games! It’s a deep dive into what they teach about crime, violence, consequences, and games’ ability to reify harms and solutions. Culture plays with rule breaking – use this book to understand the place and value of video games in understanding crime." - Jack Denham, Associate Dean: Social Sciences, York St. John University
"Extends the criminological gaze towards an immensely popular – yet strangely neglected – area of popular culture. The result is a series of fascinating and illuminating explorations of how video games reflect – and perhaps shape or contest – our common conceptions of crime, justice, transgression and pleasure. A fabulous contribution to popular criminology!" - Majid Yar, Professor Emeritus of Criminology, Lancaster University
