TY - JOUR
T1 - Gaming Between Leisure and Addiction
T2 - How Young People Perceive Risk in Video Games
AU - Jensen, Kristian Haulund
AU - Bengtsson, Tea Torbenfeldt
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Georgia State University.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Young people's leisure activities are a subject of interest and concern. While criminal engagement is a key concern, video gaming has long been in focus for its possible deteriorating effects threatening societal values and interests. As it is often the case with studies on deviancy, studies on problematic gaming frequently rest upon an assumption that risk exists independently of everyday life context and thus use isolated “risk” variables to measure problematic gaming. Contrarily, this study argues that, in gaming, risk cannot be separated from everyday life. We analyze 35 qualitative interviews with young people and use social constructivist perspectives of risk to show how risk is embedded in everyday practices. We find two dominant risks: The risk of gaming monopolizing everyday life and the risk of overspending. Linked to these risks is the social risk of being excluded from the friendship group. We also find that young people integrate discourses of gaming addiction into their risk perceptions and that they actively strive to balance their gaming by avoiding “becoming addicted.” Our findings challenge assumptions that video games carry inherent risks of addiction and prompt an approach to risk in gaming as not being separated from the context of everyday life.
AB - Young people's leisure activities are a subject of interest and concern. While criminal engagement is a key concern, video gaming has long been in focus for its possible deteriorating effects threatening societal values and interests. As it is often the case with studies on deviancy, studies on problematic gaming frequently rest upon an assumption that risk exists independently of everyday life context and thus use isolated “risk” variables to measure problematic gaming. Contrarily, this study argues that, in gaming, risk cannot be separated from everyday life. We analyze 35 qualitative interviews with young people and use social constructivist perspectives of risk to show how risk is embedded in everyday practices. We find two dominant risks: The risk of gaming monopolizing everyday life and the risk of overspending. Linked to these risks is the social risk of being excluded from the friendship group. We also find that young people integrate discourses of gaming addiction into their risk perceptions and that they actively strive to balance their gaming by avoiding “becoming addicted.” Our findings challenge assumptions that video games carry inherent risks of addiction and prompt an approach to risk in gaming as not being separated from the context of everyday life.
KW - everyday life
KW - gaming
KW - risk
KW - video game addiction
KW - youth
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85176940407&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/10575677231212179
DO - 10.1177/10575677231212179
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85176940407
SN - 1057-5677
JO - International Criminal Justice Review
JF - International Criminal Justice Review
ER -