Game Addiction

An eleven-year-old boy strangled an elderly woman for the equivalent of five dollars in 2007, then buried her body under a thin layer of sand. He told the police that he needed the money to play online videogames. Just a month later, an eight-year-old Norwegian boy saved his younger sister’s life by threatening an attacking moose and then feigning death when the moose attacked him—skills he said he learned while playing World of Warcraft.
As these two instances show, videogames affect the minds, bodies, and lives of millions of gamers, negatively and positively. This book approaches videogame addiction from a cross-disciplinary perspective, bridging the divide between liberal arts academics and clinical researchers. The topic of addiction is examined neutrally, using accepted research in neuroscience, media studies, and developmental psychology.

Neils Clark is a lecturer at the University of Washington, and has previously lectured at DigiPen. His work has been published in the journal Games & Culture, and he has been invited to speak at events such as Games for Health, Serious Play and PAX West. Most recently he presented research exploring community engagement in eSports and video game livestreaming.

P. Shavaun Scott is a psychotherapist in both California and Oregon. In her 30-year-career she has assisted thousands of clients who have been victims or perpetrators of violent crime. She has been a member of multidisciplinary treatment teams in behavioral health agencies and has worked as a therapist in forensic programs with the criminally insane. She is passionate about violence prevention.

Neils Clark and P. Shavaun Scott
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 211
Bibliographic Info: appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2009
pISBN: 978-0-7864-4364-2
eISBN: 978-0-7864-5349-8
Imprint: McFarland

Preface (by Neils Clark)      1

1. The Digital Living Room      7
2. Media Experience and Real Illusion      27
3. Why They Play      55
4. Anatomy of a Game Addiction      91
5. Games Are Not Babysitters      115
6. The Road Ahead      143

Afterword (by P. Shavaun Scott)      163
Appendix A. Helpful Activities During the Process of Change      167
Appendix B. Learning the Lingo      169
Appendix C. Commonly Used Internet and Gamer Slang      177
Appendix D. Seeking Help in an Unfamiliar World      183
Chapter Notes      187
Bibliography      195
Index      201

• Choice Outstanding Academic Title
• “A uniquely interactive/connective form of art and mediation…most stimulating…comprehensive, intricate, yet accessible survey will appeal to and engage all readers…highly recommended”—Choice
• “Should definitely be read by a wide range of folks who are interested in knowing a bit more about where gaming now sits amid general electronic culture…probably the most important work yet written on the subject of habitual gaming…a wealth of information…straight-forward, well-constructed…points out that the problems of excessive gaming…probably the best set of resources on this topic that is available to us at the moment…pick up this book, arm yourselves with Clark and Scott’s research…a practical and sensible starting point to understanding a subject that is going to loom ever larger in all our lives.”—RockPaperShotgun
• “Clark and Scott have blasted out a reasoned, hard-hitting account of video gaming that is both authoritative and non-judgmental. Their first-hand perspective yields useful information along with a powerful message about the potential and the peril inherent in our—and our children’s—growing dependence on the satisfactions of virtual worlds. Anyone who can still think deeply will do so after reading this book!”—Jane M. Healy, Ph.D. Educational psychologist and author of Failure to Connect: How Computers Affect Our Children’s Minds and What We Can Do About It.