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Video Games

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Submitted By jasonrey
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July 22, 2012

Video games have become as pervasive an aspect of our society as television, with many people spending more time playing video games than watching television. There are many perspectives with which to gauge videos games’ effect on society, from a functionalist, conflict or interactionist perspective. (Schaefer, 2011) Each of these sociological theories can provide a different view of video games, how they affect society and the subcultures that develop around them.

The functionalist perspective would emphasize the way in which the parts of a society are structured to maintain its stability. (Schaefer, 2011) A functionalist may point out the manifest functions of video games as a facilitator of social interaction among friends, or the function of educational games in younger children. The functionalist may also observe latent functions, such as improving hand-eye coordination, or even unintended educational aspect of video games not intended for children (such as police coming and arresting the player character when crimes are committed in games, mirroring the real-life consequences of one’s actions) A functionalist can also characterize video games as a dysfunction I n society, with individuals neglecting other responsibilities in favor of playing the games, or stating that the games encourage violent or antisocial behaviors.

The conflict theory would focus on tensions between groups (Schaefer, 2011), so someone analyzing video games from a conflict perspective may study the debate between those who characterize video games, and particularly violent video games, as a drain on society and those who see them a functional way to vent frustration. They may also look at the communities that develop around competing game titles and franchises, such as Call of Duty and Halo and the fans of the two games interact with each other. There are also

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