Sunday 18 February 2018

Critical Perspectives - Dissertation Proposal OGR


3 comments:

  1. Hi Jess, you have some good academic sources here. However, I would have severe reservations about using 'Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill'. The book's author Lt. Col David Grossman is a spokesman for the National Rifle Association (NRA) in the United States and is an advocate for police using lethal force against suspects. He has a vested interest in switching the emphasis from guns to video games in any debate around violence. This would be why he talks about video games in relation to high school shootings as opposed to the easy avilability of guns in the US. It's also worth researching the background of US academics who talk and write about vidoe game violence as the NRA funds academic research to use for its own interests. That isn't always the case by any means but it's worth looking out for

    The subject of video games and violence relates to ideas of 'nature and nurture', i.e. to what extent is someone's psychology decided by genes or by environmental factors and social conditions. With that in mind, it would be worth reading the introduction and chapter 4 of this ebook.

    If you'd like to discuss anything, or want some further help with your research, I'm available for tutorials on Wednesday and Friday this week.

    Andrew

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  2. I think you need to look at studies/theories exploring human aggression/cruelty as part of the human condition, because it seems that your argument is about some games making us 'more' violent, which suggests that we 'are' violent at some level to begin with - and at the moment this bit of context is missing: for example:

    Civilisation and its Discontents:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization_and_Its_Discontents

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anatomy-Human-Destructiveness-Erich-Fromm/dp/0712674896

    https://www.mheducation.co.uk/openup/chapters/0335204716.pdf

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  3. In terms of using books like the Grossman book - you 'CAN' use him, but you have to show that you understand how and why he is saying what he is - in other words, you can use him to show the arguments against games, but you also use him to show that people have particular agendas - which is so important in your dissertation.

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