Annotated Bibliography

Kain, Eric. "Violent Video Games Do Not Cause Violence." Violent Video Games, edited by

Roman Espejo, Greenhaven Press, 2015. At Issue. Opposing Viewpoints in

Context, libproxy.csun.edu/login?

url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010926204/OVIC?

u=csunorthridge&xid=1f0d14ab. Accessed 20 Sept. 2017.

The author begins by recounting the history of video games and when the general

population began to link them to physical violence. Kain criticizes the legislative activity

that proposes to limit violent games in one way or another. Kain analyzes how this

legislative activity draws upon the rhetoric of misinformed groups and invalid

correlations between in game violence and real violence. Kain shows the long history of

conflicting studies on whether or not video games promote violence. He draws out the

point of biases that have led to early and forced conclusions. After this he introduces an

alternative hypothesis for the correlation between video gamers and violent games. Kain

carefully constructs his argument around the limited validity and actual substance of

studies. By discarding previous assumptions, he helps the reader draw a fresh perspective

on the view of how video games do not necessarily cause violence. Kains argument have

a clear procession of logic and help the reader easily see how to gain the conclusions that

he is proving.
Leonard, Andrew. "Video Game Culture Does Not Promote Antisocial Behaviors." Violent Video

Games, edited by Roman Espejo, Greenhaven Press, 2015. Opposing Viewpoints in

Context, libproxy.csun.edu/login?

url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010926207/OVIC?

u=csunorthridge&xid=01462c30. Accessed 19 Sept. 2017.

The author begins to shape his point by first introducing a quote that takes the position of

games increasingly becoming available to a wider audience. The author, a technology

reporter at Salon, begins to explain that many view the widespread gaming community as

a platform to promote sexist, racist and brutal tendencies. He shows, through both

personal stories and quotes from game reviewers that these games are a very small

portion of video games as a whole. Touching upon his personal video game stories with

his son, Leonard demonstrates how games have allowed his son to socially bond with

other players and help his overall social and mental health. He also examines the case

studies of Alex Leavitt, a Ph.D. at USCs Annenberg School of Communications to draw a

link between open world genre games and their effect on our modes of interaction and

overall behavior. Leavitts case studies provide great insight into the majority of the video

game community culture. Leonard overall provides a descriptive and well-rounded

argument to support his case and easily draw a connection between the gaming

community and positive social interactions.

Peckham, Matt. "Researcher Says Linking Video Games to Gun Violence Is a 'Classic Illusory

Correlation'." Time.com, 10 Oct. 2013, p. 1. EBSCOhost, libproxy.csun.edu/login?

url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=aph&AN=90680035&site=ehost-live. Accessed 20 Sept. 2017.

Peckham provides a concise argument for why video games supposed link to real gun

violence is not as well founded as most people believe. Peckham engages the reader by

providing a chronological depiction of how the stance on video games creating violence

has changed a lot throughout recent years. By pointing out that video games are relatively

new and showing the limiting scope of many studies on video games, Peckham explains

how correlation and causation differ especially in the statistical aspects of the studies.

The author also studies how some media sources have created a fear of video games and

rising violence. Peckham first explains the opposing viewpoint of video games and then

carefully dissects the main argument and shows how at the core video games relation to

violence has not been proven.