Year: 2024
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Esports popularity exploded in the last decade. The safety of its participants, many of them children, is under threat crime and deviance. This article examines crime and deviance in the esports playground from the lens of Routine Activities Theory, a criminological theory that recognizes the importance of guardianship in reducing crime, where weak guardianship results in higher likelihood of crime and in spaces where there simultaneously exist motivated offenders and attractive targets. This article contributes to a better understanding of the digital playground of esports by applying a theoretical framework from criminology to games and play phenomena. Examining the esports playground from this perspective reveals that the incidents of crime and deviance occurring can be explained by weak guardianship. This criminal justice perspective applied to play phenomena is almost nonexistent, and as such this article establishes a necessary foundation for future research and exploration in multiple disciplines.
Author: Alban Zohn
Institution: University of New Haven
Language: English
Topic: Digital Games and Media
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W4408260211