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Dangerous Games: What the Moral Panic over Role-Playing Games Says about Play, Religion, and Imagined Worlds
Joseph P. Laycock
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Description for Dangerous Games: What the Moral Panic over Role-Playing Games Says about Play, Religion, and Imagined Worlds
Paperback. The 1980s saw the peak of a moral panic over fantasy role-playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons. This book explores both the history and the sociological significance of this panic. It is suitable for those with an interest in religion, popular culture, and social behavior, both in the classroom and beyond. Num Pages: 368 pages. BIC Classification: HRAM; JFCA; JMH; WDM. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational; (U) Tertiary Education (US: College). Dimension: 231 x 151 x 23. Weight in Grams: 502.
The 1980s saw the peak of a moral panic over fantasy role-playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons. A coalition of moral entrepreneurs that included representatives from the Christian Right, the field of psychology, and law enforcement claimed that these games were not only psychologically dangerous but an occult religion masquerading as a game. Dangerous Games explores both the history and the sociological significance of this panic. Fantasy role-playing games do share several functions in common with religion. However, religion as a socially constructed world of shared meaning can also be compared to a fantasy role-playing game. In fact, ... Read more
The 1980s saw the peak of a moral panic over fantasy role-playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons. A coalition of moral entrepreneurs that included representatives from the Christian Right, the field of psychology, and law enforcement claimed that these games were not only psychologically dangerous but an occult religion masquerading as a game. Dangerous Games explores both the history and the sociological significance of this panic. Fantasy role-playing games do share several functions in common with religion. However, religion as a socially constructed world of shared meaning can also be compared to a fantasy role-playing game. In fact, ... Read more
Product Details
Publisher
University of California Press
Format
Paperback
Publication date
2015
Condition
New
Weight
508g
Number of Pages
368
Place of Publication
Berkerley, United States
ISBN
9780520284920
SKU
V9780520284920
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 7 to 11 working days
Ref
99-11
About Joseph P. Laycock
Joseph P. Laycock is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Texas State University. His previous books include Vampires Today: The Truth About Modern Vampirism and The Seer of Bayside: Veronica Lueken and the Struggle for Catholicism. He is also a blogger for Religion Dispatches.
Reviews for Dangerous Games: What the Moral Panic over Role-Playing Games Says about Play, Religion, and Imagined Worlds
Dangerous Games presents a detailed and multi-layered history of the social realities surrounding Role Playing Games (RPGs), analyzing a complex legacy of cultural and religious epistemologies, in order to argue that the corresponding moral panic over such games is itself a form of dangerous corrupted play. ... Overall, Dangerous Games is an important read for students and scholars of contemporary ... Read more