Labeling Theory and Video Game Addiction

Deviance is defined as "Whatever a social audience reacts against or labels as deviant" (Clinard & Meier, 2011).  An example of this could be anything from murder to blowing your nose on your sleeve.  Normally those who are identifying more condemnable forms of deviancy such as doing drugs, physically abusing another person, or black mailing tend to be people with authority such as police, judges, politicians, etc.   Less extreme deviance is normally judged by social groups or even on the individual level.  Deviancy can be determined by what the majority of a group or society thinks is violating social norms.  Things as simple as wearing a tie with a T-shirt or standing backwards on a moving sidewalk.


Labeling Theory is "conforming society members labeling a behavior as deviant" (Clinard & Meier, 2011).  Behaviors such as stealing or smoking indoors are considered deviant.  Labeling someone as a drug addict or a thief can influence them to continue to do their "deviant" behavior.  People who have been labeled as deviant tend to lose their self esteem and may even reject themselves, making them more likely to fall back into their deviant behavior (Clinard & Meier, 2011).


In this day and age, kids (ages 9-15 used in this paper) tend to spend a lot of their time playing video games.  Video games are full of other worlds with amazing graphics that can take the player to fantasy places and can make the player a hero, villain, wizard, warrior, etc.  They can be an amazing escape from reality and a fun pass time, however, video games can lead to antisocial behavior and even addiction.  Is this all the video game company's fault like parents like to claim?  Kids will normally get a game or two for maybe Christmas or their birthday and start playing it on a regular basis because it's fun.  It may get to the point where they are playing an excessive amount, at least in the parent's eyes.  The social media often enforces the belief that all kid's minds are being rotted, corrupted, and addicted to these games.  This paranoia can cause a parent to try to make rules about the amount of time their child is allowed to play or even try to cut their child off from playing entirely.  Parents telling off or yelling at their kid's for playing video games, saying things like "stop wasting your time," "don't play those stupid games they're bad for you," or "go do something useful with your life instead of rotting your brain in front of a screen."  Kids can interpret this aggressive behavior as their parent's just being mean, which will usually cause kids to get mad and try to fight back, ultimately causing a schism between parents and their kids.  This  situation can lead to the child wanting/needing an escape from the stress caused by the disagreement so that the child will likely turn to video games for relief.  This is a prime example of labeling theory, here is a video showing a small sample of parent's perspectives on video games and video game addiction.

In        In conclusion, video games can be a problem but they can also have positive effects as stated in the video. Video games have been shown to be highly motivating, improve motor skills, reaction time, and attentiveness to visual detail (Gentile, 200-2012).  The conflict between parent and child over playing video games can lead the child to spend more time playing games as an escape causing a self fulfilling prophecy.  This is an example of labeling theory whereby a person becomes what they have been accused of.

Do you think being marked as an addict for any reason would affect your behavior in regards to that action/substance?

What functions do you think video games fulfill?







Clinard, M., & Meier, R. (2011). The sociology of deviant behavior . (14th ed., p. 9). Belmont CA.: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Gentile, D. (200-2012). The effects of video game on children: What parent's need to know. Pediatrcs for Parents,