Limit search to available items
Book Cover
E-book
Author Laycock, Joseph, 1980-

Title Dangerous games : what the moral panic over role-playing games says about play, religion, and imagined worlds / Joseph P. Laycock
Published Oakland, Calif. : University of California Press, ©2015
©2015

Copies

Description 1 online resource (364 pages)
Contents Cover; Contents; Preface. "You Worship Gods from Books!"; Introduction. Fantasy and Reality; PART I. THE HISTORY OF THE PANIC; 1. The Birth of Fantasy Role-Playing Games; 2. Dungeons & Dragons as Religious Phenomenon; 3. Pathways into Madness: 1979-1982; 4. Satanic Panic: 1982-1991; 5. A World of Darkness: 1991-2001; PART II. INTERPRETING THE PANIC; 6. How Role-Playing Games Create Meaning; 7. How the Imagination Became Dangerous; 8. Rival Fantasies; Conclusion. Walking between Worlds
Summary "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 the Christian Right, psychologists, and law enforcement claimed 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"--Provided by publisher
Analysis alter egos
christian right
christianity
conspiracy theory
constructed world
dungeons and dragons
fan studies
fantasy games
fantasy
game theory
gaming
history
imagination
law enforcement
media
mental health
morality
nonfiction
occult
play theory
popular culture
psychology
religion
religious studies
role playing games
role playing
roleplaying
rpgs
social behavior
social theory
sociology
supernatural
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes English
Online resource; title from PDF title page (Ebsco, viewed January 15, 2015)
Subject Fantasy games -- Moral and ethical aspects
Role playing -- Moral and ethical aspects
Dungeons and Dragons (Game) -- Moral and ethical aspects
GAMES -- Role Playing & Fantasy.
RELIGION -- Psychology of Religion.
Fantasy games -- Moral and ethical aspects
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9780520960565
0520960564
1322567506
9781322567501
0520284917
9780520284913
0520284925
9780520284920