Book Review: Youth and Internet Addiction in China

Review by Jonathan


There are a lot of books out there about technology and internet addiction.  When I saw this book about Chinese internet addiction it caught my eye because these problems do not just affect people in the United States, but anywhere where technology is increasing in people’s lives.  This was an interesting read.  I kind of did not want to read it at first, but it is written in an interesting way and it helped keep my attention going. 

The book starts out with a researcher talking about his experience of going into the world of Chinese game playing and internet cafés.   When a researcher places themselves into a situation to research it firsthand this is called ethnographic research.  The researcher interviewed people as he went about playing games and also going to various places that help people with internet addiction problems.  He gives examples of parents drugging their children and taking them to rehab facilities so they will break their addictions and focus on school, homework, and their future.

The main point that the author wants to make is that from his research internet addiction in China was mostly caused by the poor relationships from parents or parent figures.  These poor relationships caused the children to turn to fictional games and friends on the internet that were more supportive and nicer than their parents appeared to be. 

The book is backed up by the research of the author and his firsthand account of people he interviewed.  He goes through a quite thorough analysis of the psychological definition from the DSM-IV on internet addiction and how this does not quite fit with what problems they see with children and internet addiction.  He goes on to look at an altered definition that aligns with his research based on a humanistic model.

I think that the author does a good job writing and informing through his examples and experiences that he shares.  His research may not translate so much to the entire world.  It may be that in China children are using the internet as an escape and that may be true in the United States as well, but there still seems to be evidence that there is addictive behavior caused by the internet and it is not just a social problem.  

Overall I liked the book for how easy it was to read and for the interesting look at internet addiction.  I would recommend it for an interesting read, but I would take caution to accepting all the conclusions of the author.

Reference:
Bax, Trent (2013). Youth and Internet Addiction in China. Retrieved from http://www.eblib.com