Current Events #15. Bad Soccer Fans italy-cup-violence-idUSBREA4306B20140504 Police have arrested.
(c) 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Violence in Sports!!! Why and How Bad?
Transcript of (c) 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Violence in Sports!!! Why and How Bad?
(c) 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Violence in Sports!!!Violence in Sports!!!
Why and How Bad?
(c) 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Definition of Violence
The use of excessive physical force, which causes or has the
potential to cause harm or destruction
Violence is not always illegal or disapproved It may be praised and lauded as necessary
in sport contests
(c) 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
When violence involves extreme overconformity to norms, it may signal fascism
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Aggression
The most discussed term associated with violence in sports and employed to describe angry violent behavior with intent to hurt a person or cause damage to property.
An inborn drive similar to sex or hunger (Freud, 1950), may be regulated through discharge or fulfillment
Aggression is not the same as assertiveness, competitiveness, or trying hard
(c) 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Definition of Aggression
Verbal or physical actions grounded in an intent to dominate, control, or do harm to another person
Is not an act of a cognitive state
Is not accidental, rather intentional
Involves both bodily and psychological harm
Involves only living being
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Categories of Aggression
“Legitimate” (no fault) and “illegitimate” (at fault) aggression
Player aggression Personal: harm to oneself Interpersonal: harm to each other
Spectator aggression Celebratory Hooliganism
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Violence in Sports History
Figurational research shows that violence was more severe in the past On the field & off the field
Rates of sports violence have not automatically increased over timeViolence in sports remains a crucial social issue today Sports violence can serve to reproduce an
ideology of male privilege
(c) 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Types of On-the-field Violence
1. Brutal body
contact
2. Borderline violence
3. Quasi-criminal
violence
4. Criminal violence
(c) 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
When violence involves widespread rejection of norms, it may signal anarchy
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Violence As Deviant Overconformity to the Sport Ethic
Coaches may expect players to use violence
Violence often attracts media attention
Players may not like violence, even though most accept it as part of the game
Quasi- and criminal violence are routinely rejected by athletes and spectators
(continued)
(c) 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Violence As Deviant Overconformity to the Sport Ethic
Violence may be related to insecurities in high performance sports
Expressions of violence are related to gender, but not limited to men
Physicality creates drama and excitement, strong emotions, and special bonds among all athletes, male and female
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Commercialization and Violence
Some athletes are paid to do violence
Commercialization and money expand the visibility of violence in sports and encourage a promotional rhetoric that uses violent images
Violence is not caused by TV and money – it existed long before TV coverage and big salaries
Media sometimes promoted violence
(c) 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Violence and Masculinity
Violence is grounded in general cultural norms
Violence in sports is not limited to men
Playing power and performance sports often are ways to prove masculinity
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Violence Is Institutionalized in Some Sports
In contact men’s sports, players learn to use violence as a strategy Enforcers & goons
are paid to do violence
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In non-contact sports, violence is usually limited to using violent images in talk
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In women’s contact sports, violence may be used as a strategy, but not to prove femininity
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Pain and Injury As the Price of Violence
A popular paradox in today’s sports: People accept violence while being concerned about injuries caused by violence
Disabling injuries caused by violence in some sports are serious problems
Dominant ideas about masculinity are related to high injury rates in men’s sports
(c) 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Controlling On-the-field Violence
Brutal body contact is the most difficult form of violence to control Most injuries occur on “legal hits”
The most effective strategies might involve: Suspensions for players Fines for team owners
(c) 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Off-the-field Violence
Data on carryover are inconclusiveAssault and sexual assault rates among male, heterosexual athletes are a serious problem These behaviors are a serious problem in society
as a whole Debates about whether rates are higher among
athletes distract attention from the problem of violence in culture
(c) 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Learning to Control Violence in Sports
Control may be learned if The social world formed around a sport promotes a mindset & norms emphasizing:
Non-violence Self-control Respect for self and others Physical fitness Patience
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Violence Is Most Likely When:
Sports are organized in ways that
Produce HUBRIS
Separate athletes from the community
Encourage athletes to think that others do not
deserve their respect
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Violence Among Spectators
No data on how watching sports may influence violence in everyday relationshipsSpectators at non-contact sports have low rates of violenceSpectators at contacts sports have rates of violence that constitute a problem in need of analysis and control Rates today are lower than rates in the past
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Celebratory Violence
This form of violence has not been studied systematically by scholars in the sociology of sport
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Hooliganism
Dunning (1983) concluded that hooliganism, is rationalized by its perpetrators as a legitimate adjunct professional soccer activity.
(c) 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Hooliganism
Mirror of Society
Peter Marsh of the Social Issues Research Centre in Oxford said: "If you had thousands of working-class males congregating on a Saturday afternoon, and there were no fights, that would be very surprising."
(c) 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Figure 7.1 Research is needed on celebratory riots associated with sports
(c) 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
General Factors Related to Violence at Sport Events
1. Action in the sport event itself
2. Crowd dynamics & the situation in which
spectators watch the event
3. Historical, social economic, & political
context in which the event is planned and
played
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Crowd Dynamics & Situational Factors
Crowd size Composition of crowd Meaning and
importance of event History of relationship
between teams Crowd control
strategies at event
Alcohol consumption by spectators
Location of event Motivations for
attending the event Importance of teams as
sources of identity for spectators
(c) 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Controlling Crowd Violence
Be aware of the following factors:
1. Perceived violence on the field is positively
related to crowd violence
2. Crowd dynamics and conditions
3. Historical, social, political, & political issues
underlying spectator orientations