HSRV 103

Critically analyse the relationship between violence and sport. In your discussion

consider the nature of the relationship between the two and whether sport influences the

likelihood of violence for individuals, families and communities.

Introduction

Sport is an integral part of many societies. It is played by all kinds of people for many

different reasons. Some may come to sport to improve in areas such as fitness, co-

ordination and body awareness. Some may come for community and others for

entertainment or to pursue a career. In many schools, involvement in sport is compulsory

with classes on physical education forming part of the core curriculum. It is also used in

community programmes that seek to provide positive experiences for at-risk youth. Sport

can be a drawing together of people for a common cause, with health and community

support benefits. Unfortunately, sport is also associated with the occurrence of violence

and may be a trigger for violent behaviour. Evidence exists that promotes sport in both a

positive and negative light. The relationship between sport and violence is complex. The

influence that sport has on violent behaviour is intricately linked with context and

underlying social factors.

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Sport, violence and the individual

Player violence

Some sports are inherently violent. Boxing, for one, asks opponents to punch each other

repeatedly in a bid to score points or affect a knock-out. Rugby asks its players to tackle

one another to the ground. Martial artists are trained to physically control another person.

These kinds of violence are deemed acceptable because those partaking in them are

aware of the rules and the risks. It is when these rules are broken that violent acts occur.

Coakley (1999) suggests that violence committed in the sporting arena is motivated by

heroic values and a heavy emphasis on winning. When an impassioned individual feels

that these things are threatened the likelihood of violence is increased. This drive to be

the best may even extend beyond the field of play. The violent assault arranged by Tonya

Harding against her ice-skating rival Nancy Kerrigan is a prime example of this (Time,

1994).

Heroic values and the importance of winning are constantly reinforced by the media and

by social expectations. For example, And the Crowd Goes Wild is a television show in

New Zealand that has a weekly segment called, Smashed ‘em bro. This is a collection of

hard hitting tackles or ‘big hits’ from league and rugby matches. After each tackle a

crowd of voices call out, ‘Smashed ‘em bro’, in a tone that suggests enjoyment and

endorsement. This may imply that sport and violence are a socially desirable pairing and

whilst sport may in part be responsible for an individual’s violent behaviour the social

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enjoyment, endorsement and even expectation of violence in sport cannot be overlooked

as contributing factors.

It may be, however, that sport decreases the occurrence of socially unacceptable violence

overall. The individual’s involvement in sport may provide an outlet for the expression of

violent behaviour in a socially sanctioned way. As has been seen with violent video game

playing, the effect that engagement with violence has on an individual depends on their

temperament and their pre-game state of anger (Unsworth, Devilly and Ward, 2007) For

someone who is in an angry pre-game state and has a labile temperament the game

facilitates a release and a decrease in angry feeling. Interestingly, if the same person has a

low level of pre-game anger they will experience an increase in anger. It would be

interesting to apply this research to sport to see if the results carry over. Understanding an

individual’s predisposition for sport-induced violence could be used as a prediction tool

for use in reducing player violence and be carried over to the application of sport centred

interventions in the human services.

Sport may increase the likelihood of violent behaviour in an individual therefore if they

are affected by hero values and the pressure of winning to such a degree that they are

prepared to break the rules of the game to assert these things. The temperament of the

individual may have a part to play in this and depending on the individual sport may

increase, decrease or have no affect on the likelihood that violent behaviour will result.

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Sport, violence and the family

Violence against women

The violent behaviour of male sportspeople against women is well documented

(Toffoletti, 2007). The feminist critique says that at the root of this violence is the way

gender is perceived (Toffoletti, 2007). Toffoletti (2007) identifies many factors that

perpetuate detrimental constructions of gender. These include the association supported

by the media of sport with masculinity, limited airtime given to female sports events, lack

of funding for female sports and implicit comparisons of women to male prototypes of

what athletes and sport should be. These all function to endow males with more power

than females, enforcing the hero values identified above. When sexual assault occurs, it

was found by Toffoletti (2007) that the media often minimises the severity of the

violence and implies that the woman involved was in some way responsible or places

responsibility solely on the individual perpetrator without considering the factors that

have led to the assault. Welch (1997) found that in professional football, men who play in

scoring positions such as a running back or receiver are more likely to commit domestic

violence or sexual assault against women. Welch (1997) concludes that the status

inherent in the position, the prestige granted these players, a sense of narcissism and an

overall sense of entitlement were important sociological and psychological factors that

increased the likelihood that family violence would occur.

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Violence against children

It was hypothesised by Drake and Pandey (1996) that on days of important sporting

events the incidence of male perpetrated child abuse would increase. The idea behind this

investigation was that the negative outcome of sports events may lead to an unleashing of

frustration directed at children. The research, however, found that this was not the case.

The role of the family

Kremer-Sadlik and Kim (2007) found that sport has an important part to play in the

everyday lives of families. They found that the lessons learnt through being part of a

sports team helped children to develop certain ‘culturally cherished skills and values.’

Parents were found to play and important and active role in the formation of these skills

and values. It may be, therefore, that sport in combination with the quality of a parent’s

interaction, influences whether violence will be associated with and influenced by sport.

Sport, violence and the community

Spectator violence

One of the most obvious and impactful demonstrations of sport-related violence occurs

amongst the spectators. Acts of violence with this group happen inside and outside of the

sports venue and generally come in the form of brawling, assault, property damage and

sometimes homicide (Johnson, 1993). Young (2000) identifies the world soccer

tournament as being the worst climate for crowd violence and cites player violence and

the unpopular rulings of officials as triggers for this. Soccer is not the only sport that has

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been linked to violence however. Young (2000) claims that many sports from horse

racing and lacrosse to golf and blood sports have been noted as inciting violence. In

1968, after the Tigers won the baseball World Series in Detroit, 200 arrests for violent

acts including looting, arson, the overturning of cars and rape were reported (Young,

2000). Sporting events that involve a high degree of emotion and investment seem to

increase the likelihood that violence will occur. In cases of spectator violence it seems

that sport and violence have a causal relationship. Simons and Taylor (1992) attribute this

kind of violence to a ‘series of intrapersonal, environmental, and social conditions.’ They

suggest that if an understanding of these factors and the dynamics between them is

possible then steps may be taken to reduce the likelihood that the spectator community

will experience violence. Limiting the consumption of alcohol and making the security

between opposing supporter groups are examples of steps that may be taken.

Delinquent youth

Sport is used by some community groups as an intervention for delinquent youth. On the

Sport and Development website they cite ‘inclusion and community building; character-

building; and delinquency and community safety’ as being key aspects of child

development that can be supported by participation in sports. They highlight the

importance of inclusion as a way to build both social cohesion and social capital in a

community. Other positive outcomes they attribute are strong peer relationships,

leadership skills, altruism and acceptance of and appreciation for diversity. They caution

that to be truly effective as an intervention sport needs to be coupled with programmes

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that enhance leadership and job skills and also address the factors that have led to the

delinquency. They also recommend decreasing the emphasis on winning.

Smith and Waddington (2004) critique the use of sport-based interventions as they argue

that a theory-based rationale does not underlie it and few schemes allow for accurate

assessment of outcomes. In theory, it seems that sport combined with other interventions

can function to decrease the communities likelihood of experiencing violence, but more

research is needed to fully understand the relationship between sport and violence in this

case.

Migrants

Branscombe and Wann (1991) argue that involvement in sport may be an answer to the

decline of society experienced in nations around the world today. They found that being

part of a team can provide a ‘buffer from feelings of depression and alienation, and at the

same time, fosters feelings of belongingness and self worth.’ Conversely, Krouwel,

Boonstra, Duyvendak and Veldboer (2006) found that whilst sport is a widely promoted

way of integrating peoples, differences seemed to be reinforced, not transcended.

Conclusion

Social pressures regarding winning and heroic values affect an individual’s experience of

sport and the likelihood that they will express violent behaviour. A social enjoyment,

endorsement and expectation of sport related violence perpetuates it. It may be that the

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individual’s temperament and post-game angry state are important predictors of the effect

that these pressures will have.

The likelihood that a family will experience violence associated with sport is increased

by detrimental social constructions of gender in relation to sport. Men who are in roles

that assert their heroic status and strength are more likely to abuse women. No link

between sport and child abuse was found. The family plays an important role in guiding

their sport-playing child in a non-violent direction as it has been found that sport may be

used as a socialisation tool but that parents are influential in the outcome.

Sport and violence at a community level are again dependent on the context in which the

sporting event takes place. Intrapersonal, environmental and social conditions all interact

to influence the likelihood that violence will or will not occur and affect a community. As

a tool to counter community violence with regards to youth delinquency and migrant

integration, sport alone is not enough to influence violence.

Sport and violence have a complex relationship that depends very much on context and

social factors. For violence to occur sport alone is insufficient. When coupled with social

pressures to be heroic and to win, with constructions of gender, with individual

temperaments and current emotional states and with specially targeted programmes, then

a causal relationship can be seen. Sport alone, however, does not influence the likelihood

of violence for individuals, families and communities.