1. SPORTS IN SOCIETY: SOCIOLOGICAL ISSUES AND CONTROVERSIES
CHAPTER 7
VIOLENCE IN SPORTS:
How Does it Affect Our Lives?
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

2. What is 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.
When violence involves widespread rejection of norms, it may signal anarchy.
When violence involves extreme overconformity to norms, it may signal fascism.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

3. Definition of Aggression
Verbal or physical actions grounded in an intent to dominate, control or do harm to another person.
Aggression is not the same as assertiveness, competitiveness, or trying hard.
Intimidation refers to words, gestures and actions that threaten violence or aggression.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

4. Violence in Sports Through History
Figurational research shows that violence was more severe in the past.
On the field and off the field.
Rates of sports violence have not automatically increased over time.
Violence in sports remains a crucial social issue today.
Sports violence can serve to reproduce an ideology of male privilege.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

5. Violence On the Field Brutal body contact Borderline violence
Quasi-criminal violence
Criminal violence
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

6. 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-criminal and criminal violence are routinely rejected by athletes and spectators.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

7. Violence as Deviant Overconformity to the Sport Ethic (cont.)
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.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

8. Commercialisation and Violence in Sports
Some athletes are paid to do violence.
Commercialisation 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.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

9. 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.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

10. The Institutionalisation of Violence in Sports
In non-contact sports, violence is usually limited to using violent images in talk.
In contact men’s sports, players learn to use violence as a strategy.
Enforcers and goons are paid to do violence.
In women’s contact sports, violence may be used as a strategy, but not to prove femininity.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

11. 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.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

12. 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.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

13. Violence Off the Field Data on carryover are inconclusive.
Assault and sexual assault rates among male, heterosexual competitors are a serious problem.
These behaviours are a serious problem in society as a whole.
Debates about whether rates are higher among sports competitors distract attention from the problem of violence in culture.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

14. Assaults and Sexual Assaults by Competitors
Violence against women is regular and a serious problem.
Usually committed by heterosexual men not currently playing.
Must be understood within wider cultural context and forms of gender relations.
Culture of men’s sports may foster hubris and sense of privilege that separates competitors from rest of community.
Culture of men’s sports may support belief that women (except mothers and sisters) are celebrity-obsessed ‘groupies.’
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

15. Violence is most likely when sports are organised in ways that:
produce hubris
separate competitors from the community
encourage competitors to think that others do not deserve their respect.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

16. Violence Among Spectators
No data on how watching sports may influence violence in everyday relationships.
Spectators at non-contact sports have low rates of violence.
Spectators 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.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

17. General Factors Related to Violence at Sports Events
Action in the sports event itself.
Crowd dynamics and the situation in which spectators watch the event.
Historical, social, economic and political context in which the event is planned and played.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

18. Crowd Dynamics and 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
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

19. Terrorism as Spectator Violence
Terrorism has occurred at sports events in the past.
Current threats of terrorism have increased security concerns and procedures at sports venues.
Threats of terrorism demand that we be more aware of global issues.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

20. Controlling Crowd Violence
Be aware of the following factors:
Perceived violence on the field – positively related to crowd violence.
Crowd dynamics and conditions.
Historical, social and political issues underlying spectator orientations.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd