Bench clearing brawls in baseball, bloody hockey fights, soccer mobs, post-game sports riots, and increasing injuries are all images of today’s sports that are familiar to us. In recent years players and fans alike have shown increased aggression when it comes to sporting events. One of the most disturbing trends in sports is the increasing frequency and severity of violence. Injuries and deaths among participants are on the rise, as are injuries and deaths among fans and spectators. Violence in sports is an important issue because sports themselves are an important aspect in our lives and the society we live in. Their importance, however, should not be greater than our concern about preserving the values and aspects of our society. The problem of sports violence has become a worldwide phenomenon, that is an unacceptable, growing social problem. Sports violence can be defined as behavior by a player, coach, or fan that is intended to inflict pain or cause injury (Berger 8). Sports violence causes harm, breaks the rules of the game, and is unrelated to the competitive objectives of the sport. Leonard identifies two forms of aggression in sports: Instrumental aggression, which is non-emotional and task-oriented and reactive aggression, which has an underlying emotional component, with harm as its goal(165). Violence is the outcome of reactive aggression. There are three major theories of aggression in sports: The biological theory, psychological theory, and the social learning theory(Leonard 170-171). The biological theory sees aggression as a basic, innate human characteristic, in which sports is seen as a socially acceptable way to discharge built-up aggression(170). The psychological theo... ... middle of paper ... ...ect for authority, but that we have lost respect for each other. Our society’s preoccupation with winning has caused sports stars to play with the intensity of emotion, which leads to violence. While most occurrences of violence come from players, others, including coaches, parents, fans, and the media, also contribute to the increasing violence in sports today. Fans seem to emulate the violence they watch in sports and spectator violence is increasing as participant injuries rise(Yeager 11). Mass media contributes to the acceptability of sports. It provides exposure to sports-related violence via television, magazines, newspapers, and radio, which provides many examples to children who may imitate such behavior. Also it often glamorizes players who are controversial and aggressive. Reading this, I couldn’t help but think of the honorable Mike Tyson.
In the start of the movie there is obvious violence with bodies flying around and medics carrying off the injured, but this was a controlled violence as Coakley describes it as brutal body contact or borderline violence (Coakley 2001). On several occasions the main character Johnathen made references of this control by saying “don’t fight when you’re supposed to be somewhere else” and even teaching other teammates how to take out a biker in a clean way, comparable to a clean take out in baseball. As the movie progressed I believe this is where the futuristic sport turned into a blood-sport of ancient times. With rule changes or even lack of rules the officials made in the Rollerball playoffs, this mimicked the lack of rules and emphasis of violence in the historical blood-sports (Coakley 2001). These were the characteristics of historical violence described by Coakley: increased violence, bloodshed, lack of rules, and lack of self-control.
Adachi, P.J.C. & Willoughby, T. (2011). The Effect of Video Game Competition and Violence on Aggressive Behavior: Which Characteristic Has the greatest influence? Psychology of Violence 1(4), 259-274.
Coakley, J. J., & Donnelly, P. (2007). Violence in Sports . Sports in society: issues & controversies (9th ed., pp. 198-199). Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
The importance of fans is vital because in addition to skill talent and hardwork, fans greatly affect how a team performs in their games. They affect the way a player plays because fans have a way of getting into their players heads and the opponent's head, even the referees are affected by the fans and we rarely notice the importance. In 2001 a Sports Ethics article “ The Ideal Fan” by Myles Dichter he explains the importance of fans and connection between fans
"Violence seems to be something everybody feels they can recognize when they see it, yet it is difficult to define unambiguously. Many different definitions are now in use, and there is much disagreement about them. (Wober 41)" Violent behavior is high due to the sale...
He states that violence is intended to cause substantial physical harm whereas aggressive behaviour can be enjoyed by two consenting people such as wrestling or play fighting (Ferguson, 2010). This view is subsequently reinforced by….. Although violent behaviours are fundamentally aggressive, they do not necessarily lead to violence. Ferguson’s view that widespread research on violence and video games shows findings are not as consistent as first claimed. He asserts that whilst it is evident violent video games may lead to aggression, biased samples and measures from studies conflate the contemporary issues. He further declares that a number of flaws with studies are not as comprehensive from a statistical view and need further investigation. One of Ferguson’s main concerns with violent video games and aggression is that studies investigate little significance into variables like family violence, genetics and gender. These contemporary issues are significant to consider when attempting to find a connection between children and violence. Consequently, Bandura et al. (1961) basic view exposure to violence leads to imitating behaviour and hence children acting aggressively, is another pitfall of the study. It is evident that many factors influence aggression in children and it is imperative to consider all viewpoints when attempting to understand aggression in
.In addition young athletes have become more aggressive. Kids that participate in competitive sports are becoming more and more aggressive and competitive the sports have become themselves. Mitchell reveals "traits like bullying and the need to dominate their oppo...
There are many positives that come from playing sports; most of the time sports are linked with violence and aggression. (Wann)(SV;SV). Fights and violence in sports has been on the rise as of lately. Players are being much more aggressive than ever before. “Some level of violence will always remain in sports” such as football, hockey, and rugby (“Violence Inevitable”). Sports such as these thrive off of violence and they must if they are to stay around. This violence has impacted sports from the players to the fans and has changed the way some sports are played. Fans are also getting much more rowdy. More security is needed at certain sporting events in order to keep the fans under control. The upping in security is due to new rules being set in place by league commissioners and presidents. The new rules are meant to protect both the players involved, and the fans.
Lazar K., Gardner J. (2009, October 19). Police Investigate Ball Field Violence. Retrieved November 1, 2010, from Boston Globe: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/10/19/wilmington_parent_injurei_after_spat_with_pop_warner_coach
noticing an increase in the aggression of their children as well. This brought about the assumption that the violence in video games has a large impact on the way children behave.
After the Lake Erie Monsters scored a goal, however, a large foghorn blared and the crowd erupted in excitement. On the other hand, the crowd remained nearly silent during periods of play. When players hit the walls of the ice rink, some fans would bang on the Plexiglas in an attempt to cheer on the players. Though the game was mild with absolutely no altercations between players, the fans continued to chant for fights. One chant, in particular, caught my attention because it seemed very violent. During various parts of the game, groups of people would yell, “hit somebody!!” loudly and with happiness. This reminded me of the conversation we had in class about play acts that engage in
Sanctioned form of violence are usually used for entertainment or pleasure however it can cause harmful consequences to people who are involved. Sanctioned means something that is allowed to do in a society without suffering the consequences with the law. There are several people who enjoy hardcore activities such as being involved in sports that require training and conditioning before each competition or match. One sport that is sanctioned is boxing that although it is a sport for self defence and fitness I believe that it is too violent based on its form of how it can severely injure the athletes, affect the lives of others who watch it by abusive language, and encourage people to become violent. Boxing is a sport in which two people wearing
...ent behavior in order to win the game. Whereas, “sports violence can be seen as either an example of laudable competitive drive present in worthy participates or an underhanded attempts at rule bending” (Raney & Depalma, 2006). Moreover, decades of media exposure may have led to an increase in the acceptance of violence. Is media coverage exploiting sports violence and aggression for ratings? It’s unclear if fans are becoming desensitized and/or imitating the violence witnessed through the medium of media. Regardless, it’s abundantly clear the changes need to be made in light of the negative effects. Identifying and examining media’s role in the public’s acceptance of aggressive behavior in sports may aid society in minimizing the violence and aggression as much as possible surrounding sporting events to make sporting events safer for both players and fans.
In sport it is important to understand the difference between aggressive and assertive behaviors. Assertive behaviors are actions, which do not intend to inflict harm, but are aimed at imposing traits such as influence and dominance (Weinberg, 2015). It is often heard coaches instructing their athletes to be more aggressive when they play. One would assume that these coaches are
I feel that the best way to control aggression in sports players is to control their emotions and thought processes. Thinking about previous wins and general thoughts linked to attributions to eliminate negative feelings. This will develop self-confidence, and in due course stop the player from being so aggressive as they will know there is no need to apply aggression to the opposite team because he or she will know they are physically and mentally prepared and skilled that the opposite players. That mental preparation can be done by mental rehearse and goal setting.