Football spectator behaviour in Argentina: a case of separate evolution

There has been a separate and distinctive evolution of football related violence in Argentina. Fighting between rival gangs of fans in Argentina developed independently and considerably in advance of the modern phenomenon of football hooliganism in Britain. This case is argued using Argentine sources not previously translated into English. The distinctive features of Argentine football violence are described and the main differences in relation to England are outlined. Of paramount importance are the explicit political links of Argentine football clubs. Organised football preceeded democratic politics in Argentina which resulted in the new political parties utilising the football infrastructure of neighbourhood-based clubs. The death rate associated with Argentine football is significantly higher than in England, and the role of the police is more negative in Argentina. In the conclusion a framework is proposed for the comparative and historical analysis of football related violence.     

'Bataille's boys': postmodernity, Fascists and football fans

In his analysis of football hooliganism, Anthony King claims to reveal the historical, conceptual scheme young, male supporters draw upon. This 'masculine vision', he states, is similar to that held by the Freikorps. Both groups are said to adhere to modernist notions of masculinity, sexuality and nationhood, reinforced by rituals which maintain boundaries between these 'proper' males and deviant 'others'. Occasionally, football hooligans breach these boundaries in acts of postmodern transgression. King also claims that fans link sex and violence in their imaginations. In this response I examine King's critique of his fellow theorists; challenge his 'Freikorps-Fans' analogy; demonstrate the problem he has in establishing the sex-violence link and question the relevance of his concept of postmodernity.     

Anthropological versus sociological approaches to the study of soccer hooliganism: some critical notes

It is argued that the anthropological approach, as used by Armstrong and Harris, has not generated any breakthrough in the study of soccer hooliganism. In particular, it is suggested that their use of a commonsense rather than a sociological concept of violence vitiates their analysis in several ways, contributing above all to substantial inconsistencies between some of their own empirical data and their general conclusions concerning levels of soccer-related violence. It is also contended that their critique of the ‘figurational’ or ‘process-sociological’ approach followed by the Leicester researchers is based on a confused misrepresentation of that approach. Specifically it is argued (i) that Armstrong and Harris fail to recognize the wide range of methods, including extensive participant observation, used by the Leicester group, (ii) that their attempt to cast doubt on the Leicester group's contention that the core football hooligans come predominantly from the ‘rougher’ sections of the working class is based on nothing more than a priori speculation. In this connection, Armstrong and Harris themselves provide no reliable data on the social class of soccer hooligans in Sheffield, and they seem unaware of the fact that several different sources of data appear to confirm the finding of the Leicester group, (iii) they have misunderstood both the terminology and the reasoning of the Leicester group concerning the ‘rougher’ sections of the working class and their relationship to football hooliganism.     

Football hooligans: theory and evidence

This paper describes empirical research amongst hooligans. Such research has not always been valued. The significant factor in hooligan behaviour may be asserted to be the generation of violence in the lower working class and its dissemination amongst football fans. It is commonly asserted that hooligans operate in well-organized groups. It is argued here that such assertions need to be based on better evidence. A detailed account is given of the behaviour of a notorious group of fans and its key individuals. This shows that the ‘hard core’ fans were distinguished from others only by greater dedication to football and their club; they had a potentiality for violence but only of the low level kind that many others shared; they were more often involved simply because they went to more matches; they lacked organization. Nevertheless outsiders were, not unreasonably, sure they were a violent, organized group. This casts doubt on similar beliefs held about other groups unless beliefs are well substantiated. Detailed ethnography is valuable because it helps to sort out the nature of the ‘hooligan’ problem that requires to be theorized.     

Football hooligans: old bottle,new whines?

This paper reviews the claims about the explanation of violence around football put forward by Armstrong and Harris in the light of more widespread faults in the analysis of ‘hooliganism’. It argues that conceptual, definitional and methodological problems mean that the data Armstrong and Harris supply should not cause anyone to abandon either of the two theoretical positions they think they criticize. In particular their dismissal of the moral panic type of approach to the study of football hooliganism is rebutted. Evidence concerning Scottish football is supplied to support this and to indicate that all English researchers into this issue require to revise their arguments.     

Some reflections on discourses on football hooliganism

This essay is partly a response to the recent ethnographic research carried out by Armstrong and Harris, and partly a survey of a more general set of interconnected discourses about football hooliganism as a social phenomenon over the past thirty years into which the work of Armstrong and Harris fits. Discourses on football hooliganism seemed to have proliferated just as the ‘object’ in question seems to have disappeared from public view; at least in Britain, if not in other parts of Continental Europe. Part of the problem lies in the difficulty of defining accurately what we mean by the highly contentious phrase ‘football hooliganism’, a term which has no specific referent in English or Scottish law and whose boundaries, or ‘field’, are demarcated by these various discourses or ‘disciplines’ themselves: namely legal, sociological, psychological, criminological, geographical, architectural and so on. The essay offers examples of approaches which might overcome some of the difficulties experienced in researching football hooliganism.     

Beyond the racist/hooligan couplet: race, social theory and football culture

This paper draws on recent research to explore the changing cultures of racism in English football. Starting from a critical analysis of key themes in the literature on football it seeks to show that existing analytical frameworks need to be reworked if they are going to adequately account for the complex forms through which racism is expressed in contemporary football cultures. In the course of this analysis we question some of the ways in which the issue of racism in football is collapsed into broader accounts of 'hooliganism' and other forms of violence among football fans. From this starting point the paper draws on some elements of our empirical research in order to outline an alternative way of framing the issues of racism and multicultrralism in football.     

Football ‘fanzines’ and football culture: a case of successful ‘cultural contestation’*

‘Fanzines’– magazines produced by fans for fans on photocopiers or small presses and circulated by other means than through mainstream commercial channels – provide an alternative to the products of mass publishing and the mass entertainment industry, although often in ‘dialogue’ with these. In England fanzines – like Sniffin’ Glue or When Saturday Comes– have proliferated over the last fifteen years or so, dealing especially with rock and pop music and also, most recently, with football. Fanzines can be seen as enabling a ‘users’ view’ and -sometimes – a radical reinterpretation (or defence) of popular cultural forms to be expressed by people who would otherwise be excluded from any usual means of written expression about, or control over, mainstream institutions in the production of mass culture. This article focuses on the phenomenon of football fanzines (and the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) – a movement closely associated with fanzines), suggesting (i) that football fanzines and the FSA can be viewed as a particularly potent example of the existence of continued ‘contestation’ over cultural institutions of the kind suggested in relation to sport by Gruneau (1982 and 1983), Donnelly (1988) and others, including ourselves (Jary and Horne 1987 and Horne, Jary and Tomlinson 1987), (ii) that a consideration of football fanzines and the FSA illustrates the value of moving to a wider substantive and theoretical focus in the sociological analysis of football culture than that which has been uppermost in recent years.     

The boy done good: football violence, changes and continuities

As football related disorders remain stubbornly impervious to ‘solutions’, so the study of football hooliganism has become almost a minor branch of the social sciences. This paper looks critically at the main academic approaches to the problem in the UK and Europe. The shortcomings of much of this work are revealed, both theoretically and in terms of the evidence employed about the nature of hooliganism. The meagre amount of data about hooliganism contained in the plethora of Government reports that have so far been commissioned is striking. This may well be the reason why ‘official’ remedies so often prove inadequate. One way of gaining an understanding of this phenomenon is by making contact with, talking to, and observing at first hand the behaviour of those people most centrally involved, the hooligans themselves. This paper concludes with a series of portraits of ‘the boys’, some of it based on their own published writing. This will illustrate different forms of hooligan involvements. It will also provide an understanding of its origins as well as the true scale and scope of hooligan activity, about which many myths prevail. Something of the changes as well as the continuities on the football scene over the past 25 years will be indicated. Finally we will attempt to locate the whole phenomenon in its true place within British youth culture. Clarence Rook Hooligan Nights (1899)     

Professional football and working class culture: English theories and Scottish evidence

This paper reviews certain theories outlined by Taylor, Clarke, Critcher, Dunning et al which try to set out the relations between professional football and working class culture and which, as part of this, seek to explain football hooliganism as resulting from changes in these relationships. Such theories draw on English evidence and English forms and this paper provides some historical and contemporary evidence, concerning hooliganism and community tics, about a major Scottish club – Rangers FC – to indicate that the parallels and causal trajectories these theories suggest do not seem to hold good north of the border. In conclusion, some additional points are made about English theories and Scottish football in order to argue that a good deal more research is required if we want to understand either the symbolic significance of football in working class culture or football hooliganism.     

Blurring the boundaries: Using Gamergate to examine “real” and symbolic violence against women in contemporary gaming culture

Recent controversies in gaming culture (i.e., Gamergate) highlight the lack of attention devoted to discussions of actual violence women experience in gaming. Rather, the focus is often situated on in‐game violence; however, we must extend discussions of in‐game violence and increased aggression to account for the “real world,” violent, realities of women as gamers, developers, and even critics of the medium. As such, we provide context with a brief introduction to the events of Gamergate. We then discuss the connections between the continued marginalization of women both in video games and in “real life.” Drawing from a range of sociological and ludological research, especially Bourdieu and Wacquant's conceptualization of symbolic violence, we examine the normalization of violence towards women in gaming culture. We conclude with considerations for future work involving symbolic violence and other conceptualizations of violence. This focus allows for a more impactful consideration as to why and how codified simulated violence affects marginalized members of communities. Using symbolic violence to connect trends within games to the lived experiences of women in gaming communities binds virtual experiences to “real” ones.     

Micro‐Situational Antecedents of Violent Atrocity1

This article presents an analysis of video recordings showing micro‐situational events that preceded the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in which more than 7,000 Bosnian‐Muslim men were killed by troops of the Bosnian Serb Army. The article focuses on the sequential unfolding of micro interactions and emotional dynamics that preceded the atrocity. Micro interactions constitute situational turning points toward, or away from, atrocities. Even if there are preplanned plots or macro‐structural background conditions that lead particular persons to be motivated to commit violence, a micro‐situational, emotional momentum is needed for atrocities to occur. The article brings together the analysis of video material of violent situations with Ekman’s research tools for emotional cues and Collins’s micro‐sociological theory of violence.     

Violent youth groups in Indonesia: the cases of Yogyakarta and Nusa Tenggara Barat

Problems of violent youth groups have escalated in Indonesia, following economic recession, unemployment, and weakened state institutions. Young people have been hit by the lack of income and broken expectations. In consequence, youth groups emerge and arrange for members' economic revenue as well as identity creation and confidence. Religion in some cases is used to legitimize violence and to strengthen the boldness of group members. The paper offers a brief overview of gangster (preman) traditions in Indonesia. Empirical findings on violent youth groups in the two selected provinces are presented within a multi-factor analytical framework, where the need for income and identity strengthening, political élite interests, and the lack of law enforcement contribute to explaining criminal and vigilante violence. Interviews with leaders and members of movements engaged in violent actions offer insights into a problem that threatens national security and control.     

Violent behavior: a measure of emotional upset?

Over the past ten years, sociologists have broadened their view of what counts as an appropriate measure of mental health. This reflects a growing recognition that individuals express emotional upset in various ways. For example, some individuals are more likely to become depressed in response to stress while others are more likely to drink heavily. Contemporary studies often include measures of "internalizing" (i.e., more feeling-based measures) and "externalizing" (i.e., more behavioral measures) styles of psychopathology, especially when studying group differences in mental health. Alcohol abuse is the classic measure of externalized distress in sociological research. In this paper, we present a theoretical argument and supporting empirical evidence to argue that violent behavior should be included as a measure of externalized distress in response to stress. Our study suggests that violent behavior is a more likely response to stress among individuals with particular coping and appraisal tendencies. Specifically, violent behavior may be a more likely response to stress among individuals who tend to appraise situations as threatening while also repressing any emotional response to stress. We contend that, since some groups may be more likely than others to respond to stress with violence, it is particularly important to include measures of violent behavior when studying group difference in distress.     

Men who use violence: intimate violence versus non-intimate violence profiles

The current study examined the differences between three types of violent men based on Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart's (1994) tripartite typology and a group of non-intimate violent men. First, a cluster analysis was conducted on a sample of 91 domestically violent men, resulting in three clusters that approximated the tripartite model for psychopathology as measured by the MMPI-2, that is, non-pathological, borderline/dysphoric, and antisocial. Based on the violence variables (i.e., severity of violence, family-only violence, and exposure to family of origin violence) only severity of violence approximated what would be expected across the three clusters, that is, the less the psychopathology, the less severe the violence. The other two violence variables had approximate frequencies/percentages of occurrence that would be expected for individual typologies with some but not all three typologies. In comparing the three intimate violent typologies to the non-intimate violent group, the non-intimate and non-pathological groups were within normal limits and did not differ significantly on any of the MMPI-2 scales. These non-intimate and non-pathological groups differed significantly from the antisocial and borderline/dysphoric groups on all the scales that defined the psychopathology of these two groups. On the violence variables, the non-intimate groups reported significantly less severe violence than the borderline/dysphoric and antisocial groups.     

The socialogy of football: a research agenda for the 1990s

The paper emphasizes the need for an alternative sociology of football that goes beyond the issue of football hooliganism, which has dominated work in the field. In the light of the Taylor Report and the agenda of modernization of football in the 1990s, research into the football crowd as a whole is required. A positive view of the state of English football in 1990 is presented as a corrective to the negative image of the 1980s. The debate is set in the context of my previous work on the politics of football both in Britain and the new Europe – West and East. In the final section, several topics are placed on the research agenda for the sociology of football in the 1990s. These are the modernization of facilities, the study of fanzines, comparative research and a social demography of the football crowd.     

DEVIANCE AND LEGITIMACY IN ICE-HOCKEY: A MICROSTRUCTURAL THEORY OF VIOLENCE

Bensman and Gerver's (1964) theory of structural deviance is employed as a general framework for examining the functional indispensability of the fist-fight in ice-hockey. Qualitative materials concerning the players' viewpoint are analyzed, according to Garfinkel (1967), in terms of a conception of practical decision-making used by players in their commission and interpretation of violent acts on the ice. A sociological explanation of hockey violence is thus offered that emphasizes the situationally relevant and meaningful nature of violence as it is experienced and understood by players. It also formulates the fist-fight as an institutionalized mode of legitimate violence that represents a compromise between conflicting ends within the sport.     

Woman Abuse and Conjoint Therapy: Therapists' Experiences of Engagement

ABSTRACT

Treatment approaches with couples in which woman abuse is a factor have been the subject of much attention and concern in the therapeutic community. We used focus groups to examine therapists' experiences of what they see as impeding or facilitating their ability to engage therapeutically with heterosexual couples when a man has used violence. Results were coded along four categories: contextual issues, the person of the therapist, client characteristics, and strategies for enhancing engagement. Results point to the difficulties therapist participants experienced engaging with males who have been violent with their partner. Strategies which therapists used to enhance engagement are illuminated. We discuss differences between the experiences of male and female therapists, and implications for clinical work and future research.     

Nonviolent Civil Resistance and Social Movements

Research on non‐violent civil resistance has burgeoned in recent years. This field has much in common with the study of social movements, and yet there has been little cross‐fertilization between these literatures. In this article, I review the historical development of non‐violence studies from its Gandhian roots, through an emphasis on strategic non‐violence, to current empirical research that has generated new insights into the strategic interactions between non‐violent movements and their opponents, the effects of repression, the factors shaping movement outcomes, and cross‐national tactical diffusion. I summarize key findings and implications for the field of social movements. I conclude by charting out new areas of inquiry that future researchers ought to explore.