Soccer Hooliganism - Essay Example

Soccer Hooliganism Soccer (football) hooliganism is a concept that is used to describe violence that commonly occurs during soccer games. According to Hoffman (191), the football hooliganism phenomenon is a creation of the media in their efforts to describe troublemakers during soccer games. As such, there is no a universal definition of this phenomenon due to the different forms that it is manifested. Although the phrase was coined fairly recently in the 1960’s, violence associated football games is as old as the game. However, with time football hooliganism has evolved and acquired new dimensions which are used based on causes and area where it occurs. In recent times, it has increasingly grown to be linked with either types of people or context and incidents. One form of hooliganism is spontaneous and minor while the second and most serious form involves rivalry between gangs that support different teams (Dunning 142). This paper will tackle soccer hooliganism in terms of its history, media coverage, causes and ways of combating it. History of Hooliganism It is widely thought that football hooliganism started in the 1960’s before escalating in the following two decades. However, there are records of violence and disorderly conduct in football crowds early in the 19th C. It is difficult to gauge the paucity and seriousness of the problem back then due to lack of accurate records. Back then, there tended to be leniency in the way which football hooliganism incidents were dealt with which further obscures their knowledge. In the early days of football games, football hooliganism was very subtle and was mostly displayed invading of the pitch (King 572). Although fans frequently invaded the pitch during play time, the only serious thing that happen was stopping of the game with no bodily harm to the players. Prominence of this phenomenon pitched its fever pitch during the 1960’s when new and violent forms began to be manifested during soccer games (Piotrowski 634). The coverage of soccer games by media increased which also highlighted the growing problems within soccer crowds. Then, football hooliganism was being portrayed as part of youth rebellion where young soccer fans found a way of letting out their frustrations. It is during the 1960’s and 80’s that there was a surge of delinquency among the youth which led to formation of football gangs all over the world. Other social problems like racism also found their way in the soccer scene and were exhibited through violent clashes between members of different gangs. Soccer stadia acquired new identities where frequent brawling and clashes of fans took place often. Slowly, football hooliganism evolved into different social structures that have become more coherent even today. These social structures were quite prominent in the working class where neighborhood groupings arose to form a base of supporters for a certain team or club (Gibbons, Kevin and Stuart 29). Forms of Soccer Hooliganism Generally, there are two constructs of football hooliganism which are differentiated in the manner in which they occur. The main one is usually spontaneous and takes the form of disorderly conduct within stadia during soccer games. This kind is usually prominent among British soccer fans that usually cause chaos in other countries. However, the media tends to exaggerate this form of hooliganism which paints the country as the origin of the vice. As a result, English fans who travel abroad to watch or support their teams are usually the focal attention of law enforcement agents and rival gangs. It has been claimed that disorder usually results due to a small number of hooligans who travel abroad with a motive to cause chaos. They usually do this by inciting drunken fans who in turn indulge in violent activities outside soccer stadia (Van, Hautman, Cornelis and De Clercq 172). The second form is the most serious because it is usually propagated within individual countries. This form of hooliganism is quite hard to control because it occurs between very well organized groups of soccer fans. With time, many soccer clubs have acquired firm support of fans that usually travel with the club to cheer it. Unfortunately, these ardent supporters of clubs are the ones that engage in hooliganism activities. The media on its part has covered very little of this type of hooliganism which in turn makes it hard to contain. It must be pointed out that although a club may have many diehard fans, it is only a few that engage in violent or gang related activities during matches (Roberts and Benjamin 171). Media Coverage This phrase and concept of football hooliganism came into the limelight due to media’s coverage of soccer games. Therefore, the media has been very important in informing the public about it and constructing its profile through time. Tabloid press has really raised its profile through reporting of football hooliganism within major soccer playing nations. In their reporting, they have developed a sensationalist style which is predicated upon captivating headlines that magnify violence using war metaphors. The style has developed over the years and has led to panic within the public due to rising delinquency tendencies in the youth. As much as exposing the rot in the soccer games is important, media coverage has served to encourage the phenomenon due to the limelight given to the hooligans. To some extent, media has pushed the phenomenon to new heights through inciting and promotion of xenophobia (Ward 460). The sensationalist type of reporting on soccer hooliganism has made the press very influential in policies that deal with the problem. Although this may seem good, it has actually resulted in many policies that are very effective in the long run. This is because many of the policies have always been geared towards curbing isolated incidences and therefore proved to be very short sighted solutions. Central to the importance of the media in creating public awareness of soccer hooliganism is amplification spiral which creates an appetite of more stories in the public. In this regards, the media results into inaccurate or exaggerated reporting which puts pressure on soccer governing bodies to stamp out the vice (Dunning 158). Causes Many of the identified causes of hooliganism in soccer are attributed to causal factors and one of them is alcohol consumption during soccer games. Research has shown that alcohol consumption is a determining factor on the occurrence of hooliganism. The relationship between violence or disorder and alcohol is quite complex and there has been no concrete scientific evidence that drinking of alcohol causes violence. However, there exists a correlation between alcohol drinking and violence in the social context. This therefore means that the management and banning of alcohol intake during soccer games can determine whether disorder will occur in a crowd. It has been noted that the serious hooligans do not actually take alcohol and banning of alcohol consumption during soccer matches can actually increase disorder in soccer fans or spectators (Gow and Rookwood 79). Another cause has been attributed to exaggerated reporting by media which creates a fury and division among supporters of rival clubs or teams. The way in which media reports violence during soccer games often draws a lot of attention especially to soccer fans. After reading these reports, some people usually want to get involved in the action so that they too can show support and love of their teams. In this regards, research has shown that there are primarily two reasons why people choose to indulge in this antisocial behavior. One of the reasons is to join the crowd as a social undertaking and make the numbers. The other reason is to show their allegiance and support of their preferred team especially if its supporters had been repressed by supporters of a rival team. As such it becomes very difficult to control hooliganism due to media reporting (Gow and Rookwood 76). The manner in which episodes of hooliganism are handled by the police and other law enforcing agents also can lead to hooliganism. There have been rampant accusations against the police that they usually treat all soccer fans as hooligans which exacerbate the problem. This is quite common in Europe where there are rampant cases of hooliganism. When people are mishandled and excessive force used against them, they usually feel obligated and justified to engage in violent activities. Therefore, sometimes police share the blame on escalation of soccer related violence just like the media. It has been contemplated that the presence of police during soccer games usually incites the crowds into violence instead of brining tranquility. However, the occurrence of hooliganism during games is largely depended upon individual conduct of people and the police (Piotrowski 638). Involvement in hooligan activities has also been blamed on the need to retaliate against fans of rival teams. This is due to individual characters and outside influences which heap pressure on people to become disorderly. In particular, many people usually want to belong into a communal group which has a common purpose. This need is often caused by a desire for communal expression which is outstanding. As such, the working middle class has been very instrumental in forming support groups for teams in which they propagate violence. Allegiance to football teams by supporters has been a major problem especially among the youth who like challenging supporters of rival teams. When two prominent teams with sizeable supporters clash, supporters of the losing team are more likely to cause chaos after the match. This has been seen as a retaliatory measure which usually leads to ugly clashes outside the stadium (Gow and Rookwood 75). Efforts to Combat Hooliganism One of the major efforts directed towards stopping hooliganism has been the control of alcohol consumption during soccer games. This is usually the first line of defense because although alcohol is intoxicating, its consumption wide and legal. It is a fact that many of soccer fans take alcohol and this may impair their judgment causing them to be disorderly. Closely related to control of alcohol are stringent policies and bans that are imposed on clubs when their supporters cause chaos. Many of the soccer governing bodies usually fine clubs hefty fines on the account of their fans’ misbehavior. In rare occasions, when racial abuses are directed towards players of an opposing team, teams are often fined and forced to play without supporter for several games (Van, Hautman, Cornelis and De Clercq 184). Technology has also come in handy especially in identifying hooligans. This is usually done through profiling and keeping records of particular troublesome characters. Most of the modern stadia have CCTV (closed circuit TV cameras) surveillance which is very instrumental in identifying potential hooligans. Some fans have been banned from attending games of their teams for live and if they are allowed to attend, they must report to authorities. Apart from using CCTV for surveillance, the police and security agents are often deployed to maintain order during soccer games. It can be almost impossible to control large soccer crowds in stadia in the absence of police or a low ratio of fans to police. The other widely used mechanism to combat hooliganism is by using teams and clubs to appeal to their supporters for peace. This is important because without these supporters, they clubs cannot survive because of finances they bring to the clubs. Ardent supporters of teams follow keenly to the happenings in their clubs and are very obedient to directions emanating from the teams’ management (Gibbons, Kevin and Stuart 38). Conclusion Soccer (football) hooliganism is a concept that is used to describe violence that commonly occurs during soccer games. Although it is as old as the sport itself, it came into prominence during the 1960’s. It was brought into the limelight by media coverage and as such much of what is known has been contributed by the media. There are many causes of hooliganism but the main ones are alcohol consumption, poor policing, exaggeration by media and the need for relation. Works Cited Dunning, Eric. “Towards a Sociological Understanding of Football Hooliganism as a World Phenomenon.” European Journal on Criminal Policy & Research, 8.2 (2000): 141-162 Gibbons, Tom., Kevin, Dixon., and Stuart Braye. "‘The way it was’: an account of soccer violence in the 1980s." Soccer & Society, 9.1 (2008): 28-41. Gow, Paul and Rookwood, Joel. “Doing it for the team - examining the causes of contemporary English football hooliganism.” Journal of Qualitative Research in Sports Studies, 2.1 (2008): 71-82. Hoffman, Shirl J. "Football Hooligans." Contemporary Sociology, 28.2 (1999): 191-192. King, Anthony. "Violent pasts: collective memory and football hooliganism." The Sociological Review, 49.4 (2001): 568-585. Piotrowski Przemysław. "Coping With Football‐Related Hooliganism: Healing Symptoms Versus Causes Prevention1." Journal of applied social psychology, 36.3 (2006): 629-643. Roberts, Julian V., and Cynthia J. Benjamin. "Spectator Violence in Sports: A North American Perspective." European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research 8.2 (2000): 163-81. Van, Hiel A., Hautman Lobke, Cornelis Ilse, and De Clercq Barbara. “Football Hooliganism: Comparing Self-Awareness and Social Identity Theory Explanations.” Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 17.3 (2007): 169-186 Ward Jr, Russell E. "Fan violence: Social problem or moral panic?" Aggression and Violent Behavior, 7.5 (2002): 453-475. Read More