The English Disease - Essay Example

The research also evaluated the current state of laws and measures and found them to be both insufficient and at times redundant to curb football hooliganism. The research recommends that the state move away from treating football hooliganism as just another crime. Instead, there is a need to undertake an exhaustive study into the reasons why football hooligans operate. Once these are reared known, the state needs to partnerships with local communities, schools, and families in both preventing and reporting incidences of football hooliganism. 

There has been an increase in the incidences of football fans creating havoc and indulging in fights before, during and, after the matches of their favourite teams. These incidences are seen as a revival of what had come to be known as football hooliganism and had plagued the game in the 1960s through the 1980s. The term, ‘football hooliganism’, itself is defined in various ways and includes several different acts of vandalism. Football hooliganism has largely been described in the media as acts of violence and chaos created by the fans of football clubs during the matches. The term is also inclusive of acts of violence and even gang wars that may occur at a much later period after the matches are over or before they have begun and would include fan clubs and gangs. Though, football hooliganism is recognized by the state as a crime that leads to arrests and punishments, the term itself has not been clearly defined in legal terms. The current paper endeavours to arrive at a conclusive understanding of the term football hooliganism and to develop a holistic definition for the same. With this, it is expected that insights could be gained for developing better prevention and penal programs.

Moreover, the phenomenon of football hooliganism that had originally been noticed in the early 18th century has undergone several changes – especially in terms of the scale of violence as well as in terms of the coverage that the media gives to such incidences. The current paper will also shed light on how and why these changes may have happened. Further, there are several interesting and intriguing questions regarding the personality of the person involved in the act of football hooliganism. For example, it is not understood whether football hooligans are generally violent and destructive even when they are away from football and in environment, or if it is just the atmosphere of the football game that brings out the worst in them? Also, it is worth understanding if football hooligans also indulge in other crimes destruction n of property or thefts etc. The current research will therefore try to explore and find answers to these questions, so that a better understanding of the behaviours, well as the people who indulge in this behaviour could be presented.