Spectator Violence in Sport - Term Paper Example

Spectator Violence in Sports Spectator Violence in Sports Spectator violence in sports is an issue that is just as old as the historyof games. Sports have been a necessary part of the culture for centuries and so has the violence of spectators that came to see the matches in the stadiums. Spectator violence occurs in several ways that include but are not limited to ticket scalping, public intoxication, underage drinking, littering, terrorism acts, traffic congestion, loitering, and physical and verbal abuse in the crowd. Spectator violence is a very normal thing to occur given whenever there is a match between two parties, spectators’ sympathies are with either of the two parties. Since every match has to end in a victory for one party and a failure for the other, the division between the spectators on the basis of their emotional attachment is quite natural and understandable. If adequate security measures are not taken, spectator violence can be extremely ferocious and may cause several deaths in the stadium. Safety is the key issue of spectator violence in stadiums. This paper discusses the causes of spectator violence in sports and suggests measures to minimize it at the sports events. In order to understand the problem of spectator violence in stadiums, factors that cause and promote spectator violence in stadiums need to be identified first. Stadiums are home to a lot of problems that occur because of misbehavior of which, spectator violence forms only a part. It is difficult to establish and enforce policies for the stadium crowds. Aggression of the spectators makes only a part of the overall safety concerns in the stadiums. In order to do the justice, police is required to maintain a balance between the interests of a lot of parties including the owners and vendors of stadiums and the performers that happen to be the focus of attraction of the spectators. It is also difficult for the police to address all potential reasons of the spread of violence among the spectators because to achieve that, they would need to discourage the zealous fans of the team owners. Spectators’ zeal and spirit means a lot to the team owners and plays a fundamental role in making the match worth watching for the audience and worth playing for the performers. But at the same time, it is equally important to maintain a healthy culture in the stadium wherein, no threats or acts of violence are displayed. Roberts and Benjamin (2000) conducted a research to evaluate the North American perspective regarding violence among spectators of sports. After conducting a thorough review of literature, the researchers found that violence among the spectators is not quite linked with the practices and policies of the criminal justice, but has an important relationship with the social context that encapsulates the spectatorship of North American sports. Hence, following the conclusions drawn by Roberts and Benjamin (2000), it makes sense to evaluate the social context for understanding the causes of violence in Spectators of sports. There are certain characteristics of the staff, events and venues that are the prime contributors of spectator violence in stadiums (Madensen and Eck, 2006, p. 1). In order to take objective measures to reduce spectator violence in stadiums and increase the safety for the audience, it is important to understand the way these characteristics promote aggression in the crowd, though many of these characteristics are almost impossible to restrain. According to Madensen and Eck (2006), there are particular features of the venues that play a very important role in promoting spectator violence and reduce the safety level for the audience. These characteristics include performance proximity, temperature, stadium location, noise level, seating arrangements and place reputation. Spectators are more likely to cause harm to the performers when the distance between the two is lesser. Spectators sitting in the front rows approach performers and are able to throw objects into the field. The increase of noise level triggers emotions in the spectators and they are more likely to indulge in interpersonal conflicts (Russell, 2004). People closer to the sound amplification systems are more susceptible to display violence as compared to the spectators sitting at a distance. The seating arrangement is also a factor of prime consideration while analyzing the stadium to increase the safety level in sports. Violence is not likely to come from spectators occupying individual seats. Violence is maximal from the spectators that are allowed to sit in groups in the festival seating where they can also stand up and hoot. Event characteristics as identified by Madensen and Eck (2006) include availability of alcohol in the stadium or the sports place, duration of the game, crowding, significance of the event, behavior of the performers/sportsmen, quality of performance and the demographics of the crowd. On the other hand, staff characteristics that have been found to play an important role in controlling the spectators’ violence include the staff members’ training, presence, communication and experience. Spectators’ violence is a very unfavorable outcome of the sports events. Throughout the sports history, incidents of spectators’ violence have been occurring from time to time and have continued to occur till today. Among several incidents of spectator violence that have occurred in the recent years, a very unfortunate incident happened in the Dodger Stadium in which a Giants fan, Bryan Stow was attacked by two Dodgers fans in the parking lot. Stow was hurt so bad that he had to be hospitalized. He went into comma and doctors had to perform surgery upon his skull for it had swelled. The verbal fight commenced in the parking lot of the Dodger Stadium took no time to become brutal. Stow got a blow in the head and was kicked several times. One of the Dodgers spokesmen said, “It is extremely unfortunate that this incident took place on what was otherwise a great day at Dodger Stadium for tens of thousands of fans” (ABC, 2011). In order to exercise sufficient control over spectator violence in stadiums, it is imperative that this issue is considered and evaluated from sociological as well as psychological perspectives (Case and Boucher, 1981). In the conventional practice, spectators’ violence has been studied by the sport psychologists with great emphasis upon the aggression levels of the spectators. The Department of Homeland Security has identified certain protective measures to increase the sports safety which can be divided into four types; “(1) Communication and Notification, (2) Planning and Preparedness, (3) Access Control, and (4) Surveillance and Inspection” (Hall, Marciani, and Cooper, 2008, p. 10). The Department of Homeland Security has described certain measures for increasing the safety of sports events as “best practices”. These best practices include but are not limited to conduction of safety assessments on a regular basis, enhancement of perimeter security, improvement of detection monitoring skills, establishment of control over the entire place and inculcation of emergency protocol in the employees’ training (Department of Homeland Security, 2004). Hall et al. (2007) also proposed certain actions to improve the sports safety. They emphasized upon a need to formulate a sports event security action team (SESAT) who would be responsible for the sequencing and communication of all security measures taken on campus, commencement of a vendor program consisting of the elements of training, access control and identification, involvement in the information sharing analysis center (ISAC) and formulation and implementation of emergency plans for sports events. These measures if taken proactively and adequately can considerably reduce the risks associated with the sports events and can play an important role in reducing violence among the sports spectators. References: ABC. (2011). Dodger fans attack, critically injure Giants fan. Retrieved from http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=8047614. Case, R. W., and Boucher, R. L. (1981). Spectator Violence in Sport: a Selected Review. Journal of Sport and Social Issues. 5(2): 1-14. doi: 0.1177/019372358100500201. Department of Homeland Security. (2004, July 23). Department of Homeland Security hosts security forum for sports executives. Office of the Press Secretary. Retrieved from http://dhs.gov/dhspublic/displaycontent=3863. Hall, S., Marciani, L., Cooper, W. E., and Rolen, R. (2007, August). Securing sport stadiums in the 21st century: Think security, enhance safety. Homeland Security Institute: Journal of Homeland Security. Retrieved from http://www.homelandsecurity.org/newjournal/Articles/displayArticle2.asp?article=162. Hall, S., Marciani, L., and Cooper, W. (2008). Sport Venue Security: Planning and Preparedness for Terrorist‐Related Incidents. The SMART Journal. 4(2): 6-15. Retrieved from http://www.thesmartjournal.com/venues.pdf. Madensen, T. D., and Eck, J. E. (2006). Spectator Violence in Stadiums. Problem- Oriented Guides for Police Problem-Specific Guides Series No. 54. US Department of Justice. Retrieved from http://www.popcenter.org/problems/pdfs/spectator_violence.pdf. Roberts, J. V., and Benjamin, C. J. (2000). Spectator Violence in Sports: A North American Perspective. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research. 8: 163-181. Russell, G. (2004). Sport Riots: A Social-Psychological Review. Aggression and Violent Behavior. 9: 353–378. Read More