The Cost of Violence

This discussion addresses module outcome 1. On May 2, 2012, Junior Seau, one of the most celebrated defensive players in NFL history, committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest. Many saw this as a gesture that he wanted his brain donated and dissected for signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE (Links to an external site.), a debilitating brain condition resulting from the buildup of proteins in the brain from repeated blows to the head. Prior to his suicide, Seau’s behavior had become increasingly erratic. His family and friends remarked that he had fallen into severe clinical depression, disorientation, and violence. This discussion focuses on the physiological aspects of violence in sport. Paying particular attention to the concussion crisis in youth, collegiate, and professional American football. The discussion below will ask you to view our video content, and engage in your own independent research.
Before participating in this discussion, make sure you have completed the relevant video and reading content for the module. Using this content and your own independent research, please respond to the following questions:
• After viewing the video content, reading and listening to the assigned NPR broadcast and the video on Mike Webster and others, and engaging in your own independent research, explain the theory behind the basic biology of CTE, and then explain one piece of “counter evidence” that refutes this theory. (No need to get too technical here, but having a good background on this will help!). Cite at least one website in your response.
• The NFL has been routinely criticized for their slow reaction to what many view now to be a full-blown concussion crisis in professional American football. Explain specifically how the NFL has responded to this concussion crisis. Do you think that this response has been appropriate? Why or why not?
Your initial post should be at least 250 words and must substantively integrate the assigned readings with proper APA (Links to an external site.) style formatting.
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Required
Module notes: Understanding Violence in Sport
Guttmann, A. (2012). From ritual to record: The nature of modern sports. (Links to an external site.) New York: Columbia University Press, pp.117-136.
Hyman, M. (2009). Until it hurts: America’s obsession with youth sports and how it harms our kids. (Links to an external site.) Boston, MA, USA: Beacon Press, pp.113-124.
Former NFL players sue over concussions. (Links to an external site.) (2011, December 27). All Things Considered.
Laws, Will. 2014. Visualizing NFL’s crime problem (Links to an external site.). Sports Illustrated. October 1.
Roach, N.T. et al. (2013). Elastic energy storage in the shoulder and the evolution of high-speed throwing in Homo (Links to an external site.). Nature, 498, 483-486.
Rubin, B. (1988, March 29). Duel between pitcher, hitter defines baseball (Links to an external site.). Spartanburg Herald-Journal.
Scambler, G. (2005). Sport and society: History, power and culture (Links to an external site.). Berkshire, GBR: McGraw-Hill Education, pp.93-115.
Spaaij, R. (2014). Sports crowd violence: An interdisciplinary synthesis (Links to an external site.). Aggression and Violent Behavior, 19, 146-155.
Optional
Ingrassia, B. (2014). Manhood or masculinity: the historiography of manliness in American sport. (Links to an external site.) In ed. Steven Reiss, A Companion to American Sport History. Hoboken,NJ: Wiley, pp.479-499.
Skillen, F., Palmer, C., & Hughson, J. (2012). The Role of Sports in the Formation of Personal Identities: Studies in Community Loyalties. (Links to an external site.) Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen Press, Ch. 9, pp.217-241.
An Enforcer’s life is a daily battle (Links to an external site.). (2011, September 11). Sports Illustrated.
Vaccaro, C. A., Schrock, D. P., & McCabe, J. M. (2011). Managing Emotional Manhood: Fighting and Fostering Fear in Mixed Martial Arts. (Links to an external site.)Social Psychology Quarterly, 74(4), 414-437.
View or listen:
Required
American Football. League of denial: The NFL’s concussion crisis (Links to an external site.). (2013). In Films On Demand, Segments 6-14 [Video file, 22:44 mins].
Security and the Ron Artest Brawl: In the line of duty, volume 10 (Links to an external site.). (2005). In Films On Demand. [Video file, 1:58 mins].
Why Do Fans Resort to Violence After Sporting Events (Links to an external site.). (2014, April 9). Fox News [Video file, 5:23 mins].
Sports concussions and youth athletes (Links to an external site.). (2013). In Films On Demand. [Video file, 5:48 mins].
NHL- Ice hockey violence under scrutiny (Links to an external site.). (2013, May 18). Al Jazeera. [Video file, 2:18 mins].
NHL concussion reignites debate about violence in hockey (Links to an external site.). (2013, October 2). Canadian Broadcast Corporation. [Video file, 3 mins].
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The Scambler and Guttmann texts point out, there is significant debate concerning whether sport serves as a civilizing, or de-civilizing institution in society. Focusing specifically upon the example of modern-day rugby, Scambler forwards a multifaceted analysis which highlights the primitive and communal origins of violence in sport, which may very well have evolved with humans from our hunter-gatherer origins. Certainly, the Roach reading finds humanity’s shoulder evolved from throwing weapons in more primitive times, which now features prominently in the modern day “duel” between pitchers and batters in baseball (Links to an external site.). Sport appears as a communally sanctioned institution with varying degrees of social acceptance, if not outright promotion, of violence. Anger and violence are necessary components to physical competition, and this complicates our understanding of what is acceptable anger, aggression and violence, both in what drives athletes themselves and the larger society that supports them. As is stated in this snippet regarding Jackie Robinson, “without anger, you don’t get Jackie Robinson.”Links to an external site. [Video file, 11:12 minutes]. Jackie Robinson’s wife Rachel explains the fine line between necessary aggression and playing to win in all sport: “he was not an angry black man, he was an athlete who wanted to win.”
Scambler’s analysis showing societal rules and sanctioning of sport can be easily applied to any organized sport, but it is especially important when examining contact or combat-based sports. First, modern-day contact sports operate according to formal written rules that demand strict control over how physical force is used. These rules are continuously updated, exemplified by the National Football League’s newly written helmet-to-helmet contact (Links to an external site.) policy. Second, contemporary contact sports have clearly defined sanctions or penalties that are brought to bear on those who use excessive force. Even sports such as hockey, which has fairly loose regulations on fighting, govern the behavior of players through an increasingly intense series of during and after game penalties (Links to an external site.). Third, the use of officials, or referees, is now an institutionalized part of any organized sport, contact or otherwise. Finally, Scambler discusses centralized rulemaking and rule enforcing bodies. Indeed, all organized sports have an official set of rules at the amateur and professional level.
All of these factors contribute to what the author calls the “logic of honor and its relations of status and celebrity” in professional sport (Scambler, 2005, p.101). Violence is allowed, and indeed encouraged, but it must be done within the guidelines that give both players and fans a sense of structure and predictability. This is of course central to American football, the most “warlike” and popular of American sports. William Philllips described its appeal well:
“All sports serve as some kind of release but the rhythm of football is geared particularly to the violence and the peculiar combination of order and dis-order of modern life. Baseball is too slow, too dependable, too much like a regional drawl. Basketball is too nervous and too tight; hockey too frenzied; boxing too chaotic, too folksy. Only football provides a genuine catharsis.” (quoted in Guttmann, 2012, p.118).
This still raises, however, an important point about the way that society and celebrity contributes to the embrace of violence, and the constant interplay between players’ and fans’ behavior, and the rules of any given sport. As all of this module’s materials show, violence on and off the field appears to be amply rewarded in American society, often making it unclear what the distinction is between violence as a means to attaining status, and violence that is sanctioned or punished.
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In focusing upon American society’s obsession with youth sports, the Hyman (2009) reading sheds some important light on how the encouragement of young people to participate in sport influences, and is influenced by, a culture that values domination and violence. As Hyman points out, more children than ever are playing youth sports according to the National Council of Youth Sports (Links to an external site.), and as the participation in sport increases, so has the seriousness with which parents and children participate. This is especially the case for parents, as their behavior has increasingly become belligerent from the sidelines, often directing coaches on how to coach their children, and screaming obscenities during youth sporting events. In one example of many from the reading, a mother asked her 15-year-old daughter to get out of the car after arguing about her performance at a soccer game. The child was dropped off at an exit on Interstate 80 in Lincoln, Nebraska, and fortunately picked up by a teammate. We have also seen troubling examples of parents fighting with each other, sometimes with tragic results. One case in particular is that of Thomas Junta (Links to an external site.), a 270-pound Massachusetts man who, in July 2000, was charged with beating fellow hockey dad, Michael Costin, to death after the two argued about a hockey practice that had become too rough. Junta served 8 years in prison after he was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Nonetheless, beginning at early ages, parents continue to acculturate their children into the rites, rituals and societal benefits coming from participating in sports programs, particularly violence-laden contact ones. College football epitomizes the transition from youth to professional sports as well as the pitfalls of rewarded aggression and violence (Links to an external site.) that comes with these semi-pro sports franchises.
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“Football is a violent game. To play you have to be tough. Physically tough and mentally tough.” (Vince Lombardi, quoted in Guttmann, 2012, p.120).
Extending the content from our previous module focusing in part upon gender and sport, it is important to examine violence in certain sports as an extension of gender roles in modern society. While “men’ are expected to play and/or admire football as the moral equivalent of war, women and violence in women’s sport is often either obscured or sensationalized. As the optional Vaccaro et al. (2011) reading points out, this is particularly the case when we think about the attitudes and behaviors that define masculinity. According to the authors, masculinity is a malleable concept, and one that is achieved through a type of social performance. The sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) is an excellent forum through which to understand masculine performances. In order to explain these performances, the authors use a theoretical framework known as “emotion management.” Of particular note in this study is the way in which mixed martial arts fighters confront and attempt to master their fears of injury and defeat–a theme that fits very well with masculine stereotypes of fearlessness, bravery, and valor. Although succumbing to fear in MMA is highly discouraged, the authors point out that this happens often, which produces a tremendous culture of emotional shaming. Indeed, we may summarize the culture of mixed martial arts as one that focuses as much upon control over one’s emotions as it does upon the physical domination of another human being. This projection of masculinity can be seen at the level of the actual MMA fighter, but also, at the organizational levels in mixed martial arts fighting. For example, promoters for these events commonly use heavily gendered language, such as “two men enter, one man leaves.” This male-centered culture in the world of combat sports is clearer when we examine the way that female fighters are regarded in professional mixed martial arts. Not surprisingly, women who compete in these combat sports are almost invariably marketed as sensual, sexy and, paradoxically, vicious (Links to an external site.).
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What about the problems of violence among the fans of sport? If sport is to some degree organized and channeled violence by the athletes, the spectators and crowds are necessarily also experiencing the flush of adrenaline and violence that the athletes themselves experience, only in much greater numbers and often with the toxic addition of alcohol and other stimulants. The Spaaij (2014) article provides a thoughtful analysis about the problems of crowd violence which, as the author contends, is a regular occurrence at a variety of spectator sports around the world. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, the author provides a useful historical analysis of crowd violence in sports, and analyzes some very important examples. Chief among these is the 2012 soccer riot that occurred in the Egyptian city of Port Said (Links to an external site.)in which spectators invaded a soccer field, resulting in 74 deaths, and injuries to hundreds. This tragic event resulted in the death sentences of 21 soccer fans who were charged with having incited the riot. Another poignant example concerns the October 2012 National League wild-card game (Links to an external site.) (an important playoff game) between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Atlanta Braves that was halted after 19 minutes because Braves fans, after disagreeing with the umpire decision, began throwing debris onto the field. Another example not covered by Spaaij comes from professional basketball. On November 19, 2004, an unprecedented melee erupted between NBA players from the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons fans, which is now known as the “malice in the palace.” (Links to an external site.)
In order to understand these many examples of sensational crowd violence in professional and amateur sport, the author adopts multiple social science perspectives. One key point concerns the extent of coordination among the people who engage in violence during such unfortunate altercations. This is obviously true of post-game rioting, and from a commonsense viewpoint, we often attribute fan violence to a completely spontaneous activity. But, with the rise of “hooliganism,” Spaaij argues that much of this crowd violence takes on a more structured, organized form. Indeed, as the author contends, hooliganism is only loosely connected to the sporting event itself, and is a type of criminal behavior that finds its way easily into events that draw large crowds. The sport most associated with hooliganism globally is soccer, which is a growing problem around the world. Some gangs of soccer hooligans have adopted the motto: “loved by few, hated by many, feared by all.”

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