NCJ Number
219985
Journal
Trauma, Violence, & Abuse Volume: 8 Issue: 4 Dated: October 2007 Pages: 359-369
Date Published
October 2007
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This literature review focuses on some of the academic publications on sports-related violence, identifying similar themes and prevention suggestions across academic disciplines.
Abstract
The review shows that sports-related violence occurs at all levels of sports activities, from children's leagues through high school and college as well as into professional adult leagues. Sports-related violence in its various forms can have potentially severe physical and psychological effects on those involved. The violent events associated with sports activities have generally been divided into three types in the literature: "hazing," "brawling," and "foul play." Hazing, which is pervasive in team sports, typically involves older players taunting newer or younger players. Sometimes the hazing is physical, to the point of sexual assaults and forced binge drinking. Brawling involves fighting by players and fans in the context of a game. In some sports activities, such as hockey, brawling is even considered part of the excitement of the game. Foul play is generally considered an intentional violation of the rules with the intent to hurt a sports opponent in some way. Communication across disciplines and subsets of study about these forms of sports-related violence have not acknowledged that all three types are examples of interpersonal violence that are interrelated, such that they should be examined as a whole as well as separately. Some authors call for the criminalization of sports-related violence as a deterrent; however, the U.S. criminal justice system has been reluctant to view sports-related violence as a criminal act. In order for intervention measures to be effective, a tracking system is needed to determine the number and characteristics of incidents of sports-related violence. Current interventions should be evaluated so they can be modified and/or expanded to increase their effectiveness. 1 figure and 63 references