Term paper on Violence

Violence Essays

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With the increase in society taking a stance against violence by many people, sports has become an area

where some feel that the violent acts such as the hitting and fighting that occurs should be eliminated.

You can not change something that has been around for so long because it would change the aspect of the

game to something completely different. The elimination of violence should not be done in sport because

the violence is a part of the game which would only hurt its popularity.


The reasons that the violence is occurring in sport is due to six theories according to John

Schneider. "The violence in sport mirrors the violence found in society, violence as the result of

economic incentives, the influence of crowd behavior on player violence, genetic causation for player

aggression, learning theory and player aggression, and psychological stress and player violence"

(Lapchick 230).


The theories of sport mirroring society, violence as a result of economic incentive, and the

influence of the crowd behavior are the theories that I feel are responsible for the increasing violence

in sports. Most people when involved in a highly stressful situation where violence is around would

probably resort to a fight to resolve their differences. In sport, why should we expect any difference.

In events such as hockey games, where people are expected to hit and make body contact, sooner or later a

fight will break out and the fans will yell and scream for their favorite player involved. Like

anything, if people around us are applauding us for a certain act we have done, we will try to do it over

so that we will continue to be praised. In sports, there are some players whose only role on the team is

to protect and enforce the unwritten rules of the game such as in hockey where it is not right to fight

or hit a Wayne Gretezy or Mario Lemieux type of star player!

. His economic incentive is to protect the team and if he does not, a new line of work might be in the

future. All three of those theories relate closely to the role of the fighter in sport and why it is

that he does commit the acts of violence.


When leagues such as the National Football League (NFL) or the National Hockey League (NHL) are

asked to try and remove the violence from their sport, they are hesitant because it is not what the fans

want. "Bryant and Zillman report that television viewers enjoy NFL plays more when they are rough and

violent" (McPherson 294).


Why should these leagues remove the violence that is occurring if they are making money and

keeping people employed. The fans of the games want to see these situations and eliminating the fighting

aspect would hurt the support. When I watch a hockey game or any other sporting event with contact,

there is nothing better than seeing a good fight take place. "One of the best-selling videos in parts of

the Northeastern United States has been a collection of the best fights in the NHL" (McPherson 294).


Even former NHL president Clarence Campbell felt that the violence taking place in his sport was

called for and was reluctant to remove the fighting and the body contact because he knew that it is what

the majority of hockey fans want.


Fighting is a well-established safety valve for players. If violence ceases to exist, it will not be

the same game. Insofar as fighting is part of the show, we certainly sell it. We do not promote it.

We tolerate it and we bring it under disciplinary control which we believe satisfies the public (Snyder

201).


Its better that the violence take place between two willing combatants such as in sports than in

a situation involving spousal abuse where the majority of the times the female is being attacked against

her consent. Allowing people not to be able vent their frustrations through sport in my mind would

increase the violence that is happening away from the playing field. It is a known fact that sports does

keep kids off the street and away from gangs which is why you see so many athletic and boxing clubs being

run out of the inner city. It is allowing the youth to take that hostility out on a willing participant

who is ready and consenting rather than against an innocent bystander.


Some individuals have gone as far as saying that sport is creating a deviant subculture where

these athletes are becoming the opposite of what was intended for them. "The emphasis in formalized

sport on victory may, in fact, promote deviant behavior and poor sportsmanship" (Snyder 101).


I would have to totally disagree with the above quote because being an athlete myself, I can

never recall a time when I could have related my deviant behavior to my sporting past. Sports does not

promote poor sportsmanship, it creates a drive to succeed within yourself and to try to do the best at

whatever you do whether it be in sports, school or at a job.


The violence that is occurring today is not occurring more than it was ten or twenty years ago

like some people might suggest, it is only being shown and talked about more by the mass media. If there

is one group to blame for the increase in violence I feel that it would be the media, not the athletes

themselves. If you turn on the television to watch a sportscast, it will always glorify an act of

violence like

a "hit of the night" or repeats of some type of fight whether it be...

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