Premium Essay

Contact Sports and Development of Violent Tendencies

In:

Submitted By MentorStudent
Words 2015
Pages 9
Overview
“Violence is a disease, a disease that corrupts all who use it regardless of the cause.” These are the wise words of renowned author Chris Hedges. In today’s society, this proverbial disease has spread and has come to plague one demographic in particular: teenagers. It appears that incidents of teenage violence are always swarming the media and dominating news coverage which has led to psychologists and sociologists desperately trying to find the source of this aggression. However, even in this epidemic of violence amongst adolescents, there is one social organization in which acts of violence are not just tolerated, but glorified and encouraged as well; the world of contact sports. Could participation in contact sports be a major contributing factor in the widespread occurrence of teen violence?

This study focuses on the correlation between teenagers’ involvement in contact sports, and their development of violent tendencies, and it will help reveal whether there is a correlation at all between the two, and if so to what degree. Specifically, it will explain if, through the acceptance of violent acts performed in sports, a teenager is desensitized to violence and assumes those same acts are tolerated outside of the sports environment. It will also tap into the closely related matter of whether the glorification of these violent acts in sports, subconsciously teaches teenagers that violence is a good thing even outside of the sports environment. Finally, it will aim to discover if those who are involved and familiarized with violent acts in sports more likely to engage in similar acts of violence outside of sports.
Review of the Literature
Violence in Socialization While it is widely believed that the main stimulant for acts of violence in sports is the frustration of the game caused by the competitive nature of sport, researcher Nick Pappas

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Overzealous Parents

...displaying unsportsmanlike conduct and sometimes even violent behavior. Over the years there are more and more parents that are becoming over involved in their children’s sporting activities. Parents today are demonstrating over involvement, over spending, and are over booking their children in youth sports and extracurricular activities. Sports are supposed to be fun and competitive but more fun and entertaining than anything. Parental over involvement is becoming a problem because they can take the fun out of sports for the kids. Parent’s voices can go along way. Yelling and cheering on players and teams is a good thing. Parents should be excited and giving the kids good complements. But when parents display bad sportsmanship it is a different story. As parents are yelling mean statements they are not thinking about how that might make that kid feel. The child’s parents are most likely around somewhere and may get upset as well. If kids are hearing insults and inappropriate words yelled at them the game would also become less fun and hard to focus on. Some kid’s use it to their advantage, and play better because they want to prove themselves. But that’s not always the case. College and professional sports are seen everywhere in current society. Sports are on TV, in newspapers, on signs and bulletins, and most big cities have an arena or stadium for teams to play in. The majorities of families have seen or follow sports. With that being said, a lot of little kids growing...

Words: 2329 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

History of Football

...schools and universities of the United States. A particularly violent running game was played at Princeton University circa 1820, and around this time a kicking game was also being played by students of Dartmouth College. Rules for the Dartmouth game, known as “Old Division Football”, were published in 1871. The first running game to codify its rules was the popular English sport, rugby, and it did so in 1845. While there is some degree of debate over what constitutes the first American football team, most sports historians point to the Oneida Football Club, a Boston club founded in 1861. It is not clear what the rules and regulations most of these early football games followed. However, the infamous Rutgers v. Princeton game in 1869 opens a window to the past. The game was played by two teams of 25 people each. Each team was composed of 11 “fielders”, 12 “bulldogs”, and two “peanutters” whose job was to hang out near the opposing team’s goal so as to score from unguarded positions. This fact suggests there was no such thing as an “offside” rule at this time. American football at this point closely resembled soccer in the sense that a team scored goals instead of touchdowns and throwing or running with the ball was not allowed. It is Harvard we have to thank for American football. Harvard representatives knew in advance that the four schools above planned on codifying rules forbidding aggressive physical contact and the carrying of the ball, so they refused to attend. Harvard’s...

Words: 1255 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Lucky Corporation V Badluck

...the individual exogenous changes which influence development of international tourism. Recent developments in Tourism on the 21st Century Introduction             Tourism is a significant economic factor of nations worldwide. Not only does this help contribute to overall economic gain, but this also enable countries to share their natural resources, gain international recognition and attract prospects for further business transactions. Despite the rise of previous tourism obstacles such as epidemic and terrorism attacks, countries from all over the world attempt to revive their tourism industry through extensive marketing and development. Indeed, the start of the 21st century witnessed various growing tourism trends that other nations followed and applied. Among these are the developments observed in global tourism’s latest visitor attractions. Thus, in this brief essay, the different tourism trends worldwide will be described. How these trends had affected the latest visitor attractions will also be discussed.  Latest Trends Sports Tourism Sports in general have been an important aspect of global culture; it is in the conduction of sports where language and cultural barriers are replaced by the universal eagerness for such activities. Recently, several sports activities are being held in different countries, which in turn attracted a number of tourists. Diving, golf and yachting are some of the latest activities under sports tourism that are attracting a significant travel...

Words: 7427 - Pages: 30

Free Essay

A Case Study on an Interpersonal Issue in a Family Situation from a Psychological Perspective

...Church and family relationships…………………………………….3 4. Case study – Analysis ……………………………………………………….5 5. Ongoing Development…………….………………………………...…….....8 6. Further action………………………………………………………………..8 7. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………11 8. Bibliography……………………………………………………………..…..12 Assignment Question Describe a case in your ministerial context related to the following: b) Interpersonal issues in a family situation Try to identify the various components that are important to understand this situation from a psychological perspective, making sure that you refer to the relevant psychological theory. Analyse this case in the light of what you have studied in this course. Finally, explain what action you plan to take in this situation, giving your reasons. How might what you have studied help you intervene effectively in this situation. Introduction The area of psychology being vary vast, the scope of this paper is limited to the case study of an individual and the strained relationship within a family situation as occasioned by the person in question. This paper aims to describe the case at hand in a most in-depth manner as limited only to the knowledge of the writer with an attempt to understand it as best from a psychological perspective, considering relevant psychological theory and thought. The paper also aims to analyse the case with reflection on psychological development of the case with a special...

Words: 5593 - Pages: 23

Premium Essay

Introduction to Neoliberalism

...Introduction to Neoliberalism/Neoliberal Institutionalism The theory/theoretical framework that is used to examine cooperation between nation-states, which emphasizes the possibility of mutual gains Related terminology 1. Absolute gain: a theoretical option open to political actors based on the belief that decisions will benefit all organisations within a state and/or all member states within an intergovernmental organisation (IGO) Includes all aspects of cooperative behaviour between states; especially power ratios, economic activity and socio-cultural effects 2. Relative gain: a theoretical option open to political actors based on the belief that decisions are only intended to balance power relations between states or increase the power of one state over its rivals Generally disregards economic and socio-cultural considerations, and only allows limited cooperation between states (especially in relations where information about other states’ interests and inclinations is limited) 3. Zero-sum: a relational state wherein a participant's gain or loss is exactly balanced by the losses or gains of the other participants (assuming that total gains of the participants are added, and the total losses are subtracted, the numerical result will sum to zero) Particularly useful in competitive relations, and explains economic behaviour such as opportunity cost and absolute advantage Non-zero sum: a relational state wherein all participants act based upon their respective efficient capabilities...

Words: 1530 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Social Values

...Power and Potential of Youth as Peace-builders Journal of Peace Conflict & Development Issue 11, November 2007 available from www.peacestudiesjournal.org.uk ARTICLE The Unexplored Power and Potential of Youth as Peace-builders By Celina Del Felice and Andria Wisler1 1 Celina Del Felice is a PhD student at CIDIN (Centre for International Development Issues Nijmegen), University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands (www.ru.nl/cidin). She has experience working with local governments, national and international NGOs, especially on youth and participation issues. Celina is also associated with the United Network of Young Peacebuilders (www.unoy.org) as a policy advisor. Andria Wisler is a PhD candidate in Comparative and International Education at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City. She is currently a lecturer in the Center for Holocaust, Genocide and Peace Studies at the University of Nevada as well as at the European University Center for Peace Studies in Austria. 1 ARTICLE Celina Del Felice and Andria Wisler The Unexplored Power and Potential of Youth as Peace-builders Journal of Peace Conflict & Development Issue 11, November 2007 available from www.peacestudiesjournal.org.uk ABSTRACT Around the world many young people are victims of cultural, direct, and structural violence and become carriers of that violence or perpetration. There is a strong tendency among politicians and researchers to see youth as a problem to be solved...

Words: 11070 - Pages: 45

Premium Essay

The Cultural Environment of International Business

...There are few things more representative of U.S. culture than American football. It is an extravaganza, complete with exciting halftime shows and peppy cheerleaders. The game exemplifies national pride. The national anthem is played, flags are unfurled, and uniformed players charge up and down the field like an army in the throes of often violent conflict. The teams’ huddles divide the game into small planning sessions for the next play. In the United States, the National Football League (NFL) oversees the sport and, like any successful business, wants to score in new markets. The NFL first tackled Europe in 1991, with plans to establish American football there. After years of failed attempts, NFL Europe emerged as six teams, five of which were based in Germany (such as the Berlin Thunder, the Cologne Centurions, and the Hamburg Sea Devils). Earlier teams established in Spain had failed. Why did American football triumph in Germany but fail in Spain? An excellent metaphor for Spanish culture is the bullfight, an ancient pursuit. In tradition-bound Spain, bullfights are often held in 2,000year-old Roman amphitheaters. Rather than a competitive sport, bullfighting is a ritual and an art. It is the demonstration of style and courage by the matador, the hero who fights the bulls. If the matador has per- formed well, he receives a standing ovation...

Words: 10571 - Pages: 43

Premium Essay

Violence in Media

...Violence in Media As young adults, we experience the exposure of violence in all mediums of communication, such as TV shows, movies, video games, and music lyrics. We may have stopped counting how many crime investigation shows are in primetime or how many ways of killing people are in the Saw series. We just keep consuming those materials and even look for more violence as excitement. As we become so obsessed with the genre, we may have forgotten the importance of awareness to the issue. Statistics give us a better idea about the big picture. According to Media Education Foundation, researches indicate that about 89 percent of the top-selling video games contained violent content, almost half of which was of a serious nature. Two-thirds of Hollywood films released in 2001 were rated “R.” (Media Violence Facts, 2005) In September 2000, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported that 80 percent of “R” rated movies, 70 percent of restricted video games, and 100 percent of music with “explicit content” warning labels were being marketed to children under 17. With this amount of exposure, researchers estimated that by the time the average child is eighteen years old, they will have witnessed 200,000 acts of violence and 16,000 murders. (TV-Turnoff Network, 2001) Those numbers reminds us to think about the issue. Is it too much? What effect does it have on our life, especially for children and adolescents? As we are still looking for the correct answers, multiple cases have showed...

Words: 4071 - Pages: 17

Free Essay

Football, Violence and Social Identity

...Downloaded by [University of Ottawa] at 14:44 24 March 2014 As the 1994 World Cup competition in the USA again demonstrates, football is one of the most popular participant and spectator sports around the world. The fortunes of teams can have great significance for the communities they represent at both local and national levels. Social and cultural analysts have only recently started to investigate the wide variety of customs, values and social patterns that surround the game in different societies. This volume contributes to the widening focus of research by presenting new data and explanations of football-related violence. Episodes of violence associated with football are relatively infrequent, but the occasional violent events which attract great media attention have their roots in the rituals of the matches, the loyalties and identities of players and crowds and the wider cultures and politics of the host societies. This book provides a unique cross-national examination of patterns of order and conflict surrounding football matches from this perspective with examples provided by expert contributors from Scotland, England, Norway, the Netherlands, Italy, Argentina and the USA. This book will be of interest to an international readership of informed soccer and sport enthusiasts and students of sport, leisure, society, deviance and culture. Richard Giulianotti, Norman Bonney and Mike Hepworth are respectively Research Assistant, Senior Lecturer and Reader in the Department of Sociology...

Words: 73490 - Pages: 294

Premium Essay

Clifford Bogges

...CLIFFORD H. BOGGESS: ANALYSIS OF CHILDHOOD & LIFE BEHIND BARS CASEY M. LUNDBERG MARCH 31, 2015 PROF. ADINKRAH: CRIMINOLOGY SUMMARY OF VIDEO Clifford Holt Boggess committed two major crimes. His actions can be categorized as a double geronticide, also known as eldercide, as he murdered two elderly men. Boggess’ crimes against persons were also felony murders because of the robbery that took place as well. Both murders involved a certain degree of planning prior to the kill, classifying them as premeditated crimes; however he did not personally know his victims, making both incidences stranger homicides. A 21-year old white male, Clifford Boggess was on trial for two murders. From the video, I gathered that his family was poor, as his crimes were committed because of financial need. Boggess was unmarried, but had a girlfriend at the time by the name of Phoebe Boles. He had a high school diploma and no college experience. Boggess grew up a religious boy as an avid churchgoer and became extremely in-tune with his religion while on death row, practicing Protestantism before converting to Catholicism prior to execution. However, Clifford Boggess had many Christian friends he consulted with. Boggess was the youngest of 10 children, given up for adoption at a very young age, soon to move in with his foster father’s parents in Texas. These sociodemographic characteristics of the offender will be helpful in further analyzing his felonies. Sociodemographic characteristics...

Words: 6558 - Pages: 27

Premium Essay

Term Paper on Understanding Aggression

...Republic of the Philippines Laguna State Polytechnic University San Pablo City Campus College of Arts and Sciences Bachelor of Science in Psychology Submitted to: Ms. Evangeline Dia Understanding Aggression Handed on February 5, 2014 By: Camille L. Quicho Student no. 11-00131 Psychology (BS), 2nd semester CONTENTS 1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………1 2 What is Aggression………………………………………………………………2 3 Disorders linked from Aggression……………………………………….. ~1~ 1- INTRODUCTION Psychologists classify aggression as instrumental and hostile. Instrumental aggression is aggressive behavior intended to achieve a goal. It is not necessarily intended to hurt another person. For example, a soccer player who knocks a teammate down as they both run to stop the ball from reaching the opposing team's goalpost is not trying to hurt the teammate. Hostile aggression, onthe other hand, is aggressive behavior whose only purpose is to hurt someone.Hostile aggression includes physical or verbal assault and other antisocialbehaviors. Most studies of aggression are geared toward hostile aggression. There are several forms of self-control training, which teaches people to control their own anger and aggression by making verbal statements in which the person tells him/herself to respond to anger and arousal by thinking first and then using less aggressive behavior. Self-control training includes rational restructuring, cognitive self-instruction, and stress inoculation. Self-control...

Words: 12285 - Pages: 50

Premium Essay

Terrorism

...James Janosz Political Science 495 Terrorism December 14th, 2009 The Changing Look of Terrorism The purpose of this paper is to study and look at how terrorism has changed from pre 9/11, to post 9/11, to the current and future times. The United States is currently fighting the war on terror. But who is the enemy to the war? Can terrorism actually be considered an enemy? The answers to these questions are difficult to answer and defend, depending on the circumstances. But the key constant to the question is, there is no internationally agreed definition of terrorism. Common definitions of terrorism refer only to those violent acts which are intended to create fear/terror, are perpetrated for an ideological/political goal, and deliberately target or disregard the safety of civilian targets. The first section of this paper will deal with both views of the changing face of terrorism from pre 9/11, to post 9/11, and to the present day. The next section of this paper will discuss the variables of why terrorism has changed. In conclusion this paper will summarize the study of the changing face in terrorism. Throughout this paper there will be historical facts, evidence, theories, and analysis to support my argument how terrorism has changed over time. The language of terrorism that we, as Americans read it as, on September 11, 2001, two American airplanes flew into the World Trade Center and another into the Pentagon, while yet another suspiciously crashed in a deserted Pennsylvania...

Words: 3370 - Pages: 14

Free Essay

Sports, Youth, and Character

...Sports, Youth and Character: A Critical Survey Robert K. Fullinwider* Institute for Philosophy & Public Policy University of Maryland * rkf@umd.edu CIRCLE WORKING PAPER 44 FEBRUARY 2006 CIRCLE Working Paper 44: February 2006 Sports, Youth and Character: A Critical Survey TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION....................................... 3 a. methodological limitations..................... 4 b. conceptual and theoretical infelicities...... 5 II. THE LESSONS OF SPORT......................... 5 III. BASICS................................................ 6 a. too much too early?.............................. 8 b. competition’s role understood ............... 11 c. competition, participation, and fun......... 12 d. not enough?........................................ 14 IV. WHAT CAN WE CONCLUDE?.................... 15 V. THE MICROWORLD OF PARTICIPATION...... 17 VI. APPENDIX A......................................... 19 a. Shields and Bredemeier...................... 19 a.1. moral maturity: what are psychologists looking for?............ 22 a.2. game thinking............................. 24 a.3. moral confusion........................... 25 b. Stoll, Lumpkin, Beller, and Hahm.............. 27 It has been recognized for centuries that sport can contribute to education values that make for the development of character and right social relations . . . . [Within this contribution] there are many intertwined and interwoven threads of influences...

Words: 26076 - Pages: 105

Free Essay

Effects of Computer Games

...EFFECTS OF COMPUTER GAMING ON NEUST STUDENTS’ IN CABANATUAN CITY 1. FOREWORD ....................................................................................................................................................................... 3 2. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................................................... 4 2.1. THE REPORT ....................................................................................................................................................................... 5 2.2. BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................................................................................... 5 3. RESEARCH DIRECTIONS ....................................................................................................................................................................... 8 3.1. ACTIVE USER PERSPECTIVES ....................................................................................................................................................................... 9 3.1.1. Important studies ..................................................................................................................................................................... 11 3.1.2. Problems with the Active User perspective ............................................

Words: 13956 - Pages: 56

Premium Essay

2012 Walking Game Culture

...have certain criteria: rules, a goal, always changing course; chance; competition; common experience; equality; freedom; activity; diving into the world of the game; and no impact on reality”. “THE ORIGIN OF GAMES has been vaguely assigned to the inborn tendency of the mankind to amuse itself. Games have no geographical boundaries and game playing is found in all parts of the world whether it is in the underdeveloped areas of Africa or in a plush New York apartment penthouse.“(Spencer 1968, 3) According to researchers from Stanford school of medicine, a recent brain imaging study suggests that men have a higher percentage of activity in the *Mesocorticolimbic center (the region of the brain associated with rewards and addiction) compared to women when engaging in video games. These findings explain why males are more likely to be addicted to video games in comparison to female gamers. This addiction is just one of the several effects it may have on game console users. Should we overlook these effects of such modern technologies on people today? One very relevant conclusion made by Liwag (2007) is that due to recent studies, about 25 to 30 percent of children who use computers wear a corrective eyewear (glasses or contact lenses) to be able to see clearly due to the negative...

Words: 4311 - Pages: 18