Unit 8

Question 1

What is cheese rolling?

Answer 1

People run down a hill to chase cheese
5/15 get injured
People love it because they are fascinated with violence

Question 2

True or false: violence comes from culture and society?

Answer 2

True
No one is born violent

Question 3

Why was sport in the ancient world (ex: Rome) way more violent?

Answer 3

Because there was no rules

Question 4

What is aggression?

Answer 4

Any behaviour designed to injure another person, psychologically or physically.

Question 5

What is violence?

Answer 5

Behaviour intended to injure another person physically. Violent acts in sport are often permitted as an acceptable part of the game. As “natural“.

Question 6

What is sports crowd violence?

Answer 6

Acts of verbal of physical aggression (threatened or actual), perpetrated by fans at, or away from, the sports arena that may result in injury to persons or damage to property. Think violent fans during a hockey game or riots.

Question 7

True or false: violence and sport go together?

Answer 7

True

Question 8

What is sport-related violence?

Answer 8

• A broader sense of violence that can occur within or as a product of the sporting context.
• Direct acts of physical violence contained within or outside the rules of the game that result in injury to persons, animals, or property.
• Harmful or potentially harmful acts conducted in the context of sport that threaten or produce injury or that violate human justices and civil liberties.

Question 9

Sport-related violence includes but does not limit to what?

Answer 9

• Crimes committed by participants away from their sport
• Injuries or other threats to athletes’ health
• Hazing
• Sexual harassment and sexual assault
• Parental abuse in youth sports
• Harm to animals.
• Acts of racism, sexism and environment destruction related to sport.

Question 10

What is accepted violence?

Answer 10

Brutal body contact – Permitted by the official rules of a particular sport.
Borderline Violence – Does not conform to the rules, but nevertheless is widely accepted as legitimate.
- Example: tripping, fight in hockey, pushing, shoving, step on people’s toes

Question 11

What is un accepted violence?

Answer 11

Quasi-criminal violence
Criminal violence

Question 12

What is quasi-criminal violence?

Answer 12

Violates not only the formal rules of a given sport, but to a significant degree the informal norms of player conduct. Example: cheap shots, rushing the pitcher, head butts in soccer, etc.
• Can result in suspension and fines. But not always consistent…

Question 13

What is criminal violence?

Answer 13

So serious and obviously outside the boundaries of what could be considered part of the game that it is handled from the outset by the law. Legal authorities become involved.
Example: a fight during baseball that results in a coma.

Question 14

What is sanitizing violence?

Answer 14

Sanitizing an activity means describing it in a way that makes it seem more pleasant or more acceptable.
This has do both with the power of discourse and the media.

Question 15

What are the different theories that explain why there’s violence in sport?

Answer 15

Instinct theory
Frustration-aggression theory
Social learning theory

Question 16

What is the instinct theory?

Answer 16

Violent behaviour is inevitable because it is rooted in human biology and “natural” instinct. Belief that violent impulses can be released “safely” through catharsis. In this case, Sport-related violence produces catharsis and it thus favorable. It serves a need (think functionalism).

Question 17

What is the frustration-aggression theory?

Answer 17

Proposes that individuals act aggressively when they respond to frustration. People release built-up frustration through a form of catharsis (sport) to dissipate aggression. True for athletes and fights.
If you’re angry you turn to violence

Question 18

What is the social learning theory?

Answer 18

Violence isn’t simply “natural” or instinctual; it is learned through socialization and cultural understandings or what is acceptable and unacceptable in particular societies and social contexts.

Aggressive behaviour is a product of observation and interaction with others.

Question 19

What is Catharsis?

Answer 19

healthy venting of aggression that reduces the risk of further, more dangerous violence.

Question 20

True or false: In sport, violent behaviour often becomes naturalized and normalized as acceptable, ordinary parts of the game?

Answer 20

True

Question 21

Violence in sport is produced by what according to the social learning theory?

Answer 21

by the sporting environments that put people in situations where aggression visibly works and is rewarded (cheers, applause, congratulations by team and coaches).

Question 22

What are the external factors of violence?

Answer 22

Parents
Coaches
Peers
Franchise owners
Fans
Media

Question 23

How do parents influence violence?

Answer 23

Rewarding or approving of their child’s aggression. Children see violence as accepted and “normal”. Parents in the crowd telling their child to “kill” the opponent.

Question 24

How do coaches influence violence?

Answer 24

The need to impress the coach to retain spot on team. Coaches displaying aggression or asking players to display toughness and aggression

Question 25

How do peers influence violence?

Answer 25

The need to be respected by teammates. Violent behaviour encouraged and congratulated by teammates (applauding a hockey fight). The willingness to stand up for a teammate or to perform violent act (purposely injuring an opponent) for the good of the team.

Question 26

How do franchise owners influence violence?

Answer 26

Showing reluctance to denounce violence in their sport because they see the benefit it has for profit; spectator interest.

Question 27

How do fans influence violence?

Answer 27

Fans react to violence in a positive way. Fans also turn to violent sports moreso than non-violent ones. In extension, the sports industry markets cater sports to this desire for violence (showcasing violence when promoting a sport).

Question 28

How does media influence violence?

Answer 28

Publicizes and exploits violence to capture audiences that can be sold to advertisers. In a way, the media legitimizes violence and displays violence as acceptable and desirable.

Question 29

Men turn to sport to to legitimize their manhood. What did this create?

Answer 29

A form of hegemonic masculinity within and outside of sport: manliness that valued combativeness, competitiveness, and toughness.
Manly sport then became an acceptable even a necessary means to build manly character.

Question 30

What are 3 forms of male athlete violence?

Answer 30

Violence against women
Violence against other men
Violence against their own bodies

Question 31

What is violence against women?

Answer 31

Women and girls often treated as potential objects of sexual conquest. Promotion of the image of women as “game” to be pursued and conquered. Can lead to sexual harassment and sexual abuse.

Question 32

What is violence against other men?

Answer 32

Male athletes are taught to objectify opponents as outsiders or enemies. They agree to commit acts of violence against them because they are perceived as other. Same idea when it comes to hazing. Demasculinization of others through humiliating practices. Presence of power.

Question 33

What is violence against their own bodies?

Answer 33

The body is seen as a machine and pain and injury are both discarded for the sake of maintaining a
sense of masculinity built around toughness. They do not want to be perceived as “soft”.

Question 34

More openness on the fact that female athletes are willing to sacrifice their bodies and their health for their sport.
This is especially true for what?

Answer 34

University level female athletes
Injury is accepted and even normalized. Perceived as a necessary part of sport involvement

Question 35

Hockey is the only non-combat sport in which fighting is simply punished with sitting 5 minutes in a box…It has become what?

Answer 35

Institutionalized… part of the game.

Question 36

Those in favour of hockey fights argue that what?

Answer 36

It is a “natural” part of hockey which simply emerges out the unique mix of speed, strength, and rugged masculinity.

Question 37

What are other arguments about those in favour of hockey fights?

Answer 37

• That it allows players to “police” the game according to a code.
• Argue that fighting acts like a thermostat to regulate the game. To cooldown the hot heads.
• That the removal of fighting would “pussify” the game of hockey and players will be emasculated.

Question 38

Those against hockey fighting argue what?

Answer 38

That it is not the players’ job to “police” the game, but the ligues’. Harsher punishment and penalties for illegal hits and harmful checking would curtail the need for fighting

Question 39

What are other arguments about those against hockey fights?

Answer 39

• Suspending players who fight will decrease the desire to fight and will teach players that such violence will not be tolerated.
• Suspensions would also deter cheap shots and dirty plays; the cause for fighting in the first place.
• That fighting is not a thermostat that stops violence; it produces more violence. Fighting leads to more fighting.
• They argue for a change in the masculine narrative around hockey.

Question 40

In 2017 research showed what about head injuries?

Answer 40

That 110 out of 111 deceased NFL players had brains affected by Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease caused by concussions.

Question 41

What did the NFL do to reduce head injuries?

Answer 41

penalizing head tackles, investing in the research of better equipment, and emphasize proper tackling training.

Question 42

What does Gary Bettman, commissioner of the NHL refuse to do?

Answer 42

refuses to acknowledge findings regarding concussions, CTE, and hockey and thus refuses to make significant changes to the sport. One of the main concerns remains fighting.

Question 43

What are the 2 things that hockey and violence provide for Bettman?

Answer 43

A public platform for celebrating a traditional masculine ideal
Most importantly, profit.