Athletes/Athletics

Athletes and athletics have a prominent position in the American social world, and discussions of athletes and violence have been going on for decades. There are wide-ranging views on whether athletics promotes or controls violent and transgressive behavior among its participants and the larger society. Anecdotally, Americans are seemingly inundated with reports of [Page 41]athletes behaving badly, especially as this behavior relates to charges of athletes and violence. Recent examples of athletes alleged to have participated in violence include Michael Vick, Adam “Packman” Jones, Kobe Bryant, Brett Myers, Al Unser, Jr., Michael Strahan, John Daly, Patrick Roy, Mike Tyson, Jose Canseco, Mark Chumra, Jason Kidd, Lawrence Phillips, and, of course, O. J. Simpson. These names and their respective incidents roll off the tongue. And athletics draws the public attention in unique and passionate ways.

The stories are well known, and for many they serve to reinforce the notion that the United States's sporting heroes are disproportionately violent and transgressive, as well as the belief that, at the very least, athletes are privileged and arrogant and lack values, judgment, and humility. For these folks, athletics promotes violence in sports and in the larger society. They point to the exulted social status of athletics and believe that athletics serves a negative social-norming function in society promoting violence.

Still others believe that athletics and incidents of athletes behaving badly are a reflection of the problems of the larger society, with the main difference being that when an athlete commits a crime it becomes front-page news. They point to staggering numbers of violent incidents in society at large and believe focusing on only athlete-perpetrators is akin to someone not being able to see the forest for the trees. They plead for a more global focus on the causes and predictors of violence and for avoiding simplistic and minimizing explanations that dismiss a significant social phenomenon as only an athletics problem.

To date, there is no clear empirical or theoretical consensus on this issue. Limited studies have been completed focusing on athletics and violence, with inconsistent results. The current research on athletes and violence is limited with regard to the conclusions that can be drawn from it. Research results have been mixed at best and call into question longstanding assumptions about the connection between violence and sport. A range of studies that utilize qualitative and quantitative methods to compile data are needed to more clearly understand these issues.

In considering research on athletics and violence, one must examine differences between athletes' and nonathletes' perpetration of violence. Pointedly, are there unique aspects of the athletic experience that cause male athletes to be violent? Or is this a sizable social problem that is highlighted by the status and visibility of some male athletes?