Policing Techniques and Football Hooliganism

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Hooliganism in Football1

Aim of the study3

Research question3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW4

Methodology4

Causes of Hooliganism4

Psychological approach to hooliganism6

Football Violence: Context, Community and Conflict.7

The response of the police9

The Taylor report12

Sport and masculinity15

The illusion of hooliganism16

Conclusion18

REFERENCES20

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Hooliganism in Football

Manifestations of hooliganism can be easily witnessed in football. Hooliganism in football stadiums is not a novel phenomenon. The new characteristic is the increased intensity accompanied by the fact that young people from all social classes participate in violent actions. According to King et.al (2004), the collective hooliganism in the football stadiums is a phenomenon closely related to all the other social processes and small or big evolutions. The author believes that a big part of the spectators who react in a deviant way in the football stadiums, do so because they see it as the only way to achieve some changes within society which will be functional for it, since they are not allowed and they are not able to achieve those changes in another aspect of their social life such as politics for example.

In addition to the emergence of frequent pitch invasions, the press and public officials gathered a wide array of activities under the umbrella term “hooliganism.” Academics, too, have perpetuated the use of this term by intermittently attempting to define its scope and give it a closed definition. The term came to represent a variety of activities, both within the stadium and outside of it, which proved threatening to the semblance of order instituted by police, stewards, and other official extensions of the state (Martin, 2004, 12). On the terraces, surging and swaying amongst large groups of standing spectators became increasingly dangerous at some grounds. Swaying had been an acceptable form of fan behaviour, especially during the match when excitement peaked.

Football hooligans have been subject to investigation from many scientists around the world. According to Thacker (2003), the expression "football hooliganism" refers to the spectator violence through acts of vandalism and bloody aggression, perpetuated by young people mainly men, that is by hooligans.

The acts of hooligans vary from disruptions outside the stadium, to disturbances during the game that affect it and represent a loss of self-control. Manifestation of hooliganism among individuals and groups of individuals is a social phenomenon, which can be easily witnessed in most football matches. A lot of investigation has been carried out, concerning football spectators' hooliganism as well as the collective behaviour of the hooligans in most of the European countries such as England, Italy and France (Marsh et.al, 2005, 20).

The increased frequency and the intensity of deviant incidents in and out of the football stadiums, in association to the fact that in the episodes, mainly young people from all social classes are participating, requires further and in depth investigation. The characteristics, the effects and the consequences of this phenomenon in British football world are reflected in wider society. It is not just a phenomenon any more. It is considered to be a severe social problem, which ...