Analysis of recent incidents of on-field violence in sport: legal decisions and additional considerations from psychology

This article focuses on two recent incidents of serious on-field violence in sports and the legal consequences for those involved. The two incidents occurred in Dutch football (soccer) and became infamous owing to the nature of the violent incidents and widespread media coverage. The legal outcomes of these two incidents are described, and some of the difficulties that legal authorities face in considering assaults on the sports field are discussed. A new way of categorizing such violent incidents and the motivation behind them, based on an established psychological theory [reversal theory, Apter, 1982, 2001] is proposed. Taken along with the other points made in this article, being aware of when and how individuals cross the boundaries between play and anger, power or thrill violence may provide an additional perspective to making informed decisions about illegal violent acts on the sports field.     

The partial punishment effect following minimal acquisition training: Sodium amobarbital and the stimulus properties of early punished trials

In a runway investigation, six groups of rats received limited runway training such that partial punishment, partial reinforcement, or continuous reinforcement was accompanied by sodium amobarbital or saline. Following an interpolated phase of continuous reinforcement without injections, all groups were given punished extinction. The entire experiment was conducted under widely spaced conditions (ITI = 24 hr). It was found that partial punishment increased resistance to punished extinction relative to partially and continuously reinforced controls when acquisition was given under saline. When partial punishment training was accompanied by amobarbital this effect was eliminated. The drug was observed to have no effect on the punished extinction performance of the partial reinforcement and continuous groups, respectively. Moreover, the partial reinforcement effect (PRE) did not generalize to punished extinction. These data provide information concerning the difference between the stimuli associated with the early trials of punishment and nonreward and indicate that the former but not the latter contain emotional elements.     

Is Psychopathology the Key to Understanding Why Some Children Become Aggressive When They Are Exposed To Violent Television Programming?

Children with diagnosed psychopathologies may experience aggravation of those illnesses with their exposure to media violence. Children with the most common, often undiagnosed, form of psychopathology—Disruptive Behavior Disorders (DBDs)—manifested changes in heart rate, heart vagal heart tone and other psychophysiological reactions to media violence. Children without a diagnosis did not manifest these same psychophysiological responses. These reactions, or the absence of them, made determining the effect of violent media on children a more reliable measure than acted out behavior, which can be more susceptible to experimenter interpretation and, thus, experimenter bias. This paper explains why there is a difference in the psychophysiological responses between the two groups. Future research should more carefully examine the putative psychological harm violent television content may impose on children with psychological ailments.     

Drugs and punished responding I: rate-dependent effects under multiple schedules

The effects of drugs were studied in pigeons whose responses were punished with electric shock during one component of a multiple fixed-interval 5-min fixed-interval 5-min schedule of food presentation. Most of the drugs analyzed for rate-dependent effects increased low rates of both punished and unpunished responding, while increasing higher rates less, or decreasing them; however, low rates of punished responding sometimes were increased more by pentobarbital, diazepam, and chlordiazepoxide than were matched rates of unpunished responding. In contrast, d-amphetamine and chlorpromazine usually increased low rates of unpunished responding more than matched rates of punished responding. These two drugs also decreased high rates of unpunished responding less than they decreased high rates of punished responding. Thus, the effects of drugs on punished responding depend on the control rate of punished responding; however, the rate-dependent effects of drugs on punished responding are not always the same as they are for unpunished responding.     

Substance use/abuse as a predictor to illegal and violent behavior: A review of the relevant literature

The preponderance of the research evidence supports the conclusion that abuse of certain types of illicit drugs, separately from the abuse of alcohol, predisposes to subsequent violent behavior. The relationship of cocaine/crack to violent crime has been established more clearly for users of crack in inner city areas than it has for those who are users of other forms of cocaine in the general population.In regard to any race/ethnic or socioeconomic factors in the relationships between substance use/abuse and violent behavior, most clearly established is that a higher proportion of young Black males, compared to other race/ethnic groups, are actively involved in dealing cocaine/crack in some inner city poverty areas.As for gender differences, the research evidence indicates that alcohol abuse as a predictor to and a precipitant of violent behavior, is more clearly established for males than for females. Drug abuse, as distinct from alcohol abuse, has been found to predict subsequent violent behavior, for females as well as for males. “Co-morbidity,” the combination of substance use with and psychopathology, appears more likely to predict for females to later violent behavior. Psychopathology and mental health problems are less likely to predict occurrence of either violent or criminal behavior in the future than are either alcohol abuse or drug abuse.     

Substance use/abuse as a predictor to illegal and violent behavior: A review of the relevant literature

The preponderance of the research evidence supports the conclusion that abuse of certain types of illicit drugs, separately from the abuse of alcohol, predisposes to subsequent violent behavior. The relationship of cocaine/crack to violent crime has been established more clearly for users of crack in inner city areas than it has for those who are users of other forms of cocaine in the general population.In regard to any race/ethnic or socioeconomic factors in the relationships between substance use/abuse and violent behavior, most clearly established is that a higher proportion of young Black males, compared to other race/ethnic groups, are actively involved in dealing cocaine/crack in some inner city poverty areas.As for gender differences, the research evidence indicates that alcohol abuse as a predictor to and a precipitant of violent behavior, is more clearly established for males than for females. Drug abuse, as distinct from alcohol abuse, has been found to predict subsequent violent behavior, for females as well as for males. “Co-morbidity,” the combination of substance use with and psychopathology, appears more likely to predict for females to later violent behavior. Psychopathology and mental health problems are less likely to predict occurrence of either violent or criminal behavior in the future than are either alcohol abuse or drug abuse.     

Community Violence and Support for Violent Extremism: Evidence From the Sahel

This article examines the effects of exposure to communal violence on support for violent religious extremism. We argue that in communities with high levels of reported violence, individuals lose political and social trust, develop exclusionary attitudes towards outgroups, and find appeal in nonconventional, black-or-white religious teachings, all of which can promote support for extremist violence. Using survey data from over 17,000 respondents in 84 communes surveyed between 2013 and 2017 in Burkina Faso, Niger, and Chad, we find strong support for these predictions. More violent communities express substantially greater support for violent extremism, with an increase in exclusionary outgroup biases and a turn to fundamentalist religious views being the primary mechanisms explaining—and amplifying—the effect. The findings run counter to arguments suggesting that exposure to violence leads to “war weariness” or generates community resilience to extremism via prosocial behaviors.     

Illicit drug-related psychopharmacological violence: The current understanding within a causal context

This study reviews past research on psychopharmacological violence associated with illicit drug use within the criteria for causality. There appears to be prior evidence suggesting that illicit drug use and violent offending are related in certain circumstances; and other studies conclude that illicit drug use may be correlated with violent victimization. However, those studies that also adequately assessed temporal order do not strongly support an offender-based psychopharmacological link; and those that explored violent victimization are limited and inconclusive. More importantly, there are very few criminological efforts that assess the impact of illicit drug use on violence while also controlling for alternative individual-level causal explanations such as hormonal influences, genetic factors, variations in substance metabolism rates and intoxication decay, psychological functioning, concurrent alcohol and/or other drug use, gender differences, and illicit drug dosage. We offer suggestions for improving future assessments of illicit drug-related violent offending and victimization including capturing dosage and purity data, gauging temporal proximity of offender and victim intoxication relative to violent outcomes, and separating psychopharmacological factors (e.g., offender motivation and victim vulnerability) from economic and systemic circumstances.     

Embracing Footy: The Sporting Dimensions of Australian Muslim Identity in Greater Western Sydney

Australia's most popular spectator sport is Aussie Rules football, administered by the Australian Football League (AFL). The 2012 debut of a professional Aussie Rules team for a growing and culturally diverse part of Sydney represents the culmination of efforts by the AFL to make inroads into the rugby-league-obsessed, poor and predominantly refugee and migrant neighbourhoods on the “wrong” side of the tracks in Australia's largest city. In the months before the siren sounded on the Greater Western Sydney Giants' first game, the researcher produced a long-form radio documentary for a religious affairs programme broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It discussed how a religiously diverse part of Australia juggles its negative reputation with a growing, strategically important population, which the sport of Aussie Rules is trying to reach out to, but whose identity is wrapped up in the “rival” football code of rugby league. The documentary's findings are that affiliation with a sport or team is fluid and thought of as a component of Australian Muslim identity; that it reflects attempts by existing power structures to connect with the shifting demographics of the region that is the focus of the documentary; and that it reflects failure or success on-field.     

Beliefs of Jordanian Women About Wife–Beating

The beliefs of 356 Jordanian women about wife–beating were investigated, using a self–administered questionnaire. The participants showed a strong tendency to justify wife–beating, to believe that women benefit from violence against them, and to blame women for their beating. Furthermore, the participants expressed clear opposition to formal assistance for battered women from governmental agencies. In this vein, they considered wife abuse a personal problem that should be treated within the family. The results also revealed that while the women showed a weak tendency to blame violent husbands for wife abuse, the prevailing belief was that violent men should not be punished for their behavior. The results are analyzed in light of the patriarchal ideology that typifies Arab culture and predominates in Jordanian society. Finally, the article discusses the implications of the results for future research, prevention, and establishment of appropriate services for combating wife abuse in Jordanian society.     

Athletic Identity and Conformity to Masculine Norms Among College Football Players

Sport represent an influential institution of masculinity socialization that impacts the psychosocial development of many men in American society. In order to examine this dynamic, we investigated conformity to masculine norms among 523 college football players. Results indicated that participants’ conformity to traditional masculine norms was influenced by year in school, on-field position played, and athletic identity. Results of this interdisciplinary endeavor between the fields of sport psychology and the psychological study of men and masculinity can assist sport psychologists in designing interventions to help football players better understand messages of masculinity conveyed within the unique socialization context of football.     

The effects of reward and punishment in violent video games on aggressive affect, cognition, and behavior

Three experiments examined the effects of rewarding and punishing violent actions in video games on later aggression-related variables. Participants played one of three versions of the same race-car video game: (a) a version in which all violence was rewarded, (b) a version in which all violence was punished, and (c) a nonviolent version. Participants were then measured for aggressive affect (Experiment 1), aggressive cognition (Experiment 2), and aggressive behavior (Experiment 3). Rewarding violent game actions increased hostile emotion, aggressive thinking, and aggressive behavior. Punishing violent actions increased hostile emotion, but did not increase aggressive thinking or aggressive behavior. Results suggest that games that reward violent actions can increase aggressive behavior by increasing aggressive thinking.     

Substance abuse and violence: A review of the literature

Most alcohol and drug use occurs among persons who are not violent. However, alcohol and, to a lesser extent, illicit drugs are present in both offenders and victims in many violent events. The links between psychoactive substances and violence involve broad social and economic forces, the settings in which people obtain and consume the substance, and the biological processes that underlie all human behavior. In the case of alcohol, evidence from laboratory and empirical studies support the possibility of a causal role in violent behavior. Similarly, the psychopharmacodynamics of stimulants, such as amphetamines and cocaine, also suggest that these substances could play a contributing role in violent behavior. On the other hand, most real-world studies indicate that this relationship is exceedingly complex and moderated by a host of factors in the individual and the environment. In addition to psychopharmacological effects, substance use may lead to violence through social processes such as drug distribution systems (systemic violence) and violence used to obtain drugs or money for drugs (economic compulsive violence).     

Fractional punishment of fixed-ratio performance

Key-peck responses of pigeons under a fixed-rate 60 (Exp. I) or fixed-ratio 99 (Exp. II) schedule of positive reinforcement were punished by response-dependent electric shock during a segment of the ratio. The punishing stimulus was scheduled in one of three locations: the first third of the ratio, the middle third, or the final third. At high shock levels, the different loci of punishment differentially affected the typical fixed-ratio performance pattern. Post-reinforcement pauses were lengthened by all punishment conditions but to a greater degree when the responses in initial third of the ratio were punished. Disruption of responses before the punished segment of the ratio was a conspicuous feature of the performances when the middle or final third of the ratio was punished. Two of the punishment conditions produced similar effects on both fixed-ratio baselines but punishing the final third of the ratio suppressed the punished responses of the ratio only with the fixed-ratio 99 schedule. General effects of all punishment conditions included consistent intra-session recoveries of partially suppressed performances, the rapid recovery of the FR performances after the punishment dependency was removed after complete suppression, and the facilitation of overall and/or local response rates of most subjects by low-intensity shock.     

Violence as a social fact

This paper describes a class of social acts called “violent acts” and distinguishes them from damaging acts. The former are successfully performed if they are apprehended by the victim, while the latter, being not social, are successful only as long as the intended damage is realized. It is argued that violent acts, if successful, generate a social relation which include the aggressor, the victim and, if the concomitant damaging act is satisfied, the damage itself.     

The new IOC and IAAF policies on female eligibility: old Emperor,new clothes?

The Caster Semenya debacle touched off by the 2009 Berlin World Athletics Championships resulted finally in IOC and IAAF abandonment of sex testing, which gave way to procedures that make female competition eligibility dependent upon the level of serum testosterone, which must be below the male range or instrumentally countered by androgen resistance. We argue that the new policy is unsustainable because (i) the testosterone-performance connection it posits is uncompelling; (ii) testosterone-induced female advantage is not ipso facto unfair advantage; (iii) the new policy reflects the gender policing impulses endemic to sport as well as the broader cultural impulses to monstrify women and to doctor women who have nothing wrong with them; (iv) female–male performance disparities are not the only reason for sex-segregated sport, but co-exist with respectable cultural and practical reasons, which (v) provide a powerful case for allowing athletes to compete in the sex category congruent with their gender identity.     

Reconciling the maintenance of on-field success with off-field player development: A case study of a club culture within the Australian Football League

ObjectivesAs a contribution to developing understanding of how professional athletes may successfully develop a dual career and maintain a balance between life on and off the field, the present study sought to analyse a professional Australian Football club culture that has been identified within the industry as successfully supporting player dual career development. At the same time the club has been able to maintain a successful on-field record.MethodsA case study methodology was used for the analysis with Schein's (2010) levels of organisational culture providing a theoretical framework. Data were collected by means of fifteen interviews which included players (11), and non-playing staff (4) comprising an executive staff member, a coach, a team manager, and the player development manager. Observations were also made and recorded by the first author during a two week immersion in the club environment.ResultsFour basic assumptions that explained the coherence between espoused values and artefacts concerning dual career development were identified. They were that: dual career development is important however football comes first; balancing sport and off-field life ensures players' well-being and facilitates on-field performance; players should be encouraged to find personal meaning in their dual career activity, and; the club has an ethical responsibility to support player dual career development.ConclusionAnalysis of the findings suggests that the successful support of dual careers requires a coherent club culture, where related activities exist as part of a holistic approach to player development. This approach must recognise the priority placed on athletic performance.     

Aversive learning overcomes appetitive innate responding in honeybees

Despite their miniature brain, honeybees have emerged as a powerful model for the study of learning and memory. Yet, they also exhibit innate responses to biologically relevant social signals such as pheromones. Here, we asked whether the bees’ developed learning capabilities allow them to overcome hardwired appetitive responses. Can they learn that attractant pheromones, that are not normally associated with a noxious stimulation in nature, predict the punishment of an electric shock? Immobilized honeybees were trained to discriminate two odorants, one that was paired with a shock and another that had no consequences. We measured whether they learned to produce aversive sting extension responses to the punished but not the non-punished odorant. One odorant was a neutral odor without innate value while the other was either an attractive pheromone (geraniol or citral) or an attractive floral odorant (phenylacetaldehyde). In all cases, bees developed a conditioned aversive response to the punished odorant, be it pheromone or not, and efficiently retrieved this information 1 h later. No learning asymmetries between odors were found. Thus, associative aversive learning in bees is strong enough to override preprogrammed responding, thus reflecting an impressive behavioral flexibility.