NCJ Number
55916
Date Published
1978
Length
140 pages
Annotation
FOCUSING ON YOUNG PEOPLE IN ENGLAND, THIS STUDY ARGUES THAT POPULAR VIEWS ON ANARCHY AT SPORTING EVENTS AND IN THE CLASSROOM ARE MISCONCEIVED AND THAT JUVENILE VIOLENCE IS GOVERNED BY STRICT RULES OF ORDER.
Abstract
DERIVING AN APPROACH FROM CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY, ADMITTED TROUBLE-MAKERS IN A LONDON SCHOOL, MANY OF THEM THE OFTEN AGGRESSIVELY VIOLENT FANS OF A LOCAL FOOTBALL TEAM, WERE INTERVIEWED IN AN EFFORT TO ERECT A SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF ACTION. ACTS OF PHYSICAL INTERFERENCE, WHETHER OR NOT MEDIATED BY THE USE OF A WEAPON, WERE THE FOCUS. THE INTERVIEWS REVEAL THAT YOUNG PEOPLE SEE THEIR SOCIAL LIFE AS A STRUGGLE FOR PERSONAL DIGNITY IN A SOCIAL ORDER THAT DENIES THEM ESTEEM. IN THE ABSENCE OF ANY EXISTING ORDER TO WHICH THEY CAN ADHERE, THEY CONSTRUCT THEIR OWN FORMS, RITUALS IN WHICH HIERARCHIES ARE CONSTRUCTED, REPUTATIONS ESTABLISHED, AND SYMBOLIC CONTESTS FOUGHT. THROUGHOUT THE DISCUSSIONS, ITS CLEAR THAT INCIDENTS OF SCHOOL AND FOOTBALL VIOLENCE ARE NOT SAVAGE, MINDLESS MANIFESTATIONS OF DISORDER FOR ITS OWN SAKE, BUT ARE RATHER RATIONAL AND ORDERLY PHENOMENA, STRICTLY BOUND BY RULES OF JUVENILE INTERACTION. AT FOOTBALL GAMES, THE FANS OF ONE TEAM DEFEND THEIR END OF THE FIELD FROM THE TRESPASS OF OPPOSING FANS, AND WHAT VIOLENCE DOES ERUPT IS AS A RESULT OF SOME TRANSGRESSION AND NOT MERELY A LASHING OUT AGAINST OPPONENTS. IN THE CLASSROOM, THE INTERFERENCE TAKES THE FORM OF HARASSMENT AND INTIMIDATION, USUALLY NONPHYSICAL, DIRECTED NOT AT TEACHERS GENERALLY, BUT AT THOSE WHO VIOLATE THE REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS OF THE STUDENTS. TEACHERS WHO ARE ARROGANT AND DISTANT, THOSE WHO CANNOT REMEMBER PUPILS' NAMES, AND OTHERS, ESPECIALLY NEW ONES, WHO FAIL TO WIELD THEIR AUTHORITY IN A STRONG, JUST, AND MEANINGFUL MANNER, VIRTUALLY INSULT THE STUDENTS, CAUSING THEM TO ACT OUT. AN INDEX AND BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE INCLUDED. (KBL)