ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to show that sports-related violence (SRV) does not happen randomly. In many obvious ways, it is stratified. Most clearly and consistently, sport and SRV display stark gender imbalances. Indeed, the notion of masculinity itself is a principal driver of many SRV behaviours. Building on previous chapters, this chapter argues that dominant masculinities are ultimately counterproductive, victimising not only women but men themselves, both individually and as an entire social class. There is no evidence that females (as athletes, coaches and administrators or fans) have participated in SRV in the same way or to the same extent as men, but there is expanding research demonstrating that behaving aggressively or violently in sport settings does resonate with females. This evidence is examined and summarised. The chapter also considers how SRV coexists with other stratifying factors such as race, religion, social class and age. Finally, while SRV does indeed display patterns of social stratification, these patterns change over time. Thus, SRV is understood in terms of both social reproduction and social transformation, or ‘stasis and change.’
