Is there a socio/anthropological explanation for football/soccer hooliganism?

Question

And do other sports suffer similar problems, anywhere in the world?

Answer 1

We are territorial apes who live in social units.  Each social unit expresses the territorial instincts of its members by defending and/or expanding its territory at the expense of, or in reaction to, other social units.

That's all there is to it.  Given the circumstances, we fight each other.  Sometimes the "social unit" is one person.  Most often it's a number of people.

Booze and other drugs are only catalysts which lower our inhibitions and enable us to express the underlying territorial instincts faster and to a greater degree than "normal".

Big Al Mintaka

Answer 2

there is an anthropological explanation to everything.

Answer 3

There is a book by Desmond Morris. Soccer fans are cited as example of a modern substitue for a "tribe" among others. (Which doesn't mean all soccer fans are hooligans, btw.)

I only know the german title. I think it is "Die horde Mensch" which means the "Human horde" freely translated.

Answer 4

Yes. Since sports is basically used as a tool of distration of the masses, it is pushed by the media to be all encompassing (see fantasy football/baseball etc.) and helps to eleviate the social pressures onthe power structures (glatiators games in Roman times).

A person who is absorbed into this basically kinda lives his/ser life through "their" team, even though it is not owned by them or get any money from it. So since most peoples lives where the standard of living isnt that great or their life is static...they LIVE through "their" team.

When "their" team wins, it all good and they can kinda focus on that instead of their miserable lives.

But when the team loses, its just compounds the misery, thus you have hooliganism and so forth. They are living their lives through an artificial element and their arrested developement takes over.

Answer 5

English are inveterate violent drunks?

Answer 6

gang mentality, stupidity, and sure look at some of the riots America has had after a World Series, NBA, or Superbowl win.

Answer 7

There is. It is related to 'tribal' wars. When one is part of a tribal group, 'the other' becomes the symbol of everything that your own tribe isn't and doesn't stand for. One's own tribe has a shared value system, that isn't shared by 'the other'.