Sports Culture s Influence On Rape And Violence - 1803 Words

Sport Culture s Influence on Rape and Violence Many cases of athletes committing sexual assault have been present in the media, especially throughout the past 5 years. For example, Steubenville High School football in 2012, Vanderbilt football in 2013, and a Florida State athlete in 2014. Sports team members make up less than two percent of most campus populations, but the comprise about 20.2 percent of the men involved in sexual assault or attempted sexual assault (Flood Dyson). These cases and statistics raise the question, Is sport culture negatively affecting athletes to commit acts of rape and violence? To discover the answer to that question it is important to analyze several sources that psychoanalyze both athletes and†¦show more content†¦Overall, the main factors that affect rape and violence are a person’s involvement in violent subculture, the acceptance of rape myths, beliefs about gender roles, and overall lifestyle. Other factors that have been identif ied are the percent of people residing in a standard metropolitan statistical area, economic inequality and the percent of the unemployment. One in five women and one in seventy-one men will experience rape at some point in their life (McMahon). Several studies suggest that college athletes, and the jock culture they are a part of, are not only involved in campus violence, but play a significant role in the genesis of rape and violence. College, professional, and high school sports can highly competitive. The environments athletes play in can be very aggressive and violent, especially in contact sports such as football, basketball, and hockey. Results from one study suggest that the participation in aggressive high school sports is one of the multiple developmental pathways leading to relationship violence (Forbes). Contact sports teach athletes physical aggression and dominance, extreme competitiveness, physical endurance and strength, insensitivity to others’ pain, and a to lerance for pain. Through sports athletes are taught to use force to settle conflicts. Many sports have become more violent due to advances in safety equipment. In some sports, after a violent play that helps the team gain an advantage in the