Athletes And Domestic Violence Essay, Research Paper

Athletes and Domestic Violence

A lady calls 911 and calls that her hubby is crushing her. She wants to

file a study, but so asks the starter if it is traveling to be in the paper

the following twenty-four hours. When the starter doesn & # 8217 ; t answer, she changes her head about the

study and hangs up ( Cart ) . The lady was Sun Bonds, married woman of all-star San

Francisco Giant, Barry Bonds. Like the married womans of other celebrated participants, she was a

victim of spousal maltreatment. Athletes are praised as heroes for what they do on the

playing field, but what they do off the field is ne’er mentioned. As a

defeated athleticss fan, I want to pull attending to the domestic force instances

that involve jocks.

Athletes have been mistreating their partners since athleticss were created, but

non until the OJ Simpson test has domestic force become & # 8220 ; the issue du jour. & # 8221 ;

When Simpson was arrested on New Years Day for crushing his married woman, none of the

newspapers reported it. When he pleaded no competition five months subsequently, there was

a little brief in the 2nd page of The Los Angeles Times & # 8217 ; Metro Section ( Cart ) .

In the last three old ages entirely the list of the accused included Dante Bichette,

Barry Bonds, John Daly, Scottie Pippen, Jose Conseco, Bobby Cox, Mike Tyson,

Warren Moon, Michael Cooper, Darryl Strawberry, Duane Causwell, Olden Polynice,

Robert Parish, and OJ Simpson ( Callahan, Sports Ilustrated ) . And these are merely

the pro jocks whose married womans had the bravery to describe the force.

Madeline Popa, president of Nebraska National Organization for Women

stated, & # 8220 ; Athletes are function theoretical accounts to little kids. [ Viewers ] worry about the

force on telecasting, but by and large that is make- believe. When [ there are ]

real-life heroes [ prosecuting in force ] , the message to immature male childs and

misss is, & # 8216 ; If you are a star athlete you can acquire off with things

( qtd in L.A. Times ) . & # 8217 ; & # 8221 ;

There is an act of domestic force every 18 seconds in the

United States. One in every three adult females will see it, harmonizing to a survey

done by The L.A. Times. Abuse is the figure one cause of hurt for adult females. About

six million adult females are abused each twelvemonth ; four 1000 are killed ( Cart ) .

Although the athleticss universe is non involved with all of these statistics, they are

an of import factor as to why the Numberss are so high. The study found that in

1995 there were 252 incidents affecting 345 active athleticss participants.

Another study done by Sports Illustrated reveals that eight to twelve

adult females a twelvemonth are assaulted by their spouses. More adult females die from maltreatment than

from auto accidents and muggings combined. A survey done by the University of

Massachusetts and Northeastern University revealed that out of 107 instances of

sexual assault reported in assorted universities, most of them involved male

student-athletes although they merely make up 3.3 % of the entire male organic structure

( Callahan ) . This means that male student-athletes were six times more involved

than males who were non student-athletes.

Despite these surveies some people believe that athleticss does non hold a

job with the issue of domestic force. Richard Lapchick, manager of the

Center on the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University believes,

& # 8220 ; These hyperboles [ in surveies ] do non dismiss that there is solid grounds

of a job in athletics & # 8221 ; and & # 8220 ; Athletes are non needfully more prone to domestic

force than others ( quoted from The L.A. Times and Sports Illustrated ) . & # 8221 ;

Marriah Burton Nelson, writer of The Stronger Women Get, The More Work force

Like Football: Sexism and the American Culture of Sports, is one of the many

people who disagree with Lapchick. She believes that athleticss create an aggression

found in work forces who beat their married womans. She says,

It is non the athletics themselves, but the civilization of the athleticss in which

male jock and managers talk about adult females with disdain. The civilization of

athleticss is a genteelness land. It begins with the small league manager stating,

& # 8216 ; you throw like a girl. & # 8217 ; This teaches boys to experience superior. Maleness is

defined as aggression and laterality. In order to be a adult male you have to be on

top, to command, to rule ( qtd in L.A. Times ) .

Dr. Myriam Miedzian writer of Boys Will Be Boys: Interrupting the Link

Between Masculinity and Violence, agrees with Nelson. He thinks, & # 8220 ; Athletes are

taught to ache people. Empathy has been knocked out of them & # 8221 ; ( qtd in American

Health ) . Most managers do non let their participants to hold a existent relationship

because they are afraid that a female influence will & # 8220 ; soften & # 8221 ; a participant. The

jocks are taught non to & # 8220 ; see the cat across the line as a human being, how

can they see adult females as human existences? Equally long as you rear male childs to be tough,

dominant, in charge, they merely won & # 8217 ; t be prepared for modern-day adult females

( Miedzian ) . & # 8221 ;

Most research workers agree that one of the chief grounds jocks abuse their

partners is because they have grown accustomed to the mistreatment of tungsten

portents which

environments athleticss. & # 8220 ; Sports civilization creates a negative attitude towards adult females,

attitudes of high quality that could take to violence, & # 8221 ; says Michael Messner,

associate professor of sociology at USC ( qtd in L.A. Times ) . Vance Johnson,

a Denver Bronco broad receiving system, admits that he did crush his first two married womans.

He blames his misconduct on himself and on the athleticss environment he lived

in for learning him that domestic force is O.K. . He writes, & # 8220 ; Everywhere

I looked work forces abused adult females & # 8230 ; All of the adult females were truly battered and

abused emotionally and physically. It was merely the manner of life no one of all time

did anything about it ( qtd in Vance pg 83 ) . & # 8221 ;

Jackson Katz of the Center for the Study of Sports in Society provinces,

& # 8220 ; [ Athletes ] believe they are entitled to hold adult females function their demands. It & # 8217 ; s portion

of being a adult male. It & # 8217 ; s the cultural building of masculinity. & # 8221 ; & # 8220 ; Elite jocks

learn entitlement ( L.A. Times ) . & # 8221 ;

It is this entitlement given by managers and fans, who worship star

athleticss figures, that allows an jock to mistreat his partner without holding to

endure the effects. This sends a message to girls that & # 8220 ; If [ they ] acquire hurt,

nil will go on to [ the culprit ] . Girls have to stand entirely. ( Popa ) & # 8221 ; This

foliages adult females with a feeling of ineptitude. Athletes live with a different set

of regulations. Dr. Tom House, a Major League Baseball manager every bit good as a psychologist,

believes, Athletes aren & # 8217 ; t bad people ; they merely don & # 8217 ; Ts have life accomplishments. Many of

these participants merely have no thermoregulators on their behavior mechanisms. When

they act out, they are seeking to happen some equilibrating their environment, to

see how far they can travel. And every bit long as they can set up good Numberss on

the field, no 1 will make boundaries for them ( qtd in American Health ) .

So what is being done to forestall domestic force among jocks? Very

small. The pro conference still do non penalize culprits for their actions. But

they have created shelters and organized financess for victims of this job. Work force

are now encouraged to see specializers to work out their job. Newspapers are

publishing more articles of instances affecting jocks. Now there are day-to-day

studies of spousal abuse following to the box tonss ( I don & # 8217 ; t cognize weather to

see this good or bad ) . & # 8220 ; Many work forces peculiarly celebrated jocks, are

being held accountable for behaviour that was antecedently brushed aside ( Cart ) . & # 8221 ;

Lawrence Phillips, a Heisman Trophy campaigner last season, was suspended

from his football squad because he was charged with bridal maltreatment. This was done

a twenty-four hours after Phillips rushed for 206 paces and scored four touchdowns to give his

squad the triumph. His manager, Rick Osborne, was applauded for taking a base.

Thingss are decidedly traveling frontward, but non at a speedy adequate gait.

Rita Smith, coordinator of National Coalition Against Domestic Violence thinks,

& # 8220 ; Professional athleticss needs to take a really unequivocal base against force like

[ it ] has with drugs ( qtd in L.A. Times ) . & # 8221 ;

Alisa DelTufo, the laminitis of Sanctuaries for Families, a shelter for

abused adult females, admits, & # 8220 ; Domestic Violence is a really hard rhythm for a adult female

to interrupt ( qtd in Sports Illustrated ) . & # 8221 ; And the rhythm of maltreatment is even harder to

interruption in tribunal for a married woman of an jock. & # 8220 ; The constabulary frequently work harder

roll uping autographs than grounds. The media and the fans, including those on

the jury, tend to side with the icon over the image breaker ( Callahan ) . & # 8221 ;

When Sun Bonds eventually decided to register a divorce, the justice, who was

a baseball fan, awarded her a amount of $ 7,500 per month, which is half of

what she was supposed to have. The colored justice so asked Bonds & # 8217 ; for

an autograph.

We live in a universe where work forces show their manfulness by take downing adult females.

Where work forces are encouraged to move aggressive and dominant. Where work forces when asked,

& # 8216 ; what are they traveling to make? & # 8217 ; after they lost a game answer, & # 8216 ; I & # 8217 ; m traveling place to

round my married woman ( all-star, Charles Barkley ) . & # 8217 ; Unfortunately this is the world we

unrecorded in. Sport associations need to put regulations and penalties for a participant who

maltreatments his partner. They can penalize an jock for utilizing drugs, why can & # 8217 ; T they do

the same for culprits of domestic force? I think managers should

deter the bad-mouthing of adult females that takes topographic point in the cabinet room, and

promote them to see counsellors. The fact is every bit shortly as an jock puts on his

uniform for the first clip ; he is viewed as a function theoretical account, whether he likes it or

non. I agree that the recent attending means we are now taking domestic force

more earnestly, but the victims of maltreatment want solutions, non promotion.

Plants Cited

Callahan, Gerry. & # 8220 ; Sports Dirty Secret. & # 8221 ; Sports Illustrated July 31, 1995: pgs

62-74.

Cart, Julie. & # 8220 ; Sex & A ; Violence. & # 8221 ; The L.A. Times December 27, 1995: pgs C1-C3.

Lipsyte, Robert. & # 8220 ; O.J. Syndrome. & # 8221 ; American Health September, 1994: pgs 50-51.

Johnson, Vance. The Vance: The Begining and the End copyrighted 1994: pg 83.