The Social Representation of Violence of Sports Events Spectators

Autori:

Beatrice ABALASEI, Adrian COJOCARIU

Cod: ISSN: 1583-3410 (print), ISSN: 1584-5397 (electronic)
Dimensiuni: pp. 17-38

How to cite this article:

Abalasei, B., Cojocariu, A. (2012). The Social Representation of Violence of Sports Events Spectators. Revista de Cercetare si Interventie Sociala, 39, 17-38

Abstract:

The social representation decodes the environment, can decrease the intensity of conflicts through knowledge, it educates the social actors towards coherence by simplifying the object in the public discourse by making it simple and comprehensible. The present study aims at analyzing the content, identifying the structure and the organization of the elements of the social representation of violence in sports in a population of students who were spectators of sports events: the subjects are familiar with sporting events (they are students at the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport PES) and subjects who are not familiar with sporting events (they are students in the Faculty of IT – Automation and Computers AC). The instrument used in this study was a questionnaire consisting of a set of 30 statements offered for evaluation through a Likert type scale in four steps (ranging from 1 – agreement to 4 disagreements). Depending on the cumulated / aggregated values, saturation and variance, factor analysis has helped to establish the elements / dimensions of the social representation of violence in sports. The results could lead to solutions for a decrease in violence in the sports arenas, to a change in the behavior of those spectators who misinterpret sports values when collective exaggerated behavior become ritualistic, specific rather of a social movement or a subculture and thus alter the organizational structure of sport.