Phanaticism leads to Domestic Violence

Fisman, Ray. "Illegal Contact: Does watching football lead to domestic violence?" Slate. 23 November 2009. Slate Magazine. 7 December 2009. http://www.slate.com/id/2236426/.

This article, written by Ray Fisman, discusses the correlation between watching football and domestic violence. It discusses that there are usually two ways domestic violence occurs. One of these is that domestic violence is the "explosive result when years of simmering tensions finally come to a boil." Another way is more oppurtunistic in that it is "impulsive lashing out at whichever victim is close at hand in a moment of anger." An upsetting loss may provide the trigger for either of these to occur. It describes research conducted by Gordon Dahl and David Card, where they examined the effects of football team's loss. In their research , they found that "losses by favored teams—that is, painful losses—are associated with an 8 percent increase in intimate partner violence." Even though this data may prove a correlation between football viewing and violence, it does not prove that it is the root cause of the violence. It may prove as a trigger but this isn't to say it wouldn't have happened anyway. Violence, in some cases, just needs a trigger and in these cases, it provides the proper stimulus.

After reading this article, I was extremely shocked about these findings. But after examining it further, I wasn't that suprised, because I realized that for some fanatics football can be everything in their life. I think that it is absurd that someone would commit these acts over a football game, but I agree with something the author said, "rather than blaming football, we may be best off focusing on addressing the more fundamental problems underlying abusive relationships." There is obviously something wrong with these relationships in the first place, and football just serves as a catalyst for this underlying issue to be broadcasted in the form of domestic violence. This suggests that football isn't innately evil, and although it is sad that it may instigate violent events in some relationships, people shouldn't be blaming football for these events. The root of these problems is much deeper. As the saying goes, "it's better to drain the swamp then swat the mosquitos." We must look deeper and solve the woes causing the tension leading to domestic violence. It is interesting that football can instigate these happenings, but I'm sure that any number of things could trigger these events. Football, in this case, seems an arbitrary coincidence.