‘Crowd mentality’ may be catalyst for violence outside of the arena
As a task force conducts a “top-to-bottom” review of California University of Pennsylvania’s football program following six players’ arrests for attacking a man outside an off-campus restaurant, one expert has suggested that a “crowd mentality” may feed violent acts committed by athletes outside their sport.
In 1997, Howard Nixon, currently a member of the sociology department at Towson University, found in a questionnaire-based study conducted at a medium-sized, Division I college that male athletes were more prone to aggressive behavior away from the playing field and that male athletes participating in contact sports were the only group linked to physical violence.
“I would posit that a crowd mentality fed by alcohol and immersion in a culture of violence in sports may have been contributory factors,” said Nixon of the Cal U arrests. “Beyond that, though, it is important to look at the specific circumstances and possible provocations surrounding the assault.”
Last week, five of the six players accused of punching and stomping 30-year-old Luke Campbell had aggravated assault and other charges held for Washington County Common Pleas Court. The sixth player waived his charges without a preliminary hearing.
The Oct. 30 assault left Campbell, who has since recovered, in a medically induced coma for five days, according to authorities. He also sustained a severe brain injury.
Police said the alleged assault occurred when Campbell objected to something one of the players was saying to Shyreese Asparagus, Campbell’s girlfriend.
The result, police alleged, was that the men assaulted Campbell until he was unconscious. Asparagus recently testified that Campbell went into a seizure after he was assaulted.
James Williamson, 20, of Parkville, Md.; Jonathan Barlow, 21, of Pittsburgh; Rodney D. Gillin, 20, of Reading; D’Andre Jamal Dunkley, 19, of Philadelphia; Shilby D. Wilkerson, 20 of Harrisburg and Corey L. Ford, 22, of Harrisburg, are the players allegedly involved.
Police allege the men ran from the scene, yelling “Football strong.”
For decades, scholarly research has aimed to determine whether there is an explanation for aggression in male athletes outside of the team sport they play.
“What I see (with California University’s football team) is peer support,” Todd Crosset, associate professor of sport management at UMass-Amherst, said. “This is the culture of the football program there.”
Crosset believes that the Cal U football program has invited trouble by recruiting and accepting transfer students from Division I schools who have records of disciplinary issues. He also says that changes in the personnel and culture surrounding any college athletic team can make an immediate difference.
“I’ve talked with schools that have said after they changed their coaches or culture, things got better,” he said.
In spite of the extensive scholarly research focusing on aggressive behavior in male college athletes, academics have yet to conclusively determine whether sports encourage aggressive characteristics, especially with other factors to consider such as peer-group association, alcohol use and upbringing. But causality aside, individual student-athletes at Cal U and elsewhere are responsible for their actions away from their respective sports.
“Men used to using their bodies to get their way in the police force or on the ice hockey rink know they can’t do the same thing outside of those roles,” Crosset said.