Modern English Football Hooliganism: A Quantitative Exploration in Criminological Theory Rich A. Wallace Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology Carol A. Bailey, Co-Chair William E. Snizek, Co-Chair Clifton D. Bryant Charles J. Dudley Donald J. Shoemaker December 10, 1998 Blacksburg, Virginia Keywords: Football Hooliganism, Criminology, Theory, Subcultural Delinquency Copyright 1998, Rich A. Wallace Modern English Football Hooliganism: A Quantitative Exploration in Criminological Theory Rich A. Wallace (ABSTRACT) Studies of football hooliganism have developed in a number of academic disciplines, yet little of this literature directly relates to criminology. The fighting, disorderly conduct, and destructive behavior of those who attend football matches, especially in Europe has blossomed over the past thirty years and deserves criminological attention. Football hooliganism is criminal activity, but is unique because of its context specific nature, occurring almost entirely inside the grounds or in proximity to the stadiums where the matches are played. This project explores the need for criminological explanations of football hooligans and their behavior based on literature which indicates that subcultural theories may be valuable in understanding why this behavioral pattern has become a preserve for young, white, working-class males. This study employs Albert Cohen’s (1955) theory of subcultural delinquency to predict the hooligan activities of young, white, working-class males. West and Farrington’s longitudinal study, the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development provides a wealth of data on numerous topics, including hooliganism, and is used to explore the link between hooliganism and criminological theory. The running hypothesis, grounded in Cohen’s theory of subcultural delinquency, is that the less middle-class the youths are in their values the more likely they will be to engage in football hooliganism. Cohen initially identified a locus of nine middle-class values: ambition, individual responsibility, achievement and performance, delayed gratification, rationality and planning, etiquette and the cultivation of social skills, self-control, wholesome leisure, and respect for property. These middle-class values have been modified into a shorter set of values; constructive leisure, acceptable conduct, self-reliance, and success, that are more mutually exclusive and easier to test empirically. Scales were constructed for each dimension of the modified version of Cohen’s middle-class values using factor analysis with orthogonal rotation. Each scale then underwent reliability analysis using Chronbach’s alpha. From there the scales for the middle-class values, the dependent variable of football hooliganism, and controls were tested using both bivariate and multivariate procedures. Results indicate that these modified middle-class values may be an important explanatory factor for football hooliganism. DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to those who have made me realize that nature is full of splendor and that life provides limitless opportunities for those who seek them. To future journeys, knowing that peace truly exists in the wild, Hooli iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to begin by thanking the members of my committee, Dr. Carol Bailey, Dr. Cliff Bryant, Dr. Jack Dudley, Dr. Don Shoemaker, and Dr. Bill Snizek, who stuck by me patiently as the project came to fruition. Each of you has provided unique contributions to my development and career aspirations. The chairs of my committee deserve special recognition. Dr. Carol Bailey, for helping and encouraging me throughout the development of the dissertation and listening to all my concerns, no matter how deluded the may have seemed. Dr. Bill Snizek, for taking me on as a teaching assistant and for educating me with respect to professionalism and the importance of teaching. I would also like to express my appreciation to the Department of Sociology at Virginia Tech for providing me with the freedom to fully explore my interests in criminology and criminal justice. A further word of thanks for the financial support that was provided which helped make all of this possible. Thanks to those colleagues who have been so supportive and encouraging over the past 5 years, especially my co-conspirator D. Alexander and my kindred spirit L. Linares. I must also thank the members of NADS who always made life enjoyable, helped me stay the course, and made me realize that support comes from many unexpected places. The Department of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin - River Falls needs to be recognized for asking me to join them professionally and standing by me throughout the process. None of these thank you’s would be possible or necessary without the eternal love, support, guidance, and nurturing of my wonderful wife. Steph, I can’t begin to tell you how much richer my life is for what we have and what we share. “You’ll never walk alone” (LFC). iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................... ii DEDICATION......................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................ iv CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION ..........................................1 1.1 Statement of the Problem......................................9 CHAPTER II - THE GENESIS OF FOOTBALL AND HOOLIGANISM ........10 2.1 The Development of Modern Football ..........................10 2.2 The Enduring Problem of English Football Hooliganism............14 2.3 Current Status of the Problem.................................17 CHAPTER III - INVESTIGATING HOOLIGANISM CRIMINOLOGICALLY ..20 3.1 The Criminological Import of Hooliganism ......................20 3.2 The Theoretical Basis of the Dissertation ........................22 3.2.1 A Brief Summary of the Development of Strain Theory .......22 3.2.2 The Development of Subcultural Theories .................22 3.2.3 The Prominent Subcultural Theories ......................24 3.3 Making Use of Cohen's Theory of Subcultural Delinquency .........27 3.3.1 Basis of the Theory ...................................27 3.3.2 The Theoretical Influence of Merton and Sutherland .........29 3.3.3 Delinquent Subcultures - Emergence and Continuation .......31 3.4 Attempts to Test Cohen's Theory of Subcultural Delinquency ........38 3.4.1 The Relationship between School and Delinquency ..........39 3.4.2 School Values, Academic Achievement, and Delinquency ....42 3.4.3 The Relationship between Social Class and Delinquency ......44 3.4.4 Summarizing the Findings of the Theoretical Tests ..........47 3.5 Making Cohen's Subcultural Theory More Concise and Testable .....48 3.5.1 Success .............................................50 3.5.2 Self-Reliance ........................................51 3.5.3 Constructive Leisure ..................................51 3.5.4 Acceptable Conduct ...................................52 3.5.5 Conspicuous Consumption .............................53 3.6 Theoretical Summary........................................54 v CHAPTER IV - REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ..........................56 4.1 Characteristics of Football Hooliganism.........................57 4.1.1 Defining Hooliganism .................................57 4.1.2 Identifying Hooligans .................................59 Gender.......................................60 Age..........................................62 Social Class ...................................66 4.2 State of the Empirical Literature ...............................70 4.2.1 Qualitative Studies ....................................70 Ethnography ...................................70 Content Analysis ...............................74 4.2.2 Quantitative Studies ...................................76 4.3 Criminological Explorations of Football Hooliganism ..............77 4.3.1 Quantitative Studies ...................................77 4.3.2 Qualitative Studies ....................................81 4.3.3 Theoretical Studies ....................................85 4.4 Using Cohen Theory to Explain Hooliganism .....................87 4.5 The Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development .................91 4.5.1 Demographics of the Study Group .......................92 4.5.2 Issues of Reliability and Validity .........................94 4.5.3 Unresolved Problems Encountered in the Study .............97 4.5.4 Strengths of the Study .................................99 CHAPTER V - MATERIALS & METHODS ..............................100 5.1 The Data Set..............................................101 5.2 Measurement of the Study's Variables ..........................102 5.2.1 Football Hooliganism.................................102 5.2.2 Cohen's Middle-Class Values ..........................104 Success ......................................105 Self-Reliance .................................106 Constructive Leisure ...........................107 Acceptable Conduct ............................108 5.2.3 Gang Activities Outside the Football Context ..............109 5.2.4 Controls ...........................................110 Social Handicaps..............................111 Single-Parent Family ...........................111 Differential Association .........................112 5.3 Analytic Strategy ..........................................113 vi CHAPTER VI - RESULTS AND ANALYSIS ..............................115