Violence in Hockey: A Social and Legal Perspective By Martine Dennie A thesis submitted in the partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (MA) in Sociology The Faculty of Graduate Studies Laurentian University Sudbury, Ontario, Canada © Martine Dennie, 2015 ii THESIS DEFENCE COMMITTEE/COMITÉ DE SOUTENANCE DE THÈSE Laurentian Université/Université Laurentienne Faculty of Graduate Studies/Faculté des études supérieures Title of Thesis Titre de la thèse Violence in Hockey: A Social and Legal Perspective Name of Candidate Nom du candidat Dennie, Martine Degree Diplôme Master of Arts Department/Program Date of Defence Département/Programme Sociology Date de la soutenance October 20, 2015 APPROVED/APPROUVÉ Thesis Examiners/Examinateurs de thèse: Dr. Paul Miller (Supervisor/Directeur(trice) de thèse) Dr. Francois Dépelteau (Committee member/Membre du comité) Dr. Michel Giroux (Committee member/Membre du comité) Approved for the Faculty of Graduate Studies Approuvé pour la Faculté des études supérieures Dr. David Lesbarrères Monsieur David Lesbarrères Dr. Justin Carré Acting Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies (External Examiner/Examinateur externe) Doyen intérimaire, Faculté des études supérieures ACCESSIBILITY CLAUSE AND PERMISSION TO USE I, Martine Dennie, hereby grant to Laurentian University and/or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or for the duration of my copyright ownership. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also reserve the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. I further agree that permission for copying of this thesis in any manner, in whole or in part, for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor or professors who supervised my thesis work or, in their absence, by the Head of the Department in which my thesis work was done. It is understood that any copying or publication or use of this thesis or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that this copy is being made available in this form by the authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research and may not be copied or reproduced except as permitted by the copyright laws without written authority from the copyright owner. iii Abstract The ongoing debate with regards to the regulation of violence in hockey is analysed through a legal and social perspective. The main research question touches on whether the law has a role to play in such regulation and how violence can be properly addressed in order to ensure the health and safety of all participants. There is a culture of hockey violence that creates an environment that is tolerable of excessive violence. This thesis addresses excessive violence and considers the player perspective with interview data and vignette research. Interview participants include hockey players at different levels of play. This research demonstrates at what point the law should intervene to regulate hockey violence and makes relevant suggestions on potential improvements in the regulation of violent behaviour in hockey. The goal is to create a framework for criminal courts that face cases of hockey violence. Keywords Hockey, Violence, Hockey Violence, Sports, Sports Law, Criminal Law, League Self- Regulation, Culture, Consent, Criminal Prosecution, Fighting, Social Control iv Acknowledgements I would like acknowledge the exceptional help and support received from my supervisor, Dr. Paul Millar at Nipissing University, in the creation and development of this thesis. Special thanks to my committee members, Dr. François Dépelteau and Dr. Michel Giroux at Laurentian University, for the feedback and support during the writing and revision stages of this thesis. I would also like to acknowledge the hockey coaches who coordinated player interviews and the many athletes who volunteered to take part in this study and answered numerous interview questions to help with the collection of data. v Table of Contents Thesis Defence Committee................................................................................................. ii Abstract.............................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements............................................................................................................ iv Table of Contents.................................................................................................................v List of Tables .................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures.................................................................................................................. viii Introduction..........................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1..............................................................................................................................5 1 « The Social Issue of Hockey Violence ».........................................................................5 1.1 Player Injuries ..........................................................................................................11 1.2 The Culture of Hockey and Violence ......................................................................19 1.3 Social Relations .......................................................................................................25 Chapter 2............................................................................................................................30 2 « Social Control » ...........................................................................................................30 2.1 League Self-Regulation ...........................................................................................32 2.2 Criminal Law ...........................................................................................................38 2.2.1 Criminal Code...............................................................................................41 2.2.2 Case Law.......................................................................................................45 2.2.3 Consent as a Limitation to Criminal Prosecution .........................................68 2.2.4 Fighting in Hockey .......................................................................................74 Chapter 3............................................................................................................................80 3 « Theoretical Perspectives » ...........................................................................................80 Chapter 4............................................................................................................................94 4 « Data and Methods » .....................................................................................................94 4.1 Vignette Research ....................................................................................................96 4.2 Results......................................................................................................................99 4.2.1 Intent ...........................................................................................................101 4.2.2 Rule Violation.............................................................................................104 4.2.3 Injury...........................................................................................................106 4.3 Social Control ........................................................................................................109 4.4 Liability..................................................................................................................113 4.5 Open-Ended Questions-Qualitative Data...............................................................114 4.5.1 Physical Nature of Hockey .........................................................................114 4.5.2 Excessive Violence .....................................................................................120 4.5.3 Consequences to Excessive Violence .........................................................122 4.5.4 Implied Consent..........................................................................................128 vi Chapter 5..........................................................................................................................132 5 « Proposal for Regulating Player Injuries »..................................................................132 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................137 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................141 vii List of Tables Table 1: Vignette Matrix....................................................................................................98 Table 2: Number and Percentage of responses for vignettes with or without intent to injure ................................................................................................................................101