‘Hooligans’ abroad? Inter‐group dynamics, social identity and participation in collective ‘disorder’ at the 1998 World Cup Finals

Abstract

During the 1998 Football World Cup Finals in France, English supporters were, once again, involved in major incidents of collective 'disorder'. Explanations for these incidents concentrated on the conflictual norms held by 'hooligans'. In contrast, Scottish supporters attending the tournament displayed norms of non-violence, explained by the popular press in terms of the absence of 'hooligans'. This study challenges this tendency to explain the presence or absence of 'disorder' in the context of football solely in terms of the presence or absence of 'hooligan' fans. Using data obtained from an ethnographic study of both Scottish and English supporters attending the tournament (N = 121), we examine the processes through which ordinarily 'peaceful' supporters would or would not become involved in collective conflict. In line with the Elaborated Social Identity Model (ESIM) of crowd behaviour, the analysis highlights the role of the intergroup context. Where out-group activity was understood as illegitimate in in-group terms, in-group members redefined their identity such that violent action toward out-group members came to be understood as legitimate. By contrast, where there was no out-group hostility, in-group members defined themselves through an explicit contrast with the 'hooligan' supporters of rival teams. This analysis represents an advance on previous studies of crowd behaviour by demonstrating how the ESIM can account for not only the presence, but also the absence, of collective 'disorder'.

The importance of social structure and social interaction in stereotype consensus and content: is the whole greater than the sum of its parts?

“…According to this approach, stereotypes (or social categories) and social context should be seen not as different orders of reality but rather as different moments in an ongoing interactive social and psychological process. This 'process' model of social categories is most clear in longitudinal studies of crowd events, which show how the power of an outgroup to impose its conception of proper practice upon an ingroup becomes the basis for the latter's new identity (Stott et al, 2001). Where this entails transformed identity boundaries, it empowers the ingroup to act against the outgroup and such collective action then engages with social structure by becoming the context within which the outgroup understand themselves.…”

“…This neglect becomes more acute when one considers that other identity-based research has shown that different intergroup contexts can have very different impacts on the direction of norm development (e.g. Hogg, Turner, & Davidson, 1990;Stott & Drury, 2000;Stott, Hutchison, & Drury, 2001). Second, Reynolds et al (2000) have demonstrated that stereotype construction and consensualization can be affected by different intergroup contexts and that the resulting stereotypes are linked to social action.…”

A Social Identity Approach to Sport Psychology: Principles, Practice, and Prospects

“…Indeed, although social identity can be a motivational force for good, it can also lead to aggression, hooliganism, and violence towards sporting outgroups [102,104,105,[193][194][195][196][197][198]. Moreover, in this context, violent action toward outgroups can come to be seen as legitimate-such that, for example, injurious "tackles" and slurs against opposition players are seen as "fair" and "nothing personal" (at the same time that these same acts by opponents are seen as entirely unreasonable).…”

Football hooliganism: comparing self‐awareness and social identity theory explanations

“…The model proposed by Reicher and colleagues has also been applied to the context of football hooliganism (Stott, Hutchinson, & Drury, 2001;Stott & Reicher, 1998). These studies demonstrated that the intergroup context has a pervasive influence on whether 'hooligans' transform their social identity in a violent or non-violent direction.…”

“…Classic deindividuation theories do not take into account the intergroup context, whereas this is one of the most crucial variables of the Social Identity Model of crowd behaviour (SIM). In fact, Stott and colleagues (Stott et al, 2001;Stott & Reicher, 1998) have convincingly shown that riots with English fans during the World Cup Finals in Italy in 1990 and France in 1998 can be understood in terms of construction and reconstruction of social identity. Therefore, it might be tentatively concluded that self-awareness reduction is not the true cause of group-based aggression, but nevertheless it is frequently associated with the kind of violent aggression that is exhibited around the football ground.…”