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ATHLETES & SPOUSAL ABUSE.
Term Paper ID:22421
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Essay Subject:
Explores nature of abuse against women & links glorification of institutionalized violence in sports & abuse by sports heroes.... More...
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8 Pages / 1800 Words
6 sources, 17 Citations,
APA Format
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Paper Abstract:
Explores nature of abuse against women & links glorification of institutionalized violence in sports & abuse by sports heroes.
Paper Introduction:
Athletes who beat their wives are part of the bigger picture of spousal abuse in the U.S.; the O.J. Simpson case has brought wife abuse by athletes to center stage in the national discussion of what some feminists are even terming a national epidemic. The fact that violent sports such as football contribute to male athletes' aggression will be examined, as well as the general factors contributing to wife abuse. It will be seen that cases of wife abuse ignite mass outrage, yet the topic fades from the national debate unless it becomes re-ignited by the celebrity status of the perpetrators. All wife abuse (the abuse is almost exclusively one directional) is cause for alarm and immediate intervention, yet because of factors of fear and secrecy, many cases go unreported.
While only those cases which make the evening news seem to
Text of the Paper:
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26) A recent TV panel discussion about the Laurence Phillips incidentbrought athlete violence against women to national attention yet onceagain. However, many women stay, rather than walk, because of acomplex web of factors involving emotional manipulation, physicalintimidation, and financial dependence. Where can women go for intervention and support? . Recently Cyndy Garvey was brought back intothe limelight as a friend who tried to console Nicole Brown Simpson afterher batterings at the hands of O. Rapping (1994, p. Some of the other causes of abuse relate to the abuser's desire fortotal control of a partner. (p. In otherwords, maybe the "athlete as abuser" problem is even more inclusive thanhas been considered. Johnson (1991) gives some statistics which quantify the issue ofathlete violence against women on campus: Even under some of the narrower definitions of date rape, athletes and fraternity members consistently show up as offenders. (The latter figure is conservative; it covers only reported cases and presumes that all reported campus rapes were committed by students, not by off-campus perpetrators.) (p. 35). But violence against women is so entrenched that in 1992 the Surgeon General ranked abuse by husbands and partners as the leading cause of injuries to women aged 15 to 44. In a chilling reminder of the Nicole Brown Simpson/Ronald Goldmanmurder, the following incident was reported by Goode (1994): "The bloodwas barely dry on the pavement outside Nicole Simpson's home when a womanmade a frantic call to a domestic-violence hot line in centralPennsylvania. Also, they are used to beingpropositioned by women, so that if a woman says, "no," she must reallymean, "Yes." As Johnson's (1991) article mentions, "throw alcohol into themix, and trouble multiples" (p. Johnson (1991) recounts a 1986 incident involving football player TomWatson at Syracuse University: After an 18 year-old freshman charged him with raping and sodomizing her, Watson pleaded guilty in criminal court to sexual misconduct, and the court sentenced him to three years' probation and 3 hours of community service. 49). But the three-member judicial board decided Watson had not violated school policy. These are the symptoms ofunderlying malaise in the nation's psyche. Perhaps this may beexplained by their own feelings of aggrandizement in a society thatworships them for their strength and aggression. Rapping, E. The following questions will be considered: who is at risk, why does violence escalate, and when should a woman fearfor her life? Athletes in general appear to have ahigher propensity for aggression than non-athletes. Black slaves couldbe forced into submission by physical coercion. Till death do them part? Marano goes on tocharacterize male abuse as being the result of a society which exalts powerand the powerful: Violence may indeed reflect patriarchy run amok and men may indeed use violence to exert power and control over women. Athletes who beat their wives are part of the bigger picture ofspousal abuse in the U.S.; the O.J. 26). An article from Newsweek on patterns of abuse gives some statisticswhich will justify reference to "wife," or "female," or female "rape"abuse, rather than the more generic term "spousal" abuse: Although some research shows women are just as likely as men to start a fight, Justice Department figures released last February reveal that women are the victims 11 times more often than men. Marano (1993) cites the work of Neil Jacobson, who characterizescertain batterers as "autonomic athletes," so-called because they do notshow any signs of nervous system arousal in situations of conflict--"theirheart rates go down even when engaging in the clashes that give rise toabuse" (p. Campusinternal review boards, who are better qualified to examine charges ofplagiarism than they are felonies, are handling rape cases. couldn't have told them, 'This is a family matter' . U.S. Simpson affair, and yet Jacobson's "autonomic athlete" would seem to bea fitting description of Simpson, an athlete in the real and metaphoricalsense, who, without apparent remorse, lost a wife. Battering is also a problem among gay couples: the National Coalition on Domestic Violence estimates that almost one in three same sex relationships are abusive, seemingly more than among heterosexual couples. In addition, the abuser frequentlystates that his jealous rages are really signs of love, and some women aretaken in by such an argument, believing what they want to believe. He remained in school, kept his scholarship, and continued as a member of the football team--until the school's chancellor decided that Watson should be suspended for five games. (Cowley, 1994, p. (1994). News & WorldReport, 111 (15), 34-35. His wife Cyndy retains custodyof the couple's two daughters. U.S. 35). The feature of powerlessness will be exploredat greater length later. For thepurposes of discussion, wife abuse may mean abuse directed toward a wife,girlfriend, or one-night-stand. 26). It should be noted that this effort to adjudicate levels ofdiscipline against one's spouse applied only to whites. The above characterization was given a year before the O.J. The tendency of athletes--football players, in particular--to abusetheir partners off the playing field can be explained, in part, by thegame's component of aggression. On the panel was Mariah Burton Nelson, a former pro basketballplayer, and now the author of the book, The Stronger Women Get, the MoreMen Love Football. The male's adoration comes wrapped in jealousyand controlling behavior. In fact, abusers use the marital bond to tightentheir grip on the abused, actively tearing apart the woman's supportnetwork, pushing friends and family away. All wife abuse (the abuse is almost exclusively onedirectional) is cause for alarm and immediate intervention, yet because offactors of fear and secrecy, many cases go unreported. Thompson, M. J. Inside the heart of marital violence.Psychology Today, 26 (6), 48-58. The fact that violent sports such asfootball contribute to male athletes' aggression will be examined, as wellas the general factors contributing to wife abuse. Simpson case, and the death of two peopleare the result. 35) reports that Nelson's book "reveals someshocking facts and statistics on the brutally sexist culture of maleprofessional sports, and encourages women to get physically strongthemselves." Rapping (1994) calls Nelson's book, "must-read stuff for allyoung girls, and, perhaps more importantly, young boys" (p. . Once the abuser perceiveshimself to have lost his grip on the abused, violence escalates. 34). Time, 143 (21), 48-51.----------------------- 1 J. When sex is the issue. "The girl asked for it" argument is stillall too prevalent among athlete rape perpetrators, and campusadministrations reinforce that perception any time rape investigations arehandled internally. Men experience their own use of force as a loss of control. J. English common law, first cited in America in an 1824Mississippi Supreme Court decision, said that a man could physicallychastise his wife as long as the stick he used was no wider than his thumb(Cowley, 1994, p. (1994). A 199 national survey of more than 12, students by the Campus Violence Prevention Center at Maryland's Towson State University found that about half of all reported acquaintance rapes were committed by frat members and athletes. Campus rape, date rape, domestic violence, and celebrity domesticviolence must all be viewed with equal concern. An article in Psychology Today reveals an interesting paradoxregarding spousal, or any kind of partner abuse. (1991). Newsweek, 124 (1), 26-33. (1994). All ofthe above characterize the O. 26). Hertz and NBC would have dropped him and said, 'This man has a terrible problem.' But family violence is accepted as no big deal. Further estrangement from society would only cause himfurther duress, not to mention those whom he might abuse. One ofNelson's quotations concerning a disturbing double standard puts the entirematter into clear perspective: If O. J. The athlete celebrities who abuse their partners comprise only partof the big picture of partner violence, but they have helped bring to theforefront an issue that all too frequently is just as quickly pushed to theside. It will be seen thatcases of wife abuse ignite mass outrage, yet the topic fades from thenational debate unless it becomes re-ignited by the celebrity status of theperpetrators. C. 35) College students who are abused can get help (mostly medical, ratherthan judicial) at the campus level. Sports figures who have abused their wives also include Steve Garvey,former all-star from the world of baseball. But there's a dirty little secret in the world of domestic violence: It almost always arises from feelings of powerlessness. 26) One of the causes of wife abuse (in particular) may be found in ournation's history. News & WorldReport, 117 (1), 24-28. Marano, H. 48). Goode, E. What evil lurks in the hearts of men?Progressive, 58 (11), 34-36. Johnson (1991)cites Warshaw (1991) who states, "It's ludicrous to assume that if astudent is murdered by another student that the university would handle theinvestigation, and yet they see it as totally appropriate with rape" (p.35). While only those cases which make the evening news seem to grabpublic attention, two million women are beaten every year--one every 16seconds (Cowley, 1994, p. African Americans have pointed to this legacy of use and abuse asa means of explaining black anger, much of which may be internalized asself-hate and powerlessness. Abusers do not enjoy being abusive. In essence then, one of the causes of partner abuse is simply asystem that is too lax on rape. Despite the "preponderance of evidence linking sexual assaults toathletes and frat members, college administrators have been far moreeffective at providing medical treatment for rape victims than atpreventing and punishing perpetrators" (Johnson, 1991, p. Cowley (1994) goes on to cite Maguigan (1994), whoobserves, "Even now, we're not very far removed from a time when thecriminal-justice system saw its task as setting limits on the amount offorce a man could use, instead of saying that using force against your wifeis a crime (p. Simpson case has brought wife abuse byathletes to center stage in the national discussion of what some feministsare even terming a national epidemic. The living room war. (Nelson, 1994, cited in Cowley, 1994, p. Consider the implications behind the man's threat. Women who are victimized in the largersociety can call 911, seek the assistance of a battered women's shelter,file restraining orders against their perpetrators, or walk away from a badsituation. her" (p.24). It will become apparent that the issue of"date rape" (primarily focused on our nation's campuses) is also part ofthe "spouse," or "wife," abuse discussion, for an obvious reason: the sameprevalent societal values which lead to abuse of any kind after marriageare already present before marriage, and the college campus can be seen asthe testing ground on which men act out their aggression toward women. Laurence Phillips, a football player of nationalstature, who dragged a female down a flight of stairs by her hair, was thesubject of discussion. A final note regarding the one directional nature of abuse is inorder. If we focus on thecollege campus as future training ground for life in general, there appeara disproportionate number of allegations of sexual assault involvingathletes or fraternity members (Johnson, 1991, p. called the police, O. (1994). Johnson (1991) has reported that fewer than four outof ten allegations of date rape result in any institutional penalties, andadministrators will let athlete perpetrators keep their scholarships moreoften than not. (1993). Men who are abusers,while employing overpowering physical force against their victims, mayactually feel powerless (Marano, 1993, p. E. Simpson had assaulted Al Cowlings nine times [the number of times Simpson allegedly assaulted Nicole Brown Simpson], and if A. As was the case in the Laurence Phillips affair, the coachthought it better that he remain active on the team--involved, rather thanexempt from, play. 34). Johnson, C. And a 1986 survey of some 2 college police departments and rape counselors by the Philadelphia Daily News found that athletes were reported for raping a student once every 18 days on average and that they were nearly 4 percent more likely to be reported for rape than the average male on campus. Stories of the use andabuse of Black female slaves by their white masters are part of Americanhistory. The use of alcohol by fraternities isa subject unto itself, and not the focus of this discussion; however, itshould be noted that most athletes belong to fraternities, drinking isprevalent, and when Johnson makes the distinction between athletes andfraternity members, maybe she is not making a distinction at all. Despite more hot lines and shelters and heightened awareness, the number of assaults against women has remained about the same over the last decade. J. 34) Athletes maintain an exalted status on campus, in part explainingtheir feelings of self-power over others. Patterns of abuse. Her husband, she said, was threatening to "O. A football hero'slegacy has become, not football, but violence, or, as some would say, thetwo are synonymous. References Cowley, G.
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