An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis exploring domestic abuse and football support: The role of supporter mood, sense of self, and family life

Lokola RO

Published on: 2024-08-23

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate Scottish football (soccer) fans’ experiences of domestic abuse in relation to key matches. Key football matches, particularly ‘Old Firm’ matches in the Scottish context, attract considerable media attention, with major media broadcasters reporting steep rises in recorded incidents of domestic abuse following these events. Domestic abuse statistics published in the wake of Old Firm football matches between The Rangers Football Club and Celtic Football Club have attracted considerable public attention and concern, with steep rises in recorded incidents of domestic abuse being reported when the historically rival teams meet. To better understand the lived experience of football supporters in relation to the media’s accusations that football, and in particular Old Firm rivalry, is accountable for the rise in domestic abuse statistics, a qualitative exploration of football fans’ experiences was conducted. In-depth one-to-one interviews were carried out with five male football fans and their experiences were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The findings indicated the relationship between Old Firm matches and increased domestic abuse is more complex than causative, with rises in family conflict surrounding football games being associated with experiences of identity, and heightened emotions being present. Conflict was found to weigh heavily on participants’ lived experiences of how football affects them. This paper offers an account of the fans’ experiences with consideration to the factors associated with the rise in family conflict surrounding football games, concluding that identity, social experience, emotions, and conflict weigh heavily on the participants’ accounts of how football affects them.

Mass media theorist Marshall McLuhan foresaw the coming information age during the 1960’s when he proclaimed that “the medium is the message.” That is, the medium through which we receive our information carries more influential weight than the actual meanings conveyed via the wording used.  He was primarily speaking of the mass media forms of that period (television, radio, newspapers etc.) but he foresaw the coming digital age and stressed this truism (the medium is the message) would become even more relevant with the new communication technologies coming our way. McLuhan’s view holds special relevance as we anticipate the second coming of the digital Jesus whereby the teachings of Jesus can be fed into the AI (artificial intelligence) apparatus to create a frame of reference data base from which answers can flow in response to questions posed.