The second stage of Social Identity Theory is called social identification, and this occurs is when the people in the in-group find commonalities between each other. For example, in the context of football hooliganism, this is where they notice they are wearing the same shirts or colours as others around them. They then link their self-esteem to that of the in-group. They find differences between themselves and the fans in the out-group as they are wearing different shirts or colours and they subsequently realise that the out-group have different interests to them and they notice that they are people they do not wish to associate with.
The final stage of Social Identity Theory is Social Comparison; this occurs when the people in the in group start to compare themselves with those in the out-group, and this forms out-group denigration and in-group favouritism happens. Out group denigration is the act of prejudicing [having a positive or negative opinion on someone based on little or no knowledge on them] someone or a group of people, or through discrimination, which is where they act on this opinion. In-group favouritism refers to the fact that under certain conditions people will preference and have affinity for one’s in-group over the out-group, or anyone viewed as outside the in-group. This can be expressed in evaluation of others, linking, allocation of resources and many other ways.people will do anything in order to boost the self esteem of themselves and the in group, by making the out group look
bad, and this is achieved by either. In football this occurs when the in-group are chanting songs about the team they support in order to make them seem better than the other team; even if their team doesn’t win, they start chanting to make them seem better, and may even start fighting because they feel they need to win something.
Social Psychology, in my opinion, can be used to understand, prevent and stop football hooliganism to some extent, as Social Identity Theory helps explain why football hooliganism occurs. For instance, Social Identity Theory states that when people enter a stadium, they choose to sit with people that also support the team they have come to the stadium to, and, furthermore, choose this group of people are their in-group. This is an example of Social Categorization.
However, I think that Social Psychology can only explain some of why football hooliganism happens; I don’t think it is the only reason. I think another main cause of football hooliganism is “over-excitedness”, and the fans just become immersed in the moment. This, when mixed with passion for the game, I think, is another vital cause for football hooliganism. To summarise I think“concoction” of passion and “over-excitedness”, and Social Identity Theory are the reasons football hooliganism occurs.
Social Identity Theory has a real world validity which is shown at football games as football hooliganism is common in some countries, such as Poland, and can be applicable to a lot of cases of football hooliganism. Social Identity Theory can be used to find out why there is violence at football games. Furthermore, A range of studies have shown support of the idea that people are willing to see their group as better in some way than other groups. Tajfel, for example, replicated his experiment with a variation to prove that his findings were reliable. There is also a practical application, in that the theory helps to explain a wide range of social phenomena, such as football hooliganism.
Social identity theory doesn’t take into account other factors which might be influencing behaviour, for example Dobbs and Crano in 2011 showed that under some circumstances there is much less in-group favouritism than suggested by Tajfel. The theory also doesn’t explain why there are individual differences in the level of prejudices shown. There are also other possible explanations of prejudice which might offer a fuller account of prejudice, for example the Realistic Conflict Theory which sees Social Identity Theory as only part of the explanation. It suggests that it is not just the creation of two groups that leads to prejudice, but that they need to have a goal in sight for conflict/prejudice to develop.
Secondly, there is a theory that when humans have their sense of humanity taken away from them, and they are in turn treated as if they are animalistic. This can be used to prove football hooliganism because they are in conflicting goals and therefore they are fighting like animals in order to receive the prize of a football victory.
In conclusion, I think that the use of Social Psychology can be used to understand and, more importantly, prevent football hooliganism. This is because the Police could use Social Identity Theory to understand what they needed to do in terms of policing the stadium, keeping peace and where to “shepard” the fans. This could possibly reduce the amount of prejudice and discrimination at a football match, and therefore, using Social Identity Theory, reduce the amount of football hooliganism. However, I believe that football hooliganism isn’t a result of just Social Identity Theory; I think passion for the game, as well as “over-excitedness” has a part to play too.
by
hughdepasquale (student)
