Clearly violence should be an issue for criminologists but domestic violence has not had the coverage it should have had. Were it not for feminist activists and academics, it would have had even less.
So where to draw the line between sports criminology and criminology? Violence against women is not to be condoned but I'm still not sure that the manifold instances of sportsmen's (or even spectator) violence off field is a subject for sports criminology but criminology proper.
However, given the interest in the topic some engagement is necessary. Linked to the Olympics The British Psychological Society have launched a sport-related portal where I found this on 'Football culture and domestic violence'. It seeks to make distinctions between association and rugby union football refereeing (or policing/prosecuting/judging) which seem reasonable in respect of game play but don't seem to relate to the issue of domestic violence.
Better sources might be Jeff Bendict's Out of Bounds: Inside the NBA's Culture of Rape, Violence, and Crime and Public Heros Private Fellons: Athletes and Crimes Against Women or Mariah Burton Nelson's The stronger women get, the more men love football.
Having played contact team sports I can confirm violence and sexist values but have no reason to believe that they are linked to domestic violence directly in the way that some suggest.
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