Citation

Piotrowski P. J. Appl. Soc. Psychol. 2006; 36(3): 629-643.

Affiliation

Institute of Applied Psychology, Jagiellonian University, ul. Jozefa 19, 31-056 Krakow, Poland. (e-mail: ppiotro@wp.pl)

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.0021-9029.2006.00022.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The paper presents the increasing prevalence of sports-related violence in Poland, the distinctive characteristics of Polish football (soccer) hooliganism, and the psychosocial analysis of the phenomenon, based on a 3-year prophylactic program geared toward boys from high-risk groups. Football hooliganism may be described adequately in terms of coping with a sense of alienation. The article includes most of the important findings of the author's research pertaining to predisposing factors and mechanisms reducing the sense of alienation by one's affiliation with a group of football hooligans. The final part of the article touches on the consequences of the presented approach for the prevention of hooligan incidents.