Hockey Violence: A Test of the Violent Subculture Hypothesis

The fundamental tenet of the violent subculture hypothesis, in its generic form, is that violent behavior results from a set of proviolence values and attitudes. The present research was to test this hypothesis as an explanation of violence in Canadian amateur ice-hockey. Interviews with over 700 players and nonplayers yielded data on values and attitudes; self-reports of fighting and official records of major hockey penalties were used as measures of violent behavior. The results support the violent subculture hypothesis. Individuals who professed values and attitudes supportive of violence were significantly more violent than those who did not. The data do not support the societal version of the hypothesis, described by Wolfgang and Ferracuti and other theorists in the criminological tradition; values and attitudes were poor predictors of off-ice fighting and bore no relationship to social class. What the findings do point to is an occupational subculture, composed mainly of older players in highly competitive select and junior leagues, where professional criteria regarding the use of violence prevail. Compared to younger, house-league boys and to nonplayers, these performers endorsed values and attitudes of violence.