Pathology of the Youth Violence and Aggressive Behavior in Crowds

This article is based on a research conducted by the author to study the typology of the youth crowd، especially those who are the fanatic fans of certain teams and/or football players، and the reasons of their miss-behavior and aggressive conduct during and/or after the matches. We did a survey study among some 800 young people، aged between 15-35، living in Tehran Province، who were present at two different matches in the course of year 1384 (2005) Premium League. The data were gathered by using a researcher-designed questionnaire consisting of 80 open-ended and closed-ended questions، as well as recorded documents provided by each interviewer who was guided to take notes of noticeable behavior، conduct، words and gestures، etc.، uttered by the crowd. The data thus compiled gave way to the conclusion that all the hypotheses of the study were positively correct، that is، most of the aggressive football fans come from the lower layers of the urban society، mostly underprivileged dwellers of the poor outskirts of Tehran، lacking academic education، proper job، supportive family، and feeling underachieved in an unjust environment، etc.، and hence، they appeal to some famous football players as their cherished myths. They relate to these self-created myths in order to justify their own shadowed identity. Then، whenever، or whatever may ruin their perceived images، such as losing to the opponent team، bad judgment، or damage to their favorite players، etc.، are translated as a threat to their own identity، making them furious، and force them to act violently. Data analysis led the researcher to suggest some preventive actions to be taken by the authorities، from municipals of various regions، to match organizers، to police force that are in charge of the security and order of the premises، and so on.