Shades of McSorley -- Is Violence Part of the Game?
York University seminar series to examine the culture of violence in sport

TORONTO, October 13, 2000 -- Sport, which offers such promise for unifying people in the fields of play, has also been an arena for hostility, brutality, and battling out power relations before the eyes of the world -- witness hockey player Marty McSorley, for instance, found guilty last week of assault with a weapon for his stick attack against Vancouver Canuck Donald Brashear.

To identify the problems and define solutions for reducing violence in sport, York University's LaMarsh Centre for Research on Violence and Conflict Resolution is presenting The Michael Smith Seminars on Violence and Sport, a monthly seminar series to investigate the connections between sport and violence. The series will conclude with a full-day round-table discussion in May 2001.

York Kinesiology Prof. Greg Malszecki will inaugurate the series Monday, October 16, 3 - 5 p.m., in Room 305, York Lanes, 4700 Keele St., with a talk Is Violence Part of the Game? Malszecki will examine the culture of violence in sport, traditions and persistent patterns, the effects of media and of gender, and the potential for developing awareness of an ethic of care in competition.

"Never before has sport commanded so much attention on a global scale, yet questions about its social and personal effects have yet to be answered," says Malszecki. "What links can be shown, for instance, between pro sport and interpersonal violence in society? What forms of aggression do young people experience in recreational or school sports? How do the ways that our games are coached and played affect adolescents and their orientation toward others and toward adulthood? Does the participation of girls and women ameliorate or intensify the frequency of violent actions? Youth involvement in athletics can be one of the healthy and positive aspects of growth in human development, but not for those who suffer violence in the form of injury or harassment. It does not assist those who injure or harass either."

The seminar series will commemorate the work and research of York Prof. Michael Smith, a sport sociologist and one of the founding members of the LaMarsh Centre who died in 1994. Smith's book Violence and Sport (1988), a standard text on the subject, will provide a background for Malszecki's talk.

Malszecki, a professor in York's School of Kinesiology and Health Science, is a leading expert on gender in sport, sport history and sport sociology.

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For more information, please call:

Julia Grant
LaMarsh Centre
York University
(416) 736-5528
lamarsh@yorku.ca

Prof. Greg Malszecki
Kinesiology and Health Science
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 77480
gregm@yorku.ca

Ken Turriff
Media Relations
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22086
kturriff@yorku.ca
YU/101/00