Dr Martha Newson has written extensively about the relationship between highly committed football supporters and her new research indicates that cocaine use may be associated with aggression between rival football fans.
Dr Martha Newson is a Future Leaders Fellow at the School of Anthropology and Conservation her research is related to group psychology, conflict and cooperation, concerning human behaviour and evolutionary psychology particularly in regard to football fandom.
This recent research of Newson’s published in the International Journal of Drug Policy found higher than national cocaine use among football fans, especially for particularly committed fans, men unequivocally more aggressive than females and .
- more than 30% reporting they had witnessed supporters taking the Class A drug at matches in the last 12 months
- over 6% reported personally taking cocaine in the last 12 months
- around 1% had taken cocaine in stadia.
Dr Newson said: ‘The results suggest that highly bonded fans were particularly likely to get tied up in aggressive behaviours – especially if they used cocaine. However, the vast majority of fans reported very low levels of actual violence. Importantly for policing and stadium management, women were much less likely to report aggressive behaviours than men. Young people were also slightly more aggressive than older people.’
The paper has received coverage in online magazine, Vice. “Fans who used cocaine reported significantly more aggression towards rival supporters than fans who did not, from swearing and spitting to throwing drinks, punching and kicking, reported the study published in the International Journal of Drug Policy.”