Just as Aggressive Off-Field?: A Look at Football Player’s Aggression in Relation to Sexual Assault

Abstract

Over the past several years, many athletes, football players in particular, have been accused of sexually violent acts. This article explores various aspects of an athlete’s life that could influence their decisions and potentially play a role in their choice to commit sexually violent acts. The four areas of research include biological makeup of an athlete, an athlete’s sense of entitlement, environmental factors and whether athletes are actually punished according to their crime. Research was conducted using previously published areas from a variety of fields including psychology, health, and racial and ethnic studies journals, as well as law reviews. Examples of such sexually violent acts are used from the past several years and include names such as Ray Rice and Jerry Sandusky. Ultimately, it was concluded that there is not one sole area of an athlete’s life that influences their decision to commit sexually violent acts, but rather several factors that could all potentially play a role. The article will also look at the behavior change model to present a proposed way at teaching athletes how to act off the field without using the aggression that they use on the field.