Introduction

In this chapter, I present the findings from my research and discuss in detail how participants viewed and engaged in violent behaviour. I do this by considering how violence has been present throughout these men's lives prior to beginning boxing, and also how the sport speaks to their identities in terms of an attendant culture of respect that evokes and traps some of them in habits of responding to violence. I argue that boxing, while incapacitating, offers nothing by way of cognitive transformation (Giordano et al 2002), as the identities of these men are too heavily invested in violence. Achieving status and being respected, combined with the hyper-masculine discourses present in the boxing gym, overrode theories of incapacitation and pro-social development. I present data to support these arguments.

I begin by discussing findings in relation to boxing as a site of incapacitation, followed by evidence suggesting that the gym only incapacitates men for the time that they are there, and does not wholly contribute to a change in violent attitudes when they are outside this setting. For some, then, boxing arguably creates as many (if not more) opportunities for extra-gym violence than those prevented by incapacitation in the gym. Controversially, boxing can often be more criminogenic than desistance promoting. If not delivered alongside person-centred approaches with adequately trained staff and conforming peers, boxing can do more harm than good. This is not always the populist view, and I appreciate the good that boxing can bring. However, I feel it is important to unpack the assumptions on which the proposed benefits of boxing are based by which boxing has often rode roughshod upon. It is all well and good to suggest that boxing teaches discipline and respect, but for whom and for how long? I address this question in this chapter.

The gym can be a site for pro-social development, and I reflect this point in a discussion around the gym's capacity to produce significant others in the form of peers and trainers. I demonstrate how trainers and peers can bond an individual to the gym, and that this element does have the potential to influence attendees’ attitudes in both positive and negative ways.