Collaborative Research Proposal

Topic
1) Are Athletes more violent than the General Population?

Questions
1. Are athletes more violent because they themselves have experienced unlawful and immoral
abuse?
2. Could the aggressive mentality of NFL players on the field be the cause of violent behavior off
the field?
3. Could the hits sustained by athletes in a physical sport be the driving factor behind domestic
violence and other violence?
4. Is the athletic environment a possible cause of uncontrolled aggression acts?

Rhetorical Situation
The rhetorical situation of our group is to find out the personal conception of sports athletes
being more aggressive and violent that the general public. The purpose of our project is to reach
a general demographic with information about aggression within sports that could possibly lead
to violence. Our intended audience will be athletes participating in all fields of aggressive sports
activities and fans of these respective sports. It is a good time to shed some light on this issue
because plenty of profession athletes are being charge with various violent crimes in various
fields of sports that are aggressive.

Responsibilities of Members
Edward Siler: I will be discussing how playing a contact sport can lead to aggression that may
lead to an act of domestic abuse. Athletes absorbing powerful hits can lead to substantial brain
damage. This brain damage has been link to several cases of violence and domestic abuse from
athletes playing a professional sport that involves contact. I will also research the disease CTE
that stands for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. CTE has been most commonly found in
professional athletes participating in Football, Hockey, Wrestling, Boxing, and other contact
sports who have experienced repetitive brain trauma. This disease has been linked to cases of
domestic violence, suicide, and homicide.
Tucker Bartley: I will be focusing mainly on child abuse in todays society and how contact
sports like football may lead to domestic violence issues off the field. I will look into different
cases of child abuse in different athletes. I will also look into what child abuse really is and talk

about how the media might overreact to certain situations just because it involves a famous
athlete.
Jibril Ash-Shakoor: My focus is centered around the question: Can the athletic environment be a
contribution to the amount of violence in athletes. I will be explaining how the constant
aggression displayed in an athletic environment trains the athletes to react aggressively. I plan to
use multiple articles to explain how the constant exposure to aggression leads to negative
impulses. These impulses are so deeply implanted from the sports environment that aggressive
reactions are not only natural but possibly uncontrollable. I will also include a timeline of violent
athletes throughout history and certain methods that athletes can use to control this anger.
Jasmine Tyson: I will be looking at the link between domestic violence and athletes who
participate in contact sports. I will also explore the connection between aggressive acts and the
lenient punishments that athletes receive.
To get word out we will be creating a Facebook page that allows us to spread awareness for
domestic violence victims and people who are directly affected by it. This page will allow us to
communicate with others including victims of the crime and let them see the facts to help them
in the future. This is the easiest way to spread awareness and to offer a resource for people who
have been affected and aren't sure where they can go for help.