Football hooliganism has factors in common with juvenile delinquency and what has been called "ritualized male violence".[13] "Involvement in football violence can be explained in relation to a number of factors, relating to interaction, identity, legitimacy and power. Football violence is also thought to reflect expressions of strong emotional ties to a football team, which may help to reinforce a supporter’s sense of identity."[14] "Numerous causal factors have been offered in previous literature in relation to hooliganism," including "...alcohol and irregular tickets sales, as well as the "…criminal insouciance (disinterest) of the organisers" and the "…cowardly ineptitude" of the police. The main causes are "the media, the police, the football authorities and opposing fans."[14] Rowe (2002) states that "football violence is often explained by focusing on genetic and sociological theories."[14]
Writing for the BBC, David Bond stated that in the UK, "[h]igh-profile outbreaks of violence involving fans are much rarer today than they were 20 or 30 years ago. The scale of trouble now compared to then doesn't bear comparison – either in terms of the number of people involved or the level of organisation. Football has moved on thanks to banning orders and better, more sophisticated policing. And while it is too simplistic to say that the higher cost of watching football has pushed unsavoury elements out, there has been a shift in the way people are expected to behave inside grounds. Offensive chants are still way too commonplace but actual fighting doesn't happen very often."[15]