Gender differences in the choreography of alcohol-related violence: An observational study of aggression within licensed premises

Abstract

This study aimed to examine patterns of gender involvement in violent incidents observed within licensed premises. <em>Methods:</em> Field observations were conducted in a sample of eight city centre nightclubs allowing alcohol-related aggressive incidents to be witnessed in their naturalistic setting. Although most of those involved in aggressive incidents were males (108//171), many of the conflicts witnessed involved female combatants (36.8%%). Additionally, female-to-female incidents were found to be as potentially injurious as those between males. Nevertheless, female-to-female and male-to-male conflicts did differ, in terms of the nature of the violence observed with, for example, female conflicts being less likely to involve an easily recognizable set pre-fight choreography.