Football hooliganism has factors in common with juvenile delinquency and what has been called “ritualized male violence”.Sports Studies scholars Paul Gow and Joel Rookwood at Liverpool Hope University found in a 2008 study that “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.