Oregon Ducks' LaMichael James Arrested for Domestic Violence Incident

Oregon Ducks' LaMichael James has been arrested for a domestic violence incident. He was booked at 3 a.m. local time this morning on charges of strangulation, assault, and menacing. LaMichael James will be arraigned at 4:30 EST today (as reported by ESPN).

LaMichael James, 20, is a running back for the Oregon Ducks. In 2009, he was the Pac-10's Offensive Freshman of the year as well as the first freshman to earn the team's Most Outstanding Player Award (source GoDucks.Com). He had initially stepped in as the Ducks' starter when teammate LaGarrette Blount was suspended for throwing a post-game punch at a Boise State player (source ESPN).

LaMichael James is not the only football player to experience a recent run-in with domestic violence. This month, Miami Dolphins' defensive tackle Tony McDaniel appeared in court to answer charges of domestic violence.

Tony McDaniel and his girlfriend, Alaina Smith, had gotten into a shoving match over an unanswered phone call. She and house guests told police that he had thrown her aside and smashed her phone. Tony McDaniel claims that she had attacked him and that he was blocking her in self-defense. He was arrested on a $35,000 bond. (source Sun Sentinel).

LaMichael James Arrested In Another Football and Domestic ViolenceCase

Although it would be unfair to make generalizations about all football players, one has to wonder about the correlation between football and domestic violence. American pop culture is inundated with images of aggressive football players. On Glee, we saw Karofsky defacing the glee club pictures while the jocks threw slushes at them and shoved Kurt into trash bins.

And I've noticed some football fans becoming increasingly belligerent if their favorite teams lose. Of course, it's not fair to single out football, as we've also seen contentious behavior between the most die-hard Yankees vs. Red Sox fans or even Jeter vs. A-Rod fans.

David Card and Gordon Dahl of the National Bureau of Economic Research conducted a study on the correlations between watching football and violent behavior. The study found an 8 percent increase in police reports of male-on-female domestic partner violence after upset losses by the home team. The study also found that upset losses and frustrating games also had a 50 to 100% larger impact on family domestic violence.

Hopefully some of the more belligerent football players and fans will learn to better control their aggression in moments of adversity.

Sources:

Oregon running back James jailed, ESPN

Dolphins player charged with domestic violence, Sun Sentinel

Biography: #21 LaMichael James, GoDucks

Family Violence and Football: The Effect of Unexpected Emotional Cues on Violent Behavior, NBER