Who are ya? Who are ya? Who are we?: Why do we chant at football and what do those chants tell us about who we are as individuals and as a society?

Andrew Lawn has examined something that is often dismissed as harmless fun: chanting at football matches. In some cases, it is neither harmless or fun, as callousness or prejudice that would be unacceptable in other circumstances is expressed out loud. This is an important investigation into the social psychology of the processes by which people in crowds come to behave in ways that they themselves would find unacceptable in other circumstances - Professor Ray Tallis