Showing papers in "International Review for the Sociology of Sport in 2005"
TL;DR: In this paper, four major meso-level analytic frameworks are examined: the stages model, institutional analysis, multiple streams model, and the advocacy coalition framework for analysis of sport policy.
Abstract: Despite the increasing involvement of governments in sport, and the high level of academic interest in sports-related public policy issues such as equity, doping, harassment and violence, there is remarkably little analysis of sport policy that utilizes the major models and frameworks for analysis widely adopted in other policy areas Following the development of a set of criteria for assessing the adequacy of analytic frameworks, four major meso-level analytic frameworks are examined: the stages model, institutional analysis, multiple streams model, and the advocacy coalition framework These are assessed for their internal coherence and applicability to the study of sport policy None of the four frameworks reviewed is considered to be sufficiently persuasive and, consequently, a modified version of the advocacy coalition framework is developed and suggested as the most promising point of departure for the analysis of sport policy
179 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors extend Bourdieu's theory of sports as cultural capital using data from the 1998 US National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) on adult Americans' frequency and intensity of participation in 15 sports.
Abstract: This study extends recent tests of Bourdieu’s theory of sports as cultural capital using data from the 1998 US National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) on adult Americans’ frequency and intensity of participation in 15 sports. Most of the previous tests of Bourdieu’s theory have been limited to general measures of sport participation, and have provided general support for the thesis that sports operate as cultural capital. The NHIS data allow inferences about the principles of distinction dividing social classes in the field of participatory sports. More extensive tests of the ‘prole’ and ‘omnivore’ theses are also presented. The analysis shows that many sports are highly class exclusive and that the principles of exclusion fit closely with Bourdieu’s theory of the relational structure of the field of adult participation sports. The dominant classes use strenuous aerobic sports, moderate levels of weight-training, and competitive sports that restrict direct physical domination and/or are aerobically strenu...
152 citations
TL;DR: This paper explored the experiences of a former elite swimmer, Anne (a pseudonym), whose career was interrupted and finally terminated by disordered eating, and pointed out how the prevailing discourse fed the disorder through ongoing surveillance and disciplining of the self.
Abstract: This study explores the experiences of a former elite swimmer, Anne (a pseudonym), whose career was interrupted and finally terminated by disordered eating The work is grounded in the need to tell Anne’s story in relation to compliance within a culture of slenderness and norms, and the role of the coach within that culture Using interpretive biography, the data illustrate how the creation of strong athletic identity led to a vulnerable sense of self, which, when disrupted, critically contributed to the development of an eating disorder They also indicate how the prevailing discourse fed the disorder through ongoing surveillance and disciplining of the self Finally, suggestions are made about drawing lessons from Anne’s story with regard to re-interpreting the traditional coach-athlete relationship
134 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined leisure-time sport participation among adults according to their socio-cultural background and from a time-trend perspective using stapled cross-sectional survey data.
Abstract: This study examines leisure-time sport participation among adults according to their socio-cultural background and from a time-trend perspective Using stapled cross-sectional survey data, sport pa
125 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore how South African women negotiate material and ideological constraints to participate in the women's soccer tournament in the South African Soccer Association (SSA) in South Africa.
Abstract: This study contributes to the emerging international literature on women’s soccer by exploring how South African women are negotiating material and ideological constraints to participate in the his...
101 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the experiences of Black women and one Indian Hindu woman in football in England were discussed, drawing on survey and interview research to theorize gender, race, and ethnic identity.
Abstract: This article focuses on the experiences of Black women and one Indian Hindu woman in football in England. The discussions draw on survey and interview research to theorize gender, ‘race’ and ethnic...
97 citations
TL;DR: Though the results point to favorable health outcomes for athletes, athletic participation was also associated with higher rates of injury to male athletes who actually attempted suicide.
Abstract: Suicide is the third leading cause of death among US adolescents aged 15-24, with males incurring higher rates of completion than females. This study used hierarchical logistic regression analysis to test whether athletic participation was associated with lower rates of suicidal ideation and behavior among a nationally representative sample of over 16,000 US public and private high school students. Net of the effects of age, race/ethnicity, parental educational attainment, and urbanicity, high school athletic participation was significantly associated with reduced odds of considering suicide among both females and males, and reduced odds of planning a suicide attempt among females only. Though the results point to favorable health outcomes for athletes, athletic participation was also associated with higher rates of injury to male athletes who actually attempted suicide.
78 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a qualitative exploration of male and female African American athletes' experiences of race and race discrimination with regard to specific incidents that occurred during their athletic careers was conducted, and the interviews revealed five themes that were identified as: "being hurt", "outrage and shock", "team togetherness", "being empowered", and "differences".
Abstract: This study is a qualitative exploration of male and female African American athletes’ experiences of race and race discrimination with regard to specific incidents that occurred during their athletic careers. Eight African American athletes from different competitive levels and sports were interviewed to obtain a deeper understanding of their experiences of race and race discrimination and the role it played in their careers. The interviews revealed five themes that were identified as: ‘being hurt’, ‘outrage and shock’, ‘team togetherness’, ‘being empowered’, and ‘differences’.
75 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored the emotional dimension of the injured sporting body and examined the interactional and narrative elements of the rehabilitative journey, focusing on dimensions of emotion management, emotion work, and emotional intersubjectivity of the researcher/author and her training partner.
Abstract: Based on a collaborative autoethnographic research project, this article explores the emotional dimension of the injured sporting body. It takes as its analytic focus the journey, rehabilitative, emotional and narrative, of two middle-aged, non-elite, middle/long-distance runners who experienced serious, long-term knee injuries. The study examines the interactional and narrative elements of the rehabilitative journey, focusing on dimensions of the emotion management, emotion work, and emotional intersubjectivity of the researcher/author and her training partner as they struggled to contend with the liminality of the injured athletic role, and to maintain positive identities in the face of serious threat to their running selves.
73 citations
TL;DR: A project was undertaken in 2002 on behalf of the Australian Sports Commission to identify potential indicators of health and social outcomes from sport and sport and recreation programs in Indigenous communities in Australia.
Abstract: A project was undertaken in 2002 on behalf of the Australian Sports Commission to identify potential indicators of health and social outcomes from sport and recreation programs in Indigenous communities in Australia. The project consisted of three stages: 1) a literature review to identify specific indicators of potential relevance in the Indigenous Australian context; 2) discussions with key members of three Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory to identify community expectations and experiences of sport and recreation programs; and 3) consultation with relevant stakeholders to determine the potential usefulness and appropriateness of the indicators identified in the first two stages. A number of indicators are proposed for immediate testing and refinement, while others are recommended for future development.
61 citations
TL;DR: The theme of sporting celebrity has attracted a significant amount of attention in the sociology of sport in recent times as mentioned in this paper, and there has been a sense that the autobiographical details of contemp...
Abstract: The theme of sporting celebrity has attracted a significant amount of attention in the sociology of sport in recent times. Evident here has been a sense that the autobiographical details of contemp...
TL;DR: This article critically evaluates the extent to which non-orthodox care is an authentic ‘alternative’ to traditional medical approaches, and the contention that such treatment facilitates the continued presentation of self as both ‘athlete’ and ‘female’ at a time when these identities are challenged by the injury or illness experience.
Abstract: While sociologists have confirmed that athletes normalize illness and injury, there remains limited research into the practices of sports medicine. A two-year ethnographic study of female rowers shows that medical support for these athletes was both insufficient and inadequate. The rowers experienced a lack of medical care, and several had stories to tell of incompetent diagnoses and over-reliance on drug prescription. Many of the women turned to non-orthodox health care, which has been considered more ‘feminine’ than orthodox practices, and also empowering in terms of the active involvement of the client in the treatment process. This article critically evaluates the extent to which non-orthodox care is an authentic ‘alternative’ to traditional medical approaches, and the contention that such treatment facilitates the continued presentation of self as both ‘athlete’ and ‘female’ at a time when these identities are challenged by the injury or illness experience.
TL;DR: In this article, the social chains of interdependence necessary to perpetuate "tolerable" deviance against the dogs are discussed and conceptual typologies of the main players in the greyhound figuration are outlined.
Abstract: Sociologists have been slow to turn their attention to ‘blood sports’ involving animals or activities where animals suffer neglect and abuse. Although there seems to be a heightened sense of public contempt in many countries toward the outwardly cruel treatment of animals such as dogs, and toward the place of animals in ‘sport’ per se, the ways in which racing greyhounds may be enmeshed in wider formations of sports-related abuse and violence continues to be ignored. In this article, data gathered on greyhound abuse in the North American racing figuration are examined in the process of understanding the social chains of interdependence necessary to perpetuate ‘tolerable’ deviance against the dogs. Using central tenets of figurational sociology, patterns of neglect and abuse are discussed and conceptual typologies of the main ‘players’ in the greyhound figuration are outlined.
TL;DR: This article analyzed how media representations of Suzuki Ichiro, a professional baseball player, have reproduced discourses of nationhood in Japan and the US, demonstrating how nationalism and globalization may articulate in sport.
Abstract: This article illustrates how media representations of Suzuki Ichiro, a professional baseball player, have reproduced discourses of nationhood in Japan and the US, demonstrating how nationalism and globalization may articulate in sport. Some 365 articles that mentioned Ichiro, published in the Seattle Times (151), Mainichi Daily Newspaper (77), and Sports Nippon (137) were analyzed. These articles describe Ichiro’s inaugural season (2001-02) as the first Japanese position player in Major League Baseball. Transnationalism provides an important framework for understanding the specific space between the nation and the ‘other.’ In this instance, this space spans the US and Japan, US and Japanese baseball, and even US and Japanese media. Although Ichiro’s move from Japanese baseball to Major League Baseball is evidence of the globalization of sport, Ichiro is also a vehicle through which US and Japanese nationalism can be celebrated. The framework of transnationalism permits an understanding of the interplay be...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the relationship between cultural capital and different forms of sport consumption by spectators of three different sports (N = 587) and found that sport participation and sport consumption were positively associated with cultural capital.
Abstract: Drawing on the theoretical framework of Pierre Bourdieu, this study investigates the relationship between cultural capital and different forms of sport consumption by spectators of three different sports (N = 587). Main findings show a negative relationship between cultural capital and sport consumption, and a positive relationship between sport participation and sport consumption. The findings are partly at odds with previous studies, indicating a positive relationship between cultural capital and direct sport consumption. The findings are possibly explained by considering tastes as social communication in a society where mass consumption adds to the blurring of distinctive borders between different groups of social belongingness, involving the ‘cultural omnivore’ thesis.
TL;DR: The authors provided a comparative analysis of news narratives of "disappointment" in Canada and New Zealand in response to the 2000 Olympics, and examined how disappointment was thematized similarly as a decline in relation to past performance, but explained somewhat differently in the two countries.
Abstract: This article provides a comparative analysis of news narratives of ‘disappointment’ in Canada and New Zealand in response to the 2000 Olympics. The theoretical framework draws on Luhmann’s distinction between cognitive and normative orientations to expectations, contingency, and disappointment. The analysis examines how disappointment was thematized similarly as a decline in relation to past performance, but explained somewhat differently in the two countries. In New Zealand, disappointment was explained in more normatively inflected terms. Although various causal factors were mentioned, the explanatory frame was dominated by claims that athletes lacked a competitive attitude and the ‘will to win’, and this was generalized to New Zealand society and the educational system in particular as indicative of a broader loss of moral values. The Canadian response, on the other hand, was framed in more cognitively oriented terms. Athlete blaming was quickly dismissed as misplaced, and attention was directed to the...
TL;DR: The authors examined the cultural meanings Korean American women give to participation in sports and found that their sport-related beliefs were similar to those of Korean women in other ethnic groups, including immigrants.
Abstract: This study examines the cultural meanings Korean American women give to participation in sports. Interviews with six Korean American women at a large Midwestern university revealed that their sport...
TL;DR: In this paper, a sociological analysis of the "Tartan Army" of supporters that travels to Scotland football matches is presented, where some of Simmel's most important theoretical and substantive arguments are deployed to develop an analysis of a specific sports subculture.
Abstract: Georg Simmel is one of sociology’s most influential early figures, although arguably his work has been under-utilized in many scholarly fields, including sport studies. Some of Simmel’s most important theoretical and substantive arguments are deployed to develop a sociological analysis of a specific sports subculture: the ‘Tartan Army’ of supporters that travels to Scotland football matches. Of particular interest are Simmel’s formal sociological standpoint, differentiation of social and cultural forms, development of dualistic thinking, analyses of human sociability, writings on ‘the stranger’ and ‘the adventure’, and his concern with individuality in modern metropolitan culture. In applying Simmel’s insights, I explore the formal emergence and organic development of the Tartan Army as a distinctive supporter culture. The Tartan Army, like many sports crowds, affords an outstanding study in Simmelian sociability, while providing adventure and a possible escape from our overwhelming modern culture. The article concludes by considering Simmel’s wider utility within the sociology of sport.
TL;DR: In Japanese sport, including club activities in Japanese schools and universities, sport occupies an important place in educational curricula; but is it imbued with what Bourdieu suggests are guaranteed capital prop...
Abstract: Sport, including club activities in Japanese schools and universities, occupies an important place in educational curricula; but is it imbued with what Bourdieu suggests are guaranteed capital prop...
TL;DR: This article examined the media production processes that led to the construction of Whitfield's positive media image and the impact of this coverage on his marketability, through interviews with five national and regional newspaper journalists who wrote stories about Whitfield and four national marketers who worked on his sponsorship campaigns.
Abstract: When Canadian Simon Whitfield won the gold medal in the first ever Olympic Men’s Triathlon at the 2000 Sydney Games, the Canadian media labeled him an ‘Olympic champion’ and ‘golden boy’ and constructed his victory as ‘heroic’ and emblematic of Canadian character. Positive media attention led to several sponsorship contracts which in turn led to more media coverage about his success, with the result that Whitfield became a media celebrity and product endorser in Canada. In this article we examine the media production processes that led to the construction of Whitfield’s positive media image and the impact of this coverage on his marketability. Through interviews with five national and regional newspaper journalists who wrote stories about Whitfield and four national marketers who worked on his sponsorship campaigns, as well as with Whitfield himself, we demonstrate how media and marketing production are linked as part of a promotional chain. In the case of Whitfield, this promotional chain resulted in med...
TL;DR: The Sports City Program (SCP) as mentioned in this paper encourages inactive segments of the urban population to become more active by encouraging them to take part in sports activities, such as running, walking, and cycling.
Abstract: The Norwegian Government initiated the Sports City Program (SCP) in 1992 in an attempt to encourage inactive segments of the urban population to become more active. The program was implemented by t...
TL;DR: In 2003 Namibia reached the final stages of the ICC World Cup in South Africa, and the International Rugby Board (IRB)-World Cup in Australia -a remarkable achievem... as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: In 2003 Namibia reached the final stages of the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup in South Africa, and the International Rugby Board (IRB) World Cup in Australia - a remarkable achievem...
TL;DR: Stokvis as mentioned in this paper argued that the desire to change the level of violence in sports was not an important consideration in the transition from folk games to modern sport, and pointed out that most typical modern aspects of sports are derived from the wish of competitors from different localities, regions and nations to compete with each other.
Abstract: Authors, such as Guttmann, and Dunning and Sheard, have tried to identify fundamental characteristics of modern sports. Guttmann enumerates seven characteristics: secularism, equality, specialization, rationalization, bureaucratization, quantification and records (1978: 16). Dunning and Sheard offer a list of 15 characteristics. Part of their list can be considered a less abstract and more explicit variation of Guttmann’s list. The most conspicuous difference between the lists is the emphasis on the level of violence as an important difference between folk games and modern sport. This point is evident in three characteristics from Dunning and Sheard’s list: (6) norms of ‘fairness’, (11) low level of socially tolerated physical violence, and (12) more controlled and sublimated pleasurable ‘battle-excitement’ (Dunning and Sheard, 1979: 33, 34). In 1992 I argued that the desire to change the level of violence in sports was not an important consideration in the transition from folk games to modern sports. I had and have no problems with the civilizing theory in general. However, I criticized the way in which Elias, Dunning and their colleagues applied the theory in the field of sport. More specifically, I had and have problems with their explanation of the origin and development of modern sport. In my view, not far from Guttmann’s, most typical modern aspects of sports are derived from the wish of competitors from different localities, regions and nations to compete with each other. This wish was an aspect of the process of modernization. People from different regions became more connected and met each other more for work and leisure. To have this supra-local competition people had to agree on the rules of their games and to control their common rules through a supra-local level of organization. In the deliberations of the athletes about rules for supra-local competitions, questions about the level of violence often did arise. Yet the most important point was that all participants agreed to some rule. It might be one that tolerated or one that tried to diminish a certain level of violence (Stokvis, 1992). I argued that a number of modern sports were not violent when they were practised as folk games, and enumerated ‘cricket, golf, bowling, tennis, archery, INTERNATIONAL REVIEW FOR THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT 40/1(2005) 111–114 111
TL;DR: The authors examines the knowledge and the power systems that framed body practices in Cameroon from 1920 to 1960 and examines the different rational ways in which the knowledge of sport and physical education is changed into body culture; and the forms of power rationalization which enable disciplinarization mechanisms and then body control through physical and sporting activities.
Abstract: Rather than studying behaviours or ideas, this article examines the knowledge and the power systems that framed body practices in Cameroon from 1920 to 1960. It is above all a history of the ‘mechanisms’, in Foucault’s sense of the term; namely, a focus on a) the singular process of objectivation and subjectivation immanent in athletic institutional arrangements; b) the different rational ways in which the knowledge of sport and physical education is changed into body culture; and c) the forms of power rationalization which enable disciplinarization mechanisms, and then body control through physical and sporting activities.
TL;DR: In this paper, a review of the debate between Dominic Malcolm and RuudStokvis is presented, and a selective summary and critique of thelatest phase in a lively and productive discussion regarding the emergence and development of modern sporting forms.
Abstract: As sociologists of sport involved in teaching and researching the broad area of theemergence and development of modern sport we have been captivated by therecently reinvigorated debate in the International Review for the Sociology ofSport (IRSS) concerning the place of violence-reduction in the socio-genesis ofsports. In this brief review of the debate between Dominic Malcolm and RuudStokvis — and, by extension, that between figurational sociologists of sport anda figurational sympathizer — we present a selective summary and critique of thelatest phase in a lively and productive discussion regarding the emergence anddevelopment of modern sporting forms. We do so in the belief that stimulatingthis kind of dialogue in the IRSS is not only worthwhile in itself, but also holdsout the promise of making a significant contribution to our understanding of thedevelopment of modern sport in the form of a refinement of existing explanations.Before addressing the core of the debate between Stokvis and Malcolmand, a decade earlier, Stokvis (1992) and Elias and Dunning (1986), we providea short summary of their respective positions.
TL;DR: Among the most persecuted peoples in the world, Rroma (Gypsies) have sometimes struggled to retain their ethnic identity, and have suffered from a lack of formal education and high rates of illiteracy as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Among the most persecuted peoples in the world, Rroma (Gypsies) have sometimes struggled to retain their ethnic identity, and have suffered from a lack of formal education and high rates of illiter...
TL;DR: Built to Win this paper is a book about media representations of US female athletes, focusing on women's sport, class, race, and sexuality, with an emphasis on the use of violence to construct masculinity.
Abstract: about the reader who may have different interpretations? Are the reader’s interpretations invalid? And, if these interpretations did not come ‘immediately’ to the reader’s mind, is the reader’s mind inadequate in some way? In addition, the prevalence of sarcastic comments like ‘Poor pretty boys. Poor narrator. Poor Tyler . . .’ (p. 108) in understanding the use of violence to construct masculinity in the film further marginalizes alternative interpretations. The purpose of the book is to present interpretations of media culture in relation to female athletes. The sarcastic authoritative voice, therefore, somewhat undermines the explicitly feminist view that the authors claim to hold. For each chapter, Heywood and Dworkin provide extensive endnotes that contain references and comments that add depth and perspective to the ideas presented. For example, the endnotes related to the rise to popularity of women’s sports events such as the Soccer World Cup expand on the relationship between women’s sport, class, race, and sexuality. A single bibliographic listing for the entire book would have also been valuable and would have enabled direct reference to specific authors and sources without having to search the 28 pages of endnotes. A comprehensive index containing colloquialisms (e.g. ‘babe factor’) as well as more traditional search terms (‘mass media’, ‘objectification’), in addition to listing athletes and researchers, permits identification and location of specific issues in the text. Built to Win is designed to attract a popular audience, yet it may be a difficult read for non-academics and a frustrating one for academics. Built to Win is perhaps most suited to readers who are newly encountering issues and concepts related to gender and media representation. Thus, with the guidance of an instructor, this book would make useful additional reading for first or second year undergraduate students interested in exploring contemporary media representations of US female athletes.