Sports in Society:Issues and Controversies

Chapter 4

Sports and Socialization:Who Plays and What Happens to Them?

Socialization:Main Definition

SocializationIs an active process of learning and

social developmentOccurs as we interact with othersInvolves the formation of ideas

about who we are and what is important in our lives

Stevenson’s Findings(1999)

Becoming an elite athlete involves:The process of introduction and

involvementThe process of developing commitment

Donnelly & Young’s Findings (1999)

Becoming an athlete in a sport subculture involves:

Acquiring knowledge about the sportAssociating with people in the sportLearning the norms of the sportReceiving recognition and acceptance

from other athletes

Coakley & White’s Findings (1999)

Deciding to play sports depends on:Ideas about sport’s connection to other

interests and goalsDesires to develop & display competenceSocial and material supportMemories of past experiences in sportsGeneral cultural images and messages

about sports

Functionalist and Conflict Theory: Research on Dropping Out of Sports

People don’t drop out forever, nor do they cut all ties with sports

Dropping out is tied to other changes and transitions in a person’s life

Dropping out is not related only to bad experiences

Dropping out may cause problems among those who Have identities grounded totally in sports Lack social & material resources

Coakley’s Findings (1992)

Burnout among elite adolescent athletes was most likely when:

High performance sports were organized so that athletes had little control over their lives

Sport involvement was perceived to interfere with accomplishing important developmental tasks

Koukouris’ Findings (1994)

Ending or reducing sport participation was associated with:

The need to find a job and become independent

Realistic assessments of sport skills and potential for future achievements

Efforts to stay physically active and connected with sports

Summary: Changing or Ending Competitive Sport Participation

Changes in participation are grounded in decision-making processes tied to people’s lives, life courses, and social worlds

Identity issues and developmental issues are important

Problems are most likely when sport participation has constricted a person’s life

Being Involved in Sports:What Happens?

In some cultures people believe that sports automatically build positive traits and relationships among all participants

Factors Often Overlooked in Research on Character Building in Sports

1. Different sports offer different experiences

2. Selection processes in organized sports favor some characteristics over others

3. Different people define sport experiences in different ways

4. Meanings given to sport experiences often change over time

5. Social relationships mediate sports experiences

6. Many activities other than sports can provide character-building experiences

Sport Participation Is Most Likely to Produce Positive Effects When (I)

1. New non-sport identities are formed 2. Knowledge is gained about the world

beyond sports 3. Experiences go beyond sports4. New relationships are formed that go

beyond sports (continued)

Sport Participation Is Most Likely to Produce Positive Effects When (II)

5. Lessons learned in sports are applied to situations outside of sports

6. Participants are seen by others as total human beings, not just athletes

7. General competence and responsibility are learned

General Summary:

If playing sports constricts or limits a person’s life, expect negative socialization effects

If playing sports expands or diversifies a person’s life, expect positive socialization effects

Power & Performance Versus Pleasure & Participation Sports

Pleasure/Participation1. Emphasis on connections

between people2. Ethic of expression,

enjoyment, health3. Body = source of pleasure4. Inclusion & accom-

modation of differences5. Democratic structures6. Compete with others

Power/Performance1. Use power to push limits

in pursuit of victories

2. Excellence proved through winning

3. Body = tool and weapon

4. Competence-based inclusion/exclusion

5. Hierarchical structures

6. Opponents = enemies

Studies of Sport Experiences

The voices of sport participants indicate that

People define and give meaning to their sport experiences in connection with their social relationships

Meanings given to sport experiences are grounded in cultural definitions about gender, race & ethnicity, social class, sexuality, and other characteristics defined as socially important

Fine’s Findings (1987)

The moral socialization that occurs in little league baseball

Depends on how the boys “hear” and apply the moral messages from adults

Emphasizes masculinity as involving toughness and dominance

Theberge’s Findings (2000)

The locker rooms of women’s ice hockey teams are key places in which

Women bond with each other and form a sense of community

The players use relationships with each other to develop meanings for their sport participation and apply those meanings to to their lives

Crosset’s Findings (1995)

The lives of women athletes in the LPGA were influenced by gender relations in U.S. culture

The women developed an “ethic of prowess” – a mindset highlighting a commitment to physical competence as a basis for evaluating self and others on the tour

This ethic existed to neutralize the negative effects of traditional ideas about femininity

Conformity to the ethic helped the women legitimize their roles as professional athletes

Wacquant’s Findings (1992)

The social world of the boxing gym

Was created in connection with the social forces in the black ghetto and its masculine street culture

Sheltered black men from the full destructive impact of social and cultural forces in their lives

Provided a disciplined regime of body regulation that established a positive identity and separated the men from the negative influences of a chaotic environment

Studies of Socialization As a Community & Cultural Process

Sports are sites for struggling over how we think and what we do

Sports are sites where people create and learn “stories” they can use to make sense of the world

Sports consist of vocabularies and images that influence ideology

Socialization and the Formation of Ideology

Hegemony is the process of forming agreement about particular ways of viewing and making sense of the world

Sports are important sites for hegemonic processes because they provide pleasurable experiences to so many people

Corporate sponsors use sports to establish “ideological outposts” in people’s heads

Sport, Socialization, & Ideology

Research shows that none of us live outside the influence of ideology

The stories that emerge in connection with sports and sport experiences generally reproduce dominant forms of ideology, but they also can challenge and even transform dominant ideology