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