The Sociology of Sports: On Sport-Related Pain & Injury
William BridelAssistant Professor, Faculty of Kinesiology
October 6, 2016
Welcome
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Welcome
William Bridel Assistant Professor, Faculty of
Kinesiology• Socio-cultural aspects of sport &
physical activity; qualitative research PhD, Queen’s University; MA,
University of Ottawa; BA, York U Published in various sport and leisure
journals; edited collection Endurance Running: A Socio-cultural Examination
3-time Ironman participant & former competitive figure skater
Overview of the Presentation
From runner to researcher
Previous academic scholarship
My research on pain, injury, pleasure, health, and endurance
So what?
Tips and suggestions
With thanks to SSHRC
The Rock in My Shoe
Ironman USA, July 2007
Birth of the Project
Pain & Injury: Traditional Approach
• Medico-scientific focus• Identify; diagnose; treat• Goal: Find and eradicate source
• Treatment: pharmaceuticals; therapy; surgery(?); “alternative” approaches
• Prevention: Biomedical/scientific intervention (musculoskeletal development or improvement)
A Different Way of Thinking
Pain is not just blindly felt or unreflectively endured as a series of
biochemical impulses. It changes with its place in human history.
David Morris: The Culture of Pain (1991)
Sport Studies and Pain
Early scholarship produced by sport scholars such as John Bale, David Howe, Sigmund Loland William McTeer, Howard Nixon II, Elizabeth Pike, Martin Roderick, Don Sabo, Parissa Safai, Phil White, and Kevin Young
Beyond a medico-scientific approach, what do we know about pain and injury
in the context of sport?
Sport Studies and Pain: General
• Pain and injury are “just part of sport”• Normalization & socialization
• “No pain, no gain” philosophy
• Silence around pain and injury
• Impact of money
• Celebration of athletes who play through pain/injury
Sport Studies and Pain: Gender
• Boys and Men:• Masculinity/manliness connected to
ignoring/ tolerating/enduring/playing with/through pain
• Celebration of ability to overcome
• Silence
Image retrieved from walesonline.co.uk
Sport Studies and Pain: Gender
• Girls and women• Similar relationship to pain
and injury as boys and men
• Greater efforts to “protect” girls and women (rules & regulations)
Sport Studies and Pain
What about non-elite athletes?
Sport Studies and Pain
How do recreational sport participants or “weekend warriors”
think about/experience pain and injury?
Triathlon & Weekend Warriors
Doctoral dissertation focused on recreational or non-elite Ironman triathlon participants• Led to further research on the history of the Ironman
triathlon, as well as endurance running more generally
Interviews with 19 participants, media analysis, and personal reflections
Focus: constructions of pain, injury, pleasure, and health
Triathlon & Weekend Warriors
Similar conceptualizations of pain and injury as elite athletes and reflecting media narratives
• “This is the Ironman, it’s normal!”
• Pain as something to be pushed through, something that demonstrates toughness (a valued trait)
• Negotiating between “positive” and “negative” pain
• Pain as a pleasurable, even desirable, state (“it makes me feel alive”)
• Accepting pain in pursuit of “better health”
Triathlon & Weekend Warriors
I may be shortening the life of my knees. It’s really bone on bone when I run…. So I continue to exercise knowing that this may shorten some of my activities down the road but it’s almost more like I want to live for now and enjoy my activities now and hope that
10 or 15 years down the road when I do need a knee replacement that it’s advanced from what it is now.
(Gordon)
So What?
Sport-related injuries cost Canadian and US taxpayers billions of dollars every year and result in millions of missed work days
Loss of income for professional coaches
Decreased performance in the present, potentially long-term
Diminished interest in participation• If it hurts, why would you do it?!
So What?
Short- and long-term health consequences• Reliance on pain medication to mask and/or manage
• Mental and social health?
Continued “no pain, no gain” narrative & celebration of elite/pro athletes as exemplars of “healthiness”• How does this trickle down to children and youth?
Suggestions for your Fitness?
Set challenging but realistic goals and be willing to readjust if necessary
Listen to your body
Think about the difference between health and fitness in your own life
Think critically about narratives that celebrate the idea of pushing through pain
Coaches & parents: create a culture of openness around pain and injury
Upcoming webinars
The Race to Prevent Running Injuries, October 11, 12-1 p.m. MST
Inside the Mind of an Olympian, October 13, 12-1 p.m. MST
Knocking Out Concussions in Sports, October 20, 10-11 a.m. MST
Thank you
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