Chapter 6 - In Pankey's Textbook or Chapter 5 in Coakley's

Deviance in Sports:  Is It Out of Control?

What counts as deviance in sports? Is this a sports issue or a broader community issue?

Problems faced when studying deviance in sports

1.Types and causes of deviance are diverse; one theory cannot explain them.

2.Actions accepted in ____________ may be ___________ in other situations; and actions accepted in _______________ may be ___________ in sports.

3.Deviance in sports often involves _____________ ___________ of norms, rather than a ______________ of norms.

4.Training and performance are now based on such new forms of science and technology that people haven’t had time to develop new norms to guide and regulate the actions of people in sports.

Defining and studying deviance in sports

Understanding deviance requires an understanding of __________

Norm = _____________________________________________________________

Formal norms = _____________________________________________________________

Informal norms = _____________________________________________________________

Defining and studying deviance in sports

Deviance occurs when a person’s ideas, traits, or actions are perceived by others to fall outside the normal range of acceptance in a society

Formal deviance = _____________________________________________________________

Informal deviance = _____________________________________________________________

Two approaches to studying deviance

1._______________ approach = assumes that social norms are based on essential principles that constitute an unchanging foundation for identifying good and evil and distinguishing right from wrong.

All norms represent particular ideals, and whenever an idea, trait, or action departs from an ideal, it is deviant

The greater the departure from the ideal, the more serious the deviance            

Two approaches tostudying deviance (Cont.)

2._____________________approach = deviance occurs when ideas, traits, and actions fall outside socially determined boundaries that people use to determine what is acceptable and unacceptable in a social world.
This approach is based on four assumptions:

Norms are socially constructed as people interact with each other and determine what’s acceptable and what isn’t

Deviance is socially constructed as people negotiate the boundaries of their acceptance.

Power dynamics influence this negotiation

Most ideas, traits, and actions fall into a normally accepted range

According to a constructionist approach, there are two types of deviance—one involving ______________ to norms and the other involving ____________________.

Deviance in sports occurs on both sides of normal.

Using a constructionist approach to explain deviance in sports

Most deviance in sports is not due to the moral bankruptcy of athletes, as inferred by an absolutist approach.

Much deviance in sports involves ___________________________________________ in sports.

Sport deviance must be understood in terms of the context of sport cultures and the norms of “the sport ethic.”

The sport ethic

  . . . an _____________________________________________________________________________

The norms of the sport ethic

1.An athlete makes sacrifices for “the game.”

2.An athlete strives for distinction.

3.An athlete accepts risks and plays through pain.

4.An athlete accepts no limits in the pursuit of possibilities.

Why do athletes engage in deviant overconformity?

1.Playing sports is so exciting and exhilarating that athletes will do almost anything to stay involved.

2.Being selected to play high-performance sports often requires overconformity to the norms of the sport ethic.

3.Exceeding normative limits creates drama and excitement and leads to strong social bonds between athletes.

Athletes most likely to overconform to the sport ethic

1.Those with low __________ and a deep need to be ___________ as athletes by their peers in a sport

2.Those who see ________________ in sports as their only way to gain ___________ and __________

3.Those males who link their ______________ as athletes and as men so that being an athlete and being a man become one and the _________ ____________.

Deviant overconformity and group dynamics

Engaging in deviant overconformity

Bonds athletes together in ways that normalize overconformity to the sport ethic in sport groups

Separates athletes from the _____________ _______________ while inspiring awe and admiration among community members

Often leads athletes to develop ______________ – that is, pride-driven arrogance and an inflated sense of self-importance that leads one to feel separate from and superior to others

Additional hypotheses about deviance among athletes

Deviance becomes more likely when

1.Social bonds among athletes normalize ________ taking

2.Athletes are ____________ from the rest of the community

3.Athletes develop ___________ degrees of ___________

4.People in the community see athletes as deserving ___________ ___________ because they engage in _______________, even if dangerous and disabling, actions

How to control deviant overconformity in sports

Learn to identify the forms and dynamics of over-conformity among athletes (and make coaches aware)

Raise critical questions about the meaning, organization, and purpose of sports

Help athletes to learn how and when to set limits on their conformity to the norms of the sport ethic

Assist athletes to connect more meaningfully and deeply with people in the general community

Research on deviance among athletes On-the-Field Deviance

Evidence suggests that cheating, dirty play, and fighting are _________ common today than in the past.

It seems like there is more today because there are more __________ to violate and _________ technology captures it.

Athletes in power and performance sports accept “_________ fouls,” “cheating _____________________,” and “playing to the level of the _____________.”

People focus exclusively on deviant underconformity and overlook deviant overconformity—the form of deviance that might be more pervasive today.

This historical finding contradicts popular perceptions. Many people think that athletes are more deviant today because there are more rules than ever before, and expectations for _____________ are ____________.

Research on deviance among athletes Off-the-Field Deviance

Research shows that many athletes have lower rates of __________________ than similar peers who do not play sports

There are ____________ to this in the case of certain athletes (___________ ______________ in one study) who are more likely to engage in serious fights than other athletes

Sport programs do nothing to alter the social conditions associated with delinquency

Research on deviance among athletes

Data on academic cheating is ____________________.

Membership in any tight-knit group is more important than simply playing sports.

Data on rates of ______________ use and _________________ drinking are mixed because drinking norms vary by the age of athletes and the contexts in which they live (e.g., dorm vs. parents’ home).

Felony rates among adult athletes ____ ____________ seem to be out of control, but they are a problem.

Age, race, ethnicity, and social class background must be taken into account when analyzing data.

Sexual assault rates seem to be ____________ and constitute a ____________ problem.

Research: deviance may decline if sports emphasize

1.A philosophy of nonviolence

2.Respect for self and others

3.The importance of fitness and control over self

4.Confidence in physical skills

5.A sense of responsibility

Using deviance to create commercial personas in sports

________________ deviance = actions and appearances that can be imagined as “real” deviance without producing any real negative consequences for anyone involved.

This form of deviance may be used to create marketable personas or to make one’s self into a brand—without hurting anyone in the process

Deviance by people other than athletes

Coaches

Administrators

Team owners

Referees

Trainers

Public officials

Media people

Agents

Parents

Spectators (See Movie on Drinking on College Campuses)

Using performance enhancing substances in sports

The use of performance-enhancing substances has a long history in high-performance sports.

The use of performance-enhancing substances occurs regularly today in high-performance sports.

Much substance use constitutes a form of deviant _____________________.

Such substances will be used as long as athletes believe they enhance performance and enable athletes to remain in the game they love.

Defining and banning performance-enhancing substances

Defining a “performance-enhancing substance”

Defining what is unnatural, artificial, abnormal, or foreign to the body is difficult.

Defining what is fair is difficult when people use science, medicine, and technology in sports.

Determining what is dangerous to health is difficult.

Studying and testing for substances is constrained by ethical and legal factors.

Why is substance use so prevalent today? (I)

1.The visibility and resources associated with sports have fueled massive research and development efforts, and _________________ the _______________ of substances.

2.People are fascinated with technology and want to use it to push ___________ limits.

3.The rationalization of the body influences how people see the ________-__________ relationship.

4.There’s a growing emphasis on __________-medication.

5.Gender relations are changing, and substances are used to challenge or preserve gender ideology.

7.The organization of power and performance sports encourages overconformity to norms of the sport ethic.

8.Coaches, sponsors, administrators, and fans encourage deviant overconformity.

9.Athletes’ performances are closely monitored with an emphasis on control over body and conformity to demands of coaches.

Arguments for testing

Testing is needed to:

Protect the health of athletes and reduce pressures to take substances to keep up with competitors

Guarantee fairness and a level playing field

Protect children who may imitate athletes

Maintain normal law enforcement procedures

Preserve the current meaning of sports and athletic achievement

Arguments against testing

Testing should be dropped because:

Athletes remain one-step ahead of the testers, making tests ineffective

Testing violates privacy rights

Testing drains valuable sport resources

Testing can’t detect all performance enhancing substances

Testing encourages athletes to seek other technologies such as genetic engineering

Controlling substance use: where to start?

1.Critically examine the hypocrisy in elite sports

2.Establish rules indicating that risks to health are undesirable and unnecessary in sports

3.Establish a “harm reduction” approach, disallowing athletes to play until they are certified as “well” by an independent medical expert

4.Establish injury and health education programs for athletes

5.Establish a code of ethics for sport scientists

6.Make drug education part of deviance and health education to

Create norms regulating use of technology

Critically examine values and norms in sports

Redefine meaning of achievement

Teach athletes to think critically

Provide accurate and current information to parents, coaches, and athletes