Ethical Issues & Coaching
OBJECTIVES
To define morals & ethics
To examine some ethical issues & to
consider that they are often complex &
context specific
To investigate areas where problems with
ethics commonly exist
To investigate how coach behaviours
influence athlete attitudes towards ethics
To examine some potential solutions to
dealing with ethical dilemmas
Morals & Ethics
Moral – to be concerned with the
goodness or badness of human
behaviour or with the distinction
between right or wrong.
Moralist – A person who follows a
system of ethics.
Ethics –relate to moral principles.
- A principle or rule of right conduct.
Concise Oxford Dictionary (1991)
Ethics
Key Concept:
Ethics are a more or less coherent set
of principles formulated around
behaviour in a particular activity.
Lyle (2002)
Scenario 1
A gymnastics coach makes sexual
advances & suggestions to his 15
year old athlete.
Ethical or unethical behaviour?
Scenario 2
An athletics coach notices his sprint
athlete seems to be struggling under
the training load that he has been
set. On further investigation it
transpires the athlete has shin
splints, acting under medical advice
the coach alters the training regime
to take his injury into account.
Ethical or unethical behaviour?
Scenario 3
A 26 year old male athletics coach had
been coaching a 22 year old female
800 runner for 2 years. During this
time athlete & coach had developed
romantic feelings for each other. 2
years later the coach & athlete got
married. The athlete continues to
compete at international level.
Ethical or unethical behaviour?
Conclusions from Case Studies
Whilst some ethical concern cases may
be judged on a “black & white basis”
many others are highly complex &
shrouded by contextual issues that
need to be considered on a case by
case basis where material facts are
open to interpretation.
Hence a “shades of grey” approach is
often most appropriate!
Where & Why are Ethical
Concerns Likely to Arise?
Coach – Athlete power relationship
Youth sport – “level playing field” concept
Competition –reward conflict
End justifies means approach
Recreational sport coach misconceptions
Professional sport & sub-culture behaviour
Hero-worship & infatuation
Ethics & the Coach -Athlete
Power Relationship
High potential for
problems because
of differences in:
Age & maturity
Knowledge &
experience
Intensity &
duration of
engagement
Gender
Close physical
contact
Psychological
dependency
Emotional intensity
Particular Ethical Problem Areas
Power differentials are abused
Attempts to influence results or
performance
Inappropriate assumptions applied
Coach Behaviour & Ethics
This has an important influence on
athletes & can fall into 4 categories:
Coach demeanour & behaviour when
in the coaching role
Determining or condoning performer
behaviour
Interpersonal behaviour with
performers
The coach's professional role
Potential Solutions to Ethical
Challenges
Codes of conduct
Movement towards virtues-based
conduct by coaches
Coach education influences
Encouraging coaches to reflect on
ethical issues
Codes of Conduct
Advantages:
Set guidelines &
boundaries of
acceptable for
unacceptable
practice & behaviour
Gives professional
credibility to
coaching as
minimum standards
are stated
Limitations:
Issues led – often
negatively termed
Often state the
obvious!
Rules dominated
Do not emphasise
or provide
examples of good
practice
Virtues - Based Conduct
Approach that relies on a sincere
belief by coaches living by “good”
values
“ What will I do here in the light of
what I consider myself to be?”
(McNamee, 1998)
The development of a deeper moral
code to live by based on personal
virtue.
Virtues - Based Conduct
Approach allows flexibility as defining
moral actions in the sporting context is
elusive. This approach allows certain
principles to be unassailable, e.g.
Respect, integrity, equity, fairness.
Whilst other areas are less rigid,
usually the weaker held ones.
Virtues - Based Conduct
Belief Tree
Roots –core values
Branches – intermediate beliefs
Leaves – peripheral beliefs
This approach ensures contextual
decision making takes placed as
opposed to rigid rule-adherence.
Coach Education Issues
Minimal attention given to ethical
considerations in coach education
programmes. Illustrated by:
“Spending a lot of time on ethics does not really
apply to me. You see I am a coach, my role is to
teach physical skills to help athletes improve. I
will help many people this way, & that is a good
thing isn't it? Besides, I think I am a pretty good
person. I get on well with people & some of my
friends are from different ethnic backgrounds”
Coach Education Issues
It is not sufficient to simply list
ethical issues & make assumptions
that aspiring coaches can deal with
them effectively
A better approach is to encourage
coaches to critically engage with
such issues at a personal level, so
that we can deal with them as they
appear in practice
Self – Reflection & Ethics
Coaches are challenged by Johnson (1996)
to see what potential they have to act
unethically by answering the following:
Admitting we may have prejudices
Making honest attempts to identify what
they are
Identify actions that reflect these
prejudices
Seek support from others who can help
us overcome them
Self – Reflection & Ethics
This process allows us to realise the
limitations of our thinking & that our view
of “truth” may be one of many!
Examples of questions to ask yourself:
Do the athletes I work with fear me?
Why?
How much power do I have over the
athletes I work with?
Do I include athletes in the decision
making process? If so, how? If not,
should I?
Concluding Thoughts…..
The fight against unethical behaviour
is unlikely to be ever considered
over…. But if coaches continue to
aspire to a virtues based attitude
towards their coaching, to show
critical vigilance & a questioning
attitude, this should lead to better
ethical coaching practice.