A precise definition of sports
Sports in Society:
Issues and Controversies
Chapter 1
The Sociology of Sport:
What Is It and Why Study It?
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This definition distinguishes sports from other
forms of physical activities and from both play
and spectacle.
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Sociology is the study of the social worlds that
people, create, organize, maintain, and change
through their relationships with each other.
Therefore, sociologists are concerned with the actions
and interactions of people in particular social
contexts.
A social world is an identifiable sphere of
everyday actions and relationships (such as a
family household, a soccer team, an athletic
department, a university, a community, etc.).
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Cons:
Privileges people with the
resources to organize
competitive games and
the interest in doing so
Provides a common focus
for people doing research
and developing theories
Overlooks those without
resources or inclinations
to compete
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Play vs. dramatic spectacle
Culture—the shared ways of life and shared
understandings that people develop as they live
together
Social interaction—people taking each other into
account and, in the process, influencing each
other’s feelings, thoughts, and actions.
Social structure—the established patterns of
relationships and social arrangements that take
shape as people live, work, and play with each
other.
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Pros:
Allows sport to be
distinguished from other
activities
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Key concepts used in sociology
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Pros and cons of
a precise definition of sport
Using sociology to study sports
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. . . well established, officially governed
competitive physical activities in which
participants are motivated by internal and
external rewards.
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Play is an expressive activity done for its own
sake (and it results in internal rewards).
A dramatic spectacle is a performance meant to
entertain an audience (for the sake of obtaining
external rewards).
Sports contain elements of play and dramatic
spectacle, and athletes are motivated by internal
and external rewards.
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Characteristics of play, sports, and spectacle
The Sociology of Sport
A subdiscipline of sociology that studies sports
as part of social and cultural life
Focuses primarily on “organized, competitive
sports”
Helps us ask critical questions about sports in
society
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An alternative approach
to defining sports:
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Sociology is a tool for
studying sports in society
Sociology provides useful
Determine the activities that people
identify as sports in a group or society
Concepts
Theories
Research methods
Determine whose sports are most
strongly supported and funded,
especially with public facilities and
money
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These tools enable us to examine social life in
context and see connections between our lives
and the larger social world
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Sports are contested activities
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Viewing sports as social constructions may cause some people
to be defensive because they resist the idea that we can or ever
should change sports.
This means that there are struggles over:
The meaning, purpose, and organization of
sports
The people allowed to play sports and the
conditions under they play
The people and organizations that sponsor and
provide the resources needed to play sports
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The goal of Sports in Society
is to enable readers to
Sports are social constructions
. . . parts of the social world that are created by
people as they interact with one another under
particular social, political, and economic
conditions.
This means that sports can take different forms and
be given different meanings from one situation,
culture, or point in time to the next.
Sports are not static activities—they are changed as
people and circumstances change
Think critically about sports
Learn to identify and understand social problems and
issues associated with sports
Look beyond performance statistics and scores to see
sports as social constructions
Make informed choices about sport participation and the
place of sports in our lives
Transform sports in progressive ways
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Sports, as parts of society, are social
constructions that are given form and
meaning by people as they interact with
each other under the social, political, and
economic conditions that exist in their
society.
Those who benefit from the status quo are
usually threatened by such findings and may try
to discredit or ignore them.
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Whose sports
count in society?
Sociologists study actions and
relationships in terms of the social
contexts in which people live their lives.
Psychologists study behavior in terms of
attributes and processes that exist inside
individuals.
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Sociological research often provides evidence
that there is a need to change the organization
of sports and the organization of society.
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SOCIOLOGY vs. PSYCHOLOGY
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SOCIOLOGY may create controversies
SPORTS and SOCIETY
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Are Paralympic
athletes better than
“able-bodied”
athletes?
. . . and who decides?
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Sports are social phenomena
The characteristics of ideologies:
Sports are related to the social and cultural
contexts in which we live
Sports provide stories and images used to
explain and evaluate these contexts
Sports provide a window into culture and
society
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Never established “once and for all time”
Emerge as people struggle over the meaning
and organization of social life
Are complex and sometimes inconsistent
Change as power relationships change in
society
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“Dominant Ideology”
Why study sports in society?
Sports are socially significant activities for
many people.
Sports reaffirm important ideas and beliefs,
including ideologies.
Sports are integrated into major spheres of
social life:
Represents the perspectives and ideas
favored by people who have power and
influence in society
Serves the interests of people with power
and influence
Family, economy, media, politics, education,
and religion
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Ideologies =
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Gender Ideology
. . . webs of ideas and beliefs that people use to
give meaning to the world and make sense of
their experiences.
As people use and promote their ideologies,
sports become relevant because they can be
organized to reinforce or challenge important
ideas and beliefs.
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. . . a web of ideas and beliefs about masculinity,
femininity, and male-female relationships in the
organization of social worlds.
Gender ideology is a basis for
Defining what it means to be a man or a woman
Evaluating and judging people and relationships
Determining what is natural and moral related to gender
Dominant Gender ldeology: prevailing notions of
“common sense” about maleness and femaleness in
a group or society
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Sociologists view the body
in social and cultural terms
Racial Ideology
. . . a web of ideas and beliefs that people use to
give meaning to skin color and to evaluate people
and forms of social organization in terms of racial
classifications.
Racial ideologies vary around the world, but they are
powerful when people use them to classify humans into
racial categories
Dominant Racial Ideology: prevailing ideas about the
meanings of skin color and the characteristics of people
classified in various racial categories
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The body and body parts have been identified and
defined in different ways through history and from one
culture to another.
Changes in the ways that bodies have been socially
defined or “constructed” influence how people think
about
Sex, sex differences, sexuality, ideals of beauty, self image,
body image, fashion, hygiene, health, nutrition, eating, fitness,
racial classification systems, disease, drugs and drug testing,
violence and power, etc.
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Major professional organizations in the
sociology of sport:
Class ideology
The International Sociology of Sport Association (ISSA)
. . . a web of ideas and beliefs that people use to
understand economic inequalities and make sense of
their own positions and the positions of others in an
economic hierarchy in society.
The North American Society for the Sociology of Sport
(NASSS)
The Sport Sociology Academy (SSA) in AAHPERD
(American Alliance for Health, Physical Education,
Recreation & Dance)
Class ideology in the U.S. is organized around
The idea of the “American Dream” of unrestricted economic
opportunities
The belief that American society is a meritocracy
European Association for the Sociology of Sport
Asociación Latinoamericana de Estudios Socioculturales
del Deporte
Sports provide vocabulary and stories that reaffirm
dominant class ideology
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Note: the associations in Japan and Korea each are larger
than any of the above associations
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Sports are integrated into major
spheres of social life
Family
Economy
Education
Politics
Religion
Media
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Different approaches in the
sociology of sport
Some scholars in the field see themselves as
sport sociologists concerned with sport science
issues
Their goal: understand sports and use sociological
knowledge to improve sport experiences
Other scholars see themselves as sociologists
concerned with social and cultural issues
Their goal: learn about and transform social life in
general
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The sociology of sport
Will grow if:
Scholars in the field conduct and publish
research that people find useful as they
Seek to understand social life
Participate as citizens in their communities and
societies
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Questions?
Comments?
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