Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies

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Sports in SocietyIssues and Controversies

• Chapter 1
• The Sociology of Sport
• What Is It and Why Study It?

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SOCIOLOGY vs. PSYCHOLOGY

• 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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Sociologists view the body in social and
cultural terms

• 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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Using sociology to study sports

• 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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Key concepts used in sociology

• Culturethe shared ways of life and shared
  understandings that people develop as they live
  together
• Social interactionpeople taking each other into
  account and, in the process, influencing each
  others feelings, thoughts, and actions.
• Social structurethe established patterns of
  relationships and social arrangements that take
  shape as people live, work, and play with each
  other.

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A precise definition of sports

• . . . well established, officially governed
  competitive physical activities in which
  participants are motivated by internal and
  external rewards.
• This definition distinguishes sports from other
  forms of physical activities and from both play
  and spectacle.

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Pros and cons of a precise definition of sport

• Pros
• Allows sport to be distinguished from other
  activities
• Provides a common focus for people doing research
  and developing theories

• Cons
• Privileges people with the resources to organize
  competitive games and the interest in doing so
• Overlooks those without resources or inclinations
  to compete

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Play vs. dramatic spectacle

• 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
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An alternative approach to defining sports

• Determine the activities that people identify as
  sports in a group or society
• Determine whose sports are most strongly
  supported and funded, especially with public
  facilities and money

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Sports are contested activities

• 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 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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Sports are integrated into major spheres of
social life

• Family
• Education
• Religion

• Economy
• Politics
• Media

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Sociology is a tool for studying sports in
society

• Sociology provides useful
• Concepts
• Theories
• Research methods
• 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 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 activitiesthey are changed
  as people and circumstances change

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The goal of Sports in Society is to enable
readers to

• 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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SOCIOLOGY may create controversies

• Sociological research often provides evidence
  that there is a need to change the organization
  of sports and the organization of 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?
Are Paralympic athletes better than able-bodied
athletes?
. . . and who decides?
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Sports are social phenomena

• 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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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
• Family, economy, media, politics, education, and
  religion

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Ideologies

• . . . 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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The characteristics of ideologies

• 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

• Represents the perspectives and ideas favored by
  people who have power and influence in society
• Serves the interests of people with power and
  influence

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Gender Ideology

• . . . 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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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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Class ideology

• . . . 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.
• 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
• Sports provide vocabulary and stories that
  reaffirm dominant class ideology