© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Sports in Society: Issues & Controversies Chapter 6 Deviance in Sports: Is It Out of Control?

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. What is Deviance? Deviance refers to actions, traits, or ideas that fall outside a range of acceptance as determined by people with the power to enforce norms in a social world

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Approaches to Understanding Deviance Absolutist Behavior is either right or wrong Problem--> 1 ideal=win, other is play fair

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Approaches to Understanding Deviance Relativist Depends on who makes up the rules Athletes seen as victims of profit-driven system Must conform or lose ability to gain $$

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Alternative viewpoint Coakley’s viewpoint Negative vs. Positive Behaviors, etc., usually fall into three categories: overconformity,underconformity and “normal” range Underconformity = negative deviance= rejection of norms Overconformity = positive deviance = overacceptance of norms in sport

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Problems Faced When Studying Deviance in Sports 1.Forms & causes of deviance are diverse; one theory cannot explain them 2.Actions accepted in sports may be deviant in other social situations; actions accepted in society at large may be deviance in sports

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Problems Faced When Studying Deviance in Sports 3. Deviance in sports often involves unquestioned acceptance of norms, not a rejection of norms 4. Training & performance are now based on forms of science and technology for which regulatory norms may not exist

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. The need for a new approach to explain deviance in sports Most deviance in sports is not due to the moral bankruptcy of athletes or a process of economic exploitation Therefore, we need an alternative explanation that is not based on to functionalism or conflict theory

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. The Sport Ethic A set of norms that is used in power and performance sports as the criterion for defining what it means to be an athlete and to successfully claim an identity as an athlete

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. The Norms of the Sport Ethic 1. Must be willing to pay the price for success Locker room pep talks

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. The Norms of the Sport Ethic 2.  Constantly seeking to improve  Records are ultimate standard of achievement  Must be willing to do anything to achieve these standards

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. The Norms of the Sport Ethic 3. Little thought into future health Rushing back to the playing field/court before completely healed Doesn’t give in to pain/fear Accepts risk of failure/injury as go up competitive pyramid

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. The Norms of the Sport Ethic Stresses the dream and pursuit without question Bodybuilders and distance runners-- competed and trained to exclusion of all else (family, health, work) Saw no problem with that

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Sport Ethic The greatest athletes want it so much, they run themselves to death. You’ve got to have an obsession, but if unchecked, it’s destructive. That’s what it is with [Slaney]. She’ll kill herself unless you pull the reins back. --Alberto Salazar, coach of Mary Decker Slaney

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Sport Ethic By themselves, these four ideals are valued and respected However, when they are accepted without question or criticism, and then are followed without limits/boundaries

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Why Do Athletes Engage in Deviant Overconformity? sports is so exciting and exhilarating that Athletes will do almost anything to stay involved: 1.Being selected to play high-performance sports may require over-conformity to the norms of the sport ethic 2.Coaches/fans encouragement

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Little Girls In Pretty Boxes (Ryan, 1996) Nadia Comaneci once cut her hand on the plastic and foam hand guards the gymnasts wear to perform on the uneven bars, and by the time she told anyone, she had blood poisoning up her arm.

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Little Girls In Pretty Boxes (Ryan, 1996) Betty Okino broke her arm, ripped a tendon away from her knee, fractured two vertebrae in her back and continued competing, even though she can no longer extend her arm fully and is plagued by chronic back pain.

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Little Girls In Pretty Boxes (Ryan, 1996) To rest an injury is to kill precious time, so the gymnast, and the gymnast’s coach will do anything to keep the girl competing, uninterrupted, no matter what: Steve Nunno, Shannon Miller’s coach, was once quoted as saying, “You can talk a kid into being healthy for as long as you need her. Once the meet is over, you can let her be hurt.”

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Little Girls In Pretty Boxes (Ryan, 1996) 15-year-old Christy Henrich was 4’11” and weighed 90 pounds when she told her mother she needed to lose weight “A judge told me I’d never make the Olympic team if I don’t lose weight.” She died of complications from anorexia nervosa, weighing less than 70

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Athletes Most Likely to Overconform to the Sport Ethic 1.Those with low self-esteem or strong needs to be accepted by peers in a sport 2.Those who see achievements in sport as their only way to gain success (conflict theory) 1.When winning is the sole measure of achievement, overconformity is more likely

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Hypotheses About Deviance Among Athletes Deviance becomes more likely when 1. Social bonds normalize risk taking 2. Athletes are separated from the rest of the community 3. Athletes develop extreme degrees of hubris-idea of self importance and above the ‘normal people’ 4. When people in the community see athletes as being special because they engage in extreme behaviors

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. How to Control Deviant Overconformity in Sports As a coach/teacher, you can do this: Learn to identify among athletes Raise critical questions about the meaning, organization, and purpose of sports Create norms in sports that discourage over conformity to the sport ethic Help athletes to learn Strike a balance between accepting and questioning rules and norms in their sports

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Research on Deviance Among Athletes On the Field Deviance Cheating, dirty play, fighting, & violence are less common today than in the past? Yes or No

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Research on Deviance Among Athletes Off the Field Deviance Athletes do not have higher delinquency rates than similar peers who do not play sports Data on academic cheating is inconclusive Athletes older than 18 have higher rates of alcohol use and binge drinking than similar peers Felony rates among adult athletes do not seem to be out of control, but they are a problem

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Research suggests that playing organized sports might discourage deviance when they emphasize: 1.A philosophy of nonviolence 2. Respect for self and others 3. The importance of fair play 4.Confidence in physical skills 5. A sense of honor

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. DON’T FORGET Athletes are not the only ones in sports who engage in deviant behavior. Think of other examples involving: Coaches Administra tors Team owners Agents

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. DON’T FORGET

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Using Performance Enhancing Substances in Sports

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Using Performance Enhancing Substances in Sports  The use of performance enhancing substances occurs regularly in high performance sports  Much substance use constitutes a form of deviant overconformity  Such substances will be used as long as athletes believe they enhance performance

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Very few athletes today compete at high levels without taking “supplements”

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Why Is Substance Use So Prevalent Today? (1-5) 1.The high stakes in sports have fueled research and development of substances 2.Fascination with the use of technology to push human limits 3. The rationalization of the body 4.Heavy emphasis on self-medication 5. Changing gender relations (continued)

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Why Is Substance Use So Prevalent Today? (6-8) 6. The organization of power and performance sports (must win to continue to play) 7. Coaches, sponsors, administrators, and fans encourage deviant overconformity 8. Athletes’ performances are closely monitored with an emphasis on control over body and conformity to demands of coaches

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Arguments for Testing Testing is needed to: Protect the health of athletes Guarantee fairness and a level playing field Protect children who may imitate athletes Maintain normal law enforcement procedures Testing is needed to anticipate and discourage the use of genetic engineering

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Arguments Against Testing Testing should be dropped because it: Is not effective (due to constraints on testers) Violates privacy rights Uses valuable sport resources Is based on norms that cannot be fairly applied to the bodies of all athletes Encourages the use of genetic engineering and untested technologies of performance

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Controlling Substance Use: Where to Start (I) 1. Critically examine the hypocrisy in elite sports 2. Establish rules indicating that risks to health are undesirable and unnecessary in sports 3. Establish rules stating that injured athletes must be independently certified as “well” before they may play 4. Educate young athletes to define courage and discipline in ways that promote health (continued)

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Controlling Substance Use: Where to Start (II) 5. Establish a code of ethics for sport scientists 6. Make drug education part of deviance and health education that Creates norms regulating use of technology Critically examines values and norms in sports Redefines meaning of achievement Teaches athletes to think critically Provides accurate and current information to parents, coaches, and athletes