1. ICSEMIS 2012 langm@edgehill.ac.uk Coaches’ Concern about Being Accused of Abuse Dr. Melanie Lang Edge Hill University

2. langm@edgehill.ac.uk Background Touch avoidance among coaches (Lang, 2009, 2010) Coaches expressed concern they’d be accused of abuse - instructional & pastoral touch conflated with abusive touch How concerned are coaches about being accused of abuse?

3. langm@edgehill.ac.uk Suggestions that protectionist discourse resulting in: Adults becoming reluctant to relate too closely with children Adults worrying about being accused of maltreatment or abuse i.e.: Lynch & Garrett (2010) Piper & Stronach (2008) Lang (2009, 2010) Piper et al. (2012)

4. langm@edgehill.ac.uk The Study The aims of the study were to: 1.determine the extent to which coaches are concerned about being accused of child abuse during the course of their coaching and the variables that correlate with this 2.determine the allegation that caused the greatest concern to coaches 3.determine the number of coaches accused of abuse 4.explore the perceptions of coaches regarding accusations of child abuse Mixed method approach – electronic questionnaire sent to 1,498 coaches registered with one NGB

5. langm@edgehill.ac.uk The Sample 77 coaches responded – a response rate of 5.1% 92.2% male all White Mean age = 39.8 (youngest = 18, oldest = 59) 87% coached part time All had some form of official coaching qualification, most (59.7%) holding a level 2 UKCC or equivalent On average, coaches had 12.5 years coaching experience (max. 38 years, min. 1 year) Most (68.8%) coached at local, club level, with 1.3% coaching elite athletes

6. langm@edgehill.ac.uk Results: Allegation of Greatest Concern

7. langm@edgehill.ac.uk Results: Extent of Concern Very concerned Not at all concerned Sexual abuse allegation 26.0%23.4%14.3%23.4%13.0% Physical abuse allegation 15.6%10.4%19.5%31.2%23.4% Emotional abuse allegation 11.7%16.9%27.3%24.7%19.5% Neglect allegation 9.1%10.4%15.6%27.3%37.7% Bullying allegation 19.5%26.0%22.1%20.8%11.7%

8. langm@edgehill.ac.uk Concern regarding a sexual abuse allegation: “It’s the rumour, erm, it’s enough ain’t, it? Anything like that is hard to contain, people formulate their opinion based on hearsay and it’s hard to stop that…it’s mud sticks really, erm, ain’t it?” (P1) “It’s stuff like your CRB. If I go for another job anywhere else having that on your record as a coach, you know, it’s probably the worst, you know I think they probably frown on that more than if you killed someone” (P4) Concern regarding a bullying allegation: “I think in terms of bullying, you know, it’s more something that could happen to you, you know, bullying will sometimes creep into it, ‘oh well you’re not picking me because you don’t like me,’ or ‘because I did this, you’re not picking me, you don’t like me.’ … I think that’s quite common that people, staff sometimes feel victimised and that is a worry …it’s [bullying] a grey area and something verbal can be very easily misinterpreted” (P4)

9. langm@edgehill.ac.uk Coaches Experiencing an Allegation

10. langm@edgehill.ac.uk Type of Allegation Faced

11. langm@edgehill.ac.uk Conclusion Thanks for listening!

12. langm@edgehill.ac.uk NOT USING Results: Child Protection Awareness