Understanding the Role of Social Theories in the Study of Sports in Society, Slides of Sport Studies

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Sports in Society:

Issues & Controversies

Using Social Theories:

How Can They Help Us Study

Sports in Society?

Theoretical Perspectives

• What factors contribute to the popularity of certain sports?
• What motivates individuals in their adherence to sport?
• In what ways are sport opportunities influenced by race, gender, ethnicity, and Ses?
• How is sport controlled within various social institutions?

Five Major Social Theories Are Used to

Study Sports in Society

• Functionalist theory
• Conflict theory
• Interactionist theory
• Critical theories
• Feminist theories

Functionalist Theory

• Society is an organized system of interrelated parts
• Sports are studied in terms of their contributions to the system
• Research focuses on sport participation and positive outcomes for individuals and society

Using Functionalist Theory

to take social action

• Promote the development and growth of organized sports
• Increase sport participation opportunities to foster individual development
• Increase the supervision and control of athletes
• Mandate coaching education programs
• Highlight success in elite programs

Weaknesses of

Functionalist Theory

• Overstates the positive consequences of sport in society
• Assumes that all social groups benefit equally from sports
• Does not recognize that sports are social constructions that privilege or disadvantage some people more than others

Conflict Theory (cont.)

• Those with power and influence dislike it because it emphasizes change and a redistribution of economic resources
• Many people dislike it because it identifies problems in society
• Seldom used in everyday conversations because it portrays sport as an opiate that deadens awareness of social issues

Using Conflict Theory

to take social action

• Focus on class inequality and how it might be minimized or eliminated in and through sports
• Develop awareness of how athletes and spectators are used for the profit and personal gain of the economic elite
• More emphasis on play and less on commercial spectator sports

Interactionist Theory

• Society is created and maintained through social interaction
• Sports are studied in terms of how they are created and given meaning by people
• Research focuses on how people experience sports and how identities are related to sport participation and sport cultures

Interactionist Theory (cont.)

• Those who use it often employ “interpretive research methods” to study - Social processes associated with becoming involved, staying involved, and changing involvement in sports - How people develop and maintain identities as athletes - How people give meaning to sports - The characteristics of sport subcultures

Weaknesses of

Interactionist Theory

• Does not explain how meaning, identity, and interaction are connected with social structures and materials conditions in society
• Ignores issues of power and power relations in society and how they impact sport, sport participation, and sport experiences

Critical Theories

• Society involves cultural production, power relations, & ideological struggles
• Sports are social constructions that change as power relations change and as narratives and discourses change
• Research focuses the meaning and organizations of sports, and on sports as sites for cultural transformation

SPORTS are

more than reflections of society

• Sports consist of sets of relationships that are produced by people in society.
• Sports are the creations of people interacting with one another.
• Sports are the “social stuff” out of which society and culture come to be what they are.

Using Critical Theories

• Use sports to challenge and transform^ to Take Social Action

exploitive and oppressive practices

• Increase the number and diversity of sport participation opportunities
• Challenge the ideological implications of the stories told about sports in a culture
• Challenge the voices and perspectives of those with power in sports and society