1 / 31

Physical, psychological and sexual integrity of young elite athletes

Physical, psychological and sexual integrity of young elite athletes. Prof. Em . Celia Brackenridge OBE. Outline. Ethics and integrity in sport Risks to the young elite athlete Status confusion Prevention Health warning!. Ethics and integrity in sport.

cherie
Download Presentation

Physical, psychological and sexual integrity of young elite athletes

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Physical, psychological and sexual integrity of young elite athletes Prof.Em. Celia Brackenridge OBE Leuven March 12 2014

  2. Outline • Ethics and integrity in sport • Risks to the young elite athlete • Status confusion • Prevention • Health warning! Leuven March 12 2014

  3. Ethics and integrity in sport Assumption … sport as pure and safe? “… ensure that sport is practised in a culture of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, friendship and fair play among all people” (David: 2005) Leuven March 12 2014

  4. Ethics and integrity? Adults’ values for children … Father ties up girl to 'help' training – “China's current obsession with sporting excellence is in the spotlight once more after a father tied his 10-year-old daughter's hands and feet and watched her swim in a chilly river for three hours.” Girl Runs 2,000 Miles – “An eight year old girl has run over 2,000 miles to celebrate the 2008 Olympics. Zhang Huimin's father has been accused of child abuse, but he has denied the claims, saying she never complained of tiredness.” Leuven March 12 2014

  5. Ethics and integrity? How did we go from this … Leuven March 12 2014

  6. … to this? Ethics and integrity?? Leuven March 12 2014

  7. Ethics and integrity • Some elite young athletes succeed despite rather than because of the sporting system • Social and psychological forces make it hard for them to drop out or complain • Some children suffer violence and abuse in sport Leuven March 12 2014

  8. Risks to the young elite athlete • Discrimination - sex, race or sexual orientation • Sexual violence including rape • Physical maltreatment: • Overtraining/forced exertion • Playing while injured • Peer aggression • Parental maltreatment • Doping/drug abuse • Alcohol abuse • Psychological and emotional abuse • Bullying and hazing • Neglect • Child labour and trafficking These often overlap Leuven March 12 2014

  9. Risks ... psychological abuse • Humiliation or bullying based on gender, body shape, performance etc. • Exertion of undue pressure on young athletes to achieve high performance • Requiring sex as a prerequisite for team selection or privileges • Physically injurious or sexually degrading initiation (hazing) rituals • Nutrition and weight loss regimes leading to eating disorders such as anorexia or other health problems Leuven March 12 2014

  10. Risks ... physical abuse • Beatings and other physical chastisement as a spur to performance • Injury through forced risk-taking in extreme environments • Use of performance-enhancing drugs • Peer pressure to use alcohol or addictive substances • Requiring young athletes to play when injured • Use of physical exercise as a punishment (‘forced physical exertion’) Leuven March 12 2014

  11. Risks ... sexual harassment and abuse • Harassment, abuse, exploitation, maltreatment, violence, victimisation ... • SH = unwanted sexual attention • SA = groomed or coerced involvement in sexual acts Some areas of contestation: • Touching or not? • Action or impact? • Age boundaries? • Legal boundaries? • Frequency? • Power relations? • Links between them and umbrella terms? Leuven March 12 2014

  12. The sexual exploitation continuum (Brackenridge 2001) SEX DISCRIMINATION SEXUAL ABUSE GENDER AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT I N S T I T U T I O N A L ..................................... P E R S O N A L ........ Bystanding behaviour ........ Leuven March 12 2014

  13. Sexual abuse risks - components Athlete vulnerability Abuser inclination Sport opportunity Leuven March 12 2014

  14. Sexual abuse risk and age (Brackenridge & Kirby, 1997) S P O R T A G E Excellence ‘STAGE OF IMMINENT ACHIEVEMENT’ Performance Participation Foundation PUBERTY ? SEXUAL MATURITY C H R O N O L O G I C A L A G E Leuven March 12 2014

  15. Sexual abuse risks - summary of knowledge • Child and adult athlete abuse not always clearly separated • No sport is exempt • Prevalence goes up with performance level • Both boys and girls are victims • Most perpetrators are male • Always based on distorted power relations • Much more research is needed Leuven March 12 2014

  16. Summary of knowledge cont. Leuven March 12 2014

  17. Status confusion - “child” and “athlete” “ … if you’re good enough, you’re old enough” Really ??? Adult athlete Child athlete Adult Child • Different ages of consent and many different age boundaries • Elite child athletes often given adult responsibilities • Adult athletes often treated like children Leuven March 12 2014

  18. Status confusion - “child” and “athlete” How can sport accommodate the UNCRC principles of “evolving capacity” and “progressive autonomy” ? social, emotional, relational maturity faster, higher, stronger performance Leuven March 12 2014

  19. Prevention - stakeholders roles Parents/ Carers/ Siblings Police/ Social services/ Government Coaches/ Leaders/ Teachers ELITE CHILD ATHLETE Athletes Sport clubs/ Organisations Peer athletes Media Sport scientists/ Team managers/ ‘Entourage’ Leuven March 12 2014

  20. Prevention - history • Sport as a cultural and political island • Institutional blindness ... until last 10-15 years • 1980s many cases but few publicised; very few studies • 1990s beginnings of scientific studies and policy development • Some links to CSA scandals outside sport • 2000s growth of science, activism and prevention policy • Comparatively little research “ a new and sensitive subject” ... “long been hidden under the table” 2000 Bratislava Conference of Ministers of Sport Leuven March 12 2014

  21. Prevention – different approaches Change the (abusive) individual Penal (Criminal/bad) Medical (Scientific/mad) Utilitarian (Competitive/sad) Social welfare (Child-centred/glad) (Reforming) (Radical) Change nothing Change the (abusive) system Leuven March 12 2014

  22. Prevention – different approaches • Emphasis on personalmeasures ... leads to police checks, codes of practice, coach education • Emphasis on organisational measures and ethical climate ... leads to improved governance, transparency, accountability Leuven March 12 2014

  23. Prevention - examples The NSPCC Child Protection in Sport Unit Standards and Framework: https://thecpsu.org.uk/ Leuven March 12 2014

  24. Consensus Statement (2007)On-line educational programmes(2010) http://www.sha.olympic.org[for NOCs, IFs, coaches, athletes] http://www.olympic.org/sha[for youth and with back up research] Leuven March 12 2014

  25. UNICEF (2010) Protecting Children from Violence in Sport: A review with a focus on industrialized countries.http://www.unicef-rc.org/publications/pdf/violence_in_sport.pdf Leuven March 12 2014

  26. International Standards for Safeguarding Children in Sport (2013) http://www.sportanddev.org/?4769/UNICEF-takes-safeguarding-procedures-beyond-paper • Standard 1: A written policy on keeping children safe • Standard 2: Procedures, personnel and systems • Standard 3: Minimising risks to children • Standard 4: Written guidelines on behaviour towards children • Standard 5: Equity • Standard 6: Communicating the ‘keep children safe’ message • Standard 7: Education and training for keeping children safe • Standard 8: Engagement with advice and support • Standard 9: Working with partners to meet the standards • Standard 10: Involving children • Standard 11: Monitoring and evaluation Leuven March 12 2014

  27. Prevention - overview Still ... • - concerns about SHA overshadow other abuses • - vast differences in understanding across sport agencies • - no baselines against which to measure progress • - education is the most cost-effective form of prevention • - knowledge and prevention are not in balance • - lack of standardised approaches • Prevention not correlated with economic health • Change through external human rights pressures rather than from within sport i.e. sport follows society Leuven March 12 2014

  28. Conclusions ‘The entire sports process for the … child athlete should be pleasurable and fulfilling’ (IOC, 2005) • Agencies working towards this include: • the IOC • the Council of Europe • UNICEF Leuven March 12 2014

  29. Thankyou! Leuven March 12 2014

  30. Selected references and websites • Alexander, K. Stafford , A. and Lewis, R. (2011) The experiences of children participating in organised sport. London: NSPCC. www.nspcc.org.uk/.../experiences_children_sport_main_report_wdf8... • AVERT, Worldwide Ages of Consent, www.avert.org/age-of-consent.htm • Brackenridge, C.H. (2001) Spoilsports: Understanding and preventing sexual exploitation in Sport. London: Routledge. [See especially Ch. 8] • Brackenridge, C.H. Fasting, K., Kirby, S. and Leahy, T. (2010) Protecting Children from Violence in Sport: A review with a focus on industrialized countries.Florence: United Nations Innocenti Research Centre Review. Free download at http://www.unicef-rc.org/publications/pdf/violence_in_sport.pdf • Brackenridge C.H., Kay, T. and Rhind, D. (eds.) (2012) Sport, Children’s Rights and Violence Prevention: A sourcebook on global issues and local programmes. Brunel University London e-book. Free download at http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sse/sseres/sseresearchcentres/youthsport/birnaw • Brackenridge, C.H. and Pitchford, A. (2009) RESPECT: Football parent module. http://www.thefa.com/respectguide • Brackenridge, C.H., Pitchford, A., Nutt, G. and Russell, K. (2007) Child Welfare in Football: An exploration of children’s welfare in the modern game. London: Routledge/Taylor & Francis. Leuven March 12 2014

  31. Brackenridge C.H. and Rhind, D. (eds.) (2010) Elite Child Athlete Welfare: International perspectives. London: Brunel University Press. ISBN: 978-1-902316-83-3. Free download at http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sse/sseres/sseresearchcentres/youthsport/birnaw Child Protection in Sport Unit, Sports Safeguarding Framework : Maintaining and embedding safeguarding for children in and through sport. http://www.nspcc.org.uk/inform/cpsu/helpandadvice/organisations/safeguarding-framework/framework-for-safeguarding-children-in-sport_wda89203.html CPSU/UNICEF (2012) Symposium report from Beyond Sport Summit, London 25thJly http://www.sportanddev.org/en/newsnviews/news/?4769/1/UNICEF-takes-safeguarding-procedures-beyond-paper Hartill, M. (2009) ‘The sexual abuse of boys in organized male sports’, Men and Masculinities, 12, (2): 225-249 IOC (2007) Consensus Statement on Sexual Harassment and Abuse. http://www.olympic.org/medical-commission?tab=statements IOC (2010) Sexual Harassment and Abuse in Sport – online prevention materials. http://www.olympic.org/sha IOC (2010) “Sexual Harassment & Abuse in Sport" Youth Olympic Games on-line educational programme.http://www.olympic.org/sha Brake, D.L. and Burton Nelson, M. (2012) Staying in Bounds: An NCAA Model Policy to Prevent Inappropriate Relationships Between Student-Athletes and Athletics Department Personnel. NCAA, http://www.ncaa.org/gsearch/staying%2Bin%2Bbounds Leuven March 12 2014

More Related