Deviance in Sports

1. Deviance in Sports

2. Main Issues in the Study of Deviance as a Social Problem • What is deviance? • Are deviant behaviours a serious problem on or off the field? • Is there a connection between certain male sports and deviance off the field? • Why do some athletes choose to use performance enhancing substances? Can this be controlled?

3. Problems When Studying Deviance • What is deviant outside sports may be acceptable inside sports • Deviance frequently involves accepting norms unquestioningly • Implementation of medical practices and application of sport sciences normalizes many medical and other interventions previously reserved for the sick

4. Using Functionalist Theory to Define Deviance • Conformity is equated with morality • Deviance involves a rejection of accepted goals or the means of achieving goals in society • Deviance is caused by faulty socialization or inconsistencies in the social system • Deviance is controlled by getting tough and enforcing more rules more strictly

5. Using Conflict Theory to Define Deviance • Deviance involves behaviours that interfere with the interests of those with economic power • The behaviour of those who lack power is more likely to be labelled as deviant • Those who deviate often are victims of exploitation in a system characterized by inequalities • The problem of deviance will be minimal when power is equally distributed in society

6. Using Interactionist & Critical Theories to Define Deviance • Most deviance in sports not due to moral bankruptcy of athletes or process of economic exploitation • Much deviance in sports involves over conformity to established sport norms • Sport deviance must be understood in terms of the normative context of sport cultures and the emphasis on “the sport ethic”

7. Discussion Question You have a 20-year old friend who is an excellent distance runner on her college track team. She has decided that if she wants to reach her potential next season she should lose a few pounds as she trains. You know she is using prescription weight loss drugs that she obtained illegally. Which of the three theoretical approaches explained in the chapter (functionalist, conflict, or interactionist critical) would you use to explain her drug use? Why would you choose this approach over the other two?

8. Deviant Over-Conformity Deviant Under-Conformity Normally Accepted Range of Behaviour Deviance based on unquestionedacceptance of norms (e.g. overtraining) Deviance based on ignoring or rejecting norms (e.g. missing practice) Two Types of Deviance in Sport

9. Positive Deviance • The sports ethic is identified as a major pressure on athletes to over conform • Reasons for positive deviance include • pursuit of the thrills of sport, desire to show unyielding commitment, compensation for low esteem, perception that sport is a singular means to get ahead in life • Consequently, athletes most likely to over conform are those who • have low self-esteem • are so eager to be accepted that they will do whatever they think others want them to do • see sport as their only way to succeed and become important in the world

10. Controlling Deviant Over-Conformity in Sports • Learn to identify the forms and dynamics of over conformity 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 to strike a balance between accepting and questioning rules and norms in their sports

11. Negative Deviance: On-the-field • Some research challenges popular belief suggesting this type of deviance is less common now than before the days of television coverage and big salaries • the existence of more rules in sport today may play a role in the perception that deviance on the field has increased • in some instances athletes have come to expect a degree of on–the-field rule violation

12. Negative Deviance: Off-the-fieldWhat does the research show? • delinquency rates for athletes are lower than those of non-athletes of similar backgrounds • rates of binge drinking are significantly higher among student athletes than among non-athletes • findings are inconclusive concerning links between sports and academic cheating and those between sports and sexual assault

13. Substance Abuse Among Athletes • Athletes have experimented with and used various substances to increase performance for a very long time but not at a significant rate • In the last 50 years there has been an increase in the use of performance-enhancing drugs along with the development of synthetic hormones and introduction of strength training and conditioning

14. Discussion Question Discuss the following in small groups It is discovered that the successful athletes in distance running and swimming from an Asian country use a special herb in their diet. This herb only grows in the special high-altitude environment in which the Asian runners train. Should the herb be put on the banned-substance list? What are all the issues that need to be considered when answering this question?

15. Managing Substance Abuse • Many factors make both defining what constitutes a drug and developing a strong case against drug use in sports difficult • In the case of the latter, these factors include • difficulties associated with policing • messages that promote the use of drugs outside of sports

16. Discussion Question • Discuss the following with the others at your table You have a mid-term exam in your sociology of sport course. You must have a good grade to maintain the GPA that you think you should maintain as a serious student. You take an over-the-counter caffeine supplement so you can study all night. You get an A but your instructor discovers that your test score was drug aided. Should your A be turned to an F? Should you be put on academic probation? How is your situation different from the cross-country skier who after being discovered to have used EPO before a race she won at a the 2002 Winter Olympic Games was disqualified and lost her medal?

17. Discussion Question Athletes are not the only people in sports who violate norms. Using information from your own experience or from what has occurred recently in sports in your country, community, or on your campus, identify examples of deviance among people in sports other than athletes. Are these forms of deviance new, or have they existed also in the past?

18. Other Perpetrators of Deviance in Sports • Coaches • Program administrators • Team owners • Sports administrators • Fans • Team managers and staff • Media promoters and programmers • Agents • Spectators

19. A1 Student Questions • Questions addressed by our textbook • Does being actively involved in individual or team sports help discourage adolescents from engaging in deviant behaviour? • What makes professional athletes want to continue doping when they know the great risks they are taking? • Why do athletes take supplements when competing? • How do people's personalities change when they are in a team environment? • Questions for further research • How does an athlete's reputation be affected if proven guilty of sport enhancing drugs? • Are there many athletes in Canada who have taken illegal drugs? (Compared to the rest of the world)

20. B1 Student Questions • Questions addressed by our textbook • Why are sport enhancing substances allowed in some sports but not others? • Why people feel that steroids are such a necessity to perform at one's highest potential. • How do sport enhancement drugs influence children? • Will drug testing take away some of the freedom which our athletes should have as a person? • Why do some athletes develop eating disorders such as bulimia or anorexia? • Questions for further research • Why does everyone hate performance enhancing drugs? • How drug use in sport affect athletes who do not use drugs. • Are performance enhancing drugs predominantly used by males? • With steroid use in sports is it impossible to become a new legend in sports such as baseball?