Chapter 1
Introduction to the Sociology
of Sport
1
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
DEFINING SOCIOLOGY
The systematic study of human society
and social interaction.
Study on factor that exist outside and
around the athlete.
Study of sociology started after the
industrial revolution where scientist want
to know the impact of the revolution on
individuals and their society.
2
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
SOCIOLOGY is a tool for
studying sports in society
Sociology provides useful
Concepts
Theories
These tools enable us to examine social
life in context and see connections
between our lives and the larger social
world
3
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Defining Sports as Social
Phenomena
Sports are related to the social and
cultural contexts in which we live
Sports provide stories & images used to
explain & evaluate these contexts
Sports provide a window into culture and
society
4
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Defining SPORTS as
contested activities
This means that there are struggles
over:
The meaning, purpose, & organization of
sports
Who will participate and the conditions
under which sport participation occurs
How sports will be sponsored, and what
the reasons for sponsorship will be
5
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
The Sociology of Sport
A subdiscipline of sociology that studies
sports as part of social and cultural life
Focuses primarily on “organized,
competitive sports”
Helps us ask critical questions about
sports in society
6
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
SPORT SOCIOLOGY
STUDY OF THE NETWORK OF ROLES,
RELATIONSHIP AND INTERACTIONS
IN SPORT AND THEIR APPLICATION
TO THE INSTITUTIONAL NATURE OF
SPORT.
7
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
CONCEPTS OF PLAY, GAME, AND
SPORT.
PLAY
GAME
SPORT
8
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
• FREE – PARTICIPATE VOLUNTARILY
• SEPARATENESS – NOT RESTRICTED TO
SPECIFIC PLACE
• UNCERTAIN – OUTCOME IS NOT
DETERMINED
• UNPRODUCTIVE – NO MATERIAL REWARDS
• MAKE BELIEVE – PARTICIPANTS PLAY A
ROLE
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
COMPETITION & DETERMINATION
Agon (competition) – attempt to establish mental or
physical superiority over rivals within the rules of the game.
(basketball, baseball, hockey).
Element of CHANCE
Alea (chance) – which luck or fate is more important
than ability or skill (playing cards, tossing coin).
MIMICRY
Pretense (mimicry) – activities in which children and adults
participate as a part of their socialization experience. (Playing
a role as policeman, father, doctor).
VERTIGO
Ilinx (vertigo) – those experiences in which one transcends or
loses a sense of self (flying game, dancing, meditation).
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
derives from the Latin root DESPORTO
“to carry away”.
Involves COMPETITION
Has intrinsic rewards
Goals are FUN and PLEASURE
STRUCTURED
Has History and Tradition
Institutionalized
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
BRIEF HISTORY OF SOCIOLOGIST
1. AUGUSTE COMTE
FATHER OF SOCIOLOGY
WANTED TO FIND OUT WHAT ARE THE
“INVARIABLE NATURAL LAW” OF SOCIETY
– LAWS THAT APPLY TO EVERYBODY SO
THAT THERE WOULD BE A NEW ORDER IN
SOCIETY
12
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
2. HERBERT SPENCER
SUGGESTED THAT SOCIETY IS LIKE AN
ORGANISM – THE SYSTEM SAID THAT SOCIETY
EVOLVED FROM SIMPLE TO COMPLEX.
THIS IDEA IS CALLED “SOCIAL DARWINISM”
BASED ON DARWIN’S THEORY OF BIOLOGICAL
EVOLUTION.
SPENCER’S IDEA CORRELATES WITH THE
THEORY OF FUNCTIONALISM.
13
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
3. KARL MARX
SAW IN SOCIETY AS A CONTINUOUS
CONFLICT AND CHANGE.
BELIEVED THAT SOCIETY FOLLOWED
HISTORICAL LAW DETERMINED BY ECONOMIC
FORCES.
HIS IDEAS ARE CONTAINED IN THE CONFLICT
THEORY OF SOCIOLOGY
14
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
THE SOCIOLOGICAL
THEORIES
15
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
THE FUNCTIONALIST,
CONFLICT &
SYMBOLIC
INTERACTIONS
THEORY.
16
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
1. FUNCTIONALIST THEORY
Major Concept: SYSTEM, EQUILIBRIUM,
SHARED VALUE AND DIVISION OF LABOUR
KEY ASSUMPTION
1. Society is a system of interdependent
parts that is in equilibrium or balance.
2. Society has evolved from simple to a
complex type, which has highly specialized
parts.
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
SUGGEST THAT:
society consist of interrelated and interdependent social
structures (education, religion, family, politics, economics
and sport).
each social structure has a function to play in maintaining
social control and balance in society (which includes the
players, coaches, accountants, managers).
Provides a feeling of group membership.
Provides a mean of social mobility.
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
2. CONFLICT THEORY
MAJOR CONCEPT
1. POWER
2. EXPLOITATION
3. STRUGGLE
4. INEQUALITY
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
CONFLICT THEORY
KEY ASSUMPTION
1. To gain power are ever-present aspects of human
relations
2. Those in power attempt to hold into their power
by using violence if necessary, they attempt to
maintain the status quo.
3. Society is made up of groups that have opposing
interests, without attempt to initiate changes.
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
4. Society is a system of structures &
relationships shaped by economic
forces
5. Sports are studied in terms of how
they promote economic exploitation
and capitalist expansion
6. sports is a mean by which the
power elite control the masses
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
SUGGEST THAT:
FOCUSES ON SOCIAL FORCES PRODUCE
INSTABILITY, DISTRUPTION,
DISORGANIZATION AND CONFLICT
ACCORDING TO MARX, CONFLICT EXIST AS
A STRUGGLE BETWEEN SOCIAL CLASSES
OVER PROPERTY AND PRODUCTION
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
3. SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST
THEORY
Major concept:
SELF, REFERENCE GROUP, ROLE PLAYING,
AND PERCEPTION
People transmit and receive symbolic
communication when they social interact
People create perceptions of each other
and social settings
People largely act on their perceptions
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
How people think about themselves and
other is based on their perceptions
another theory under symbolic interaction
is social learning theory
this theory suggest that people learn from
what they observe
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
SOCIOLOGY vs. PSYCHOLOGY
Sociologists study actions and
relationships in terms of the social
conditions and cultural contexts in
which people live their lives
Psychologists study behavior in
terms of attributes and processes
that exist inside individuals
25
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Whose sports
count in society?
Are Paralympic
athletes better
than able-
bodied athletes?
. . . and who decides?
26
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
THANK
YOU
27
© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
