Final Exam Flashcards
Commodification
The process of transformation from something public or non-commercial into something that can be bought and sold; increasing materialism
Within leisure:
most forms of leisure have become increasingly commodified.
Context:
Leisure plays an economic role in stimulating the
economy
Theory related to commodification
- Marx: Capitalism associated with the loss of power and agency for most people
- Weber: Modernity associated with bureaucratization/ social order
- Adorno: Critical of modernity and capitalism as inhibiting creativity and human expression, and encouraging passivity and consumption
Leisure Consumption
The use/necessity of commercial goods as part of a leisure experience; consumption as a necessary element of the leisure experience
Context:
Leisure plays an economic role in stimulating the
economy (Critcher, 2006)
People becoming passive consumers of material goods/leisure
Leisure has always been linked to consumption and commodification
Conspicuous Consumption
Public display of wealth to illustrate social status and prestige
Pecuniary emulation
Consumption/acquisition of material items to equal or
surpass others in appearance of wealth
Comparison with an “other” is key
Closely linked to self-identity
Democratized Consumption
Availability of inexpensive goods and cheap knockoffs has democratized consumption, so that people with less wealth can purchase items that were once symbols of the upper class
Core and balance model of family leisure
Based on the idea that people try to meet two opposing needs through their leisure, seeking “both stability and change, structure and variety, and familiarity and novelty in leisure
- Iso-Ahola,
Core and balance model of family leisure
- Core
- Balance
Common, everyday, low-cost, relatively accessible, often home based activities that many families do frequently
- Zabriskie & McCormick
- promote cohesion, feelings of comfort/closeness & stability, reinforce roles in the family,
Activities that are generally less common, less frequent, more out of the ordinary and usually not home-based thus providing novel experiences
- Zabriskie & McCormick
- characterized by new challenges, unfamiliar environments and circumstances, which help families adapt to new situations
Purposive Leisure
Leisure that is “planned, facilitated, and executed…in order to achieve particular short- and long-term goals
- Shaw & Dawson
Intensive Mothering
Mothers devote much of their energies to children’s needs and well-being
Intensive Fathering
Fathers involved in the everyday care of their children and develop strong bonds with them, often through leisure
Entitlement to leisure
The right to leisure, either real or perceived
Relates to:
Personal perceptions about one’s own right to leisure (i.e.
parents, new Canadians, students)
Societal perceptions about who has the right to leisure
Parents’ entitlement to leisure
Relates to the extent to which parents value their own leisure, and the extent to which others (society) judges parents to taking time/resources for their own leisure
Spillover
Qualities, characteristics, attitudes toward work are reflected in leisure choices
Compensation
Leisure compensates for psychological needs not fulfilled at work
Roberts:
suggests compensation also occurs in response to unstable economy – people choose comfortable, traditional leisure patterns to cope with instability and change in labour market
Career related
Leisure important for career development: golfing,
networking, volunteering
Rojek’s Brazilian Thesis
Rise of casual, part-time, contract work leads to:
Modular leisure: to adapt to changing work patterns and
time availability
Social dislocation within leisure, increasing isolation and feelings of worthlessness
Antagonism/aggression toward society/community, rather than attachment
A pessimistic theory!!
Solution:
Shift in perceptions of the importance of work and leisure
Defining Play
Generally freely chosen, spontaneous, self-directed and fun. Play allows children and youth of all ages to try new things, test boundaries, learn from their mistakes and, perhaps most importantly, enjoy being active
Play characteristics
Defined by the participant, and characterized by: intrinsic motivation free choice suspension of reality positive affect process over product active rather than passive involvement rules that govern play internal locus of control
Early Theory of Play:
Surplus energy theory
Play is a means to expend excess energy
Ex:
Children playing tag
Early Theory of Play:
Recreation/ Relaxation theory
People play to restore their energy for work
Ex:
Taking a study break to play a video game
Early Theory of Play:
Recapitulation theory
Children play to mimic stages of human evolution (to prepare for life in the modern world)
Ex:
Children climbing and hanging from trees
Early Theory of Play:
Preparation/ Practice theory
Play is a means to practice skills needed for adult life
Ex:
Children playing “house” or “doctor”
Contemporary Theory of Play:
Catharsis theory
Play is an acceptable way to expend excess emotional energy
Ex:
Playing pick-up basketball after an argument with a friend
Critique analysis:
An extension of surplus energy theory
Cognitive theories of play (Piaget and others)
Children assimilate knowledge, create knowledge, and/or build problem-solving abilities during play
Ex:
Children drawing pictures
Critique analysis:
Suggests play closely connected to learning
Psychoanalytic theories of play (Freud)
Play as a method of mastering disturbing thoughts or experiences
Ex:
Child yelling at her stuff animals after a parent has yelled at her
Critique analysis:
Foundational theory for play therapy
Reproduction and Resistance
Foucault
When there is oppression or inequities, people will find ways to challenge this oppression
Resistance:
Challenges/weakens dominant beliefs and social constructions
Reproduction:
strengthens/reinforces dominant beliefs and social constructions
Leisure as resistance
Act or series of actions that enhance freedom of choice and personal control”
- Shaw
Can be:
intentional or unintentional
individual or collective
Leisure as resistance:
Collective level
Individual Level
Acts of resistance by groups drawing attention to a source of shared oppression
Act of resistance in response to one’s personal situation; can lead to collective-level acts of resistance
Strategies for resistance in the context of disability:
Advocacy
Public resistance of perceptions of lowered ability and stigma
Strategies for resistance in the context of disability:
Redefinition
Engaging in leisure as a means of redefining oneself (privately) as “normal”, independent, etc.; private acts of resistance
Strategies for resistance in the context of disability:
Passing
Engaging in leisure in the same ways as others to “pass” as “normal”; managing what others know about (disability, usually to avoid stigma)
Deviant Leisure
Leisure that violates cultural, social, or moral norms
May be illegal (but not always)
Often associated with risk, self-indulgence, immorality, or cruelty
Leisure as time
Free time, time away from work
Leisure as activity
What you do in your spare ti me
- Fun, creative activity, hobbies, etc.
Leisure as state of mind
Contemplative (Dumazedier, Pieper)
State of relaxation, enjoyment, fulfillment, satisfaction
Defined by attitude (what is meaningful to the ‘actor’)
Purple leisure/recreation
Experiences, viewed as a negative or immoral by others
Edgework
Voluntary participation in high-risk or marginal activities
Related to identity creation, “marginal” communities, resistance to mainstream culture/power
Leisure that explores the “edge” between right/wrong, life/death, etc.
Tolerable deviance
Deviant behaviours tolerated by society, typically because threat to society is thought to be low
Intolerable deviance
Deviant behaviours that are criminal or in strong violation of moral norms
Theoretical explanations for deviance:
Anomie (Durkheim)
During times of uncertainty and change at societal
level, social norms/expectations are relaxed and as a result people participate in deviant activities
Theoretical explanations for deviance:
Social bond theory (Hirschi)
Weak social bonds with mainstream are associated with deviance
Sensation seeking (Zuckerman)
Rewards provide motivation for participation in deviant or non-deviant behaviours;
People engaging in deviant behaviours have deviant role models who provide rewards for deviant behaviours
Theory of differential reinforcement (Burgess & Akers)
Rewards provide motivation for participation in deviant or non-deviant behaviours;
People engaging in deviant behaviours have deviant role models who provide rewards for deviant behaviours
Why do people engage in deviant leisure:
Rojek’s typology of forms of deviant leisure:
Invasive leisure
A means of retreating from everyday life for people who are alienated or have few relationships with mainstream society
Why do people engage in deviant leisure:
Rojek’s typology of forms of deviant leisure:
Mephitic leisure
The result of externalizing feelings of aggression, manifested in abusive acts toward others
Why do people engage in deviant leisure:
Rojek’s typology of forms of deviant leisure:
Wild leisure
Focuses on the ‘adventure’ or ‘risk’ associated with deviance; usually sporadic
What influences leisure preferences and participation over the lifespan?
Three key influences
Normative age-graded influences
- Biological changes as we age;
- Predictable life events
Normative history-graded influences;
1. Associated with living in a particular time in history
Non-normative life events
1. Experienced as unexpected life circumstances rather than biological or large-scale cultural effects
“Deficiency” model of aging
Decline and reduction of activities seen as inevitable
“Ageism constrains behaviours deemed to be appropriate for elderly people” (Wearing)
Presents aging as a “problem” – a time of decline and loss, increased illness and disability, isolation, dependency, loss of social roles, etc.
(Wearing)
“Aging well” perspective on aging
Highlights losses associated with later life as well as the gains, assets, and abilities of older adults
Not a fixed outcome, but an on- going, open-ended, and dynamic process of meaning making throughout later life
Recognizes that older adults are not a homogeneous population
(Nimrod & Kleiber)
Theories of aging:
Classical theories of aging:
Disengagement theory
Views withdrawal from society systems as a natural and inevitable part of aging
Theories of aging:
Classical theories of aging:
Activity theory
Based on idea that people need to sustain involvement in activities, to replace paid work with leisure in order to maintain psychological health and “age successfully”
Theories of aging:
Classical theories of aging:
Continuity theory
Based on people’s tendency to prefer similar activity through their lives; maintaining stability of activity allows people to adapt more easily to changes associated with aging
Selection, Optimization and Compensation Theory
Draws attention to processes that people use to reach goals under increasing limitations in resources; describes how adults adapt to losses associated with aging and still maintain quality of life
Selection
Optimization
Compensation
Prioritization of goals
Committing to prioritized leisure activities
Adapting to limitations by developing new skills
Innovation theory
Changes associated with later life contribute to new self-concept
Innovation theory:
Self-preservation
Self-reinvention:
Aspects of the self re-constructed in new ways through leisure(internal continuity)
Leisure as a means of personal
development
