Unit 4 Flashcards
What are the different theoretical approaches to socialization?
The Critical/ Interactionist perspective on socialization would be such that you would want to initiate social change. This perspective of socialization would see certain groups as being marginalized in the socialization process.
Now, the functionalist perspective would see socialization as the process by which we develop and learn social characteristics that allow us to fit into society.
Finally, the conflict approach would suggest that socialization processes in sport serve the economic needs of the capitalist system. Sport from this perspective is seen as elitist…athletes are socialized within an institution that is autocratic with militant style coaches who produce athletes who are willing to inflict violence on their opponents in order to achieve their societal goals! Ok…a little extreme, but you’ve got the idea.
What is the social learning theory?
The social learning theory aligns itself with the functionalist perspective.
This theory looks at how we learn (change in behaviour resulting from experience) social behaviours.
3 ways we accomplish social learning
1) reinforcement
2) coaching
3) observational learning
Does sport build character?
Your text refers to this as character logic. And…after years of research…numerous researchers have all concluded that there is little, if any valid evidence that participation in sport is an essential element in the socialization process. There is also no strong evidence that involvement in sport teaches specific outcomes like: character building, moral development, competitive or cooperative orientation, good citizenship…or any other valued personality trait.
There is no evidence to suggest that what is learned in one social institution (sport) will be transferred over to another institution (e.g. the work place). It is difficult to isolate learning that takes place in any given setting. Coakley and Donnelly also point out that it is difficult (if not impossible) to measure character. Despite the fact that we know from retrospective studies that a lot of successful people attribute their success to sport….there is also enough anecdotal evidence to support the view that participation in competitive sport as a child or adolescent is not essential for adult career success ( Bill Gates’ bio mentions nothing about a childhood love of sport…although he has taken up golf, I think he can afford it…).
One study by Brademeier (2000) found that boys participating in high contact sports and girls participating in medium contact sports showed less mature moral reasoning and greater tendencies toward aggression in both sport and every day life
On the plus side… other research suggests that university and high school athletes have higher grade point averages, are less delinquent and tend to possess highly valued personality traits.
How can we become de-socialized from sport?
The social learning model states that personal attributes, socializing agents and socializing situations all influence our involvement in sport and physical activity. This same framework could also be applied to socialization away from sport and physical activity or de-socialization. For example kids who are perhaps short for their age, who are over-weight or unskilled (personal attributes) may find sport and physical activity (social situation) more challenging and may receive little encouragement or even discouragement from peers (socializing agents). Some children just may not be physically mature enough to be involved in some sports. Adult levels of visual tracking are not achieved until ages 8 or 9.This again could could lead to frustrations and de-socialization.
We’ll cover violence later in the course but think how violence could be another de-socializing factor. A study out of the University of Lethbridge looked at parents yelling at youth hockey games and found a correlation between parents yelling and on ice violence
