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Contemporary issues in Sport - Ethics and deviance in sport
infoWhy this? The study of Ethics and Deviance in Sport helps students understand the behaviours, values and moral issues that exist within modern sport. Students explore topics such as violence, aggression, gamesmanship, deviance, gambling and the use of performance-enhancing drugs, examining why individuals and groups may choose to behave in ways that challenge the spirit of sport. This topic encourages students to consider the ethical responsibilities of performers, coaches, officials and governing bodies, while developing their ability to evaluate the impact of deviant behaviour on participants, spectators and the integrity of sport.
scheduleWhy now? Ethics and Deviance in Sport is taught after students have studied the evolution of modern sport, contemporary sporting issues and global sporting events because it requires an understanding of the social, cultural and commercial pressures that influence behaviour in sport. Students are able to draw on prior learning about media influence, commercialisation, sponsorship and the increasing professionalism of sport to explain why issues such as drug use, gambling and violence occur. Studying this topic at this stage allows students to apply and evaluate knowledge from across the course, developing the critical thinking and balanced judgement skills required for A Level examination questions.
neurologyYou need to know
- Deviance in sport is behaviour that breaks the accepted rules, norms or ethical values of sport, such as doping, deliberate violence, cheating or match-fixing.
- Ethics are moral principles used to judge whether behaviour in sport is fair, honest, responsible and respectful.
- Doping is the use of a substance or method prohibited by anti-doping regulations to gain an advantage or alter sporting performance.
- A legal supplement is permitted under sporting rules and national law; examples include protein supplements and creatine, although supplements may still carry health or contamination risks.
- An illegal drug breaks the law, whereas a banned performance-enhancing substance breaks sporting regulations; a substance can be banned in sport without being illegal in wider society.
- Performance-enhancing drugs include anabolic steroids, which can increase muscle mass and strength, erythropoietin, which can increase the blood’s oxygen-carrying capacity, and stimulants, which can increase alertness and delay fatigue.
- Elite performers may dope to improve performance, recover more quickly, manage injury, secure selection, gain financial rewards or respond to pressure from coaches, sponsors, teammates or supporters.
- Doping is unethical because it can create an unfair advantage, undermine equal competition and conflict with values such as honesty and respect.
- Doping can harm performers through physical and psychological side effects, damage to reputation, loss of earnings, disqualification, stripped results and lengthy or permanent bans.
- Doping can damage sport by making results less credible, reducing public trust, discouraging participation and causing the loss of spectators, sponsors and media income.
- Doping can affect society by presenting harmful role models, normalising drug use and increasing pressure on young athletes to take health risks to succeed.
- Anti-doping strategies include education, random in-competition and out-of-competition testing, biological passports, investigations, clear sanctions and cooperation between sporting and law-enforcement organisations.
- Athletes are responsible for substances found in their bodies under the principle of strict liability, even when a banned substance was taken unintentionally.
- A therapeutic use exemption may permit an athlete to use an otherwise prohibited substance or method when it is medically necessary and approved under anti-doping rules.
- Player violence may be caused by frustration, retaliation, aggression, pressure to win, poor officiating, provocation, role models or the physical nature of a sport.
- Spectator violence may be caused by rivalry, alcohol or drug use, crowd provocation, poor security, controversial decisions and deindividuation.
- Deindividuation occurs when people in a crowd feel anonymous and less personally responsible, making them more likely to copy aggressive group behaviour.
- Violence can injure performers and spectators, lead to bans or criminal charges, damage the reputation and finances of a sport, and create policing and healthcare costs for society.
- Strategies for preventing player violence include clear rules, consistent officiating, disciplinary sanctions, video review, education and anger-management support; spectator violence can be reduced through segregation, stewarding, policing, alcohol controls, surveillance and stadium bans.
rocket_launchYou must be able to
- Classify sporting examples as legal supplementation, illegal drug use or doping, using sporting rules and the law to justify each decision.
- Explain why an elite performer might use a prohibited substance by linking performance, social and financial pressures to the decision.
- Analyse the consequences of doping separately for performers, sport and wider society, using clear chains of cause and effect.
- Evaluate the ethics of drug use in sport by considering fairness, athlete welfare, informed choice and the credibility of competition.
- Assess the effectiveness of anti-doping strategies, including testing, education and sanctions, and support a judgement with evidence.
- Analyse a case study of player or spectator violence by identifying causes, consequences and appropriate prevention strategies.
- Apply the concept of deindividuation to explain why an individual may behave more aggressively as part of a sporting crowd.
- Construct a balanced written argument about drugs in sport, using accurate examples, counterarguments and a justified conclusion.
- Answer extended exam questions using developed points that link a cause, consequence or strategy to a named sporting context.