Spoilsports

Understanding and Preventing Sexual Exploitation in Sport

Celia Brackenridge

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2002
• eBook ISBN: 9781135802073
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

Sexual exploitation in sport is a problem that has beset both male and female athletes privately for decades but which has only recently emerged as a public issue. Spoilsports is the first comprehensive review of this issue, integrating pioneering academic research, theoretical perspectives, and practical guidelines for performers, coaches, administrators and policy-makers.
Key topics include:
* 'moral panic'
* children's rights
* masculinity and power
* making and implementing policy
* leadership in sport.
Spoilsports draws extensively on the personal experiences of athletes and those involved in sport. Challenging and controversial, this book represents an important step towards tackling a difficult issue. It is essential reading for coaches, athletes, parents, policy-makers and all those with a personal or professional interest in sport.

Part I

Context and scope

1 Introduction

Spoil, 1. Plunder, deprive (person of things), by force or stealth … 2. Impair the qualities of, or person’s enjoyment of … 3. Injure character of … Spoilsport, one who spoils sport. [Mem f, OH espoilier f. L spoliare f. spolium spoil, plunder]

(Fowler and Fowler 1964: 1239)

In many respects this book is far too late … in other respects it is far too early. It is too late because the sports book market has already seen a spate of publications, many of them from journalists rather than academics, exploring high profile cases of sexual exploitation in sport in North America (Burton Nelson 1994; Ryan 1995; Benedict 1997; Heywood 1998; Robinson 1998). The cat, then, is well and truly out of the bag. But the book is also much too early in that we are still chronically short of data on the issues of sexual harassment and abuse in sport and, thus, lack what we need for developing and testing social scientific theories. If those of us who work in sport on a daily basis are ever to move beyond the immediacy and shock of personal anecdote and into effective and sustainable prevention work, then we must pay attention to the efforts of researchers to develop adequate theoretical models of exploitation. Only then will we be able to predict, and eventually to manage, the risks that give rise to this problem. But theory development is a slow process: it must be based on sound evidence, make ready sense to sport participants and administrators, and respond flexibly to the challenge of new and contradictory data.

The laborious pace of theory development is at odds with the imperative for rapid change that confronts sport today. The challenge of satisfying both academic relevance and practical expediency is not inconsiderable and is familiar to many working across the research/advocacy divide. I look forward to the time when we have developed theories of sexual exploitation that will help us to assess and manage risks in sport much more systematically and effectively than happens now. This, in turn, should contribute to the potential transformation of the institution of sport into a more humane practice, something which has long been an aspiration of critical, especially feminist, sociologists of sport.

If all this sounds rather too structural, or even determinist, for those of a postmodern persuasion, then I should make my prejudices clear from the start. I do not think that the grand projects of early feminism are redundant (to ‘liberate’ women, to fight sex discrimination, to challenge patriarchal authority) although they may now require more nuanced expression. Like Michael Messner, ‘I do not see my project here as a contribution to battening down the disciplinary hatches to hold off the deconstructionist barbarians …’ (Messner 1996: 230). The power of discourse is undeniable – and I am immensely grateful to those colleagues and students who have shown me this – but it is not detached from the material circumstances of rape, assault or other forms of sexual violence in sport that athletes experience on a daily basis. Sexual exploitation in sport – whether manifested in discrimination, harassment or rape – is much more than just a ‘discursive formation’. For all too many athletes, male and female, child and adult, it is a miserable and degrading experience that not only undermines their personal sporting hopes and aspirations but also inflicts long-term damage on their self-esteem and life chances. The time horizon for these athletes is much shorter than that for social theorists. Athletes want to understand now why they have been made to suffer and what can be done to prevent others facing the same exploitative experiences.

Sexual exploitation is a subject which inflames anger, taps deep-felt fears and suspicions and arouses the passions. It does this not just amongst those involved in sport and leisure but amongst everyone concerned with social justice. If those passions are dissipated in quick-fix, sound bite advocacy – or what I call playing only the ‘short game’ – then we will have achieved nothing. I prefer to aim for the ‘long game’ in which we follow the painstaking path of theory development. However, I was prompted to complete this book in what I consider to be unseemly haste by concern that the issues of sexual exploitation in sport and leisure were being sensationalised in the popular media, and perhaps even in some quarters of the academic press. I acknowledge fully that, in committing my analysis to paper at this point, I am offering merely work-in-progress. We actually know very little indeed about how or why sexual exploitation develops in sport, or whether athletes are at any more or less risk of experiencing sexual exploitation than non-athletes.

For those who argue that contemporary sport is one of the inevitable casualties of post-modernity, then this book might be viewed as nothing more than an attempt to move the deckchairs on the Titanic. If the institution of sport is approaching the end of its useful life then those of us concerned about the moral potential of sport, or even about its internal goods (McNamee 1997: 29), should simply pack our bags and go on our way. If, on the other hand, the continuing popularity of sport is any indication, then there is still life in the practice and still merit in examining its operation. The purpose of close examination of sport might be to shed light on the socio-historical process itself, as a kind of test bed for social theory. Even if that were possible, it is not the purpose here. The material included in this book is drawn from a wealth of sources, both academic and practical. Since neither sport nor sexual exploitation can be understood from only a single discipline perspective, the book attempts to apply analytical ideas from a wide range of disciplines, fields of study and industry applications (see Table 1.1).

Until recently very little empirical data had been collected on the issues of sexual exploitation in sport. With some notable exceptions (see Chapters 4 and 5), the main sources of critical analysis came from academic feminists writing about oppressive patriarchal relations (Hall 1978; Lenskyj 1986; Talbot 1988; Birrell and Theberge 1994). Mainstream literature on sexual aggression and child abuse has all but ignored sport as a site of research or practical interest. In Britain, Ted Perry was the first probation worker involved with sex offenders to show interest in the subject, following his attendance at a child protection in sport seminar (Perry 1999). Perry is a member of the National Organisation for the Treatment of Abusers (NOTA) which comprises mainly clinical psychologists, probation officers and others concerned with sex offender treatment. I was invited to join the NOTA Research Committee after making a presentation to its members in December 1999. To my knowledge, this is the first indication of active interest in sport by those working in the clinical and therapeutic professions in Britain (Brackenridge, Johnston and Bringer 2000b). It seems, then, that there are many bridges to build.

Table 1.1 Sources of material for this book

INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS	• Social care
	• Probation work
	• Clinical therapy
	• Sports development
	• Events management
	• Sports coaching
	• Physical education
	• Leisure management
	• Sports journalism
FIELDS OF STUDY	• Sport studies
	• Leisure studies
	• Cultural and media studies
	• Feminist studies
	• Social and policy studies
	• Environmental studies
	• Family studies
	• Management studies
	• Education studies
ACADEMIC DISCIPLINES	• Psychology
	• Sociology
	• Social psychology
	• Philosophy
	• Criminology
	• History

The scope of this book is fairly wide, covering all levels of sport and recreation from the leisure hobbyist to the Olympic performer. This work has an unashamedly political agenda, which is to bring about change in the way sport is structured and managed. The moral basis for the work rests on two basic assumptions: first, that sexual contact with a child/athlete is always wrong and secondly, that the coach is always responsible for his actions (see Chapter 3 for a detailed discussion of definitions and a justification for using the male pronoun).

The legal ramifications of sexual exploitation in sport are considerable. However, I am not a legal expert and I also recognise that legal statutes and interpretations vary widely from one country to another (for example, even Scottish and English law differ on definitions of sexual offences). The law is also, to some degree, a moving target. At the time of writing, for example, the British parliament is considering legislation about sexual offences, child protection, the age of sexual consent and police reform. Whereas legal definitions of sexual consent are crucial in determining culpability for sexual offences, it might also be argued (as is done in Chapter 3) that they are morally irrelevant where an authority figure exploits a less powerful victim and that, put crudely, abuse is abuse is abuse, regardless of the victim’s age. For these reasons there is no substantive account in the book of the law relating to sexual exploitation in sport. Clinical diagnoses, treatment, therapeutic and rehabilitative regimes are also omitted since I consider these to lie outside the spheres of responsibility and competence of those engaged in running sport. They are also more than adequately represented in the clinical literature.

Whilst some reference is made to the role of parents, carers and siblings in preventing sexual abuse in sport, intra-familial (family-generated) sexual exploitation is not examined in this book (except as an analogy, see Chapter 6). This is because most of the existing literature on sexual exploitation is on intra-familial abuse and also because sport offers a useful case study through which to develop a better understanding of extra-familial abuse and exploitation. There is also no account of race or ethnicity in relation to sexual exploitation here since there has been no substantive sport research on the subject. The research agenda in this field is still, in many respects, wide open.

One of the unintended consequences of researching in this field has been a flood of enquiries from students and colleagues in other academic institutions in Britain and overseas, asking for help, advice and information. Clearly, the curriculum in sport and leisure studies has now found space for this subject, albeit often through a single lecture within a ‘contemporary issues’ course. Associated with this has been an explosion in the number of students seeking to prepare assessments on the theme and to carry out empirical investigations into some aspect of it. The consequent dangers for traumatising already-damaged individuals are self-evident. However empathetic they might be, no student can give professional support or advice to interviewees who become distressed, nor can they even know what traumas might be provoked by a simple questionnaire. At one point I became so concerned about sexual exploitation being regarded as a ‘hot topic’ that I decided to draw a clear line between undergraduate and postgraduate enquiries and to advise that undergraduates should not embark on empirical work with athletes or survivors of sexual exploitation. Indeed, I would advise tutors to guide students away from this topic except via secondary sources and literature reviews. There are, after all, numerous education and training, policy, implementation, discourse analysis and other studies waiting to be done on this subject that do not depend on the collection of primary data from athletes. I also decided to refuse to give help to postgraduates until and unless I had written assurances from the student’s own supervisor about compliance with ethical protocols and support from specialists in clinical psychology or child welfare. Looking back, these decisions could have been challenged: after all, I am not a clinical psychologist and certainly had no special expertise in this field when I began my work. But I did spend time working closely with colleagues with professional expertise in child protection and this link gave me invaluable insight into the possible pitfalls of researching sexual exploitation. For students or colleagues who may read this book as preparation for a research project, especially if working in sport and leisure studies departments, I urge that appropriate ethical and methodological advice be sought from colleagues working in related academic and professional fields. (See Chapter 8 for a reflexive account of the research process.)

This book is intended to be both an introduction to existing research (Parts I and II) and a review of policy and practice (Parts III and IV), aimed at both academics and those engaged with, or managing, sports practice. Whilst the first and second halves of the book align roughly with these two audiences, and could be read as freestanding resources, the whole should be greater than the sum of the parts. It is useful for practitioners to understand the strengths and limitations of research evidence and theories since these are often taken, somewhat uncritically, on trust. It is perhaps even more important for researchers to understand the demands of the everyday practice of sport in order that they select appropriate research questions that lead to useful research outcomes.

In Chapter 2, the ‘problem’ of sexual exploitation in sport is contextualised within the wider debate about children’s rights. This material draws on work done with Diana Summers and Diana Woodward that was first presented to the Leisure Studies Association annual conference in Eastbourne in 1995 (Brackenridge, Summers and Woodward 1995). The second half of this chapter examines the emergence of the social problem of sexual exploitation in sport using the process of moral panic as a framework. Chapter 3 sets out the linguistic parameters of the debate on sexual exploitation in sport, examining key terms and concepts and offering working definitions. In Chapter 4, the limited research about the stakeholders in sexual exploitation in sport is reported. This exercise reveals gaps and contradictions in our knowledge on the issue and thus helps to set an agenda for future research.

Part II of the book is a synthesis of the available explanations of sexual exploitation in sport. Chapter 5 examines cultural and sub-cultural explanations, with particular emphasis on theories of gender relations. Chapter 6 focusses more narrowly on micro-theoretical explanations of sexual abuse, both outside and inside sport, and explores how inductive research in sport has been used to build a number of theoretical models. In Chapter 7, the limitations of ahistoric, single discipline analyses are discussed. A particular approach to understanding criminality, David Canter’s notion of the ‘criminal career’ (Canter 1994), is developed in relation to sexually exploitative practices by coaches. A new contingency model of sexual exploitation is proposed that may have currency beyond the context of sport. The last chapter in this section, Chapter 8, takes a reflexive view of the research process and discusses strategies for investigator survival when doing sensitive research. The material here draws extensively on a paper which I presented at the North American Society of Sport Sociology Conference in Las Vegas in 1998, subsequently published by Sage in the International Review for the Sociology of Sport (Brackenridge 1999b).

Part III is intended particularly for those people who are involved day-to-day with sport, whether they be administrators, coaches, athletes or other ‘stakeholders’, that is those individuals and organisations with a vested interest in ethical practice in sport. If it were not such a serious matter, the sight of sport organisations in Britain running around like headless chickens in a panic about child protection over the past five years would have been mildly amusing. Literally thousands of hours of labour and, by definition, thousands of pounds, have been invested in these endeavours with almost no evidence, yet, of cost effectiveness. This section of the book is especially intended for people who run such organisations and who have the authority, and responsibility...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of acronyms
• Series Editors’ preface
• Foreword
• Acknowledgememts
• Part I Context and scope
• Part II Theory and understanding
• Part III Policy and prevention
• Part IV Conclusions and challenges
• Appendix 1 Useful web sites
• Appendix 2 Practical resources
• Bibliography
• Index