Crime, Deviance and Doping

Fallen Sports Stars, Autobiography and the Management of Stigma

M. Yar

• Publisher: Palgrave Pivot
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781349487103, 9781137403742
• eBook ISBN: 9781137403759
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Criminology
• Index: Social Sciences

Yar examines the autobiographies of fallen sports stars, exploring their fall from grace and the stigma it entails. Drawing upon sociological and criminological perspectives, it illuminates how fallen stars use confessional acts of story-telling to seek forgiveness, vindication and redemption.

1

Introduction – Sports Celebrities, Doping and Narratives of Deviance

Abstract: This chapter explores a number of inter-related issues – how researchers have previously engaged with the connections between crime and deviance on the one hand, and sport on the other; how we can understand the importance of celebrity and sporting heroism in contemporary culture; and how the analysis of autobiographical narratives can furnish a fruitful avenue for grasping the making and unmaking of criminal and deviant identities.

Yar, Majid. Crime, Deviance and Doping: Fallen Sports Stars, Autobiography and the Management of Stigma. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. DOI: 10.1057/9781137403759.0004.

This is a book about crime and deviance; about drugs and doping; about celebrity, notoriety and infamy. However, above all else, it is a book about story-telling. It explores, with humane sympathy and critical acuity, the stories about self, identity and action told by those who have undergone a dramatic reversal in their public fortunes. The book explores what people do and say when they find themselves transformed from sporting heroes to sporting villains – in short, it examines how the ‘disgraced’ and ‘fallen’ offer public accounts of their transgressions, and in doing so seek to manage, deflect, ameliorate and ultimately transcend the stigma that comes with being publicly labelled a ‘cheat’, ‘doper’, ‘liar’, ‘fraud’ and ‘criminal’. This drama of shaming and blaming, of explanation and expiation, is played out on the stage of global multi-mediated culture, and in many ways exemplifies both the pleasures and precariousness of stardom, celebrity, and a life lived in the public gaze; a public that can be by turns blindly adoring and brutally unforgiving of those it adopts as its heroes and heroines.

Before we can meet our protagonists and explore their stories (of rise, fall, and possible redemption), we need to set out some important preliminaries, so as to better understand their narratives. The academic and intellectual groundings of the book are laid in the first two chapters, drawing upon a range of perspectives from the disciplines of criminology, sociology, and the study of sport, culture and media. In this first chapter, I explore a number of inter-related issues – how researchers have previously engaged with the connections between crime and deviance on the one hand, and sport on the other; how we can understand the importance of celebrity and sporting heroism in contemporary culture; and how the analysis of autobiographical narratives can furnish a fruitful avenue for grasping the making and unmaking of criminal and deviant identities.

Crime, deviance and sport

Criminology and allied disciplines are no strangers when it comes to sport, even if its study remains a rather marginal and somewhat neglected area. Reviewing the existing research and writings on the topic indicates that it covers three broad areas, although as we shall see, ‘doping’ (the use of illicit performance-enhancing drugs) is perhaps the least well studied.

The first connection between crime and sport explored by researchers is a negative one – meaning that they have been interested in identifying if, how and why participation in sport serves to direct people away from criminal and deviant behaviour. The focus of such work has fallen upon young people, in particular those from marginalised social and cultural backgrounds, who are usually held to be at greatest risk of involvement in criminal behaviour – they are certainly over-represented amongst convicted offenders (Muncie, 2009: 24–6). ‘Risk factors’ typically associated with crime and delinquency include low income, unemployment, poor housing, deprived inner-city neighbourhoods, poor educational attainment, and family conflict – the very circumstances deemed to be more commonplace amongst ‘lower’ social classes and minority ethnic groups (Farrington and West, 1990). It is against this background that researchers seek to evaluate the impact of sports participation as a positive influence that not only decreases likelihood of involvement in crime and delinquency, but also promotes desistance from crime amongst those who have already become involved in such behaviour (Cameron and MacDougall, 2000; Crabbe, 2000).

If such a relationship exists (as researchers claim) then how and why it occurs can be understood from a number of different theoretical perspectives. Social control theory, for example, considers those factors that cement individuals’ commitment to law- and rule-following behaviour. Key amongst these is the commitment to, and investment of time and energy in, ‘conventional activities’, including organised leisure pursuits such as sports. For example, Schaffer (1969) claims that participation in competitive school sports helps reduce delinquency. Similarly, Landers and Landers (1978) argue that participation in competitive sports serves to bolster investment in conventional social values by imparting a belief in fair play, cooperation, persistence, and rule-following.

Differential association may also be used to explain the relationship between sport and minimising delinquency. In essence a social learning theory, differential association centres upon the importance of individuals’ peer associations, especially during the formative years of childhood and adolescence, for establishing subsequent patterns of thought and behaviour (Sutherland et al., 1995). It is by association with delinquent others that people come to invest themselves in similar conduct, and conversely intensive association with non-delinquent peers engaged in socially approved activities (such as sport) can exert a ‘pro-social’ influence (Zamanian et al., 2012). Also from a subcultural perspective, it can be suggested that participation in competitive sport can afford marginalised young people opportunities to gain recognition, status and self-esteem, counteracting the kinds of ‘status frustration’ that comes from being otherwise excluded from mainstream notions of success such as scholastic achievement (Becker, 2008). The notion that sport can provide an alternative pathway to advancement for the socially excluded certainly configures the popular imagination. Steve James’ award-winning documentary Hoop Dreams (1994) provides eloquent testimony to this belief, exploring the struggles of two poor, African American boys seeking to transcend their social marginality through the ‘dream’ of ‘making it’ as professional basketball players. Whether or not sport can make a significant impact upon crime and delinquency is an open and contested question (Chamberlain, 2013), and it continues to be a key focus for criminology’s engagement with sport.

A second dimension of criminology’s interest in sport addresses the links between sporting cultures (and subcultures) and predisposition towards criminal and anti-social behaviour. This work is particularly attuned to the risks associated with ‘hyper-masculine’ cultural codes that stress aggression and violence as markers of success and sources of identity and belonging. It has been suggested that the valorisation of aggression in competitive sports spills over into ‘off the field’ behaviour, predisposing male athletes to sexual aggression and violence against women (Forbes et al., 2006). This may be bolstered by a sense of superiority and entitlement conferred by the broader cultural esteem accorded to sports stars, particularly in the case of professional athletes (Welch, 1997). There is certainly no shortage of sports stars who have been identified with crimes against women – examples include golfer John Daly (charged with assaulting his wife), boxer Mike Tyson (convicted of rape), and former NFL running back O.J. Simpson (charged with the murder of his wife Nicole and her friend Ronald Goldman). Other sportsmen have been charged and convicted for a bewildering range of additional offences – interstate dog-fighting (NFL star Michael Vick), armed robbery and kidnapping (O.J. Simpson again), counterfeiting (soccer player Mickey Thomas), indecent assault and unlawful sex with a minor (soccer player-turned-coach Graham Rix), kidnapping and human trafficking (figure skater Wolfgang Schwarz), to name but a few. Whether or not professional sportsmen are in fact more likely than other men to engage in violent or sexual offences remains subject to debate – contradictory evidence is offered by various research studies (Smith and Stewart, 2003); nevertheless, the question remains of ongoing interest for researchers and writers. This connection between sporting cultures, masculinity and violence has also been explored in relation to sports fans. In their study of fan behaviour at US collegiate football games, Rees and Schnepel (2008: 1) found that ‘the host community registers sharp increases in assaults, vandalism, arrests for disorderly conduct, and arrests for alcohol-related offenses on game days.’ However, Roberts and Benjamin (2000) note the consensus view amongst researchers that crime and disorder involving fans is generally less frequent in North America than in Europe, where ‘football hooliganism’ has been considered a notable and persistent problem. Explanations for the ‘hooliganism problem’ vary widely, but often converge on a combination of social class, gender and racial factors – for example, the assertion of white working-class masculinity in the face of increasing social marginalisation, which find an outlet in expressive violence and the staging of collective, ritualised combat (Dunning et al., 1988; Ward, 2002: 457–8). The incursion of racist and ultra-nationalist sentiment into football-related violence has certainly been a consistent feature of the game in England and other continental European countries over recent decades (Giulianotti et al., 1994; Garland and Treadwell, 2010).

The third dimension of criminology’s engagement with sport has taken shape through a growing interest in professional sports as a site for various forms of financial crime, fraud and related misconduct. For example, Hill (2009a, 2009b) explores the dynamics involved in the organisation of ‘match fixing’ by football officials, and how this is inter-connected with illicit large-scale gambling. Maennig (2005: 189) charts various other forms of corruption apparent in professional sports, including the manipulation of decisions about host venues for large events, the allocation of TV coverage and other commercial rights, awarding of contracts for venue construction, and the awarding of positions within sporting bodies. The issue of doping (use of illicit and banned performance-enhancing drugs – PEDs for short) can see seen as a related issue. Doping in professional sport has been explored from a number of perspectives. Scholarly discussion centres variously upon the extent of such drug use (Baron et al., 2007; Sjöqvist et al., 2008); the efficacy of drug-testing regimes established by authorities such as the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) (Hanstad et al., 2008; Kayser and Smith, 2008); legal questions related to evidence of doping offences and responsibility for tackling them (Nafziger, 2005; Showalter, 2007); and the ethics of both doping and of the regulatory regimes established to counter it (Hanstad and Loland, 2009; Kirkwood, 2012).

In a more socio-cultural vein, a number of scholars have examined mass media representations and press coverage of doping scandals, spanning sports including skiing (Laine, 2006), cycling (Schneider, 2006), the Olympic Games (Barnard et al., 2006; Kennett and Ward, 2010), and individual sports stars such as Ben Johnson (Jackson, 2004), Carl Lewis (Denham, 2004), and Marion Jones (Meân, 2013). These studies have shown how media and popular discussions of doping reflect wider sentiments about national pride and identity, ethnicity, and gender. Media discourses of doping have also inevitably been subject to analysis through the time-honoured sociological lens of ‘moral panic’ theory. Such accounts suggest that the problem has been exaggerated and sensationalised, with anti-doping moral entrepreneurs playing a key role in defining the issue according to their own particular interests (Christiansen, 2007; Goode, 2011).

A small number of studies have used ethnographic methods to explore attitudes towards PED use amongst both amateur and professional sportspeople. For example, Klein (1986, 1993) examined the competitive subculture of bodybuilding in Southern California, illuminating how participants normalised steroid use as part of their training regimes. Wilson et al. (2004) interviewed track and field athletes about doping, tracing their ‘ethical inconsistencies and ambiguities’ in relation to the use of PEDs. Lentillon-Kaestner and Carstairs (2009) interviewed a number of ‘young elite cyclists’ to elicit their views about the acceptability of doping amongst amateur and professional riders. Closest in spirit and approach to the present work is criminologist Ophir Sefiha’s (2012) research on elite pro cyclists. Through participant observation and interviews he examines accounts of doping offered by the athletes, and analyses them through the lens of Sykes and Matza’s (1957) concept of ‘techniques of neutralisation’. Such techniques are, he demonstrates, routinely ‘employed to excuse and justify PED consumption’. My analysis seeks to develop and build upon the work of Sefiha and others, with a few crucial differences of approach and focus. First, the research discussed above is drawn from interviews, rather than focusing upon autobiographical narratives. This difference is significant. Research interviews are typically private disclosures offered under conditions and expectations of anonymity; this is especially true where participants are asked to disclose involvement in criminal activity or to discuss otherwise socially sensitive experiences (Israel, 2004). In contrast, autobiographies are publicly available texts intended to reach a wide audience, and clearly identify the person or persons involved. As such, autobiographical accounts are quintessentially forms of public performance, amounting to the mass-mediated staging of self and identity for the consumption of readers. Second, the athletes I focus upon are not only professionals, but notable sporting stars, who have enjoyed a high level of public visibility, status, esteem as well as the material rewards that come with success in the international sporting arena. As we shall see in the next section, these individuals’ standing as sporting celebrities plays a pivotal role in how they and their actions are constructed, perceived and understood by others, and how they represent themselves in the face of scandal and disgrace. Third, in light of the intense public ‘naming and shaming’ they experience as ‘dopers’, Goffman’s (1968) concepts of stigma and ‘spoiled identity’ occupy a central place in my analysis – facing, handling, resisting and transcending the stigma that comes with public shaming becomes a driving force in the narratives offered by fallen sports stars.

Sporting celebrity and sporting scandal

Celebrity can be viewed as a thoroughly modern phenomenon, one that emerges in tandem with the birth of a new society and the rapid growth of mass-mediated popular culture. The American cultural critic Daniel Boorstin derisively proclaimed that ‘the celebrity is a person who is well-known for his well-knownness’ (Boorstin, 1992: 57). In a culture increasingly dominated by popular media and advertising, Boorstin saw the emergence of public figures who are notable simply because they have been identified as such, irrespective of any underlying merit that might warrant such attention – captured in another of his well known aphorisms that ‘a sign of a celebrity is often that his name is worth more than his services’ (Boorstin, 1992: 220). In The Frenzy of Renown (1997) Leo Braudy places celebrity within a long-term historical shift in the nature of fame, which is in turn linked to how we think about achievement. In the past, Braudy claims, fame was a kind of social honour linked closely to notable accomplishments. However, in the contemporary world fame has become decoupled from achievement; hence the myriad celebrities whose fame is ‘often unrelated to anything resembling actual accomplishment’ (Braudy, in Geddes, 2005: 80). These are the ‘stars’ born of fly-on-the wall reality TV shows such as Jersey Shore and Made in Chelsea, the failed contestants on TV talent searches such as American Idol and The X-Factor, and the ‘overnight sensations’ created by YouTube videos that ‘go viral’. In a perverse reversal of past times, where fame was an index of achievement, celebrity status can be conferred on the basis of a demonstrable and profound lack of talent. A notable recent example is Cecilia Giménez, an 80-year-old amateur artist from Zaragoza, Spain, who became world-renowned after unilaterally deciding to ‘restore’ a delicate 19th-century fresco of Jesus in her local church, the Sanctuary of Mercy. The result, described by a BBC correspondent as ‘a crayon sketch of a very hairy monkey in an ill-fitting tunic’ (BBC News, 2012), propelled Giménez to global fame. Such was the public interest that in the year following the ‘restoration’ the church attracted more than 40,000 visitors who came especially to view the fresco, generating more than €50,000 in donations from the tourists (The Guardian, 2013).

In comparison to the kinds of celebrities noted above, sporting stars occupy a somewhat different position – after all, their celebrity is based to a significant degree upon their actual accomplishments in the field of sporting endeavour (the exceptions being those propelled into the limelight as ‘heroic failures’ – such as Olympians Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards and Eric ‘The Eel’ Moussambani). Rojek (2001) helpfully distinguishes between ‘attributed celebrity’ (allocated to individuals by the mass media and marketing system) and ‘achieved celebrity’ (based upon the achievements attributed to individuals). Sporting celebrities clearly fall into the second category, insofar as they trade their ability to perform on the field (or on the track, the road, in the ring, and so on) into the currency of social esteem. In other words, sporting celebrity is based to some significant degree on what are perceived as heroic feats of courage, endurance and prowess. These underlying achievements are central to the mass media’s ability to project onto sports stars the lustre of valour, virtue, vitality, and desirability:

The major sporting star is a stranger who is paradoxically part of daily life, a key myth and symbol … reified by capitalistic, sexual and cultural processes that fabricate personal qualities and social signs as resources for commerce, art and fantasy. Athletes are perfect celebrities. (Miller, 2013: 18)

In a culture that promotes ideologies of self-assertion, ambition, competitiveness and individual excellence as the paths to wealth and success, sporting celebrities function as role models for life in neo-liberal times (Coakley, 2011). Additionally, the intensification of concern with the ‘fit’, slender and aestheticised body as a site of meaning and value (Elliott, 2008; Featherstone, 2010) renders sporting celebrities as both aspirational figures and idealised sexual fantasies – the likes of David Beckham, Anna Kournikova and Maria Sharapova have clearly commanded attention as much for their appearance as their sporting skills (Harris and Clayton, 2002; Jirasek et al., 2013). Sport stars can also serve as symbolic carriers of collective aspirations and ethnic and national pride (Wong and Trumper, 2002; Nalapat and Parker, 2005) – witness the elevation of Liu Zhang to a symbol of China’s global emergence in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, or the adoption of Jessica Ennis as ‘poster girl’ for modern, multi-ethnic, post-colonial Britain before, during and after the 2012 London Olympics. In short, sports stars serve as...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• 1  Introduction Sports Celebrities, Doping and Narratives of Deviance
• 2  Framing Narratives of Doping and Disgrace
• 3  Beginnings
• 4  Initiation
• 5  Commitment
• 6  Exposure
• 7  Resolution
• Bibliography
• Index