The Positive and Negative Implications of Football Opportunities - Term Paper Example

The Positive and Negative Implications of Football (soccer) Opportunities Developed for Amputees in Liberia Introduction Two models of disability informs perspectives and treatment of the disabled (Thomas, 2008: 106). One model is the medical model, also known as the ‘personal tragedy theory’ which assumes that disability is an individual problem for which professional assistance is required (Thomas, 2008: 106). The other model is the social model and assumes that society, as opposed to the individual should assume responsibility for the disability (Thomas, 2008: 106). The medical model of disability is the predominant model informing public perspectives (Areheart, 2008: 185). The medical model of disability is often reinforced through the popular press and has been attributed to the reluctance of the disabled to participate in sport (Brittain, 2004: 429). This is a significant setback for the disabled as participation in sport helps the disabled to develop skills that contribute to feelings of self-empowerment (Blinde and Taub, 1999: 181). Another way of conceptualizing disability is the social theory of hegemony which explains how dominant norms marginalize the disabled to a point where it appears to be a normal perspective (Hammell, 2006: 76). Liberia’s amputee football programme provides an opportunity for self-empowerment and healing for a stigmatized group of amputees who were casualties in the country’s civil war (International Committee of the Red Cross, 2009). This essays conducts a review of the positive and negative implications of football (soccer) opportunities for Liberia’s amputees. The social and medical models of disability together with hegemony theory are used in analysing the positive and negative implications. Liberia’s Football (Soccer) Opportunities for Amputees Liberia’s amputee football team is made up of men who were either fighters or civilians who had lost either an arm or a leg in Liberia’s civil wars which lasted from 1989 to 2003 (Griffin, 2012, 93). For example Joseph Kolobeh was abducted at age 11 by ‘government rebels’ and forced to fight in wars. A grenade caused a serious injury to one of his arms which was subsequently amputated. Richard Duo was a refugee at a church in Monrovia, Liberia where the government’s forces attacked and killed virtually everyone in the church. Duo lost his entire family in the attack and suffered a severed leg which was subsequently amputated (Griffin, 2012, 94). According to Paul Tolbert, the team’s coach, participating in Liberia’s amputee soccer league has served as a means of therapeutic healing for the amputees (ICRC, 2009). Many of the amputees report an initial feeling of gloom upon losing limb. Upon realizing they had lost a limb, many amputees considered taking their lives. Becoming involved in soccer has given these amputees something to live for. For one amputee the opportunity to play soccer again was especially healing. This particular player had been a prolific soccer player prior to losing a leg. He had lost all hope of playing soccer again until the introduction of Liberia’s amputee soccer programme (ICRC, 2009). A number of amputees playing on Liberia’s amputee soccer team report feeling a sense of pride and belonging (ICRC, 2009). They have been given an opportunity to contribute to the recovering of their war torn country as they are now able to bring a sense of pride to Liberia as it is represented in the Amputee World Cup. Liberia also held the African Cup of Nations in 2008 an won. In addition, the amputees are able to travel for soccer games within and outside of Liberia. In fact, as one soccer player reported, prior to playing for Liberia’s amputee soccer team he had never imagined having the opportunity to visit countries such as Russia where he was able to represent Liberia and meet and mingle with other disabled athletes from around the world (ICRC, 2009). Many of Liberia’s amputees participating on the Liberian amputee soccer team report feeling more inclined to ‘look toward the future’ as opposed to remaining stuck in the troubling past (ICRC, 2009). These amputees feel that they have not only made their country proud, but have made their families and communities proud. Moreover, amputee football players in Liberia report that they believe that their participation in the amputee soccer sport has heightened awareness of amputees’ conditions and has drawn attention to the fact that they are able to make contributions to society (ICRC, 2009). The Positive Implications of Liberia’s Amputee Football A key positive implication of Liberia’s amputee football team is the mere fact that it provides an opportunity for disabled individuals to participate in a sporting or leisure activity. As French and Hainsworth (2001: 35) report, many disabled persons are unable to participate in sport because of obstacles that exist in these activities. For example, French and Hainsworth (2001: 35) conducted a qualitative study in which sports and leisure services providers in the West Midlands in England were interviewed. The study found that although a majority of the service providers implemented disability policies enforcement of these policies were hampered based on a poor understanding of disabilities. Moreover, additional obstacles were ‘physical access’, ‘changing facilities’, ‘attitudes of staff and other users’, ‘programming’ and ‘staff availability’ (French and Hainsworth, 2001: 35). These obstacles were removed in Liberia’s amputee football system because it is a programme constructed solely for amputees. There is no division of staff as in traditional service providers where the main opportunity is for non-disabled individuals with less attention to the disabled. The Liberia amputee soccer system is in a position to focus all of its resources and attention on amputees and their needs. This is consistent with the social model of disability sports in that the social model assumes that individuals with disabilities are hampered by society in three main respects (Duyan, 2007, 72). Firstly, attitudes in society tend to limit the disabled and these attitudes are characterised by ‘fear, ignorance and low expectations’ (Duyan, 2007: 72). In Liberia’s amputee football club, the amputees are in an environment in which they can freely participate in football without having to confront societal attitudes. Secondly, the environment hampers disabled individuals in terms of physical access (Duyan, 2007: 72). This is not a problem within Liberia’s amputee football club because it is strictly aimed at amputees and accommodates the amputees. Finally, institutional structures can be set up so as to exclude the disabled or to segregate them in ways that are not as efficient as those facilities accorded the non-disabled (Duyan, 2007). Liberia’s amputee football club has only one aim and that is the accommodation of amputees and therefore amputees are able to participate without feeling discriminated against compared to the non-disabled. Another significant positive implication of Liberia’s amputee football system is the opportunity for the disabled participants to achieve self-empowerment. Self-empowerment is an outcome of the social model of disability (Pensgaard and Sorensen, 2002: 49). Sport for the disabled was previously conceptualized as a means for rehabilitation pursuant to the medical model of disability (Pensgaard and Sorensen, 2002: 49). However, this way of thinking has changed so that sport is not merely equated with a medical technique. Under the social model of disability a new way of looking at sport for the disabled allows for conceptualising sport as a means by which the disabled can have greater control over their lives and become involved in their communities (Pensgaard and Sorensen, 2002: 49). Liberia’s amputee football system is consistent with the self-empowerment outcomes anticipated by the social model of disability. The amputees participating in Liberia’s amputee football programme report gaining control of their lives as they now look forward to the future and have been able to distance themselves from the past. They have also reported finding a more positive outlook on their lives compared to suicidal ideation upon first losing a limb. Moreover, the amputees report feeling a sense of belonging and contributing to their country’s recovery from the civil wars. As a result, the amputees have been accorded an opportunity to contribute to their communities in rewarding ways and have felt a strong sense of self-empowerment pursuant to the social model of disability. The self-empowerment outcomes for the amputees participating in Liberia’s amputee football programme is consistent with the findings of a study conducted by Blinde and McClug (1997: 327). The study involved interviews with 11 disabled women between the ages of 19 and 54 and 12 disabled men between the ages of 20 and 36. All of the participants were involved in some sporting programme. There were two categories of positive outcomes for the participants: physical and social (Blinde and McClug, 2002: 327). From a physical perspective, the participants felt more aware of their bodies and realised room for improving their physical abilities (Blinde and McClug, 2002: 327). From a social perspective, the participants reported feeling more socially connected while participating in sporting activities and at the same time were able to develop greater social opportunities (Blinde and McClug, 2002). Self-empowerment through participation in Liberia’s amputee football programme in terms of social relations was evident in self-reports. Amputees participating in Liberia’s amputee football programme identified feeling connected to other amputees and the opportunity to travel and mix with and connect with other amputees abroad. Clearly, participation in Liberia’s amputee football programme has significant positive implications for the football players. The most important of these positive implications are the opportunity to escape obstacles to inclusion in sporting opportunities and the opportunity for self-empowerment through a sense of belonging, a feeling of usefulness and enhancing the disabled person’s social life. In addition, amputees have an opportunity to exercise and participate in physical therapy. The Negative Implications for Liberia’s Amputee Football The information available on Liberia’s amputee football programme does not report negative implications for participants. However, it is possible that some negative implications can occur for amputees who were involved in football prior to losing a limb. These amputees were fully aware of greater physical abilities and playing with the loss of a limb can make them keenly aware of diminished physical abilities in the area of football. However, the Liberian amputees reported feeling more positive once they realised that having lost a limb they still had the opportunity to play football. Moreover, a study conducted by Lundberg, Bennett and Smith (2011: 105) revealed that participating in disability sports improved the outlook, moods and quality of living of veterans who returned from military services with disabilities. The results of Bennett and Smith’s (2011: 105) study are consistent with the outcomes for Liberia’s amputee football participants. The amputees participating in the amputee football programme reported significant improvement in their moods. In fact, the participants were previously predisposed to suicide ideation and felt more positive toward the future once participating in football for amputees. While there may have been ambivalence about diminished physical attributes prior to participating or upon initial participation, it appears that once competition began, these negative implications were replaced by positive outlooks. Another negative implication for participating in Liberia’s amputee football programme is the opportunities for the perpetuation of marginalisation. Despite the segregation of the football team from an all-inclusive club in which it would have functioned as a sub-group within a more dominant non-disabled culture, there is still the opportunity for marginalisation. As a special group designed for amputees, there is a possibility of stigmatization pursuant to the medical model. Under the medical model of disability, the prevailing thought is that the disability is an individual’s condition and should be accommodated individually and of course through medical aide (Lee, 2011). Thus the failure to accommodate Liberia’s amputee football programme within a dominant group can be seen as a form of marginalization and one that society is unwilling or unable to accommodate. Although the amputees are able to participate in football, their participation seeming comes with a label which is consistent with the dominant public perspective on disability. Even the attention given to the amputees’ participation in football can be seen as a manifestation of the dominant model of disability pursuant to the hegemony theory. In this regard, there is a propensity to describe or view disabled athletes as overcoming a disability which in turn tends to label disabled people as second class citizens (Hardin and Hardin, n.d.). Although the actual participants in Liberia’s amputee football league do not appear to have been impacted by the hegemony of the disabled through the attention given to them, this attention could impact public perceptions of disability sports. The negative implication could be that disabled athletes are special and different from other disabled persons in that they have the fortitude to overcome their disabilities. This creates and fosters the perception that disabled persons are secondary citizens. Negative implications also occur through the lack of media attention or unequal media attention to all disabled sporting competition including Liberia’s amputee football programme. As Hargreaves and Hardin’s (2009) study revealed, sports in general is an over-emphasised event in the media. There is a disproportionate presentation of disabled and non-disabled sport and athletes in that non-disabled sport and athletes are featured far more often than disabled sport (Hargreaves and Hardin, 2009). The negative implications are that this kind of unequal media attention feeds into both the medical model of disability and the hegemony theory of disability. The implications are therefore that the non-disabled athlete and sporting event is the ideal and most important event and that the disabled athlete and sporting event is relatively unimportant and less than idea (Hargreaves and Hardin, 2009). The disproportionate media attention to adaptive sport and the glorification of disabled athletes as a means of distinguishing their accomplishments as extra-ordinary tends to play into the dominant hegemony culture. This dominant hegemony culture conceptualizes disabled individuals as existing on the margins of society and incapable of social and physical adjustment in mainstream, non-disabled society (Sudgen and Tomlinson, 2012: 246). Although the positive outcomes for the amputees participating in Liberia’s amputee football league are noted, the negative implications for labelling and marginalization are present. According to Hardin and Hardin (2005), media coverage of sport reflects hegemonic values in that the attention paid toward athletes conveys an image of an ‘ideal body’. The media’s approach is a perpetuation of a hegemonic culture that keeps the disabled less ‘visible’, discourages their participation in sport and lowers the disabled individual’s ability to receive financial compensation comparable to that of the non-disabled athlete (Hardin and Hardin, 2005). It can be argued that the amputees participating in Liberia’s amputee football league are marginalized by the media and this can perpetuate a hegemonic culture that their efforts are not as noteworthy as those of non-disabled athletes. Future Development of Liberia’s Amputee Football Programme The media will likely continue to present Liberia’s amputee football games and system as a novelty venture. Both sport and the media are regarded as ‘powerful hegemonic institutions’ in that they are partners in the institutionalisation and promotion of the ideal (Hardin and Hardin, 2005). The media’s special attention to non-disabled athletes and sport, accentuates the ‘ideal attributes’ of sport and athletes (Hardin and Hardin, 2005). Moreover, the manner in which the media reports on the accomplishments of the disabled athlete sends the message that the disabled who excel in sports are accomplishing an extra-ordinary feat that the disabled is usually not expected to achieve (Hardin and Hardin, 2005). For example, the reports on Liberia’s amputee football programme come across as a novelty story compared to reports on non-disabled football programmes which come across as normative entertainment. The individual amputees’ reports of healing and optimism will likely function to encourage the continued growth of Liberia’s amputee football club and continued and increased participation by amputees in Liberia. The individual gains for the disabled athlete are far more important than the collective gains of the public. As long as the amputees are able to have hope for the future and are able to feel like productive members of their community, the media and public’s perspectives are irrelevant unless they serve to discourage the disabled person’s participation in sport. So far, there are no reports that the amputees participating in Liberia’s football programme are or have been discouraged. By all accounts the amputees are enthusiastic about Liberia’s amputee football club and remain committed to participation. Conclusion The positive implications for the amputees participating in Liberia’s amputee football league are significant. The athletes were previously subjected to the trauma of war from which they emerged both psychologically and physically maimed. Many of the amputees reported feeling suicidal until they were able to participate in Liberia’s amputee football league. Therefore any improvement in mood that changed this destructive outlook is a positive outcome. However, the amputees reported more than a simple change in mood. These amputees had a significant change in attitudes and emotions and became enthusiastic and optimistic about their role in society and their future. The amputees also developed what appeared to be greater self-esteem as they perceived that they were contributing to the recovering of their country from the spoils of war and to their communities in general. They felt a sense of pride in regards to their accomplishments both physically and psychologically and the positive outcomes for their families. In short, pursuant to the social model of disability, the amputees became self-empowered and expanded their social network. Other positive implications were the heightening of awareness of amputees and a kinship among amputees and casualties of war. The physical improvements were not referred to in the limited literature on Liberia’s amputee football team, but it is a natural outcome of physical activities for both the disabled and the non-disabled. It was difficult to identify negative implications for the amputees participating in Liberia’s amputee football league. The literature highlighted only the positive implications. However, based on theory and reports in the literature few possible negative implications were identified. The most significant possible negative implication is the segregation of disabled athletes from dominant sport groups as a sub-group. This segregation does not necessarily remove labelling and individualization of the disabled as assumed under the medical model of disability. Rather it heightens the differences between the disabled and the non-disabled. This difference is further exemplified by media coverage which depicts a minority subculture within a hegemony culture. The end result is a sub-group of disabled athletes within a superior of dominant culture. The primary focus in the media is on non-disabled athletes and where disabled athletes are presented, they are shown to be exceptional among other disabled individuals. Regardless the positive outcomes of Liberia’s amputee football programme far outweigh any perceived or possible negative implications. References Areheart, B.A. (2008). ‘When disability isn’t “just right”: The entrenchment of the medical model of disability and the Goldilocks dilemma.’ Indiana Law Journal, Vol. 83(1: 181-232. Print. Blinde, E.M. and Taub, D.E. 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