Critically Analyse the Issues and Controversies Surrounding Inclusive Sport in the UK Society - Term Paper Example

Critically Analyse the Issues and Controversies Surrounding Inclusive Sport in UK Society Functionalism is often referred to as the consensus theory because it does not address the issue of conflict in society, and functionalists believe that society operates in a harmonious way that maintains itself in a state of balance, remaining healthy and co-ordinated and any sudden practices that may upset the balance are rejected: "Sociologists who use functionalist theory assume that society is an organised system of interrelated parts held together by shared values and processes that create consensus among people" (Coakley, 1998, p.32) From a functionalist perspective a consensus containing shared norms and values is vital to the functioning of society as order flows from consensus. A sporting example of this is a football team, the players and staff want to win (shared norms and values) and they are willing to help each other out to achieve this, thus the whole team and staff contribute. A functionalist approach is popular with sociologists aiming to try and preserve the status quo in society; they believe that anything that may upset the balance such as disharmony or exclusion is rejected. From a functionalist view, sport is used to promote common values held essential to the integration and development of a society. McPherson, Curtis and Loy (1989, p.102) believe that "all groups strive to maintain the social order, and that sport can facilitate this process". Functionalists want to show how sport is a valuable contributor to social stability that benefits society as well as individuals, because from a functionalist perspective sport would be seen to help integration within society as it gives people something in common with strangers, and strengthens their relationship with friends. The Government aims to improve health and they identify how sport is a means of this, the approach to achieving this is predominantly a functionalist approach in that they believe sport is an inspiration and a precious contributor to health. The Government believes that if they increase opportunities and improve access to facilities for all people, then their goal of improved health will be attained. This somewhat one-sided view on sport will be analysed throughout this assignment, identifying whether or not the Governments use of sport acknowledges certain factors regarding inclusion and exclusion or are their policies and objectives insufficiently discriminatory and ambiguous. The strengths and weaknesses of the policies will be examined from a functionalist perspective and an understanding will be gained as to whether or not they are viable in a society of conflict. Government's use of sport The Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has laid out policies and objectives for sport and their main objective is to increase participation in sport and physical activity across the whole population, which in turn will help to improve health and hopefully providing a greater quality of life for all. According to National Statistics Online "In 2000, 27 per cent of girls and 20 per cent of boys aged between 2 and 19 were overweight" (www.nationalstatistics.gov.uk) so this gives an understanding as to why the Government wants to try and promote sport. The Government states the benefits that sport and informal physical activities can have in contributing to good health. An over-emphasis on the positive effects of sport is seen and to quote Hylton et al (2001, p.21); that from a functionalist approach the policy has "an unambiguous utilitarian argument that sport is good for health" and it doesn't identify that not everyone can play sport. Further on in Hylton et al's text (2001, p.130) they state that "for many non-participants, sport is less a source of health gain than an activity ripe with potential for injury". The Government has identified that to improve participation they need to provide more opportunities to as wide a range of sports facilities possible and at every level, from the "playground to the podium" (www.culture.gov.uk). From a functionalist perspective this would encourage participation from all areas of society regardless of sex, age, race, gender or class as the perspective does not discriminate against individuals. From a functionalist point of view the policy over-exaggerates the benefits of playing sport, and Coakley (2003, p.40) believes it doesn't address "the emphasis on physical power" which may show prejudice towards certain groups in society, and this is one of the reasons why women's sport has failed to be as big as men's, and one of the reasons why the Paralympic Games is not as big as the Olympics. Related to improving health and opportunities the DCMS realises that "Everyone deserves to have access to the very best sports opportunities” (www.culture.gov.uk). From a functionalist perspective if all members of a society had the chance to participate in sport it would help promote social connections between people by bringing them closer together, so they would be contributing to developing a moral consensus which the society needs to function, but according to Horne, Tomlinson and Whannel (1993, p.103) the perspective doesn't realise that people are "differently rewarded" and it "neglects the nature of power and privilege", and Dewar (1993) recognises that sport is where dominant cultural groups maintain their power and shape sport to reflect their own interests, which leads to social inequality. From a functionalist outlook, having sporting facilities and an improvement in access available to all would help produce integration within the community, allowing people to communicate with others through sport, giving them something in common with strangers and establishing friendships. Access to facilities would assist in allowing people to let off steam in an undisruptive manner, it would also educate children, and according to Koss (2001), meaning they are able to develop as individuals who contribute to their community in a positive and meaningful way. From a functionalist approach one of the main advantages of providing more access to people is that it would improve health levels on a national basis, which Hylton et al (2001, p.129) agree with stating that "policy shifts throughout the 1990's reflected the realisation that individual gains through activity were shared by the wider society". Providing greater access to facilities would maybe improve participation levels but would still socially exclude some members of society and Collins and Kay (2003) suggest that if members of society are poor then they have a low level or narrow range of participation chances available to them. The cost of entering certain facilities would mean some people would not be able to afford to participate, due to them having less disposable income, and Horne et al (1999, p.104) propose that "participation is not of personal choice", but upon the "financial resources available", and Eitzen (1996) summed this up commenting that sports involvement requires money and leisure time and the upper classes have more of both which Bordieu (1984) describes as "cultural capital" which is gained from upbringing and education. However some of the major problems in sports participation have been identified by the Government and one of those is they want to improve community sport, and they want everybody to have participation opportunities. The Government hopes that by improving equity at all levels in sport, it will give the chance to under-represented groups in society to be come socially included through participation. From a functionalist viewpoint Hylton et al (2001, p.54) argue that an "organisational view of fairness" is more important than a "universal view", and society equity is achievable as the social system is dedicated to inclusion. Sports equity is a typically functionalist term as it means ensuring that sport becomes equally accessible to all members of society. Sports equity acknowledges the contribution that various parts of a society have in maintaining stability and the status quo. Consuming sport Sport is a healthy activity or skill with a recreational purpose and it include competition, self-enjoyment, to reach excellence, the development of a skill and some combination of these. Sport has also physical action, team match, and a scoring system. Sport seems to involve basic human skills being developed and exercised for their own interesting, in similar with being exercised for their helpfulness, and under agreed rules in a competitive setting, people can compete against themselves. "Sports were born of a man's highest ideals and have been around for 33 centuries." (Pickering R 1930-1991) At first, only a relatively small group of people had enough time and energy for leisure activities. After 1660, sports moved away from its previous links with merrymaking and lawlessness. They became a more popular event in human life. Nowadays, as a part of a national culture, local sports are extended to the majority of the population. Consuming sport is a sector of consumer culture, and it is special consumption in the consumer culture. The product of sport not only means sport goods, but also is sport match, sport membership, sport news and sport support and so on. In the other words, consuming sport is activity such as what team people support and follow, and what sport related items they buy, and what they watch and read about in the media. Crawford advised that "consumption should not be seen as an end product and outcome of process of production, but rather as an active process, which can involve the production of meanings, further consumable texts and can also play a significant role in the user' construction of identity."(Crawford, 2004) Sport fandom may define some people share a common interest in sport, and it like a term that can also be used to refer to the single 'interconnected network of these individual fandom, many of which overlap'.(Online, 1998) Sport fandom seem to be involved in the consumption of sport. In consuming sport, sport consumer involved two different parts such as sport fans and sport spectators. Sport fans seem individual person who support and follow with a sport, team and athlete. Sport spectators (sport audiences) are also individuals who watch a sporting event and match in stadium or through some media such as radio, television and broadband and so on. In fact, the sport fans and sport audiences are often interchange. Wann et al. indicated that some sport fans hardly view sporting game in individual, and some spectators have little interesting in focus with a favourite sport team or player. (Wann et al. 2001) For example, the factors of person choice about consuming sport is a various reason This person may be present in the match though he has interesting in the match, that this person is sport fans. On the other hand, he may be not interesting in this match itself, and he just want to attend with his friend or family, so he may be classified sport spectator. Wann et al. also suggested 'sport fans as a generic term to describe individuals with an abiding interest in sport, and sport spectators for descriptions of those person who actually witness an even.' ( Wann et al. 2001),Therefore sport fans and sport spectators are not reciprocally exclude, and the majority persons who watch a sport game are sport fans of that game or team or athletes.( Wann et al. 2001) Consuming sport seem to be a primarily an individual act. Sport consumers not only purchase some product of sport, but also consume something which they interesting such as sport match, sport news, sport topic and sport itself. Therefore, Sport has become a part of everyday life that means consuming sport is as a human behaviour. Miles (1998) presented 'sport is perhaps the single area of contemporary social life to have been most profoundly altered in recent years by the everyday impact of consumerism as a way of life.' So people consume sport through a various way to satisfy personal demand. Participate in sports is a way of consuming sport. In modern life, people are always concerned with health, because it is essential condition for human life. People do exercise to strengthen themselves and get healthier. They also join some skill training such as running, jumping, swimming and son on, and they play some match for their interesting. Prof. Tiedemann (2003) suggested 'sport is a cultural field of activity, in which human beings voluntarily go into a relation to other people with the conscious intention to develop their abilities and accomplishments particularly in the area of skilled motion and to compare themselves with these other people according to rules put self or adopted without damaging them or themselves deliberately.' (Online, 2003) Consequently, that decision is base on the person demand, which means it is individual choice. Sport fans always support some sport team or athlete, and they watch sport on stadium. They also get some information from mass media and talk with other fans about sport match. They follow the team and player, support them and enjoy it, which is a way of their consuming sport. The reason for those fans is that athlete inherent beauty and artistic expression attract many sport fans, so sport fans want to enjoy beauty and grace of sport movements. Heinegg (1985) stated that 'literate fan may take an aesthetic tack: professional athletes perform with fabulous strength, speed, grace, and coordination.... Talented players, clearly, go about their work with as much precision and brio as ballet dancers or violinists.' (Heinegg, 1985) Hence, the decision of fans is still base on person choice that is satisfied their aesthetic sense, which means that act is an individual activity. Sport fans tend to watch sport match, play sport and talk sport topic in a group at home, a restaurant, a pub and stadium. In other words, they want to consume sport in community. Crawford defined sport fan community in 2004, which is "a supporter community is often defined along fissures of sporting allegiances and rivalries.... However, beyond the rivalries and boundaries drawn between sports, teams, nations and similar, sport fan communities are also frequently defined on the basic of group demographics, and it is to these patterns of social division I now turn." Community can provide a location and opportunity for sport fans, which they can share their exciting, their pleasure, their sad and their angry to other fellows. Community is also a dream 'warm' 'safe' place, which the fans can lost bygone, sought out and gain once more.(Bauman, 2001) Sport fans is inclined to consume sport in community, because they want to have some spiritual sustenance and to have opportunity to express their feeling. Although sport fans consume sport with other member in community, but that activity is still an individual act. As Delaney (2001) writes 'individuals want to experience a sense of unity with their fellows. They become unique persons within the group and at the same time the group provides them with a distinctive identity because of their membership.'(Delaney, 2001) In the community, fans do not need to know each other with all fans, and they just need believe that they have a shared sense of identity, 'which they are all fans together, following and supporting a common cause.' (Crawford, 2004) Each member in community is equal and independent with other membership, and is not affected from community and each fellow. So any decision of consuming sport is base on their person choice. Bauman (2001) suggested that 'family, friends and work have become increasing unstable, as in an era of 'liquid modernity' the social frameworks of everyday life become fragile, temporary and fluid.' (Bauman, 2001) Therefore, as a way of life, sport activity can be an opportunity to spend time with family members, friends and workmates. Some people who participate in sport is not only concern with personal health or support team, but also they just want to have an opportunity with their family, friends and so on. Sport consumer consume sport through direct way such as participate in sport, watch sport event and join sport community, they also witness a sporting event through indirect way. Wann (2001) defined that direct sport consumption is attendance in sport event, and indirect sport consumption is participate in sport through mass media such as television, radio, newspaper and Internet. (Wann, 2001) During the 20th century, the advent of mass media was driven by technology that allowed the massive duplication of material at a low price. Physical duplication technologies such as printing, record pressing and film duplication allowed the duplication of books, newspapers and movies at low prices to huge audiences. Television and radio allowed the electronic duplication of content for the first time. (Online) In recent year, along with the development of media, a relationship between media particular television and sport has become more important in everyday life. Boyal and Haynes (2000) suggested 'the media, television and the press in particular, are playing a central role in producing, reproducing and amplifying many of the discourses associated with sport in the modern world.'(Boyle and Haynes, 2000) Television especial new television such as satellite, cable and digital televise have increased 'the volume of sport available via a plethora of dedicated sport channel.'(Crawford, 2004) Television not only product itself for consuming sport, but it provided the key element in the process in the rapid growth of sponsorship. The function of media has played a significant role in everyday life; it also has been an implement to disseminate information and to obtain knowledge. Therefore, sport spectator can consume sport through a various way, which is witness sport event from television, listen sport match from radio, read sport news from newspaper and magazine, read sport star biography from book, and gain sport information and conversion with other sport consume etc. According to consumption process, sport consumer use media as an instrument to receive something that they want. On the other hand, media particular internet also like a widely community for sport consumer. Internet can provide a wider opportunity for different people without their age, their gender, their ethnic, their nationality and their social class. Crawford (2004) suggested that "the internet can provide access to 'home' sport teams for those who have moved away. This can take the form of information and reports, but also link people into more inter-personal relationship, such as bulletin boards, newsgroups or Internet discussion sites."(Crawford, 2004) Bale (2000) also suggested that "a community of fans is a social network of interacting individuals but it is not necessary for such a community to be concentrated in a defined territory such as a city. The development of televisions, international transport and the Internet has meant that today and in the future fandom can and will exist as a community without propinquity."(Bale, 2000:91 cited by Comsuming sport) Therefore, sport consumer want to find some place to catharsis emotion, and each consumer is equal at internet. Conclusion When looking at the study of sport in society, the functionalist approach has founded the basis for numerous decisions regarding sport at all levels of participation and is used to justify the funding of sport by Governments. The functionalist approach is responsible for the promotion of sport on both personal and social levels, because it highlights the positive effects, stating that sport is a valuable social institution and a source of inspiration. Functionalist theory focuses attention on how sport helps keep the society operating smoothly and influences individuals to contribute to the social system. From the Governments perspective it is easy to see that access and participation are intertwined; by providing more opportunities for people at all levels in sport, the amount of participants will rise. From a functionalist approach the Governments perspective is not sufficiently discriminatory; it overlooks certain problems such as age and gender issues that do not support the equilibrium in society. A functionalist approach leads to exaggerated statements about positive effects of sport, believing that anything that lasts is good (is functional) and it fails to consider that sport could distort values. Functionalist theory is based on the assumption that the needs of the individuals in society reflect the needs of the social system, it assumes homogeneity of interests and the desire to maintain harmony which is not the case, not everyone in a society may want to play a certain sport, and functionalism cannot distinguish whether people actually want to play sport at all. The way the Government wants to promote sport is typically from a functionalist perspective and is the best sociological theory to use when promoting sport. Different sociological theories help identify issues and problems and Coakley (2003) believe the best theories are the ones that make sense, so from the Governments point of view a functionalist approach is ideal because it believes sport is an inspiration. References Bauman, Z. (1998a) Work, Consumerism and New Poor, Buckingham: Open University Press. 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