‘Coz football is what we all have’: masculinities, practice, performance and effervescence in a gender‐sensitised weight‐loss and healthy living programme for men

Abstract

In this paper we use a social practice approach to explore men's experience of Football Fans in Training (FFIT), a group‐based weight management programme for men that harnesses men's symbolic attachment to professional football clubs to engage them in lifestyle change. FFIT is delivered by community coaches in clubs’ stadia and is gender‐sensitised in relation to context, content and style of delivery. Using a ‘toolkit’ of concepts from the work of Bourdieu, Goffman and Durkheim we analysed data from 13 focus group discussions with participants, and fieldwork notes from programme observations to investigate the appeal and success of FFIT, and how it worked to support change. Our analysis builds on our work on the importance of shared symbolic commitment to the football club and being with ‘men like me’ to understand how the interaction context facilitated ‘effervescent’ experiences. These experiences encouraged men to make changes to their diet and physical activity, talk about them, practice performing them and implement them in their lives. Thus a social practice approach illuminated the social processes through which lifestyle change was achieved, and we argue that it can deepen and enrich both intervention design and evaluation.

The relationship between wealth and loneliness among older people across Europe: Is social participation protective?

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Exploring parkrun as a social context for collective health practices: running with and against the moral imperatives of health responsibilisation

“…, Guell et al ) there is growing interest in the notion of ‘health practices’ as a critical conceptual alternative to the individualising notion of ‘health behaviours’. This shift speaks to the growing body of critical social science research that calls for interventions that do not predominantly frame change in terms of individual responsibility for health (Bunn et al ). It also addresses concerns that behaviouralist and population focused research has ignored the significance of the social practice contexts of embodied activity or (im)mobility (Nettleton and Green ).…”

Exploring experiences among adopters during the diffusion of a novel dance intervention in Sweden

“…Changing the target group to include boys or girls without internalizing problems in order to recruit more adolescents to the groups may decrease the effectiveness of the intervention for the girls who need it most. The importance of a shared habitus and experiences in public health interventions has been emphasized in other intervention groups (Bunn, Wyke, Gray, Maclean, & Hunt, 2016; Coalter, 2013) and may be equally important for adolescent girls with internalizing behaviour. However, more research is needed to find out whether mixed groups can be as effective.…”