Para athlete activism: A qualitative examination of disability activism through Paralympic sport in Ireland

Haslett, Damian; Choi, Inhyang; Smith, Brett

doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2019.101639

Cited by 15 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Programme benefits for SO players largely centred on psychosocial factors, such as meeting new people and developing social relationships, which has been highlighted as a key predictor of physical activity participation within adults with ID (Peterson et al, 2008). However, sports programmes for people with disabilities have previously been criticised for their exclusivity and failure to facilitate meaningful social interactions (Haslett et al, 2020;Storey, 2004). A key feature of the programme in the current study was the opportunity for participants to experience repeat attendance with the same people over a relatively short period of time.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“We’re All the Same and We Love Football.” Experiences of Players and Facilitators Regarding a Collaborative, Inclusive Football Program Between Academy and Special Olympics Footballers

Fothergill

Baik

Slater

et al. 2023

Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly

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This study provides insight into an inclusive program between Special Olympics (SO) and academy football (soccer) players in the United Kingdom from the perspectives of players and facilitators. Qualitative focus groups were conducted across 30 participants (six facilitators, 14 Premier League academy players, and 10 SO players). Focus groups compared stakeholders’ experiences of participating in a season-long inclusive football program. Three overarching higher order themes were generated, which highlighted positive outcomes from taking part. SO players provided endorsement for developing friendships and improving football skills, whereas academy players cited the positive impact that SO players had on their mood and motivation. Facilitators reflected on positive player outcomes and subsequent accomplishments. Overall, the findings indicated that this shared experience had psychosocial and football-specific benefits for everyone who participated. Facilitators indicated that these benefits could transition into everyday life but noted that there needs to be further considerations for future programs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“We’re All the Same and We Love Football.” Experiences of Players and Facilitators Regarding a Collaborative, Inclusive Football Program Between Academy and Special Olympics Footballers

Fothergill

Baik

Slater

et al. 2023

Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This is surprising given that the sociology of sport has otherwise in recent decades increasingly acknowledged the potential of sport to be a site of new political movements that actively drives social change (Woroniecka-Krzyzanowska 2020 ). This perspective has been particularly prominent in the analysis of alternative sporting contests and competitions, including as part of resistance to white racism and colonialist power (Biyanwila 2018 ; Carrington 1998 ), enhancing the visibility and participation of LGBTQI+ in sport (Segrave 2016 ) and in challenging ablest worldviews (Haslett et al 2020 ).…”

Section: Sport/war Nexus and Measuring Militarizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Militarizing politics of recognition through the Invictus Games: post-heroic exalting of the armed forces

West

2022

Am J Cult Sociol

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The Invictus Games is an international sporting competition involving military veterans who have become either wounded, injured or sick during their service. Having become a prominent event in the public sphere of participating nations that are drawn from Western security alliances, this article outlines results from a thematic analysis of Australian media surrounding the 2018 Sydney Games. While reporting of the Games included the use of cultural frames that reflect traditional symbolic relationships between sport and war, the data reveal new military–civilian discourses drawn from identity politics and focused on cultural recognition. These discourses emerge through the Invictus Games by (1) disability providing a cultural basis to demand greater respect for contemporary veterans and military service; and (2) empowerment narratives of rehabilitation being symbolically connected to participants’ reengagement with their former military identity. Institutional problems central to rising political activism amongst contemporary veterans did not feature in the media coverage. It is argued that the Invictus Games illustrates the need for sociology to conceive of militarization in more multidimensional ways, appreciating both the prominence of a civilian–military gap in contemporary culture and how various social actors in Defense utilize post-heroic narratives in seeking to redress this cultural divide.

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“…Examining activist identities among elite athletes with impairments is an essential but insufficiently researched subject (Haslett et al 2020a;Smith et al 2016). Factors such as widespread stereotypes about disability and a lack of awareness and familiarity with adaptive sports point to the need for disabled athletes to advocate and educate the public (Cottingham et al 2016).…”

Section: Activist Identitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Factors such as widespread stereotypes about disability and a lack of awareness and familiarity with adaptive sports point to the need for disabled athletes to advocate and educate the public (Cottingham et al 2016). While research on parathlete activism is beginning to grow in countries such as Canada (Bundon and Clarke 2014), the UK (Braye 2016), Ireland (Haslett et al 2020a(Haslett et al , 2020b, and South Korea (Choi et al 2019), there is a lack of such a body of work in Brazil. This study aims to add to the emerging field by exploring how Brazilian Paralympians approach social activism through Paralympic sport.…”

Section: Activist Identitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Negotiating Multiple Identities of Brazilian Paralympians

Kirakosyan

2021

Social Sciences

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In this article, I draw on the personal narratives of 41 Brazilian Paralympic athletes who competed in the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games to explore their multiple identities shaped within and outside sport and how they negotiated those self-representations. Parathletes’ narratives gave a sense of who they are, how they live their lives, and what their struggles, hopes, and aspirations are within and outside sport. The available studies in disability sport and the representation of disabled athletes have largely failed to examine the stories of these individuals and address their unique realities and perspectives. Five major themes emerged from the interview analysis regarding the parathletes’ self-representation: athletic identity, gender identity, disability identity, national identity, and activist identity. These accounts also revealed how these individuals negotiated their multiple identities in different settings and the tensions they experienced in their social interactions. The Rio Paralympics presented such a new interaction setting for the Brazilian parathletes who competed on such a grand scale at home for the first time and provided multiple examples in the athletes’ accounts of their identities.

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Para athlete activism: A qualitative examination of disability activism through Paralympic sport in Ireland

Cited by 15 publications

References 49 publications

“We’re All the Same and We Love Football.” Experiences of Players and Facilitators Regarding a Collaborative, Inclusive Football Program Between Academy and Special Olympics Footballers

“We’re All the Same and We Love Football.” Experiences of Players and Facilitators Regarding a Collaborative, Inclusive Football Program Between Academy and Special Olympics Footballers

Militarizing politics of recognition through the Invictus Games: post-heroic exalting of the armed forces

Negotiating Multiple Identities of Brazilian Paralympians

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