Internationally, very little research has been done into peer aggression and victimization in sports clubs. For this exploratory study, 98 coaches from various sports were interviewed in depth about their views on peer aggression and victimization and their ways of handling these issues. To put the coaches’ views and practices in perspective, they were contrasted with those of a reference group of 96 elementary school teachers and analyzed qualitatively. The interviews demonstrated that sports coaches currently were unaware of the construct of peer aggression, were unable to estimate the actual extent of peer aggression and victimization at their clubs, and were likely to overestimate their own impact, control, and effectiveness in handling the issue. This study underlines the need for coaches to develop their skills in recognizing and handling peer aggression and victimization and the need to develop sports-club-specific observation instruments and peer aggression programs.
Search Results
Paul Baar and Theo Wubbels
Blair Evans, Ashley Adler, Dany MacDonald, and Jean Côté
Purpose:
Bullying is a specific pattern of repeated victimization explored with great frequency in school-based literature, but receiving little attention within sport. The current study explored the prevalence of bullying in sport, and examined whether bullying experiences were associated with perceptions about relationships with peers and coaches.
Method:
Adolescent sport team members (n = 359, 64% female) with an average age of 14.47 years (SD = 1.34) completed a pen-and-paper or online questionnaire assessing how frequently they perpetrated or were victimized by bullying during school and sport generally, as well as recent experiences with 16 bullying behaviors on their sport team. Participants also reported on relationships with their coach and teammates.
Results:
Bullying was less prevalent in sport compared with school, and occurred at a relatively low frequency overall. However, by identifying participants who reported experiencing one or more act of bullying on their team recently, results revealed that those victimized through bullying reported weaker connections with peers, whereas those perpetrating bullying only reported weaker coach relationships.
Conclusion:
With the underlying message that bullying may occur in adolescent sport through negative teammate interactions, sport researchers should build upon these findings to develop approaches to mitigate peer victimization in sport.
Matthew J. Taylor, Rachel A. Wamser, Michelle E. Sanchez, and Charleanea M. Arellano
The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of sports participation and race/ethnicity on violence and victimization among a sample of white, African American, and Hispanic rural-area high school girls. It was hypothesized that girls who participated in sports would report lower rates of violent behavior and fewer incidents of victimization. Using logistic regression and multivariate analysis of variance, evidence for the hypotheses was mixed and appeared to be related to the type of violence and victimization. Sports participants were less likely to engage in general violence and reported less physical and sexual victimization, but did not experience less intimate partner violence victimization. Conversely, sports participants were more likely to engage in verbal and physical reactive violence. While sports participation may have some preventative impact on violence and victimization, this relationship may also be influenced by community characteristics and not a universal outcome.
Michelle E. Seanor, Cole E. Giffin, Robert J. Schinke, and Diana A. Coholic
athletes are embedded in a holistic development environment comprised of interconnected yet unique systemic cultures. Proximal (i.e., training environment) and distal (i.e., sport and national culture) cultural practices interact, impacting athletes’ risk of victimization. Gymnastics presents a higher risk
Arturo Leyva
critical and judgmental nature. 4 The French-American philosopher René Girard further developed the scapegoat mechanism into a theory of violence summarized as the unconscious victimization of one individual to stop a social crisis. 5 Girard’s theory states that the mechanism operates differently
Elena López-Cañada, José Devís-Devís, Alexandra Valencia-Peris, Sofía Pereira-García, Jorge Fuentes-Miguel, and Víctor Pérez-Samaniego
, because 14.5% of them stopped activity after GD, when anxiety, discrimination, and victimization caused by body exposure are probably more acute. It is more likely that GD may provoke a disengagement period, which makes difficult a subsequent PAS reengagement. Therefore, especial attention is required for
Zewditu Demissie, Richard Lowry, Danice K. Eaton, Marci F. Hertz, and Sarah M. Lee
Background:
This study investigated associations of violence-related behaviors with physical activity (PA)-related behaviors among U.S. high school students.
Methods:
Data from the 2009 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a cross-sectional survey of a nationally representative sample of 9th–12th grade students, were analyzed. Sex-stratified, adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated for associations between violence-related behaviors and being physically active for ≥ 60 minutes daily, sports participation, TV watching for ≥ 3 hours/day, and video game/computer use for ≥ 3 hours/day.
Results:
Among male students, at-school bullying victimization was negatively associated with daily PA (aOR: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.58–0.87) and sports participation; skipping school because of safety concerns was positively associated with video game/computer use (1.42; 1.01–2.00); and physical fighting was positively associated with daily PA. Among female students, atschool bullying victimization and skipping school because of safety concerns were both positively associated with video game/computer use (1.46; 1.19–1.79 and 1.60; 1.09–2.34, respectively), and physical fighting at school was negatively associated with sports participation and positively associated with TV watching.
Conclusions:
Bullying victimization emerged as a potentially important risk factor for insufficient PA. Schools should consider the role of violence in initiatives designed to promote PA.
Amy N. Cole and Sarah Ullrich-French
Empowerment is a complex, multidimensional construct that has been criticized for its overuse and definitional dilution; however, the value and importance of empowering marginalized groups such as women and victims of sexual assault remains salient. The present study explores how participation in a women’s only fitness class can empower women who are victims of sexual violence. Using cross-sectional data from a larger evaluation project of Pink Gloves Boxing (PGB), several constructs (e.g., self-efficacy for exercise, empowerment in exercise, and perceptions of autonomy support) were measured to capture empowerment as operationalized in Cattaneo and Chapman’s (2010) and Cattaneo and Goodman’s (2015) Empowerment Process Model. Multiple Indicator, Multiple Cause structural equation modeling was used to examine differences in empowerment outcomes among women in a convenience sample (N = 149) of women in PGB and traditional fitness classes. Comparisons were made based on their sexual victimization experience and their participation in either PGB or traditional group fitness classes. Results revealed that women in PGB who had been victimized were more empowered than victims (γ = -0.38, p < .01) and nonvictims (γ = -0.24, p < .05) in traditional fitness classes. There were no significant differences among women in PGB, regardless of victimization. Implications for the empowering benefits of women’s only physical activity participation for victims of sexual assault are discussed.
Karla E. Foster, Timothy K. Behrens, Abigail L. Jager, and David A. Dzewaltowski
Background:
This study evaluated the effect of elimination and nonelimination games on objectively measured physical activity and psychosocial responses in children.
Methods:
A total of 29 children in grades 4 to 6 (65.5% male; 10.5 ± 1.0 years old) wore an accelerometer while participating in 2 elimination and 2 nonelimination games. Activity counts were collected using a 30-second epoch and converted to METs to determine minutes spent in sedentary behavior and light, moderate, vigorous, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Self-efficacy, enjoyment, and peer-victimization were assessed on 4 occasions (before and after 2 elimination and 2 nonelimination games).
Results:
Overall, girls spent more time in sedentary behavior compared with boys. Children engaged in significantly more moderate-to-vigorous physical activity during nonelimination games compared with elimination games. Furthermore, children significantly increased self-efficacy after playing both game sessions. A significant interaction between type of game and time of measurement in the prediction of enjoyment showed that enjoyment modestly increased after elimination games and slightly decreased after nonelimination games. There were no differences in peer-victimization.
Conclusion:
This study provides preliminary evidence that nonelimination games provide more moderate-to-vigorous physical activity compared with elimination games, but elimination games may be more enjoyable.
