Deviance in Sports

On November 3,and 8 we discussed deviance in sports in my American Sport in the 21st Century class. Is deviance out of control? That is the big question that is being asked all around leagues everywhere. We talked about deviance in society, examples of deviance, problems with studying deviance, research on deviance among athletes on and off the field, drugs, why they shouldn't, categories of PED's, All of these topics were discussed in class. Many athletes think that since they are superstars that they can not get punished when they do wrong. That is not the case. Some may have gotten away with some things in High School but once you make it to the big leagues it is a whole new world. If you do something wrong you will get punished.

Deviant- an act/person that differs from the norm, especially behavior or attributes that differ from social standards.

Deviance in Society

• using illegal drugs
• violent crimes-murder,rape, battery, abuse
• stealing/robbing a bank

Examples of Deviance in Sport

• fighting
• bounty hunting
• academic cheating
• performance enhancing drugs
• gambling
• illegal recruiting practices

Problems when studying Deviance

• What is deviant outside of sports, may be acceptable inside of sports 

•  Violence and aggression are not acceptable social practices, but what about sports where aggression is encouraged

Research on Deviance Among Athletes

• On the field
• cheating,dirty-play,fighting,violence are less common today than in the past
• over 80% of men and women in top level college sports sustain at least 1 serious injury though sports, 70% are disabled for 2 or more weeks
• disabling rate in the NFL is over 3 times greater than working in high risk construction jobs (CTE, Alzheimer's)
• 2012, 31 former players sued the NFL due to permanent brain injuries as a result of  concussion from playing in the NFL. (suicide, memory loss, depression). $765 million judgement. 
• Off the field
• in some cases athletes do have higher delinquency rates than no-athletes
• data on academic cheating is inconclusive
• athletes have higher rates of alcohol use and binge drinking
• felon rates among adult athletes do constitute a problem- domestic violence

What are Drugs???

Drugs are chemicals that change the way our bodies work.

• Prescribed drugs- given to us by a doctor to cure illness & disease. Socially accepted
• Social drugs- illegal substances used by people to give them a "high" to try to make them have a good time. Socially unaccepted
• Performance Enhancing Drugs- substances used to enhance their performance in sports

Why shouldn't they??

• Moral Reasons
• gives unfair advantage
• undermines the true spirit  of the sport
• reflects badly on others
• Legal Reasons
• against the law
• against the laws of the sports
• Role Modeling
• sets a bad example to young people who copy their heroes and put their lives at risk
• gives sport a bad images and lowers it status

Major Categories of PED's

• stimulants
• narcotic analgesics
• anabolic steroids
• beta blockers
• divertics
• peptide hormones and analogues

The New York Giants had a problem with their kicker Josh Brown. In the this article he admits that he beat his wife. He is just one of the athletes in the NFL who have be found to do this. Ray Rice is an example. The Giants and the NFL conducted an investigation. To me this is a major problem. To many athletes have been found guilty of committing this crime. This is considered a violent crime and needs to stopped immediately. The article also talks about how they have such a high respect towards women when in October all the players wear pink to support women with breast cancer. It looks bad on the NFL and every other league when a player commits a crime as serious as this.