A review of emotional and sexual abuse of elite child athletes by their coaches

Wilinsky, Charlotte L.; McCabe, Allyssa

doi:10.1080/21640629.2020.1775378

Cited by 49 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 52 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Athletes in the current study highlighted the almost singular focus on performance when noting that athletes were praised when they are succeeding and neglected or ignored when their performance did not meet expectations, if injuries occurred, or if athletes were unwell or suffering from mental health challenges. This is consistent with previous research on maltreatment, which has indicated that a win-at-all-cost mentality supersedes the health, wellbeing, and development of athletes (Jacobs et al, 2017 ; Wilinsky and McCabe, 2020 ). While performance outcomes are important in high performance sport, the singular focus on results creates rigid standards of what it means to be a good or successful athlete and, as a result, enduring harm in the pursuit of performance excellence becomes normative and necessary (Roberts et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Listening to Athletes' Voices: National Team Athletes' Perspectives on Advancing Safe Sport in Canada

Willson

Kerr

Battaglia

et al. 2022

Front. Sports Act. Living

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

With increased media scrutiny, public awareness, and research on the prevalence of maltreatment experiences in sport, sport organizations have faced increased pressures to combat unsafe practices in sport. A consequence has been the emergence of the Safe Sport movement whereby organizations including the International Olympic Committee, Safe Sport International, US Center for SafeSport, Sport Canada, and others, have developed policies, initiatives, and education intended to create safer sport environments for all participants. Most of these policies have been implemented using a top-down approach, driven by government officials and sport leaders. However, if safe sport initiatives are to benefit athletes, consideration and incorporation of athletes' perspectives in the development and implementation of initiatives are imperative. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to examine athletes' perspectives on the challenges and recommendations to advancing safe sport. As part of a large-scale survey of current and retired Canadian National Team Athletes' experiences of maltreatment, open-ended questions were asked about athletes' recommendations and considerations for safe sport. Responses to these questions (n = 386) were analyzed using thematic analysis. According to the participants, barriers and challenges to safe sport included emphasizing performance excellence at-all-costs, normalization and complicity of harm, lack of attention to equity, diversity and inclusion, a culture of fear and silence, and a lack of trust in organizations to handle cases of harm. In an effort to advance safe sport, participants recommended prioritizing holistic athlete development, improving and strengthening accountability measures, implementing an independent 3rd party for disclosure, reporting and support, increased attention to equity, diversity and inclusion, stakeholder education, prohibition of sexual relations between athletes and those in positions of power and authority, and adoption of a broader perspective of harms and perpetrators. Findings are interpreted and critiqued in light of previous literature and recommendations for future research and practice are suggested.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Listening to Athletes' Voices: National Team Athletes' Perspectives on Advancing Safe Sport in Canada

Willson

Kerr

Battaglia

et al. 2022

Front. Sports Act. Living

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Once elite coaches had built trusting relationships, they were able to slowly encourage parents to relinquish some form of parental authority to them and gradually took over many areas of an athlete's life such as their diet/weight, sleep, clothing, education, social life, or love/sex life. This results in the isolation of an athlete from any support system outside of sport, thus reinforcing the power of the coach and making it easier to control and abuse them (Brackenridge and Kirby, 1997 ; Cense and Brackenridge, 2001 ; Wilinsky and McCabe, 2020 ). In more extreme cases, some elite coaches lived in the same house as their athletes, thus giving them full unrestricted access to their victims.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, because they are seen as “experts”, their methods to achieve success often go unquestioned by other stakeholders (e.g., parents, sport administrators) which gives them significant power over athletes. They often manage to intrude and control almost every aspect of the athlete's sporting and personal life (e.g., nutrition, sleep, clothing, school, relationships; Stirling and Kerr, 2009 ; Bjørnseth and Szabo, 2018 ; Wilinsky and McCabe, 2020 ). Given the particularities of the elite sport context and the peculiar elite coach-athlete relationship, strategies used by elite coaches to perpetrate SA may be different than those of their non-elite counterparts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Modus Operandi of Coaches Who Perpetrated Sex Offenses in Canada

2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study investigated the modus operandi strategies employed by 120 coaches who committed sexual abuse toward 331 athletes under their authority. More than 2,000 Canadian court judgements and media reports were identified using online search databases. Using descriptive analysis, 51 strategies used in six modus operandi stages were identified. Results highlighted the most frequent strategies used by coaches for each stage of the crime commission process. Additionally, findings revealed the influence of the victims' gender, coaches' sport level and year of coaches' first offenses on modus operandi strategies used. Implications for crime prevention measures are discussed.

show abstract

“…Unfortunately, emotional abusive behaviors are accepted in the sport environment and are often normalized in youth sports as athletes are reluctant or scared to report abusive experiences (Stirling andKerr 2014, Wilinsky andMccabe 2020). One's involvement in sport begins with an induction phase, typically during youth sport participation (Jayanthi et al 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Untitled

2021

AJSPO

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A review of emotional and sexual abuse of elite child athletes by their coaches

Cited by 49 publications

References 52 publications

Listening to Athletes' Voices: National Team Athletes' Perspectives on Advancing Safe Sport in Canada

Listening to Athletes' Voices: National Team Athletes' Perspectives on Advancing Safe Sport in Canada

Exploring the Modus Operandi of Coaches Who Perpetrated Sex Offenses in Canada

Untitled

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About