Diversifying (and Politicizing) Sport Psychology through Cultural Studies: A Promising Perspective

Abstract

The central purpose of this paper is to speculate on the ways that sport psychology researchers, educators, and practitioners can use a cultural studies perspective to enhance their research and applied work. At base, cultural studies critiques and challenges existing norms and practices and examines how these practices affect people in their everyday lives (Hall, 1996a). Although cultural studies has been notoriously difficult to define (see Storey, 1996), most cultural studies projects deal with the interrelated issues of (a) social difference, (b) the distribution of power, and (c) social justice. In this paper, cultural studies is first defined, incorporating sport-related examples wherever possible. Next, key concepts in cultural studies including power, privilege, and praxis are explored. We then discuss how sport psychology scholars and practitioners might promote an “athletes-as-citizens” (Sage, 1993) model of service provision in the applied setting.

Canadian Aboriginal elite Athletes: The experiences of being coached in mainstream cultures

“…One is to sit with us Not tell us what to do, but to sit with us and listen to us And it takes a long time [ ] You have to talk to the grandparents, extended family about their second cousin's being into boxing They will have a say [ ] You need permission through the community In addition, echoing the sentiments of Brant, Forsyth, Horn-Miller, Loutitt, Sinclair, and Smith (2002), the Aboriginal elite athletes explained the intricate relationship between cultural and spiritual elements that, if accepted by the coach, might be used as a means of performance enhancement For example, a boxer felt that having a sweat lodge before the fight would be beneficial for him In the First Nations cultural system, sweat lodge occupies a sacred ceremonial space and because it is so deeply ingrained into the indigenous way of Being, the Aboriginal athlete was uncomfortable about broaching this practice with his coach However, if the athlete's coaches were to ask him whether there was something he would like to do in preparation for the fight, the athlete contended that he would ask the coaches whether he could go to a sweat lodge Our in-depth interviews with the Canadian Aboriginal athletes revealed ongoing, messy, and sometimes conflicting negotiations and making sense of social relations, their place in them, and their (dis)connectedness with the social world This all produced a profound impact on these athletes' lives in general and sporting careers in particular These elite athletes articulated being subjected to racism, cultural prejudice and/or insensitivity, and misrepresentation in the mainstream cultural discourse One respondent stated that he had learned and become used to policing himself in everyday interactions Another athlete was "deafened" by silence surrounding his racial identity as he stated: "There are actually two of us that are Aboriginal on our team I think they know but they don't talk about it too much Actually they don't talk about it at all " Thus, our empirical findings validate conceptual and experiential underpinnings of the cultural model of applied sport psychology (Cox & Liu, 1993;Fisher et al, 2003;Kontos & Arguello, 2005;Ryba, 2003;Ryba & Fisher, 2004;Ryba & Wright, 2005;Schinke et al , 2005) Interestingly, the Aboriginal athletes indicated that recent immigrant coaches, who were not aware of the infamous indigenous "natural" athletic abilities, tended to emphasize similarity rather than difference, ask questions about the athlete's cultural background and practices and, consequently, were able to connect better with the Aboriginal athlete This finding suggests that contrary to the "color blindness" that many non-immigrant coaches use to attempt to erase the difference, immigrant coaches seek to understand the difference; they ask questions and listen As one participant astutely put it:…”

“…In recent years, the status quo in the field of sport psychology has been challenged by an emergent discourse of culturally based sport psychology or more specifically, a sport psychology articulated within a cultural studies paradigm (c f , Fisher, Butryn, & Roper, 2003;Hanrahan, 2004;Ryba, 2003;Ryba & Fisher, 2004;Ryba & Wright, 2005;Schinke, Michel, Danielson, Gauthier, & Pickard, 2005) Conceptualizing their work within contemporary cultural and social theories and progressive politics for social justice, these scholars have critiqued the dominant Eurocentric (i e , institutionalized,…”

From Mental Game to Cultural Praxis: A Cultural Studies Model's Implications for the Future of Sport Psychology

“…6 The work being done on developing a cultural studies approach to sport at the University of Tennessee is well represented on this short list: Leslee Fisher teaches sport psychology at UT and both Emily Roper and Ted Butryn are graduates of UT's doctoral program in sport psychology. In fact, these three fi gures have recently co-authored an essay on a cultural studies approach to transforming the work of applied sport psychologists (Fisher, Butryn, & Roper, 2003). 7 Students also have the option of doing only a mid-semester report on the organization and for the fi nal paper some choose to undertake a theoretical paper on a cultural studies issue (and this could include a cultural studies analysis of a sport related topical issue).…”

The Adaptation Challenges and Strategies of Adolescent Aboriginal Athletes Competing Off Reserve

“…Within earlier work, there was a call by Ryba and Wright (2005);Fisher et al (2003); and Kontos and Breland-Noble (2002) for research and practice that reflects the intended culture. The call for CSP research has gained traction of late with a published compilation by Schinke and Hanrahan (2009).…”