“I Just Want to Be Left Alone”: Novel Sociological Insights Into Dramaturgical Demands on Professional Athletes

Abstract

To date, no sociological studies of professional athletes have investigated the lived experiences of sportspeople in highly publicly visible occupations that provide relatively few opportunities for backstage relaxation from role demands. Drawing on findings from a British Academy-funded project examining high-profile sports workers and employing Goffman’s dramaturgical insights, this article provides a novel examination of high-profile athletes who work in highly publicly visible contexts. This working context can render them “open” persons in interactional situations. To explore this sociologically significant occupational domain, interviews were conducted with 26 U.K.-based professional athletes (females and males) from seven different sports. For these athletes, dramaturgical demands were found to be relentless and unremitting, as backstage regions proved so challenging to access.

Goffman, totalisation, and resistance in South Korean coaching: understanding the “underlife” of coaching

“…Here, the sole use Goffman's work, it can be argued, has inevitably "narrowed" the scope and shape of the project. Yet, in keeping with previous critical studies of coaching using a Goffmanian lens (e.g., Consterdine, Newton, & Piggin, 2013;Jones, 2006;Roderick & Allen Collinson, 2020), we assert that Goffman's insights certainly enabled an in-depth analysis of social practices within the South Korean football context; one that allowed us to better understand the everyday "looping" effect between coach, athlete and context. Consequently, we follow Smith.…”

From legends to legacy: the impact of fan influence on retiring athletes in premier league basketball

“…Such incidents become embarrassing when the player is accompanied by family members. In this reality, dramaturgical demands of high-profile athletes who work in high publicity, visible contexts, become relentless and unremitting, as back-stage regions become fewer and further between (Roderick and Allen-Collinson, 2020). Such incidents and such taunts have a substantial impact on the player's conduct, through their influence on the player's emotional responses and self-image.…”

Athletes as “Sites of Normative Intersectionality”: Critically Exploring the Ontology of Influence in Sport Coaching

“…Meanwhile, those using interactionist and dramaturgical frameworks have illustrated how, in order to influence others, sports workers actively manage the version of the self that is presented to others inside and, indeed, outside of the workplace (e.g., Hickey & Roderick, 2017;Ives, Gale, Potrac, & Nelson, in press;Jones, 2006;Partington & Cushion, 2012;Potrac, Jones, & Armour, 2002;Roderick & Allen-Collinson, 2020).…”