Identity work: young disabled people, family and sport

Abstract

It has long been recognised that family is an important arena in which sporting tastes and interests are nurtured. Indeed, for many young people the family introduces them to and then provides ongoing support for engaging in sport. Research has also indicated that the family has a significant position in the lives of young disabled people. In this paper we explore the interrelationships between sport, family and disability. Like a number of writers within disability studies we see the benefits of moving beyond a structure/agency dichotomy that currently limits social and medical model understandings of disability. In particular, we draw on the work of Marcel Mauss and Pierre Bourdieu both of whom argued that social life can be better understood by considering the embodiment of individuals through their habitus. We draw on data generated in an interview-based study with 10 young disabled people to explore the ways in which family contributes to, and mediates, sporting tastes and interests. We consider two key questions: How do young disabled people negotiate relations within the family and in what ways do these relations influence sporting tastes and interests? To what extent are young disabled people able to use sport to generate and convert (valued) capital within the family and other related arenas?

Non-disabled secondary school children's lived experiences of a wheelchair basketball programme delivered in the East of England

“…In many such cases, few adjustments are made to provision and the school system essentially remains unchanged (Fitzgerald, 2012). Indeed, several researchers suggest that 'mainstream' experiences can be isolating and evoke feelings of exclusion (Fitzgerald, 2005;Fitzgerald & Kirk, 2009;Goodwin & Fitzgerald, 2009). Consequently, the importance of examining the processual characteristics of inclusion, as well as understanding this process from stakeholder and student perspectives, has been highlighted (Slee, 2010).…”

El proceso de acompañamiento en la construcción participativa de una normativa / The process of accompaniment in the participatory normative construction

“…Las teorías sobre convivencia se apoyan en la interiorización de los valores, y en la autorregulación de conductas (Campo, Fernández y Grisaleña, 2005), así como, en la competencia social y emocional (Ayestaran, 1999). Se entiende por competencia social la capacidad para manejar las emociones, para resolver los conflictos de la vida, controlando los impulsos y colaborando con otras personas (Fitzgerald y Kirk, 2009, Prat y Soler, 2003.…”

Dialogue with Families: An Opportunity to Build the Decalogue of School Sport in a Participatory Way

“…That certain social agents such the family, the media and the school with its teachers and monitors exert a great influence on educating children about values. So it was that, on the basis of a number of working initiatives and campaigns with families [12,17], we began this process of education and awareness among families through a number of research projects. The Basque Government's sport violence committee has found that one of the main causes of violence in sport is rooted in school sport.…”

“…These competitive activities should serve to encourage positive values [12,3] and that competitions and their context should be conceived to give all the participants a reasonable chance of succeeding, in such a way as to enable them to overcome personal barriers. In the search for performance: There is a tendency to enhance the feelings of competence and incompetence with respect to physical activities.…”

“…We must examine how knowledge is created and legitimized through them [10]. They should not be closed off to potential contributions by pupils, since we feel that rules which merely impose sanctions do not educate and thus we are in favour of the participation of each pupil involved in sport and their families in drawing up the rules [11][12]. The rules governing co-existence should be agreed upon, established and where necessary applied through participational procedures in which the pupils ought to play a major role; we should approach them, ask them how they see us, how they perceive us.…”