1. Managing research on violence to children in sport
Celia Brackenridge
Centre for Youth Sport
& Athlete Welfare
Sp Dvt 26 Apr 2008

2. Outline Definitions of violence Limitations to violence research
Management issues
Researcher-manager tensions
Sp Dvt 26 Apr 2008

3. Defining violence to children in sport
“all forms of physical or mental violence, injury and abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse”
(UN CRC Article 19)
“the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against a child, by an individual or group, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival, development or dignity”
(World Report on Violence & Health, 2002)
Sp Dvt 26 Apr 2008

4. Defining violence to children in sport
Discrimination and harassment on the basis of sex, race or sexual orientation
Sexual violence
Groomed or forced sex/rape
Use of pornography
Sexual degradation
Sexualised initiations, bullying and hazing
Physical maltreatment:
Overtraining
Playing while injured
Peer aggression
Parental maltreatment
Doping/drug abuse
Alcohol abuse
Emotional and psychological abuse
Neglect
Child labour and trafficking
(Adapted from UNICEF, 2008)
Sp Dvt 26 Apr 2008

5. Limitations in researching violence to children in sport
sensitive subject
definitions and age boundaries vary
marginal status or silencing of athletes
design variations across cultures
problematic nature of child assent
Sp Dvt 26 Apr 2008

6. Limitations in researching violence to children in sport
validity and reliability
different parameters
gender blindness
discipline traditions
sport a physical but not a political right
Sp Dvt 26 Apr 2008

7. Management issues Problem definition and ownership
Managing political expectations and avoiding cultural imperialism
Managing subjectivity
Managing insider-outsider relations
Managing the gender politics of fieldwork
Managing our own conceptual frameworks
Sp Dvt 26 Apr 2008

8. Effective researcher-managers in children’s sport for development
reflexive sociology
process evaluation
tie our work to child rights NGOs
Sp Dvt 26 Apr 2008

9. Thank you!
Sp Dvt 26 Apr 2008