chapter 5 sports and society

These flashcards cover key concepts related to deviance and norms in social contexts, particularly focusing on sports, based on the provided lecture notes.

What is a shared expectation that people use to identify what is acceptable and unacceptable in a social world?

Norm

What occurs when a person's ideas, traits, or actions are perceived by others to fall outside the normal range of acceptance in a society?

Deviance

What are the aspects of norms that make studying deviance tricky?

Norms differ from one social world to another, take different forms, and vary in importance.

What is formal deviance?

A violation of an official rule or law, punished by official sanctions administered by people in positions of authority.

What is informal deviance?

A violation of an unwritten custom or shared understanding, punished by informal sanctions administered by observers or peers.

How are norms related to deviance?

Norms are violated when deviance occurs.

What do norms serve as in social worlds?

The standards that people use to identify deviance.

What is a challenge in studying deviance in sports?

Types and causes of deviance in sports are so diverse that no single theory can explain them all.

How can actions accepted in sports be viewed in other spheres of society?

Actions accepted in sports may be defined as deviant, and actions accepted in society may be defined as deviant in sports.

What exemplifies formal deviance in sports?

An athlete being disqualified by the World Anti-Doping Agency for using a banned performance enhancement drug.

What is a challenge faced by researchers studying deviance in sports?

Deviance in sports often involves overconformity to norms, rather than rejecting or not conforming to them.

What makes it difficult to understand certain cases of overconformity among athletes?

It contradicts the assumption that deviance always involves subnormal or underconforming attitudes and actions based on a rejection of norms.

In what context is ingesting substances thought to enhance performance viewed in sports?

As a taken-for-granted part of being an athlete today.

How should deviance in sports be studied?

In the context in which it occurs without expecting that a single theory will explain all cases.

What is the absolutist approach to deviance?

An idea, trait, or action is deviant when it departs from an ideal.

What are examples of accepted actions in sports that are considered deviant in other spheres?

Ice hockey players' actions, things that athletes do in contact sports, racecar drivers speeding, and actions leading to serious injuries or death.

What term describes athletes who overconform to widely accepted norms in society?

Supranormal.

What are the problems with the absolutist approach to deviance?

It overlooks that a rigid system of rules creates fear and guilt, leading to avoidance of self-expression and creativity, and it may imply that deviance is caused by individual character weaknesses.

What approach do most sociologists use to define and understand deviance?

Constructionist approach.

What is a challenge faced in studying deviance in sports concerning new science and technology?

People have not yet developed norms to guide and evaluate much of what occurs today in sports.

What points are emphasized by a constructionist approach to deviance?

People with power generally have the most influence in determining and changing norms, and people create norms as they interact using their values.

What are some general norms around which a sport ethic is formed?

Athletes accept no obstacles in the pursuit of success and accept risks and play through pain.

In Christophe Brissonneau's model, what phase is a professional cyclist in when they decide to take legal supplements to enhance performance?

A pharmacological career is initiated.

What steps can be taken to effectively control the use of performance-enhancing substances in sports?

Developing clear rules against certain risks to health and examining the hypocrisy in elite sports.