Ever since I started posting in this forum in the early spring of 2009, I have done Google searches from time to time for the purpose of hopefully finding online articles about bullying in sports. Of course, I've found many posts by individuals who either were bullied by "jocks" in high school or witnessed such. This is fine -- especially considering that before the invention of the Internet, bullied kids never had a forum of their own from which they could express their grievances. But in order for an unfortunate social phenomenon to be understood and perhaps be ameliorated, it has to be studied from a sociological or psychological angle. So, I did Google searches for online articles dealing with the issue of bullying in sports from the standpoint of research conducted by professionals.
But as was stated at one of the websites I found, "Bullying in athletics is not well-studied and is often a sensitive subject." This is not surprising when the most popular of the school sports have become a sacred cow for so many people in this country. Actually, they've been a sacred cow for generations now. Critical observations of the misconduct of individual athletes are not popular with many of the fans. When athletes and coaches are put on pedestals, many people will adopt the attitude of "Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil." So, the topic of bullying in school sports likely will not be discussed, especially when the victims are nonathletes.
Anyway, I did discover several websites that dealt with bullying in sports; but the scope of their concern was limited to coach-on-athlete bullying and athlete-on-athlete bullying. They did not deal with the bullying of nonathletes by "jocks." Again, I attritube this to the extreme bias in our society in favor of those who participate in sports.
Finally, last night I came across an online article that deals with the subject of the bullying of nonathletes by athletes, specifically high-school football players. Written from a psychological point of view, this article (which is dated January 30th of this year) is featured at the website http://www.goodtherapy.org. The article is based upon the actual results of what I'd guess is called a field study.
As usual, I've copied and pasted the GoodTherapy.org article below, as well as a link to the webpage. (Incidentally, I did write one of the comments displayed beneath the article under the username "Bill.")
http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/footbal ... n-0130123/
I will post more comments when other members have replied with comments of their own.Football, Boys, and Bullying: Whatâ??s the Connection?
January 30th, 2012
With football season nearing end, emotionally charged teen boys, who are taught how to use aggression on the field, will no longer be able to use that physical outlet for their youthful frustrations. Because of the high level of violence in the sport, experts have wondered if these teens, who are encouraged to use coercion, intimidation, and other aggressive tactics during play, are more likely to engage in bullying behaviors off the field than their nonathlete peers. Nearly half of teens today report that they have been either the victim or perpetrator of bullying. And although football does not endorse bullying, players are encouraged to aspire to masculine norms and conformity. Therefore, researchers have asked, do these factors make the players more vulnerable to bullying behaviors?
To answer this question, Jesse A. Steinfeldt of the Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology at Indiana University-Bloomington led a study involving 206 high school football players and looked at peer relationships, masculine conformity, bullying beliefs, and male role models. The results revealed that the football players would only accept or encourage bullying behavior if their peers did. Additionally, the players who conformed the most to masculine norms were among the most likely to bully, regardless of peer influence. Adhering and aspiring to masculine norms has been shown to negatively influence psychological well-being and can increase oneâ??s risk for depression, sexual aggression, substance abuse, and low self-worth.
However, Steinfeldt discovered the highest risk factor for accepting bullying behaviors was having a male role model who also endorsed bullying. Specifically, the most influential male in the boysâ?? lives, whether it was a coach, uncle, father, or big brother, was the strongest indicator of bullying behavior. This discovery has significant implications for interventions and youth programs that target bullying. Steinfeldt said, â??Thus, psychologists working with adolescent football players may want to consider bullying within the broader context, particularly the ways that traditional masculine norms are conveyed by peers and inï¬?uential males within the unique context of football.â? Steinfeldt also suggested that psychologists who work with teen football players might consider asking coaches and fathers to participate in the design and delivery of interventions in order to more powerfully influence the teens.
Reference:
Steinfeldt, J. A., Vaughan, E. L., LaFollette, J. R., & Steinfeldt, M. C. (2012, January 23). Bullying Among Adolescent Football Players: Role of Masculinity and Moral Atmosphere. Psychology of Men & Masculinity. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0026645
© Copyright 2012 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist New York Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
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