Suchergebnisse

Mysociological activities may appear to the untrained eye as scattered and unfocused. The subjects investigated have included status inconsistents, youth, terrorists, athletes, coaches, racial minorities, governments, multinational corporations, banks, and universities. I have written textbooks for introductory sociology,social problems, criminology, family, and sport. And,I have penned essays on ethics, values, violence, crime, the Superbowl,the Olympics,and the structural transformation of the economy. Despite the seeming disparity in these topics and the variety of social categories studied, there is a strong theoretical thread that brings coherence to these works--the conflictparadigm. This paper examines the implications of this paradigm that guide my current research agenda.

This paper examines the amateur ideal to assess whether it is possible in today's sportsworld. The first section presents the defining characteristics of the amateur. The second reviews the dominant themes in the sport literature regarding the amateur ideal: (1) amateurism as a mechanism of class hegemony; (2) amateurism as exploitive ideology; (3) amateurism as an anachronism; and (4) amateurism as a citadel of purity. The final section of the paper examines amateurism in the contemporary context. The argument is that elite amateur sport has moved beyond the amateur ideal to become corporate sport. At another level, however, amateur sport thrives. Questions are raised that should guide future research on these true amateurs.

The general principles common to conflict theory are: (1) the primary unit of analysis is social structure; (2) conflict is endemic in social organizations; (3) persons in similar social conditions will organize to promote their group interests; (4) the powerful use their power to keep themselves in power; (5) inequities in wealth, power, and prestige plus the exploitation by the powerful toward the powerless lead to conflicts between them; (6) the understanding of society requires the understanding of the political economy; (7) the conditions of social organization, domination, and exploitation have alienating, repressive, and frustrating effects on individuals; and (8) human beings are the architects of social organization. These principles of conflict theory are applied to deviance in sport. Specifically, this paper defines deviance from the conflict perspective by using objective criteria. Next the structural roots of deviance in sport are examined by focusing on the structural conditions of massification and commodification.

This essay examines some ethical problems prevalent in contemporary American sport. Three topics are considered: (1) the ethical principles that should guide sport; (2) the ethical dilemmas that confront various constituencies in sport; and (3) the structural sources of unethical behaviors in sport.