Deviance in Sport

In my American Sport 21st Century class on April 2, 2015 we disscussed the topic of the deviance of sport. Deviance is an act that differs from the norms or somone who breaks the rules/laws. Examples of deviant acts in society can be drugs, violent crimes and stealing. Violence in sports parrellels the reality of violence in society. Violent or deviant behavior in society are reported first on the news everyday because society is intrested in the deviant acts of people. The deviance in sports reflects to the deviance in society. Fans are excited seeing big crazy hits in sports like football. Those hits can create the most injuries but, society loves the danger of the fighting or hitting in sports.

Examples of deviance in sport

• Fighting 

• Bounty Hunting

• Academic Cheating 

• Performing Enchacing drugs

• Gambling

• illegal recruiting 

Deviance among Athletes on the field 

Deviance on the field can be cheatig, dirty play, or just violence in the sport. Athletes are not the only ones creating deviant behavior in sports. Coaches, Parents, and administrators encourge athletes to play their hardest and take out the opposition. Over 80% of men and woman in sport have serious injuries. 70% are disabled more than two weeks. In the NFL, the rate of disabling injuries is over 3 times greater then the working in high risk contruction jobs. 31 former NFL players sued the NFL because of brain injuries. The crazy hits in football do not just occur in the NFl but, in all levels of football these jurrastic hits have cause a plentiful amount of head and other body injuries. 

Deviance off the field

Athletes do not have higher delinquency rates than those who do not play sports. The data found on acedemic cheating is inconclusive because of how much of it there is. Athletes are calculated to have higher rates of alcohol use and binge drinking than those who do not play sports. Drugs used in society has moved into sport and athletes who use drugs are cheating or breaking rules. performing enhancing drugs are the most used drugs in sport to improve the athletes performance on the field. 

Olympic Medalist, Lance Armstrong admitting to taking drugs to gain edge in cycling