Chapter 17 - Peers and groups in disability sport

Abstract

Researchers spanning fields such as sport psychology, rehabilitation, and education examine youths’ experiences in disability sport with the hope of reducing barriers and promoting lifelong participation. Sport is an appealing context to deliver opportunities for physical activity and social integration for youth with physical disabilities. Focusing on how the quality of experiences in sport may be shaped through peer environments, this chapter targets two goals. First, identify group-related concepts studied by disability sport researchers like peer learning, social identity, and personal roles—and re-examine them through a group dynamics lens. Second, we identify how researchers may develop theory about how groups function through the realm of disability sport (e.g., as a context to explore self-categorization). We also identify methodological advances for research in this domain, and encourage the mobilization of knowledge from groups' research into empirically supported interventions or strategies for enhancing team environments for youth with disabilities.