Child Protection in Sport: Reflections on Thirty Years of Science and Activism

Daniel Rhind,Celia Brackenridge

doi:10.3390/socsci3030326

Abstract

This paper examines the responses of state and third sector agencies to the emergence of child abuse in sport since the mid-1980s. As with other social institutions such as the church, health and education, sport has both initiated its own child protection interventions and also responded to wider social and political influences. Sport has exemplified many of the changes identified in the brief for this special issue, such as the widening of definitional focus, increasing geographic scope and broadening of concerns to encompass health and welfare. The child protection agenda in sport was initially driven by sexual abuse scandals and has since embraced a range of additional harms to children, such as physical and psychological abuse, neglect and damaging hazing (initiation) rituals. Whereas in the 1990s, only a few sport organisations acknowledged or addressed child abuse and protection (notably, UK, Canada and Australia), there has since been rapid growth in interest in the issue internationally, with many agencies now taking an active role in prevention work. These agencies adopt different foci related to their overall mission and may be characterised broadly as sport-specific (focussing on abuse prevention in sport), children's rights organisations (focussing on child protection around sport events) and humanitarian organisations (focussing on child development and protection through sport). This article examines how these differences in organisational focus lead to very different child protection approaches and solutions. It critiques the scientific approaches used thus far to inform activism and policy changes and ends by considering future challenges for athlete safeguarding and welfare.

Highlights

As with other social institutions, such as the church, health and education, sport has both initiated its own child protection interventions and responded to wider social and political influences
This article suggests that sport qualifies as a social institution that shares many of the risk and protective features of other social institutions
It examines in more detail the changes outlined above and considers how these have shaped the reputation of sport as an example of institutional child protection

Summary

Introduction

As with other social institutions, such as the church, health and education, sport has both initiated its own child protection interventions and responded to wider social and political influences. The discursive emphasis on child protection in sport has shifted over the years, from one concerned with individual perpetrators and victims to a wider interest in athlete health and welfare, human rights and integrity in sport [5]. This article suggests that sport qualifies as a social institution that shares many of the risk and protective features of other social institutions. It examines in more detail the changes outlined above and considers how these have shaped the reputation of sport as an example of institutional child protection. The article critiques the scientific approaches used far to inform activism and policy changes in this field before concluding with some possible future challenges for child protection in sport

Institutional Child Protection

Changes in the Child Protection Agenda since the 1980s

Child Protection and Globalisation in Sport

Mapping Organisational Missions for Athlete Protection and Safeguarding

Conclusions and Future

Findings

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