Risky Business: Observations on the Nature of Death in Hazardous Sports

Abstract

The little existing research on risky sports tends to concentrate on the demographic and psychological characteristics of individuals who participate in high-risk sports such as scuba diving, parachuting, spelunking, auto racing, mountain climbing, and hang gliding. This study considers another dimension: most risky sports are group sports. They involve other people as partners or members of support groups. A death, then, affects others. The study asks two questions: How do participants involved in the death itself handle such an event? In what ways does the death impact upon other members of the sporting community? Through interviews and official reports, the authors studied scuba divers' responses to four fatal accidents and found that accounts of deaths frequently blame the victim for the fatality, emphasizing and centering on perceived errors of judgment and skill. These accounts serve as mortality tales and as disclaimers of personal responsibility that mitigate grief and support continued participation in the sport.