Sport and Incarceration: Theoretical Considerations for Sport for Development Research

Mark Norman

doi:10.17645/si.v8i3.2748

Abstract

Despite a rapid expansion in research on Sport for Development (SfD), there remain numerous untapped veins of exploration. This article makes a novel argument for increasing the theoretical and substantive depth of SfD research by linking it to the relatively small, yet developing, body of literature on sport and incarceration. Drawing from the emergent field of carceral geography and the literature on prison sport, this article provides critical theoretical considerations for SfD programs that occur in ‘compact’ sites of confinement, such as prisons or refugee camps, or are enmeshed in ‘diffuse’ manifestations of carcerality. Given the structures of inequality that have led to the confinement of more than 13 million people in prisons, refugee camps, and migrant detention centres across the globe, as well as the multitude of ways that groups and individuals are criminalized and stigmatized in community settings, there are compelling reasons for SfD research to more deeply engage with concerns of space and carcerality as they relate to sport. As such, this article provides an important foundation for future analyses of SfD and carcerality, and signposts some potential ways forward for a deepening of theoretical perspectives in SfD research.

Highlights

Despite a rapid expansion in research on Sport for Development (SfD), there remain numerous untapped veins of exploration for scholars
These analyses provide novel insights, raise critical questions, and signpost ways forward for a deepening of theoretical perspectives in SfD research
Using vignettes arising from their research, Forde et al (2017) provided a compelling insight into considering how SfD programs facilitate a variety of types of movement in and through diverse spaces and, in so doing, produce complex and contradictory spatial meanings related to neoliberalism, community, gender, and social injustice

Summary

Introduction

Despite a rapid expansion in research on Sport for Development (SfD), there remain numerous untapped veins of exploration for scholars. This article makes a novel argument for increasing the theoretical and substantive depth of SfD research by linking it to the relatively small, yet developing, body of literature on sport, leisure, and incarceration. In doing so, it brings the SfD literature into dialogue with critical theoretical developments in criminology and human ge-. This article develops some initial theoretical connections between the literatures on SfD, prison sport, and carceral geography. The bulk of the article is devoted to a deep theoretical consideration of critical considerations for SfD research through the lens of compact and diffuse models of carcerality These analyses provide novel insights, raise critical questions, and signpost ways forward for a deepening of theoretical perspectives in SfD research

SfD and Prison Sport Research

Carceral Geography

SfD and Compact Forms of Carcerality

SfD and Diffuse Forms of Carcerality

Findings

Conclusion