Bullying In Sport Research Articles

Risk and Protective Factors for Bullying in Sport: A Scoping Review

AbstractThe aim of the current study was to examine risk and protective factors related to bullying in sport. Adopting the methodological approach outlined by Arksey and O’Malley (International Journal of Social Research Methodology 8(1):19–32, 2005), 37 articles met the inclusion criteria. A consistent definition of bullying could not be identified in the publications examined, and several articles (n = 8) did not explicitly define bullying. The most frequent risk factor identified was an individual’s social background (n = 9). Negative influence of coaches (n = 5), level of competition (n = 5), lack of supportive club culture (n = 5) and issues in locker rooms (n = 4) were among the most commonly cited risk factors for bullying in sport settings. Preventative policies were cited as the most common method to reduce the incidence of bullying (n = 13). Contextually tailored intervention programmes (n = 5) were also noted as a key protective factor, particularly for marginalised groups, including athletes with disabilities or members of the LGBTQ+ community. The need for sport-specific bullying prevention education was highlighted by 10 of the articles reviewed. In summary, the current review accentuates the range of risk and protective factors associated with sport participation. Furthermore, the need for educational training programmes to support coaches in addressing and preventing bullying within sport settings is emphasised.

The blurred line in elite sport: exploring UK media reporting of bullying and banter

ABSTRACT In recent years there has been an increasing interest in the concepts of bullying and banter within both sport research and media reporting. However, at present, research has not explored reports of bullying and banter within the UK sport media This is a potential omission, as the media may provide important conceptual information about bullying and banter to those outside of the academic domain. Therefore, the present study sought to understand how banter and bullying are framed by the UK sport media and how these concepts have been distinguished from one another. Guided by a pragmatist approach, 85 print and broadcast media articles were analysed from The Times, The Telegraph, Daily Mail, The Sun, The Guardian, British Broadcasting Company (BBC) and Sky Sports News (SNN). Through an abductive thematic analysis, the findings highlighted several themes around the media’s view of bullying. The media differentiated bullying and banter through the tipping point between these concepts and a misinterpretation of jokes and banter. The present study contributed to the current research on bullying and banter by analysing the media’s perspectives of the concepts. Overall, the findings outline the contemporary understanding of bullying in sport, whilst highlighting the significant influence the media has in shaping the discussion around banter in this context.

Bibliometric analysis of harassment and bullying in sport

Background and Study Aim. This study aims to chart the trend of publications in the Scopus database and the Web of Science as well as the global evolution of harassment and bullying in sports.
 Material and Methods. ScientoPy and VOSviewer software were used in this study to analyze the number of publications, well-known research topics, proactive authors, author keywords, preferred sources, and institutional data. This study uses data reconciliation with 1, 883 different items from the Scopus database and the Web of Science. An increasing trend in sports nutrition research was found using the Scopus and WoS databases.
 Results. This field has grown significantly since 2015. In addition, the percentage of documents published in the last two years (2020 to 2021) shows that 22.40% were published on WoS and 22.04% on Scopus. The five keywords that are trending topics between 2020 and 2021 are "Sports", "Racism", "Race", "Sexual Harassment", and "Gender". Meanwhile, the keywords with the highest total link strength were "sports" (244), "racism" (169), "bullying" (165), "adolescents" (161), and "physical activity" (150). The University of Toronto, Canada, became the most productive institution with 22 publications.
 Conclusions. The most prestigious institutes and researchers in the field of harassment and bullying research in sports have been recognized, along with key research areas, keywords, and related papers. The study also offers potential readers and researchers a global perspective on the hottest issues in harassment and bullying in sport today. In addition, it provides various analyses to assist in the organization of data for the development of harassment and bullying research theories and methodologies in strong sports.

"I Gave Up Football and I Had No Intention of Ever Going Back": Retrospective Experiences of Victims of Bullying in Youth Sport.

Bullying is a global issue that, beyond school, is present in different social contexts, such as sport environments. The main objective of this study was to get to know the experiences of victims of bullying in sport throughout their youth sport training. Semi-structured interviews to four Spanish women and seven Spanish men were carried out, within an age range of 17–27 (Mage = 21 years, SD = 3.69). The following main themes were established by means of a hierarchical content analysis: (a) “bullying characterization,” (b) “dealing with bullying,” and (c) “consequences of bullying.” The results show the presence of physical, verbal and social bullying in the sport context, with the changing room being the space where this type of behavior is most frequently developed. Most victims show an internal attribution (self-blame) for the bullying event, related to their motor skills and their personal physical and psychological characteristics. Double victimization can be observed, at the sport club and at the educational center. Passive strategies are used to deal with the situation, while little support is shown by sport agents (teammates and coaches). The victims, as a consequence of the bullying experience, suffer from short and long-term negative effects on a psychosocial level. The study highlights the necessity to design and implement programs focused on the prevention, detection and intervention of bullying for sport organizations, bearing in mind all the agents that make them up (coaches, management teams, families, and players). Furthermore, the importance of promoting the creation of safe sport environments, free from any kind of violence, is emphasized.

Encounter with Bullying in Sport and Its Consequences for Youth: Amateur Athletes' Approach.

In recent years, the problem of bullying, existing in sport and arising in athletes’ relationships, is increasingly emphasized. The aim of this research was to reveal the specificity of bullying in athletes’ interrelationships by elaborating on causes of its emergence, nature of actions, and its consequences. To achieve the research aim, a qualitative research paradigm was chosen. The theoretical part of the research was prepared by applying the methods of scientific literature analysis and analogy. The empirical study involved seven organized sports athletes representing individual, duel, and team sports branches, belonging to the young adult age category. The survey was conducted using the semi-structured interview method. Data were analyzed employing the conceptual content analysis. Emic and etic perspectives were used for data processing. Research results revealed that the specificity of manifestation of bullying in sport unfolded through three generalized categories: intolerable perception of behavior, nature of bullying, and bipolarity of consequences. Every category was detailed by sub-categories, highlighting the nature, causes, and consequences of bullying accepted by athletes in the contexts of their emotional state and career. We found that the factors falling into these categories were interrelated and supplemented each other; therefore, they should be analyzed in a complex way, as bullying is determined not by some single factor but by the totality of them, functioning as a kind of well-established flawed tradition supported by the cultures of the sports organization and the sport.

Anti-Bullying Policies in Canadian Sport: An Absent Presence

In Canada, it is estimated that one-third of bullying occurs outside of educational settings, including sport and recreation spaces (Shannon, 2013). Beyond important academic literature on abuse in athlete-coach relationships, however, there is little research on peer-to-peer bullying in sport. This is a noticeable absence considering assertions that there is a high potential for bullying to occur (Kerr, Jewett, MacPherson, & Stirling, 2016; Shannon, 2013). Moreover, bullying has been connected to children and youth drop-out rates (Fraser, 2015).Our interest in this project was to determine how Canadian national sport organizations (NSOs) address peer-to-peer bullying through policy. Although antibullying strategies that rely solely on policy are ineffective (Short, 2013), clearly communicated and implemented policies remain important (Mountjoy et al., 2016; Olweus & Limber, 2010; Walton, 2004). Thus, we focused our analysis on policy documents available to the public on NSO websites.A total of 118 documents were retrieved, consisting of various codes of conduct and harassment policies. Of these 118 policy documents, only three had been produced that addressed peer-to-peer bullying specifically. In the remaining 115 documents, bullying was mentioned just 19 times and only defined in five documents. The absence of specific policy and policy statement addressing peer-to-peer bullying is important to highlight. Well-written and implemented policies are needed in order to help create safer spaces in sport for children and youth. More specifically, it is imperative for sport and recreation organizations to have clearly defined policies on peer-to-peer bullying, which are openly communicated to members of the organization. It is also important for organizations to make it clear how members should report incidents of bullying.Finally, policies that adequately define bullying and that address its root causes such as sexism, racism, ableism, and LGBTQphobia are considered best practice as they are determined to be more complete. Policies that highlight the root or ideological causes of bullying may have more long-term impact on reducing bullying behaviours and incidents, as children and youth are encouraged to embrace difference and demonstrate empathy, respect, and compassion (Short, 2013). These policies should co-exist with educational programs on bullying, such as those offered by Respect in Sport and the Canadian Red Cross.Subscribe to JPRA

Bullying Victimization and Perpetration Among Adolescent Sport Teammates.

Bullying is a specific pattern of repeated victimization explored with great frequency in school-based literature, but receiving little attention within sport. The current study explored the prevalence of bullying in sport, and examined whether bullying experiences were associated with perceptions about relationships with peers and coaches. Adolescent sport team members (n = 359, 64% female) with an average age of 14.47 years (SD = 1.34) completed a pen-and-paper or online questionnaire assessing how frequently they perpetrated or were victimized by bullying during school and sport generally, as well as recent experiences with 16 bullying behaviors on their sport team. Participants also reported on relationships with their coach and teammates. Bullying was less prevalent in sport compared with school, and occurred at a relatively low frequency overall. However, by identifying participants who reported experiencing one or more act of bullying on their team recently, results revealed that those victimized through bullying reported weaker connections with peers, whereas those perpetrating bullying only reported weaker coach relationships. With the underlying message that bullying may occur in adolescent sport through negative teammate interactions, sport researchers should build upon these findings to develop approaches to mitigate peer victimization in sport.

Educating Coaches on Their Role in the Prevention of Homophobic Bullying in Adolescent Sport

Sporting participation is believed to aid the development of good social skills and promote positive values such as equality, cooperation, and respect. Nevertheless, some people have negative experiences in the sporting environment. The presence of homophobic bullying in sport has been increasingly acknowledged. The purpose of this paper is to critically discuss current views on coaches’ roles in homophobic bullying prevention in adolescent sport and provide an example of a program designed to upskill coaches in this important area. A review of the prevalence of homophobic bullying in sport is provided. The importance of the role of the coach in addressing bullying in adolescent sport is then discussed. Coach education and learning theory are examined and an example of a coach education workshop on homophobic bullying prevention is detailed. A summary of the evaluation completed by the coach participants of the education workshop is provided, with potential modifications to the workshop noted. The need for intervention is linked back to the literature in the conclusion.

Anti-Vilification Programs in Adolescent Sport

Four post-graduate sport psychology students created and conducted an anti-vilification program for adolescents in sport. The program specifically addressed homophobic bullying in a volleyball organization. In the current article we review homophobic bullying in sport and make recommendations for addressing bullying in sport. We provide an in-depth description of the anti-vilification in sport workshops that were developed for state-level volleyball players. A summary of the participant evaluations of the program is provided and modifications to the workshops are suggested. The context and compliance/recruitment of the participants and the reinforcing role of family and school are discussed.

Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine Position Paper: Abuse, Harassment, and Bullying in Sport

Over the past 20 years, there has been an emergence of reported incidents of abuse, harassment, and bullying in Canadian sport (M. Holman, unpublished data, 1995).1-3 In 1994, an Edmonton track coach was charged and convicted of engaging in sexual relations with his female adolescent athletes. In 19