Deviance

Key terms

Deviance: Deviance is behaviour outside of the norm e.g. taking drugs in sport

Fair play: Fair play means following the rules of the game and playing with honesty and integrity by not resorting to gamesmanship or cheating to win.

Sportsmanship: Sportsmanship is when a performer plays to the written and unwritten rules of the game. They show honesty and integrity when performing; respect for umpires and opponents, as well as winning with grace and losing with dignity. This is sometimes called Sportspersonship.

Gamesmanship: Known as “bending the rules”. Gamesmanship is not following the etiquette or unwritten rules of a game in order to win. This usually involves using cunning breaking the written rules of the sport e.g. intimidating the referee.

Cheating: Cheating means breaking the written rules of a sport.

Deviance:

When a performer’s conduct does not follow the generally accepted values of a particular group it is said to be deviant. When a performer shows sportsmanship this is generally accepted in society as being desirable. Therefore, when performers cheat or use gamesmanship to win this is usually seen as unacceptable so is classed as being deviant behaviour.

Key terms

Deviant behaviours are those actions that ‘deviate’ or stray from cultural ‘norms’.

Norms are what are considered to be acceptable behaviour within a particular group of people. For example, some forms of violence and aggression are more accepted in ice-hockey than they are in golf or bowls.

Contract to Compete

The contract to compete is an unwritten code that governs participation in sports competitions. It is an accepted agreement, that although not recorded or written that performers and teams will; adhere to the rules of a sport, show sportspersonship and etiquette, play the best game that they can and avoid cheating or gamesmanship. The contract is supposed to allow for fair competition and allow opponents an equal chance of winning or achieving their aims. When performers cheat or use gamesmanship they are breaking the unwritten code that governs their behaviour and this can lead to them being shunned by their fellow professionals.

Causes of Deviance

Why do some people cheat or use gamesmanship to win, whereas others play fair and display sportspersonship? There are many answers to this question, and when someone does show deviant behaviours when participating it is often for more than one reason. For example, in the aggression chapter, Roy Keane stated how he kicked Alfie Harrland and this was revenge for previous comments and behaviours that Harrland had aimed at Keane. With the professionalization of and commercialisation of sport the old amateur status of athletes was replaced by performers earning a living from playing their sport, often earning fame and financial rewards for being successful. For example, winning a gold medal at the Olympics can turn a performer into a celebrity, and the sponsorship and appearance fees that are offered to such people are massive and this has led to many examples of cheating in order to gain these rewards. This has undoubtedly impacted on the amount of deviance that is exhibited.

In the 1960s and 1970s the Eastern European communist ruled countries used sporting success for political purposes and organising bodies used drugs like anabolic steroids extensively to improve their athletes’ chances of success on the world stage. The media’s role in deviance is complex because the fame associated with the press writing about a successful performer has led to increasing amounts of deviancy. However, with more sophisticated technology being used in sport it is much harder for some performers to cheat. For example, in the past few years cricketers are now being more honest because they know they will be exposed as a cheat by the ‘snick-o-meter’ or close up camera work. Dwain Chambers and the other athletes who were eventually caught up in the ‘Balco’ drugs scandal took the designer steroid THG because at the time WADA did not have a test that could detect it. Although the drug testing in some sports and some countries is very good in others it is poor and because some performers know the risk of getting caught is low this does not deter them from using illegal methods to gain an advantage. Indeed some performers use the ‘everyone else is getting away with it’ excuse to justify their use of drugs to enhance performances. Prejudice can also be a reason for some performer’s deviance and this could be for racist or sexist reasons.

As most of these questions are "discuss" or "examine" it requires you to provide two sides of the argument. The first will often be presenting the view that deviance is a recent sporting development followed by a counter argument.

Supportive Arguments:

These can be broken into a variety of factors (remember that some questions make direct reference to commercialism) including financial, pressure, perception & expectation, opportunity & technology and coverage.

Financial;

• Increased levels of commercialisation lead to increased benefits to succeeding i.e. increased salary and earning potential, increased sponsorship opportunities, increased endorsement opportunities, increased rights images.
• More at stake for athletes as sport has become a big business.

Pressure;

• More pressure on coaches to succeed and they put pressure on athletes to do whatever is necessary.
• Pressure from sponsors leading to athletes / teams doing whatever it takes e.g. Ronaldo & Nike and the world cup final.
• Pressure from fans wanting to see the spectacle of a world record etc
• Pressure from team mates e.g. Lance Armstrong

Perception and expectation;

• Perception and perpetuation of the 'Win at All Costs' attitude.
• Failure to succeed leads to a loss of the aforementioned opportunities.
• The belief or perception that “everyone is cheating” leads to an easy decision being made to cheat.
• The view that certain behaviours (that fit into the realms of gamesmanship) are not only accepted but even expected e.g. talking to opponents (sledging), appealing for decisions, intimidating referees, simulation (e.g. diving).
• People who behave deviantly might be perceived to get more coverage; no such thing as bad publicity.
• Institutionalized cheating from teams / countries / coaches e.g. Russia's Olympic doping ban

Opportunity and technology;

• Greater opportunity to cheat through improved methods e.g. in terms of the availability of drugs, ability to beat drug detection, increased mechanical methods of cheating.
• Increase in technology making it easier to cheat (motors in bike frames). However, as more money is entering sport, more people have access to the technology making margins narrower, making it seem as though cheating is the only alternative.

Coverage;

• Media coverage can be seen as increasing the pressure to win.
• Social media allows supporters easy access to athletes and teams, increasing the pressure to succeed.
• Media coverage also gives huge publicity to sports stars caught cheating, making it seem as though its more common and prevalent.

Counter Arguments:

• The view that deviance is increasing simply because we read about it more
• In fact deviant behaviour might have been more prevalent during the 1970’s, 80’s & 90’s but due to less social media etc. it was less talked about / less coverage.
• That its success actually highlights the existence of certain types of behaviour, better testing and policing of sport.
• It might also be that as a result of the creation of WADA. WADA was created because a problem existed, the problem did not emerge because WADA was around.

How Governing Bodies Work to Prevent Deviant Behaviour

Most NGBs work hard to eliminate dysfunctional behaviour, because they realise that unless they act on it, it may be detrimental to the future of their sport. Many NGBs work with WADA and the nation’s own drugs organisation to test for the use of illegal drugs and the following methods have been used to discourage cheating and gamesmanship;

• Rule changes – NGBs regularly change rules to prevent deviancy. This could be stricter punishments for on the field behaviour or punishing negative actions. In football the ‘tackle from behind’ is now punished with a straight red card and in cricket an umpire can stop a bowler bowling if he/she is following through on the wicket.
• Reward positive behaviours – in football the use of ‘fair play’ leagues helps to encourage positive behaviours and reward teams. For example three extra clubs are allowed to enter the Europa League by EUFA for their good disciplinary records. The top three leagues in Europe are each allowed to enter the team with the best record to enter into this lucrative competition, regardless of their finishing position in their own league.
• Improved officiating – in some sports referees have become professionals, making enough money to live from officiating. In football, referees have a specialist training facility where they receive fitness training, dietary advice and where they regularly meet to discuss incidents to improve their knowledge.
• Technology – the use of video replays and other technology has enhanced the ability of cricket and rugby officials to get decisions right.
• Fines and bans – these are common in most sports. For example Dwain Chambers received a lifetime ban from competing at the Olympics after he was caught and admitted to taking drugs.
• Punishments after an event – in some sports officials will view incidents after an event meaning punishments can be given retrospectively. In football clubs are fined if the players surround the referee to questions his/her decisions or if the players are involved in a ‘mass brawl’ on the pitch. In junior and semi-professional sports clubs regularly have points deducted if they play an unregistered player and are found out. Drug takers in athletics and other Olympic sports run the risk of having previous medals removed and records quashed if they are caught, even if they were achieved before they actually started using illegal methods.
• NGB campaigns – The ‘kick racism out of football’ and ‘Respect’ campaigns have been used by the FA to try to improve the actions of those involved in football. These are excellent examples of how the governing body has tried to reduce dysfunctional behaviour. The 100% me campaign is promoted by many elite athletes in the UK to try to promote drug free sport.
• Most sports have a ‘codes of conduct’ for players, coaches and spectators. These documents clearly outline the types of behaviours that are encouraged and those that are not tolerated, giving these groups clear rules to stick to.
• Playing ‘behind closed doors’ – In some sports if spectators have acted inappropriately the team may have to play games behind ‘closed doors’, which means they aren’t allowed any spectators at the match. This impacts on the team because they have fewer fans to ‘cheer them on’ and it impacts on them financially because they do not make money from the spectators they would normally charge to watch.