Deviance In Sports

With these facts in mind the American society asks themselves what is the world of sports coming to in society since public icons are doing the things they inform others not to do. Finally, the question comes to mind of why are male athletes found to engage in acts of deviance more so than woman? Coakley states, “that when men become emotionally bound together in all-male groups that demand unqualified allegiance and emphasize physical dominance, they often express their sense of togetherness through committing acts of deviance”. In doing this it shows the young adults of the world that famous athletes are being confronted by the same pressures they are confronted with everyday and are giving in to them. , there were newspaper stories on 350 intercollegiate and professional athletes, nearly all men, who were implicated in 252 cases of crimes and criminal charges”. These are prime examples of positive deviance, but this is not what society is worried about. In these games deviant acts are seen all the time, but deviance on the playing field is viewed as part of the American way. For example, football players and soccer players are expected to be physically rough on the field because their sports are considered high contact sports. In a whole sociologist around the world are using tests and studies in the forms of self-reports, official statistics, interview data from male athletes and coaches, ethnographic data on athletic teams and groups, along with data from focus groups composed of male athletes alone, female athletes alone, and male and female athletes together in hopes of finding helpful information pertaining to deviance in sports. Coakley as “an act that is considered by public consensus or by the powerful at a given place and time to be a violation of some social rule”. In the world of sports deviance is viewed differently on the playing field than if it were seen in the streets of a city or small town. This message sent to the younger adults of society illustrates that it is somewhat okay to commit deviant acts whether they are positive or negative. Many athletes believe that since they are celebrities to the American public that certain rules do not apply to them. “Drug possession and use were the next most frequently mentioned charges”.