Social and cultural theories tend to be used when studying and applying knowledge to sports. The theories in society often give a framework for asking research questions, interpreting information and being able to uncover the deeper meanings and stories that are associated with sports, in addition they permit citizens in the society to be more informed so that people can apply what we've learned from the study and having the ability to apply it on the globe that we live in. Theories also permit people to see things in new angles and perspectives and present us the capability to make informed decisions about sports and how sports participation can be used inside our lives, communities, families and societies. The six main theories used in sport have many points and can overlap with one another but only two are going to be discussed in this study. The two theories chosen to compare are functionalist theory and conflict theory.
Functionalist theory is a macro sociological theory that is based on the characteristics of social patterns, structures, social systems and institutions such as family, education, religion, leisure, the economy, media, politics and sport. If all these social institutions are organized and co-operate with each other around a set of core values functionalist theorists assume that the entire social system will function properly and efficiently. Society in functionalism has a view that it's an organized system of interrelated parts that are held together by shared values and established social arrangements that help maintain the system in being in a state of equilibrium and balance. When sociologists use functionalist theory they split it into two parts, the first concept of interdependent parts is every one of the social institutions (media, religion, sports, politics and economics) and how they may be linked together.
In the tradition of Talcott Parsons and his conception of functional imperatives (goal attainment, adaptation, latency and integration) functionalists argue that we now have four basic "system needs" for any society in sports (team, clubs etc) to run smoothly and this everyone will benefit. The four principles are
Adaptation - In order to survive in a society it is essential that members learn to adjust to changes in the social structure and culture. Another important factor to survival is the emphasis on being physically fit as it is required for most sports.
Goal Attainment - This is the motivation of individuals to attain society's goals through socially accepted means. Sport is preoccupied with tracking the success and failures of its participants nonetheless it also teaches participants that if they work hard enough it'll lead to victory meaning success.
Integration - Sport promotes social connections between people and provides them the possibility to co-operate with each other in an organization and a community. It also provides a feeling of social identification as well as a way to obtain personal identity. The society must keep itself together.
Latency (pattern maintenance and tension management) - Each system must maintain itself in a possible state of equilibrium for as long as it can with no outside disruptive influences. Many kinds of pattern maintenance are provided by sport generally through participation where in fact the participants are taught to accept an authority structure that is well defined for example athletes realizing that referees have authority over them to be sure they stick to the guidelines of the sport.
Functionalist theory in sport generally brings about the conclusion that it is popular in society since it can maintain the values of character that help to preserve stability and order in social life. Functionalist theory also supports sporting policies that help and recommend the growth of competitive sport programmes, developing coaching education programmes, in the case of youth sport there is an establishment on criminal bureau checks and qualification checks on coaches before working with younger children. The idea also supports the establishment of training centres for elite athletes so they can maintain their top-level performance and ensuring to obtain increased surveillance and drug testing so they are able to supervise and control the actions of athletes by avoiding those taking drugs so they can't cheat their way to attaining a better sporting performance. People in society who've positions of power have a tendency to favour functionalist theory as it is dependant on the assumption that society is organised for benefiting the folks in that society of equality and this in virtually any dramatic way it will not be changed. While functionalist theory is a favorite approach it has some weaknesses.
The weaknesses of functionalist theory is the fact it will lead to exaggerated accounts of positive consequences of sports and sports participation nonetheless it mistakenly assumes that we now have no conflicts of interests between the different citizen groups in society such as women, people who have disabilities, racial groups and people who are economically poor in society yet it doesn't recognise that sport can privilege or disadvantage people more than others. The idea also ignores the powerful historical and financial factors that have influenced social events and social relationships.
Functionalist theory is centered on the idea that there is a consensus in the values and norms of society and that social institutions found within a society are integrated and function together. On the other hand conflict theory talks about the role of power and the inequality found throughout society and exactly how sport is shaped by these economical forces and used by people who have economical capacity to increase their influence and wealth. Conflict theory is based on the ideas of Karl Marx (1818 - 1883) which rose to importance through the 1970s due to growing disenchantment with functionalist theory. This theory of Karl Marx views sports as being built on the foundations of economical power. In society's that are capitalistic the thing is that relationships and social arrangements are organised around wealth, money and economical power for example in america it's easy to point out the owners of the activity teams because they are benefiting financially from the trouble of elite athletes, the coaches that work alongside the athletes and the spectators who watch the activity.
Like functionalist theory conflict theory is dependant on the assumption that society is similar to a social system however conflict theory focuses on the "needs of capital" as opposed to the "general system needs". Theorists of conflict theory explain that a society which is capitalist will never be in a position to survive and grow without exploiting any employees with regard to boosting financial profits; in addition they suggest that if radical changes are to be concluded in sport and society by prevailing justice and fairness they need to identify the negative consequences that sport has. Once these changes are created sport will become a way to obtain creative energy, expression and physical well-being. Individuals who are in capitalist economies are generally not more comfortable with the assumptions and conclusions of conflict theory because they state it has a negative effect and does not match their ideas about society and sport as they feel uneasy with the conclusions of calling for radical change in today's organisation and structure that they already have.
Much of conflict theory is directed at sports which are dominated by spectators. Conflict theorists if they had the choice they would raise the control that athletes and other sporting participants have to market sport at local community level so that it benefits all classes of people rather than just all elite athletes. Meaning the working class could have more influence of sport than the rich class giving them more motivation for participation and eliminating profits. Many conflict theorists favour player's unions that confront pro-team owners and are supporting organisations that help protect from public tax money used to benefit wealthy people. Ideally any public resources would be used to help aid sponsoring sports that can improve physical fitness, political awareness you need to include placing the element of fun into activities. Conflict theorists (Leonard 1980; Rigauer2004) would also campaign for athletes in any way levels to get representation with making decisions about sport in organisations so Olympians would be able to vote on policy questions that concerned the staging of the Olympic Games.
Conflict theory also offers three major weaknesses. The first weakness is that the theory is likely to ignore the opportunity that sport in capitalist societies can and could involve experiences that provide individuals and groups power. Conflict theorists talk about how exactly sport is organised to maximise the control that wealthy folks have over other members in a capitalist society. The conflict theory approach doesn't acknowledge that sport may take many types of serving interests in the have-not society and denies that any participation in sport can be considered a personal creative and liberating experience that will inspire members of society to make economic changes that will help to market equality in exiting capitalist societies. Secondly conflict theory ignores the importance of race, ethnicity, gender, disability, age and many other factors when it comes to explaining how people want to identify themselves, how they relate with other members in the society and how they organise the social world where they live. Often it's leading visitors to overlook the possibility that inequalities and power in any society are based on factors other than economic and social class differences. Thirdly the theory assumes that aspects of social life are determined economically and is shaped by the needs of experiencing capital in society and profit motive. Theorists of conflict theory concentrate on the assumptions that of economical factors when studying sport nonetheless they tend to overlook participation and recreational port for healthy living.
Functionalist theory and conflict theory both focus on the needs of society and exactly how sport can relate to the satisfaction of the machine needs. The theories don't inform us about sport in everyday living and the ways in which people are active agents who are taking part in the processes of sports and societies that are organised and changed. They both also ignore that sport and social constructions emerge in people's everyday living when they battle to decide what is important and how they will collect organisation in their lives.
