Planning Leisure Activities for Disadvantaged Groups

1686 Words4 Pages

When planning leisure activities for disadvantaged groups it is essential to consider both the sociological and psychological factors that may influence participation. A short stay excursion to a Melbourne Cup race can be used to highlight the complexities involved in providing equitable leisure opportunities that combat both low social class and disability. As this excursion will highlight, despite the psychological benefits of leisure, young people with a disability face multiple sociological barriers to leisure choices and participation. When looking at leisure from a sociological perspective it is apparent that poverty restricts involvement in leisure choice and participation, which goes beyond the impacts of disability alone. The high cost of travel experiences can limit leisure choices, and the inability to participate in leisure consumption can result in social stigma and shame. At the same time, the rise in internet usage as a form of leisure has been exponential and a greater number of young people use online networking for everyday leisure involvement than ever before. For this reason, numerous laptops were provided for use to the young people on the Melbourne Cup stay. The inference is made that, despite the evident risks of online sharing, internet technology offers a multitude of psychological benefits to users, and poses appealing possibilities for leisure choices and participation that may counteract sociological and psychological barriers to leisure, and strengthen family bonds. Leisure activities are defined as an essential part of a healthy and fulfilled life. Offering a means through which thoughts, feelings, and behaviours can be expressed, leisure serves as an opportunity to achieve health, happiness, self-act... ... middle of paper ... ...mith-r5.pdf Smith, R. W., Austin, D. R., Kennedy, D. W., Lee, Y., & Hutchinson, P. (2005). Planning mandates, policies, goals and objectives. In Inclusive and special recreation: opportunities for persons with disabilities (5th ed.) (pp. 133-153). Boston, Mass.: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. https://www.csu.edu.au/division/library/ereserve/pdf/smith-r5.pdf Smith, V., & Hughes, H. (1999). Disadvantaged families and the Meaning of the Holiday. International Journal of Tourism Research, 1, 123-133. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/doi/10.1002/(SICI)1522-1970 Trussell, D. E., & Mair, H. (2010). Seeking Judgement Free Spaces: Poverty, Leisure and Social Inclusion. Journal of Leisure Research, 42 (4), 513-533. http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ Veal, A. J., Darcy, S., & Lynch. (2013). Australian Leisure (4th ed.). Frenchs Forest NSW: Pearson.

Open Document