Social Class Influence on Sports Participation

1155 Words3 Pages

Literature has shown there is a constructive correlation between an individuals socioeconomic status (SES) and their participation in sporting activities. This piece of writing will be defining the impact social class division has on the opportunities for an individual to participate in sport and leisure activities. Also the key aspects of the social class system within the United Kingdom, from the traditional methods of social stratification, to the modern 7 class system released in 2013 by the British Broadcast Corporation (BBC). The term 'Social Class' or 'Socioeconomic Groups' , refer to an individuals status within society. There are various factors which determine an individual's status, such as; income, family background and educational experiences. This socioeconomic status can be seen as a status hierarchy in which three main common social classes are informally accepted in the majority of societies: Upper Class, Middle Class and Working Class (Wesson et al, 2000). Torkildsen (2011) stated that the nature and definition of 'social class' is generally regarded as being problematic, as class not only relates to income or occupation but also upbringing and family background. "social class is often regarded as grouping on the basis of occupation, which is 'socioeconomic class' rather than social class" (Torkildsen, 2011 p.49). divine In modern society these 3 traditional social classifications, working, middle and upper class are outdated, fitting less than 40 percent of the United Kingdom's population. In April 2013 the British Broadcast Corporation introduced a new model for social classification, within the United Kingdom. Social class and socioeconomic groups traditionally have been defined by income, occupation and ed... ... middle of paper ... ...port. As it now stands, they are as good as disenfranchised- a vast number of the taxpaying public who will never set foot inside these stadiums and arenas” (as cited in Jarvie, 2012). Works Cited BBC. (2013). Huge survey reveals seven social classes in UK. Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22007058. Last accessed 20 Oct 2013 Jarvie, G. (2012). Sport, Social Division and Social Inequality. Sport Science Review. 20 (1-2), 95–109. Torkildsen, G (2011). Sport and Leisure Management. 6th ed. Oxon: Routledge. 49. Wesson, K., Wiggins, N., Thompson, G & Hartigan, S (2000) Sport and PE: a complete guide to advance level study, second addition, London: Hodder & Stoughton. Wikipedia. (2001). United Kingdom Census 2001. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_Census_2001http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_Census_2001. Last accessed 20 Oct 2013.

Show More
Related

  • Class and Poverty in Australia

    1827 Words  | 4 Pages

    Class is a key idea related to inequality, prejudice and discrimination in Australian society. It has been considered out of fashion, because some Australian people think that there is no class difference between people in Australia, everyone enjoys equality in society. In fact, the recent de-regulation of the workplace, and the widening gap in access to hospitals, schools and employment opportunities between the rich and poor, have made class more visible in Australian than ever before. Class is "a category of people who have generally similar educational histories, job opportunities, and social standing and who are conscious of their membership in a social group that is ranked in relation to others and is replicated over generations" (Kent, 1998:87). This essay argues that class cause continues to inequality in Australian society. Firstly, class structures labor market inequality. Secondly, class shapes the quality of a person's life. Thirdly, class inequality produces continuing class differences into the next generation. Finally, class has becoming a debate in Australian society, because class inequality encourages the `right' people to work more efficiently in the workforce and helps people to identify themselves in society, but continuing relevance of the concept of class is a matter in contemporary Australia.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Tingle's The Vexation Of Class

    796 Words  | 2 Pages

    The working class stays working and the middle class stays being middle. Author Nick Tingle, wrote “The vexation of class”, he argues that the working class and the middle class are separated educationally based on culture and the commonplace. Tingle uses his own personal experiences and Ethos, to effectively prove his point about the difference in class based on culture ; although, Tingle also falls short by adding unnecessary information throughout the article that weakens his belief entirely.

    Read More

  • Class in Australia Today

    1062 Words  | 3 Pages

    Weber, M. (1968) Status Groups & Classes, in G. Ross and C. Wittich (eds.) Economy and Society, Berkeley: University of California Press, (pp 302-307). Handbook SGY14, (2007/1). Social Sciences in Australia, Reading 5 (pp17-18). School of Arts, Media and Culture Faculty of Arts, Griffith University, Brisbane.

    Read More

  • People Like Us : Social Class

    711 Words  | 2 Pages

    Society has categorized individuals depending on their financial status and their income; also known as social class. There are three original social classes in America, upper, middle, and lower class. The classes may sometimes be further divided into upper- upper, lower-upper, upper-middle and lower middle; with the working and lower classes at the bottom; working poor and underclass.

    Read More

  • Social Justice In Sports

    1724 Words  | 4 Pages

    Social justice in sports is key to having relationships in sport as well as in a career. To understand this, people need understand the definition of social justice. Social justice is defined by John Rawls as basic liberties that should be given to all people. When this is fully understood, people should examine the idea of giving benefits to the weakest people in the community (Robinson, 2015, p. 1). When one applies the definition of social justice to sports, it brings out the many flaws that the sports demonstrate. The significance of social justice in sports brings attention to issues of gender, race, age and ability, and social class, and how they should be rather than how they are currently seen.

    Read More

  • Bo Jackson: A True American Icon

    1519 Words  | 4 Pages

    Close, Paul, David Askew, and Xin Xu. The Beijing Olympics the Political Economy of a Sporting Mega-event.. Hoboken: Taylor & Francis, 2006.. 34-35

    Read More

  • Sports In The Gilded Age Essay

    1053 Words  | 3 Pages

    Social-class played an important role in sports. It dictated who could participate in what sports and to what level of participation. The terminal factor associated with social class was money. Money was the means to obtain the equipment necessary to partake in the sports. Without money, one couldn't perform organized sports. Furthermore, this issue was only limiting the already restricted minorities. Barriers between social-classes resulted in sports also being separated by social-class. The middle-class and upper-class took on sports such as football and boxing. They could afford the equipment for the organized sports. However, the lower-class didn't have much money, so they made do with what they had. One "sport" that was exclusively a lower-clas...

    Read More

  • Gender Inequality In Sport Essay

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    Unintentionally, a lot of us have been boxed into institutions that promote gender inequality. Even though this was more prominent decades ago, we still see how prevalent it is in today’s world. According to the authors of the book, Gender: Ideas, Interactions, Institutions, Lisa Wade and Myra Marx Ferree define gendered institutions as “the one in which gender is used as an organizing principle” (Wade and Ferree, 167). A great example of such a gendered institution is the sports industry. Specifically in this industry, we see how men and women are separated and often differently valued into social spaces or activities and in return often unequal consequences. This paper will discuss the stigma of sports, how gender is used to separate athletes, and also what we can learn from sports at Iowa State.

    Read More

  • Race and Ethics in the 1960s: Race and Sports

    686 Words  | 2 Pages

    Coakley, J. J. (2007). Sports in society: issues & controversies (9th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

    Read More

  • The Influence, Role, and Meaning of Sports in American Society

    549 Words  | 2 Pages

    1. It has become much harder to identify the true and amateur-taught values around sport in our culture. The passion for competition, the aspect of a team, and the actions of sportsmanship are deep values that sports act to instill. It becomes one of the most important ways to teach those values to our young and unfortunately is becoming easy to forget. Throughout the semester we scrutinized sports, looking at their influence, role, and meaning in our American society today. Two foundations to view sport, critical and functionalist theory, were brought upon early in the semester, laying groundwork for looking at the rest of the topics. To better understand these two view points a working definition of each is needed. The three C’s of: capitalism, coercion and commercialism help describe the critical/conflict theory and view of sport in our United States. When looking with this viewpoint some of sport’s purposes in society include, promoting and expanding capitalistic drives as well as showing the power and privilege of elite groups within society. (Coakley, 2001) On the contrary the ...

    Read More

  • Class Differences And Inequalities In Sport

    1266 Words  | 3 Pages

    Differences and inequalities in relation to sport can be based on several elements such as race, gender, class, or disability. We will explain how different sort of evidences from DD102 support the claim made by Kath Woodward that 'Sport reflects and creates differences and inequalities' (Woodward, 2014, p. 73). This essay will look at how the Oscar Pistorius example demonstrates how rules are created in sport. The evidence will highlight differences between disable and body-able. Following that, we will consider barriers that prevent some social groups from participating in sport, namely people with disability and women. Then we will explore number based evidences supporting the claim that sport reflects and creates class differences and inequalities

    Read More

  • The Impact of Sports on American Society

    3791 Words  | 8 Pages

    Abstract: Society is affected every day by many different kinds of sports.  These sports often govern society's way of life.  People all over the nation turn their TVs to sporting events, such as golf, during the weekends.   Scott Stossel states that "more than six million Americans enjoy watching golf on the weekends."  Parents  use sports as a teaching tool for their children.  Kids learn teamwork and discipline from team sports programs and  sports have also helped many students with their grades.  Kids who want to compete in school sports are taught to keep their grades up or they won't be able to play, but the greedy coaches and schools often look around grades to keep their "star athletes" in the games.  Adults have been affected by sports in their bank accounts.  Tax increases for funding a new stadium, golf course and even school programs have hurt the middle class Americans.  Sports have taken control of small communities and soon will take control of society

    Read More

  • The Inequalities of the Social Class in the United States and How to Improve It

    1323 Words  | 3 Pages

    What is social class you ask? Social class is a system created to categorize people by education, wealth and heredity. What are the different class systems you ask? There are several class classifications and they’re Upper Class–Elite, Upper Middle Class, Lower Middle Class, Working Class and poor. In the united states and being a victim of “ social class categorizing” is an issue that must be addressed and people must be made aware, because it seems as if it’s not going anywhere anytime soon so the least we can do is try and make it fair as possible. Being defined unknowingly by a class system is one thing, but having no say so or fair opportunity at being placed in the best “class system” as those more fortunate than others needs to change because it’s not like we all came out of our mothers womb starting the race of life at the same starting and advantage point, and since we as Americans pride our-self on being the land of the free and equal opportunities I feel compelled to inform you of the unfairness of the issue and state ways to make it fair. In an article read while doing research this is how the author defined Social class “Classism is similar in many ways to racism, sexism, heterosexism and other forms of oppression. Classism appears individually through attitudes and behaviors, institutionally through policies and practices, and culturally through norms and values. Like other forms of oppression and prejudice, it is the tendency to make sweeping generalizations or stereotypes about people, such as “Poor people are lazy.”(Class Action) This essay will assess the determination of social classes in the United States and will seek to provide examples to demonstrate the inequalities and provide ways to improve them.

    Read More

  • 1984 Social Class

    1414 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Throughout recorded time, and probably since the end of the Neolithic era, there have been three kinds of people in the world, the High, the Middle, and the Low.” (Orwell, 201) From the ancient and primitive tribes of our ancestors to the blue-collar and white-collar jobs within cities, the human race has always divided itself into clear groups of social classes. Sometimes, the distinction is placed to forcibly separate the elite from the workers, while others are formed through a separation of class interests. Over time, writers have distinguished a pattern common within most societies. Most societies, from the utmost primal to the most advanced, have congregated themselves into three classes of people. These societal classes are exemplified

    Read More

  • Importance of Social Class

    1630 Words  | 4 Pages

    Social class assumes different definitions based on an individual’s view on the topic. The definition may take the 20th Century assumption of sociological strata and one portrayed by the imperialist understanding of class. The sociological perspective of social class highlights an individual’s or group’s classification, as well as their position in societal standing, as predetermined by history, economy, and the role that they are expected to play as a result of being in that stratum (Jereb and Ferjan 155). While social class may take different interpretations, the interpretation adopted in this study is that of social strata that one occupies in a socially stratified society. The argument here is that social class is increasingly becoming less important in our society.

    Read More

More about Social Class Influence on Sports Participation

Open Document