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How race and ethnicity are defined. Race refers to a person's physical appearance, such as skin color, eye
color or even hair color. Ethnicity, on the other hand, relates to cultural factors such as nationality, culture,
ancestry, language and beliefs.
How sport is both a positive and negative force for promoting racial and ethnic equality in
society.Sports can help promote ethnic and racial equality in the society. This is because during these
activities, people from different ethnic groups and races get to participate. In doing so, people get to see
that they have the same potentials despite their differences. However, sports can also be negative forces for
promotion of ethnic and racial equality. Emotions clearly run high in fast-paced competitive sport, such as
football, but there needs to be an acknowledgement that using a person’s race, ethnicity or culture as a form
of abuse is wrong. Racist behavior does not happen in isolation; it is a result of prejudices and/or lack of
awareness
.Discuss the history of women's participation in sport before the 1850's. What were the barriers?In
the 1800’s, participation of women in sports was discouraged or banned. In the cities, their passive
involvement was always encouraged through attendance at horse races, regattas, cricket matches and other
spectator sports. Women back then were seen as an inferior group. Sexism back then took control of all
activities and this was all about the unfair treatment of women.
How Title IX affected women's sport participation. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972,
requires equal access for women in all facets of education, most notably athletics. It prohibits
discrimination against girls and women in federally-funded education.
How increased sport participation by females has affected contemporary society.Participation of
women in sports has brought about issues like gender equality. Whatever facilities women get should be as
good as those men are using. This is unlike the past society where there was no such thing as equality,
women were the minority group while men the dominant one. How does social class affect access or
present barriers to participation in sport? Most sociologists define social class as a grouping based on
similar social factors like wealth, income, education, and occupation. Social class plays a vital role in
sports. It dictates who can participate in what sports and to what level of participation. The limiting factor
associated with social class is money. Money is the means which to obtain the equipment and facilities
necessary to partake in the sport, without money, one cannot perform organized sports.
Identify the different social classes in the U.S. and typical characteristics of each class. Discuss the
opportunities for social mobility through sport.
In the United States, there are three main levels of classes that include the upper class, middle
class and lower class. The upper-upper class includes those aristocratic and “high-society” families with
“old money” who have been rich for generations. The middle class are the white collar workers who have
more money than those below them on the social ladder, but less than those above them. The lower class is
typified by poverty, homelessness, and unemployment. These people suffer from lack of medical care,
adequate housing and food, decent clothing, safety, and vocational training. Sport is a vehicle for personal
and social change. The primary objective of development programs in this area is social inclusion.
Develop a list of the three major legislative acts that were passed to protect the civil rights of
minorities, women, and the physically or mentally disabled. Include the dates these laws were passed
and discuss the impact of these laws on sports participation.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a huge leap forward in attempting to end the hate,
discrimination, and marginalization created by racism, sexism, or intolerance of religious choice. These
took care of the minority groups especially the African American and women. The Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990 is a law that prohibits, under certain circumstances, discrimination based on
disability. These laws enabled full participation in sports of everyone regardless of physical ability or
gender.
Describe the interrelationships between sport and religion.
Traditional religion and sport have had an interesting and interconnected relationship, specifically
Christianity and sport can be discussed in this light. Christianity and sport actually have a history that has
flourished over the years. Christianity has changed its views of sport if you look at the faith as a whole,
there are a myriad of traditional religions that not only support sports but are intrinsically involved with
sport. How do athletes, coaches, sport organizations and institutions use religion in sport?The
relationship between religion and sport has become an important one to a point that many athletes use
religion to express their athletic ability. Many of them publicly express their faith, and sincerely believe
that their faith is driving them to do well. Before starting the sport activity, the coaches engage their players
in prayers as a way of asking some sort of guidance and protection from a Supreme Being.
Describe some areas of conflict between religion and sport.Athletes are faced with reconciling their
passion for sports with religious obligation. Experts say the issue arises in all faiths, in nearly every sport,
and at all levels of competition. For instance the Jew religion prohibits sports contestants to take part in any
sporting activities during Sabbath. This leads to extremely talented people joining sports just for the fun of
it or to help them acquire discipline that comes with sporting. Other major sporting events have been
postponed, however, for religious considerations. It is the reason major sporting events are rarely broadcast
on Christmas Eve or that ESPN and Major League Baseball agreed, to switch the starting time of a
Yankees-Red Sox game on Sept. 27, 2009, so it wouldn’t conflict with the beginning of Yom
Kippur.Identify issues related to the use of performance enhancing drugs in sport. How does doping
impact athletes and fans of major league sports such as football, baseball, basketball or hockey?The
integrity of sport is predicated on the assumption that all athletes compete on a level playing field.
Unfortunately, the use and abuse of performance-enhancing drugs has become ubiquitous, creating
complex challenges for the governing bodies of individual sports. When it comes to the world of sports, we
now live in the age of doping. Baseball historians will contemplate describing the current time as the
steroid era. Baseball’s greatest pitchers and hitters are now portrayed as villains. This is also affecting the
fan base of these sports. The fans are losing trust with their favorite stars since one can never be sure if they
are using stimulants. Psychiatrists who work with professional athlete
will have challenges that must be identified, acknowledged, and acted upon in agreement within the sport
to ensure the integrity of the profession.
Violence is highly visible in American sport. Discuss violence on the field and off the field and how
violence can be reduced in the future.
It is not clear if on-field violent behavior leads to off-field violence. Common sense suggests that
people who become accustomed to using physical intimidation and violence in sport naturally revert to
those behaviors when facing conflict outside of sport. Some athletes do develop a sense of entitlement as
their fame grows and this leads to their violent activities on the field. This should be addressed by
providing Psychiatrist help to the sport personas. This will enable them control their anger issues.
Although many barriers have fallen, name at least three barriers that remain in achieving equality
for women in the sport world.In as much as things have changed in the sporting world for women, they
are still facing challenges. For instance they are not allowed participation in some sports which are still
considered for men. Women also face barrier that come with their religion. Like Muslim women are never
allowed to participate in any activities according to their culture and sports is no exception. In the
developing countries, women are unable to participate in such activities because of the duties given to
them. The society intentionally keeps them from developing their skills, including their potential in sports.
What is character, and does sports help build it?
Character is much more than just what an individual tries to display for others to see, it is who we
are even when no one is watching. It is the complex of mental and ethical traits making a person. It is often
said that sport builds character and gives people a strong base and core values to tackle the world with.
There have been numerous studies on how sport develops character. Yet, the conclusions of these studies
conflict. Some claim sport has positive character development, while others state negative development.
Some even found that sport has no effect at all on character development.
Where do you think individual-sport athletes, team-sport athletes, and non-athletes rank in each of
these two categories?
Individual sport athletes get to build more on their moral character. However, they also get some
of the attributes of the social character. Team sport athletes on the other hand acquire social character
because of working in togetherness.
How do sports activities, athletes, and athletic competitions mirror the values of American
society?Sport activities, athletic competitions mirror a lot of values of the American society. These values
include achievements, success, activity and work and good moral behaviors. On the pitch, people of the
two different teams aim for certain goals and work in a disciplined manner. If otherwise, one gets their
punishment or a warning. Do you think athletes should be "heroes" in modern-day societies? What do
think are the characteristics of a hero?Professional athletes have a profound role in society. They are
seen as modern day heroes. These superstars are idolized and enjoyed by many aspiring young athletes.
The sole purpose of a professional athlete in society is for entertainment. In a society that is often obsessed
with being entertained, the qualities and sacrifices made by real heroes are often ignored. Professional
athletes are involved in an economically profitable business. They are appreciated by millions of fans and
this is often confused as heroism. Someone who goes above and beyond what's expected of them, beyond
their duty in order to help those in needs is an individual that portrays heroism.
How does the socialization process help a person learn about sports and sports participation? Give
some examples, based upon the role which the following agents play: parents, peers, the school and
the community.
Socializing process is a major factor in enabling children participation in sports and learns more
about the activity. A child who relates more with the peers learn a lot on sports. A loner will never know
the trends in sporting activities. The school and the community also facilitate children’s knowledge on
sports by making sporting equipment available to them.
What are some of the reasons parents encourage their children to participate in sports? What do you
think are positive reasons and what are negative reasons?
Parents encourage their children to take part in sports so as to better their relations skills. Sports
also help children keep fit which makes them healthy. In doing so, children do not end up having eating
disorders like anorexia nervosa in the name of trying to lose weight and keep fit.
Do you think that sports "builds character"? What does this phrase mean to you, and how can it be
applied to youth sports in particular?
In some way, sports help build character especially to the youth. The interaction of different
people despite their backgrounds helps create a sense of respect. Individuals also get to boost their
confidence levels and get discipline as the games teach them.
In what ways are sports a part of the entertainment business? Why does ESPN place the word
"entertainment" before the word "sports" in its title? Do you think this is significant? Why or why
not.
Sports are more of entertainment businesses that social activities. The aim of winning for almost
all sports is to bring some earnings to the teams participating. Players have price tags, literally speaking.
Each player has a value that one must attain so as to hire their skills and talent. It is also a base of
advertising brands for big companies which are business tactics. In the case of ESPN, they use the word
entertainment instead of sports as a strategy. They might be doing this so as to avoid being specific on who
can watch. It is some sort of assuring advert that anyone can be a viewer since it provides general
entertainment.
Why is the connection between sports and the mass media so important? What are some of the
positive and some of the negative aspects of this?
Sports and the media, two of the most prevalent elements in contemporary society, rely on each
other to prosper and have been deeply ingrained in our daily lives. For instance, the Summer Olympic
Games and Winter Olympic Games, hosted every four years, attract billions of viewers who enjoy the
competitions through the global media. At such occasions, the media brings people together from all over
where they directly participate in the activities. As much as this relationship has been helpful, it has also
been an encouragement to negative issues arising in the society. Medias portray sports figures as some
human beings. This makes the public youth want to attain this fame so badly that they engage in unethical
behaviors. In some cases it also encourages, violent acts among the children. Wrestling and boxing have
impacts on children all over. They also instill anger and too much aggression in children at their tender age.
Despite bringing a lot of togetherness among people in the society, the sports world can bring negative
impacts if not carefully addressed.
Sociology of Sports Terminology.
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Functionalism interprets each part of society in terms of how it contributes to the stability of the
whole society.

Conflict perspective assumes that social life is shaped by groups and individuals who struggle or
compete with one another over various resources and rewards, resulting in particular distributions
of power, wealth, and prestige in societies and social systems.

Critical Theory is a broad approach to challenging and destabilizing established knowledge.

The interactionist perspective focuses on the concrete details of what goes on among individuals in
everyday life.

Racism is the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities
specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race.

Minority group is a culturally, ethnically, or racially distinct group that coexists with but is
subordinate to a more dominant group.

Dominant group is a social group that controls the value system and rewards in a particular
society.

Stacking is the using of a large amount of substance.

Sexism is attitudes or behavior based on traditional stereotypes of sexual roles.
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Sexism is the discrimination against woman in the system.

Feminist theory is one of the major contemporary sociological theories, which analyzes the status
of women and men in society with the purpose of using that knowledge to better women's lives.

Social stratification is a concept involving the classification of people into groups based on shared
socio-economic conditions.

Economic capital is the Nation's current production of valued goods and services plus its capacity
to produce them in future.

Social capital is an economic idea that refers to the connections between individuals and entities
that can be economically valuable.

Cultural capital refers to non-financial assets that involve educational, social, and intellectual
knowledge provided to children who grow up in non-wealthy but highly-educated and
intellectually-sophisticated families.

Power is the Ability to cause or prevent an action, make things happen; the discretion to act or not
act. Opposite of disability, it differs from a right in that it has no accompanying duties.

Disability refers to the situation where individuals have physical or mental inadequacies.

Americans with Disabilities Act is the Federal law enacted in 1990 to protect individuals with
physical or mental disabilities from intentional or unintentional Master athletes are older men and
women who compete in sports at a very high level, no matter how old they are.

Religion is the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices.
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Deviant means indifference with what most people consider to be normal and acceptable.

Sports violence can be defined as behavior which causes harm, occurs outside of the rules of the
sport, and is unrelated to the competitive objectives of the sport.

Performance enhancing drug is a term used primarily by weight athletes for any drug intended to
improve performance.

Prescription drug is a drug that is available only with written instructions from a doctor or dentist
to a pharmacist.

A stimulant is substance that generally increases alertness, heart rate, breathing rate, blood
pressure and energy level.

Steroid is a group of synthetic hormones that promote the storage of protein and the growth of
tissue, sometimes used by athletes to increase muscle size and strength.

Doping is the use of a drug or blood product to improve athletic performance.

Eating disorders are a group of serious conditions in which you're so preoccupied with food and
weight that you can often focus on little else.

Compulsive exercising is a disorder seen in competitive athletics, in which excess exercise is used
for weight loss, often associated with anorexia nervosa.

Hazing refers to any activity expected of someone joining a group that humiliates, degrades or
risks emotional and/or physical harm, regardless of the person's willingness to participate.

Gambling is betting that must result either in a gain or a loss.