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journal contribution
posted on 2015-09-25, 12:11 authored by M.C. Pinheiro, Nuno Pimenta, R. Resende, Dominic MalcolmDominic MalcolmThe growing competitiveness of modern sport means that children, from very early ages, are increasingly submitted to intensive training programmes. These programmes are problematic for young athletes not only because their developing bodies are particularly susceptible to different kinds of injuries, but because athletes are also particularly vulnerable to experiences of different kinds of abuses. Using data collected through semi-structured interviews this study examines the various kinds of abuse that former Portuguese female gymnasts underwent during their sporting careers. Interviewees were asked to reflect on their past experiences and discuss aspects of the gymnastics subculture. Weight control, training/competing with injuries and corporal punishment emerged as key themes. The study therefore shows that the physical and psychological abuse of young athletes occurs even beyond the confines of elite professional sport, and thus that a broader spectrum of athletes learn to consider these forms of exploitation and abuse as normal.
History
School
- Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences
Published in
SPORT EDUCATION AND SOCIETYVolume
19Issue
4Pages
435 - 450 (16)Citation
PINHEIRO, M.C. ...et al., 2014. Gymnastics and child abuse: an analysis of former international Portuguese female artistic gymnasts. Sport Education and Society, 19 (4), pp. 435 - 450Publisher
© Routledge, Taylor & Francis GroupVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Publisher statement
This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Publication date
2014Notes
This article was published in the journal, Sport Education and Society [© Routledge, Taylor & Francis]. The definitive version is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2012.679730ISSN
1357-3322Publisher version
Language
- en