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Download fileThe final frontier of anti-doping: a study of athletes who have committed doping violations
journal contribution
posted on 2015-12-11, 09:46 authored by E. Terry Engelberg, Stephen Moston, James SkinnerJames SkinnerAlthough the use of banned drugs in sport is not a new phenomenon, little is known about
the experiences and perceptions of athletes who have committed anti-doping rule
violations. This study qualitatively explored the experiences of 18 athletes (from the
sports of bodybuilding, powerlifting, cricket, sprint kayak, rugby league, and swimming)
who had committed anti-doping violations. Themes explored included motivations for
initiating and maintaining doping, the psychology of doping, deterrents to doping, and
views on current anti-doping policy. In most cases doping had started early in their
careers. The perceived culture of the sport was considered central to the ‘normalization’ of
doping, particularly in bodybuilding. When explaining their decision to dope, athletes
engaged in processes or moral disengagement (including advantageous comparison,
minimizing consequences and diffusion of responsibility). Ironically, moral arguments
were perceived as the most effective deterrents to doping. Findings are discussed in
relation to the difficulties in establishing credible deterrents and suggestions for the future
development of anti-doping policy.
History
School
- Loughborough University London