ABSTRACT

In the 2016 International Olympic Committee Consensus Statement on harassment and abuse, it was outlined that psychological abuse in sport research has been heavily focused on the coach–athlete relationship resulting in a lack of research on other members of the athletes’ support system such as their ‘entourage.’ Researchers of abuse have further noted that psychological abuse remains relatively underexplored in comparison to other types of athlete abuses (e.g. sexual abuse). As psychological abuse is one of the most common types of abuse occurring in sporting contexts, it has been flagged as an urgent safeguarding concern. Psychological abuse can be enacted in different ways with many associated behaviours. The present study explored one under-researched issue shown to be entrenched in sport culture – ‘body shaming’ – and how it constitutes psychological abuse. We also focused on the role of the athlete entourage (i.e. people associated with the athlete) in relation to psychological abuse through the body shaming of athletes. Using thematic analysis, three female athletes’ stories showed how they were subjected to psychological abuse from members of their entourage when their bodies failed to meet socio-cultural expectations (i.e. too fat, not ‘slim to win’). While it was not the central focus of our research, the athletes also explained how they were subjected to physical abuse and physical neglect from entourage members when they were perceived to be overweight or too fat. The athlete entourage members found to be perpetrators of abuse and physical neglect included the coach, the parent, the partner, and the manager. This research provides novel insight into how abuse is circulating through sporting contexts, and in so doing, generates knowledge for prevention and intervention initiatives in sport.

摘要

在 2016 年国际奥委会关于骚扰和虐待的共识声明中，概述了体育研究中的心理虐待主要集中在教练-运动员关系上，导致缺乏对运动员支持系统其他成员的研究，例如他们的“随行人员。” 虐待研究人员进一步指出，与其他类型的运动员虐待（例如性虐待）相比，心理虐待的研究相对较少。由于心理虐待是体育环境中最常见的虐待类型之一，因此它已被标记为紧迫的保障问题。心理虐待可以通过许多相关行为以不同方式实施。本研究探讨了一个在体育文化中根深蒂固的研究不足的问题——“身体羞辱”——以及它如何构成心理虐待。我们还关注运动员随行人员（即与运动员有关的人）在通过运动员身体羞辱心理虐待方面的作用。通过主题分析，三位女运动员的故事展示了当她们的身体未能满足社会文化期望（即太胖，而不是“瘦得不能赢”）时，她们如何受到随行人员的心理虐待。虽然这不是我们研究的中心焦点，但运动员们还解释了当他们被认为超重或太胖时，他们如何受到随行人员的身体虐待和身体忽视。被发现是虐待和身体忽视的肇事者的运动员随行成员包括教练、父母、合作伙伴和经理。这项研究为虐待如何在体育环境中传播提供了新的见解，并由此为体育运动中的预防和干预举措提供了知识。