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Identity work: young disabled people, family and sport

  • Hayley Fitzgerald
    ,
  • David Kirk
  • Leeds Beckett University
Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Abstract

It has long been recognised that family is an important arena in which sporting tastes and interests are nurtured. Indeed, for many young people the family introduces them to and then provides ongoing support for engaging in sport. Research has also indicated that the family has a significant position in the lives of young disabled people. In this paper we explore the interrelationships between sport, family and disability. Like a number of writers within disability studies we see the benefits of moving beyond a structure/agency dichotomy that currently limits social and medical model understandings of disability. In particular, we draw on the work of Marcel Mauss and Pierre Bourdieu both of whom argued that social life can be better understood by considering the embodiment of individuals through their habitus. We draw on data generated in an interview-based study with 10 young disabled people to explore the ways in which family contributes to, and mediates, sporting tastes and interests. We consider two key questions: How do young disabled people negotiate relations within the family and in what ways do these relations influence sporting tastes and interests? To what extent are young disabled people able to use sport to generate and convert (valued) capital within the family and other related arenas?

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Original language

English

Pages from-to (Number of pages)

Pages 469-488 (20 pages)

Journal (Volume, Issue Number)

Leisure Studies (Volume 28, Issue 4)

Publication milestones

  • Accepted/In press - 29/05/2009
  • Published - 01/09/2009

Publication status

Published - 01/09/2009

ISSN

0261-4367

External Publication IDs

  • handle.net: 10547/228729
  • Scopus: 77950750863

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