American Academy of Political and Social Science

Sport and the Social Sciences Author(s): George H. Sage Source: Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 445, Contemporary Issues in Sport (Sep., 1979), pp. 1-14 Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. in association with the American Academy of Political and Social Science Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1042950 . Accessed: 01/06/2011 04:29
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ANNALS,AAPSS, 445, Sept. 1979

Sportand the Social Sciences

By GEORGEH. SAGE

ABSTRACT:Sport is one of the most ubiquitous activities of modern contemporary society. The pervasiveness of sport can be seen by the enormous amount of primary and secondary involvement in it by people of all ages and social strata. Sport penetrates into and plays a significant role in all of the social institutions. The functions of play, games, and sport is a major theme running through much of the work of social scientists. Although there is no definitive list, there are seven major categories of functions of play, games, and sport: instinct, developmental-cognitive, mastery, social integration, socialization, social control, and personal-expressive. There is a substantial body of literature in the social sciences discussing the importance of each of these functions.

George H. Sage is Professor of Physical Education at the University of Northern Colorado. He earned B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Northern Colorado and his doctorate from UCLA.His area of research interest is the study of sport occupations and socialization into and via sports. He is editor of Sport and American Society and coauthor of Sociology of American Sport.
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the twentieth century has been called "The Century of" many different things, perhaps no other phenomenon deserves this distinction more than sport; indeed, the twentieth century can legitimately be called "The Century of Sport," since it has become one of the most ubiquitous activities of contemporary society. As sociologists Eldon Snyder and Elmer Spreitzer note: "Sports permeate all levels of social reality from the societal down to the social psychological levels. The salience of sport can be documented in terms of news coverage, financial expenditure, number of participants and spectators, hours consumed, and time samplings of conversation."1 Given the pervasiveness of this human activity, it is obvious that it deserves serious, systematic study. This issue of The Annals illustrates the growing acknowledgement of the legitimate scholarly study of sport by political and social scientists. Two general objectives guided the writing of this article. First, to illustrate how thoroughly sports permeate modern society, the multidimensionality of sport involvement is described and how it is woven into the social fabric through modern social institutions is discussed. In the second section of the paper, since the topic of "function" is the most persistent theme about sport throughout the social sciences, the functions that social scientists have proposed for play, games, and sport are enumerated.
THE PERVASIVENESS OF SPORT

ALTHOUGH

Primary and secondary involvement In America virtually everyone is touched by sport. Involvement,
1. Eldon E. Snyder and Elmer Spreitzer, "Sociology of Sport: An Overview," The Sociological Quarterly 15 (Autumn 1974):468.

either as a participant or in more indirect ways, is almost considered a public duty. Primary involveactual participation ment-meaning -in sport begins for many children while they are still in elementary school. Youth sports programs initiate boys and girls into the world of organized sport at seven or eight years of age, and if they show a little interest and aptitude for sports they will likely pass through several sports programs on their way to adulthood. There are an estimated 20 million boys and girls now participating in youth sports programs.2 The programs mentioned above are sponsored by community, club, or service groups, but American schools also provide abundant opportunities for sports involvement. Most states have legislation requiring the teaching of physical education through high school, and sports activities form the basic curriculum of these programs. In addition to the required physical education classes, most schools throughout the country sponsor interschool athletic programs, beginning in the junior high school and continuing through college. Most other countries throughout the world have nothing comparable to the youth, interscholastic, and intercollegiate sports programs found in America, but sports clubs flourish in many countries. For example, in West Germany one-fourth of the population belongs to sports clubs, and in many respects this system provides an excellent model for lifelong education. Clubs are open to all, regardless of age, sex, social class, religion, or ability. They integrate recreation, physical education, and quality of performance as a form of community interaction, fostering sports and physical education out2. Jerry R. Thomas, ed., Youth Sports Guide for Coaches and Parents (Washington, DC: AAHPER Publications, 1977).

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side the schools and making them available to all members of the community.3 Throughout the world, leisuretime participation undoubtedly produces the greatest amount of primary sport involvement. In the United States there has been an increase in reported leisure time over the past this generation.4 Accompanying trend, Meyersohn claims that there has been a "democratization of leisure," meaning that there is now a greater use of discretionary time for cultural pursuits, including sports, which were formerly only the province of the rich.5 Notwithstanding these trends in leisure time, studies in several countries show that while daily participation in sport is comparatively low and hardly comprises a regular free time activity for the adult population in any country, cumulatively leisure sport participation numbers in the billions worldwide. In the United States alone there are 24 sports whose participants number five million or more annually, with swimming accounting for 104 million and bowling 44 million.6 By far the greatest secondary involvement in sports is as a spectator, either by actually attending sporting events or by viewing them on television. Professional football attracts some 16 million paid admissions each year, and Major League
3. Val D. Rust and Terry Schofield, "The West German Sports Club System: A Model for Lifelong Learning," Phi Delta Kappan 59 (April 1978):543-546. 4. John P. Robinson, "Changes in America's Use of Time, 1965-1975," Report of the Communication Research Center (Cleveland State University, 1976). 5. Rolf Meyersohn, "Is There Life After Work?" Saturday Review, 4 May 1974, pp. 14-16. 6. "How Americans Pursue Happiness," U. S. News and World Report, 23 May 1977, p. 63. Also see A. Szalai, ed., The Use of Time (Paris: Mouton, 1972).

baseball 32 million, but horseracing, with 82 million spectators, and auto racing, with 49 million, attract the most spectators.7 Worldwide, the largest TV audiences have been attracted by sports events; audiences in excess of 800 million people watched the last Olympic Games and World Soccer Championship. Robinson reported that 30 percent of Americans follow sport on television each day, and Kenyon reported that some 50 percent of those in his study listened to sport on the radio or watched sport on television each week.8 The three major networks in the United States telecast more than 1200 hours of sports annually.9
SPORT AND SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

Economy In addition to primary and secondary involvement, sport also penetrates into and plays a significant role in the major social institutions. The economic impact of sport is awesome; there is no doubt that sport is big business with a commanding position in the entertainment industry. Americans spent about $160 billion on leisure and recreation activities in 1977.10 Ticket sales at sports events, both amateur and professional, reached $2 billion in 1978.
7. "How Americans Pursue Happiness." 8. John P. Robinson, "Daily Participation in Sport Across Twelve Countries," in The Cross-Cultural Analysis of Sport and Games, ed. Gunther Luschen (Champaign, IL: Stipes, 1970), pp. 156-173; Gerald S. Kenyon, "The Significance of Physical Activity as a Function of Age, Sex, Education, and Socio-Economic Status of North American Adults," International Review of Sport Sociology 1 (1966):41-54. 9. "The Affluent Activists," Forbes 118 (1 August 1976):22. See also William Leggett, "He Was Right on the Button," Sports Illustrated 44 (23 February 1976):48. 10. "How Americans Pursue Happiness."

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Although growth in an industry is not necessarily a valid economic indicator of increasing profits, the proliferation of professional sports franchises certainly indicates that professional sports is one of the most successful and expanding industries in the United States. During the past 20 years, professional sports teams have multiplied at a rate. The National remarkable Hockey League began the 1960s with six teams and the 1970s with 14. During the 1960s professional basketball proliferated from one league to two and from 12 teams to a total of 22 teams when the leagues merged in the mid-1970s. Major league baseball broke a longstanding tradition and went from 16 to 24 teams; professional football witnessed the birth of a new league, the merger of that league with the NFL, and a new 28-team league, thus more then doubling the teams which existed in 1960.11 Professional athletes' salaries reflect the economic value placed on sports. A minimum salary of over $30,000 is guaranteed in several sports and annual salaries of over $100,000 are not uncommon; indeed, in 1978 the California Angels had nine players earning $100,000 or more. A few of the so-called "super stars" receive salaries in excess of $300,000, and several have contracts in excess of $5 million. The average salary in the National Football League in 1978 was over $62,000, while professional golfers compete for over $8 million in prize money each year.12
11. For a discussion of the financial aspects of sport, see Ray Kennedy and Nancy Williamson, "MONEY: The Monster Threatening Sports," Sports Illustrated 49 (17 July 1978):29-88. Also see Sports Illustrated (24 July 1978):34-49 and (31 July 1978):34-50. 12. Ibid.

Professional sports franchises are worth anywhere from $5 million to $40 million. There are several reasons for their value, one of which is that they are profitable-the Los made an estimated Angeles Dodgers $9 million after taxes in 1978. But few professional sports franchises could exist without television revenue. Television contracts with professional sports is a billion dollar a year business.13 The big business of sport is manifested in other ways. Over 170,000 student-athletes participate in National Collegiate Athletic Association sponsored competitions in 35 different sports each year at an investment of 5 billion dollars.'4 Sport, in the form of participant recreation, is often promoted by companies for their employees. Industry buys more sports goods and equipment than United States schools and colleges combined, and they schedule more entertainment than the nation's night clubs.15 Even gambling on sports is a major economic activity; estimates of the amount of money that Americans wager on sports range from $15 billion to $50 billion per year. Between 12 and 15 million Americans bet on pro football games on any given weekend. Polity Sport is a prominent feature of American politics. Politicians recognize the pervasiveness of sport and make every effort to use it for political gain. Recent presidents have publicly associated themselves with sports. Nixon's telephone calls
13. Ibid. 14. The Sports and Recreation Programs of the Nation's Universities and Colleges, Report Number Five. (Kansas City: The National Collegiate Athletic Association, 1978). 15. "How Americans Pursue Happiness."

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to the locker rooms of sports victors garnered publicity for him as well as for sport. Gerald Ford capitalized on his background as a football player at the University of Michigan. And Jimmy Carter'sforays into softball are clearly designed to legitimize his affiliation with sport. But presidents are only the most visible politicians to be linked with sport. Politicians fromthe local level to the national level capitalize as much as possible on sport because not only is sport a pervasive component of American society but it represents what is good, moral,and true. Thus, a connection with sportplaces the politician on the side of righteousness.
The linking of politics and sport extends into international affairs as

The Communist countries are not, of course, the only countries that practice sports diplomacy. Canada has undertaken a federally financed program of support to amateur athletics designed to enhance the caliber of athletes and thus bring prestige and respect to the nation.18 federal government has not directly supported American participation in
the Olympic Games, untold millions of dollars are spent to assist the United States may impress other In the United States, although the

indirectly the Olympic team so that

nations throughout the world. The Final Report of the President's Commission on Olympic Sport issued in
1977 recommended unified control

of amateur sport in the form of a well. Today, most countries of the Central Sports Organization and world use sport as an instrument called for a federal outlay of $218 of international policy to some ex- million in funds and facilities and tent. Communist countries make another $83 million annually for quite clear their motive for support- operating costs.'9 Education a visible example of the success of Sportand education are inexorably their political-economic system. As Morton says in his book Soviet intertwined in American society. Sport: "The Soviets have made According to statistics recently comserious business out of sport compe- piled by the National Federation of tition .... They have forged a State High School Associations, direct propaganda link between nearly 6.5 million boys and girls sport triumphs on one hand and the participate on interscholastic athvalidity of a social system on the letic teams each year.20The significance of these programs in the life other."16 of high school students is best Perhaps the most obvious example of blatant sport diplomacy is in the exemplified in James Coleman's German Democratic Republic.17 statement that a visitor to a typical American high school "might well
18. See Report of the Task Force on Sports for Canadians (1969). 19. President's Commission on Olympic Sport. The Final Report of the President's Commission on Olympic Sports: 1975-1977. (Washington, DC: USGPO, 1977). 20. National Federation of State High School Associations, 1978 Sports Participation Survey (Elgin, IL: National Federation of State High School Associations, 1978).

ing and promoting national and international sports: sport is used as

16. Henry W. Morton, Soviet Sport (New York: Collier Books, 1963), p. 82; more recently the same point is made in James Riordon, Sport in Soviet Society (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977). 17. For descriptions of sport in East Germany see Jerry Kirshenbaum, "Assembly Line of Champions," Sports Illustrated 45 (12 July 1976):56-65 and Brian Chapman, "East of the Wall," Runner's World (March 1978): 60-67.

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suppose that more attention is paid to athletics by teenagers, both as athletes and as spectators, than to scholastic matters. He might even conclude . . . that the school was essentially organized around athletic contests and that scholastic matters were of lesser importance to all involved."21 Although Coleman's comments were made almost 20 years ago, they are as appropriate today as when they were written. Colleges and universities carry on the interschool sports programs; indeed, for many of these institutions the intercollegiate athletic program is the most publicly visible part of the institution. Religion While there may seem to be little in common between sport and religion, actually each of the social institutions is making inroads into the traditional activities and prerogatives of the other. Churches have had to alter their weekend services to accommodate the growing involvement in sport. Frank Deford, in a three-part series on "Religion in Sport" for Sports Illustrated, noted that, "the churches have ceded Sunday to sports. . . . Sport owns Sunday now, and religion is content to lease a few minutes before the big games."22 Contemporary religion uses sport by sponsoring sports events under religious auspices and/or proselytizing athletes to religion and then using them as missionaries to spread the Word and recruit new members. The
21. James S. Coleman, "Athletics in High School," Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 338 (1961):34. 22. Frank Deford, "Religion in Sport," Sports Illustrated 44 (19 April, 26 April, 3 May 1976).

Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Athletes in Action are two prominant national organizations that employ these techniques. Literature and drama Sport is even making a considerable impact on the literary and drama fields. With the rise in mass sport interest, there has developed a trend toward serious writing about sport, and in the past decade American novelists have increasingly employed sport themes in their writing.23 Indeed, over 30 novels since 1960 have either referred to football or used it as a central theme.24 Perhaps the greatest impact of sport in the literary field, however, is coming from former athletes and sports journalists. Within the past decade there has been a virtual deluge of books written by professional athletes (most are actually ghost written) who describe their experiences in sports. A number of former athletes have written "kiss and tell" books which have either mocked their sports experiences or have been highly critical of them.25 The underpaid, unheralded sport journalist has also gotten into the publishing wind23. For examples of writers' treatment of sports in literature, see Robert J. Higgs and Neil Isaacs, eds., The Sporting Spirit: Athletics in Literature and Life (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1977) and Henry B. Chapin, Sports in Literature (New York: David McKay, 1976). 24. D. Burt, "A Helmeted Hero: The Football Player in Recent American Fiction," Presented at the Convention of the Popular Culture Association, 1975. 25. See, for example, Dave Meggyesy, Out of Their League (New York: Paperback Library, 1971); Bernie Parrish, They Call it a Game (New York: New American Library, 1971); Gary Shaw, Meat on the Hoof (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1972).

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fall of sports books in recent years, ence has approached this question and several have written what might from its own unique conceptual be called expose or muckraking and theoretical vantage point and, books.26 predictably, each has formulated Sport has even invaded broadway different answers about the funcand shows evidence of making a tions of play, games, and sports. happy marriagewith drama. Several However, the emphasis here is on years ago, the story of Jack John- the dimension of "function" rather son, the first black heavy-weight than on specific social science boxing champion, came to life in the disciplines. There is always some danger of play The Great White Hope and became an immediate success. This omitting or misrepresenting comwas followed by several other dramas plex phenomena whenever one atabout sport. Jason Miller's grimly tempts to employ a system of catefunny account of a high school gories, but for simplicity the nobasketball team's 20th reunion, The tions about the functions of play, Championship Season, was voted games, and sports have been clasthe best play of 1972 by the Drama sified into seven categories: instinct, Critics Circle. In 1973, The Jockey developmental-cognitive, mastery, Club Stakes and the Changing social integration, socialization, soRoom became two of the most cial control, and personal-exprespopular plays in New York. There sive. This is not meant to be an are definite indications that sports exhaustive list of functions that themes are increasingly being used have been advanced for sport; it in motion pictures. Movies such as constitutes a list of the most comRollerball, Slap Shot, Rocky, and monly identified functions. Black Sunday are only a few of the movies of the past few years with Instinct functions a sports motif. In the latter nineteenth century, at a time when the social sciences THE FUNCTIONS OF SPORT were just emerging as distinct scienAlthough the study of sport has yet tific disciplines, Charles Darwin's to become widespread in any of evolutionary theory was at its peak of the social sciences, the-foundation popularity. Scholars in all fields has been laid over the past century, were examining its tenets forimplicaand in the past decade academic tions, and several instinct theories interest in sport has become both about the function of play were acceptable and popular.As the social advanced. In his monumental Prinsciences have attempted to come ciples of Psychology, Herbert Spento grips with sport, one question cer elaborated on the "surplus encuts across the disciplines: Why? ergy" theory of play, a notion that Why do people play and engage in appears to have first been articugames and sports? Each social sci- lated by the 18th century German scholar, Friedrich von Schiller. But 26. See, for example, Leonard Shector, The Spencer gave the theory an evoluJocks (New York: Paperback Library, 1969); tionary twist, arguing that play Glenn Dickey, The Jock Empire (Radnor, PA: evolved in humans because they had Chilton, 1974); Robert Lipsyte, Sportsworld (New York: Quadrangle, 1975). developed effective and efficient

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means of meeting their basic needs, so they had much energy available which was dissipated in play forms.27 Although intuitively appealing, this theory of play has been found rather inadequate on numerous counts, and few current social scientists take it seriously. One of America's most famous early psychologists, G. Stanley Hall, advanced an evolutionary theory of play that came to be known as the "recapitulation theory." According to this theory, children's play was ontogeny repeating phylogeny. In other words, the play "stages" of children recapitulate the entire bioculture of humanity. Hall wrote: "The best index and guide to the stated activities of adults in past ages is found in the instinctive, untaught, and nonimitative play of
children. .

enact in play the interests and occupations in the order in which they occurred in their prehistoric and primitive ancestors. This view of play has been widely criticized and no longer has influential advocates in the social sciences. KarlGroos, a philosopher by training, put forward a theory of the function of play that clearly had both a psychological and evolutionary orientation. Based on his studies of animal and children's play, Groos proposed that play is a preparation and practice for adult life.29 His theory was firmly based on the principle of natural selection formulated by Darwin, which suggests that animals survive who are
27. Herbert Spencer, Principles of Psychology, 2 vol., 1855, 1872. 28. G. Stanley Hall, Adolescence, vol. 1 (New York: Appleton, 1904), p. 129. 29. Karl Groos, The Play of Animals (New York: Appleton, 1898); The Play of Man (New York: Appleton, 1901).

."28 Thus, children re-

best able to cope with the prevailing environment, and whose offspring can adapt to changing conditions. For Groos, animals play because play is functional in the struggle for survival; play forms provide practice in perfecting skills needed in adult life. Play, then, is the generalized impulse to practice and perfect hereditary skills before a serious need to exercise them arises. According to Loizos, the most commonly accepted theory of play is the view that it is practice for adult activity.30 A related theory about instinctual behavior has frequently been advanced to support sport. The notion that aggression is a human instinct and thus its expression is inevitable underlies the work of a number of psychiatrists, psychologists, and ethologists. These scholars have suggested that sport serves as an excellent medium for expelling the aggressive instinct, and that sport should be encouraged since it provides humans with a way to "let off steam" in a socially wholesome way. J. P. Scott claims that "violent exercise is nature's tranquilizer." And, "In short, games and sport are training grounds for the control of aggression"'31 Ethologist, Anthony Storr, argues "that the encourageto diminish the kind of hostility which leads to war. . .32 Finally, esteemed ethologist, KonradLorenz, claims that the "most important
30. C. Loizos, "Play Behavior in Higher Primates: A Review," Primate Ethology ed. D. Morris (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1969), pp. 226-285. 31. J. P. Scott, "Sport and Aggression," Gerald S. Kenyon, ed. Contemporary Psychology of Sport (Chicago: The Athletic Institute, 1970), pp. 11-24. 32. Anthony Storr, Human Aggression (New York: Atheneum, 1968), p. 132.

ment of competition

. . . is likely

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function of sport lies in furnishing play environment and thus serve a healthy safety valve" for the ag- valuable functions in the larger social context. gression instinct.33 Mead saw play and games as Developmental and cognitive serving an important function in functions the development of the self. A Social scientists, such as Jean majorconcern of Mead was to deterPiaget, George Herbert Mead, and mine how the individual obtains full Jerome Bruner, have emphasized development of self, and he prothe function of play in the develop- posed two general stages. Play, mental and cognitive growth of according to Mead, contributes to children. As part of his work on the first stage because in play the the cognitive development of chil- child takes on and acts out roles dren, Piaget has analyzed play which exist in the immediate, but behavior in relation to the develop- also wider social world; and in the ment of intelligence. According to course of acting out such roles he him, each cognitive stage exhibits a learns to "stand outside himself," unique type of play form. In the and thus develop a reflected view sensory-motor stage, play is charac- of himself as a social object disterized by performance of recently tinct from but related to others. mastered motor abilities. During Games, on the other hand, conthe preoperationalphase of develop- tribute to the second stage in the ment, symbolic play dominates and development of self. In a game, the the child engages in make-believe child must take the role of every and sociodramatic activities, such as player, thus he must perceive what acting "as if" he/she were a mother, others are doing in order to make his doctor, and so forth. Games-with- own movements. As the child learns rules characterizethe concrete oper- to take the attitude of the other ational phase, whereby collective and permits that attitude of the symbols are promoted and reason- other to guide what he is going to ing and logical thought are nur- do with reference to a common end, tured, thus preparing the child for he is becoming an organic member the final formal operational cogni- of society. According to Mead: tive phase. Piaget stated that games- "The game is ... an illustration with-rules "markthe decline of chil- of the situation out of which an dren's games and the transition to organized personality arises."35 adult play, which ceases to be a Erik Erickson, whose work is vital function of the mind when the generally considered within the individual is socialized."34For Pia- psychoanalytictradition,emphasized get, the practice of rules and the the growth functions play may serve. consciousness of rules, both of Erickson proposed three stages of inwhich are associated with play and fantile play that are linked with games, are largely learned in the his general theory of psychosexual development. The first play stage is 33. Konrad Lorenz, On Aggression (New called autocosmic and consists of York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1966), p. "explorationby repetition of sensual 281.
34. Jean Piaget, Play, Dreams and Imitation in Childhood, trans. C. Cattegno and F. M. Hodgson (New York: Norton, 1962), p. 168. 35. George H. Mead, Mind, Self, and Society (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1934), p. 159.

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perceptions, of kinesthetic sensations, of vocalizations, etc." At the second stage, the microspheric stage, play is typically solitary, is characterized by play with toys, and occurs when the child "needs to overhaul his ego." Play at this stage leads to pleasure in mastery of toys and mastery of traumas projected on them. Play in the macrosphere, the third stage, occurs at nursery school age and is "the world shared by others" which "are treated as, are inspected, run into, or forced to be
horsie."36

Jerome Bruner, the most noted contemporary American cognitive psychologist, is well known for his prolific research on cognitive growth and the educational process. Bruner contends that random play is the main business of infancy and childhood and is the precursor of adult competence. Play makes possible the practice of subroutines of behavior that later come together in useful problem solving and creativity.37 Mastery function Sigmund Freud emphasized that children act out and repeat problematic situations in play in order to master them.38 According to this view, play enables the child to deal with anxiety evoking situations by allowing him to be the active master of the situation, rather than the passive victim. Freud also proposed
36. Erik H. Erickson, Childhood and Society (New York: Norton, 1963). 37. Jerome Bruner, Alison Jolly, and Kathy Sylva, eds. Play: Its Role in Evolution and Development (New York: Penguin, 1976). 38. Helen B. Schwartzman, "The Anthropological Study of Children's Play," Annual Review of Anthropology, vol. 5, ed. Bernard J. Siegel, Alan R. Beals, and Stephen A. Tyler (Palo Alto, CA: Annual Reviews, 1976), pp. 289-328.

that the wishes and conflicts of each of the psycho-sexual stages would be expressed in play. Finally, since Freud believed that all children aspire to adult status, they imitate adults in their play, thus making possible what is currently impossible and enabling them to master a frustrating situation.39 The studies of John Roberts and his collaborators comprise the most widely cited cross-cultural investigations of games, and their work emphasizes the function of games in cultural mastery. In their now classic article "Games in Culture," Roberts and his colleagues constructed a classification of games based on how the game outcome is determined. Three types of games are identified: games of physical skill, games of strategy, and games of chance. Based on their analysis of ethnographic data of 50 tribal societies, and applying their of classification three-category concluded that games games, they are expressive cultural activities similar to music and folktales; moreover, they are models of various cultural activities and thus exercises in cultural mastery. For example, games of physical skill are related to mastery of specific environmental conditions, games of strategy are related to the mastery of the social system, and games of chance are related to mastery of the supernatural.40

Building on this work, Roberts and Sutton-Smith, in a cross-cultural study of children's games, formu39. Sigmund Freud, Beyond the Pleasure Principle (New York: Bantam, 1959); Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious. (New York: Norton, 1963). 40. John Roberts, Malcolm J. Arth, and Robert R. Bush, "Games in Culture," American Anthropologist 61 (August 1959):597605.

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11

lated a "conflict-enculturation" theory of games to explain relationships existing between types of games, child-training variables, and cultural variables.41 In essence this theory proposes that conflict produced by specific child-rearing techniques in a culture lead to an interest and involvement of specific types of game activities which pattern this conflict in the role-reversals sanctioned by the game rules. Moreover, according to Sutton-Smith: "Involvement over time in these rewarding game patterns leads to mastery of behaviors which have functional value or transfer to culturally useful behavior."42 In view of the current interest in female participation in sports, it is appropriate to note that children's play as functional to the learning and practicing of culturally appropriate sex roles has been studied by a number of scholars in several of the social sciences. The work of Sutton-Smith and Rosenberg on the historical changes in the game preferences of American children and the development of sex differences in play choices illusduring the preadolescence trates how sex role differentiation is reflected in play activities of boys and girls and how changing cultural prescriptions of appropriate sex role behaviors is reflected in
41. John M. Roberts and Brian SuttonSmith, "Child Training and Game Involvement," Ethnology 1 (1962):166-185; Brian Sutton-Smith and John M. Roberts, "The Cross-Cultural and Psychological Study of Games," in Gunther Luschen, ed., The CrossCulturalAnalysis of Sport and Games (Champaign, IL: Stipes, 1970), pp. 100-108. 42. Brian Sutton-Smith, "Towards an Anthropology of Play," The Association for the Anthropological Study of Play, NEWSLETTER 1 (Fall 1974):10.

in play preferences.43 changes Lever's recent studies of sex differences in children's play and game behavior suggests that these differences may give males "an advantage in occupational milieus that share structural features with those games."44 Thus, the complex games of childhood may be functional to successful participation in the adult occupational world. Social integration function Human social structures are held together by normative integration and shared symbolic meaning. Functional explanations for sport frequently identify sport's presumed social integrating function. The idea here is that sports teams bind individuals to a common cause, developing loyalty to and an identification with the organizations of which the team is a part. Thus, high school and college teams, professional teams, and Olympic teams are seen as binding people to the school, college, city, and nation. Moreover, the ritual and ceremony which is a part of sport serves to reinforce the values of society, and thus promotes integration. The integrating function of sport for American society has been summarized by Cozens and Stumpf:
Common interests, common loyalties,

43. Brian Sutton-Smith and B. G. Rosenberg, "Sixty Years of Historical Change in the Game Preferences of American Children," Journal of American Folklore 74 (1961):1746; Brian Sutton-Smith, B. C. Rosenberg, and E. F. Morgan, Jr., "Development of Sex Differences in Play Choices During Preadolescence," Child Development 34 (1963):119126. 44. Janet Lever, "Sex Differences in the Complexity of Children's Play and Games," American Sociological Review 43 (August 1978):482.

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common enthusiasms-these are the great integrating factors in any culture. In America, sports have provided this common denominator in as great a degree as any other factor . . . in furnishing cultural interest, fostering understanding across class lines, and increasing the intimacy of association with different classes spectator sports have contributed to those integrating forces which are vital and indispensable in the preservation of our democratic way of life.45 Polish sociologist, Andrzej Wohl, echoes the same theme. He says: "... competitive sports has . . . been turned into an instrument promoting national integration, reflecting national aspirations and achievements. This lofty function of competitive sport as a means to awaken national consciousness and national pride is no secret for anybody any more."46

Socialization function
In order to integrate persons fully into society, the society must provide ways and means for appropriate socialization. Various social agents and agencies typically perform this function, the outcome of which is the learning and internalization of the societal values, norms, and behaviors on the part of the individual.47 According to sociologists Harry Edwards, sport is "A social institution which has primary functions in disseminating and reinforcing the values regulating be45. Frederick Cozens and Florence'Stumpf, Sports in American Life (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1953). 46. Andrzej Wohl, "Competitive Sport and its Social Functions," International Review of Sports Sociology 5 (1970):123. 47. William M. Dobringer, Social Structures and Systems (Pacific Palisades, CA: Goodyear, 1969).

havior . . . and determining acceptable solutions to problems in the secular sphere of life."48 Similarly, Walter Schafer has argued that sport socializes "the athlete into established mainstream cultural and behavioral patterns of society and in this way contributes to the stability, maintenance, and perpetuation of the established society.49 One of the oldest and most persistent claims with respect to sport's role in socialization is that sport "builds character," which has typically implied that behavioral dispositions such as courage, selfdiscipline, leadership, cooperation, loyalty, and honesty are nurtured through sport participation. One example of this belief is Patterson and Hallberg's statement: "Through athletic participation students gain many qualities for effective citizenry."50 Aside from the undocumented essays by physical educators and a few social scientists, this contention has typically been documented through testimonials
48. Harry Edwards, Sociology of Sport (Homewood, IL: Dorsey Press, 1973). 49. Walter Schafer, "Sport and Youth Counterculture: Contrasting Socialization Themes" in Social Problems in Athletics ed. Daniel M. Landers (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1976), p. 184; also see Walter Schafer, "Sport, Socialization, and the School: Toward Maturity or Enculturation?" presented at the Third International Symposium on Sociology of Sport, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 1971. 50. Ann Patterson and Edmond C. Hallberg, Background Readings for Physical Education (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1965); also see American Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, Athletics in Education (Washington, DC: AAHPER, 1962); Leonard A. Larson, "Why Sports Participation?" Journal of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation 35 (January 1964):36-37, 42-43; Joseph Oxendine, "Social Development: The Forgotten Objective," Journal of Health, Physical Education and Recreation 37 (May 1966):23-24.

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of successful businessmen and military leaders, describing how their sports experiences were responsible for their achievements in business or war. Social control function
The notion that sport has a social control function also has a long history. Almost 50 years ago sociologist Willard Waller suggested that one of the primary functions of interschool sports was to help control students' behavior. He observed the "use of athletics may simplify the problem of police work in the schools. . . . Athletes . . . are the natural leaders, and they are leaders who can be controlled and manipulated through the medium of
athletics."51

The theory that aggressive tendencies of people need a socially sanctioned outlet has led some social scientists to suggest that sport can serve this social control function. Two well-known sociologists, Gerth and Mills, have argued:

masses." In 1934 Parry suggested that sport was an instrument with which the mass of population could be kept in check, awed, or distracted. According to him, sport would "allay social unrest and lessen the possibility of political uprisings.53 In that same year in his book Technics and Civilization, Mumford contended that modern sport no longer had any of the characteristics of play and had become a spectacle that served only to promote the existing social order by providing a temporary distraction from the highly structured, standardized, mechanized world.54 More recently, Hoch has argued that contemporary sport is an instrument of monopolistic capitalism which . . . "robs people of their power to make decisions and their creativity, and sets them in search of opiates in consumption and entertainment."55 In Hoch's view contemporary sport thus serves as a mass narcotic-an opiate.

Personal-expressivefunction

Our discussion of the functions of and sports have focused Manymass audience situations,with their play, games, on the instrumental functions that "vicarious" enjoyments, serve psychologically the unintended function of these activities are presumed to have that the various play channeling and releasing otherwise un- -meaning emotions. Thus great volumes forms are a means to some end which placable of aggression are "cathartically" released is not the participation itself. It seems by crowds of spectators cheering their appropriate to end this discussion of favorite stars of sport-and jeering the the functions of play, games and umpire.52 sports by noting that some social scientists have proposed that "sport A related dimension to the issue needs no other justification than it of sport for social control is the idea provides a setting for sociability and that sport is an opiate of the people, an adaptation to Marx's contention 53. Albert Parry. "Sports" in Edwin R. Sethat "religion is an opiate of the and Alvin
51. Willard Waller, The Sociology of Teaching (New York: Wiley, 1932), p. 116. 52. Hans Gerth and C. Wright Mills, Character and Social Structure (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1954).

ligmann Johnson, eds., Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, vol. 3 (New York: Macmillan, 1934) p. 306. 54. Lewis Mumford. Technics and Civilization. (New York: Harcourt-Brace, 1934). 55. Paul Hoch, Rip Off the Big Game (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1972).

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THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY

fun."56 This emphasis on the personal-expressive function of play, games, and sports views these activities as basically existential experiences that provide joy, self-satisfaction, and self-fufillment. That instrumental concerns have distorted or negated the rich potential that play forms have for nurturing expressive56. Alan G. Ingham and John W. Loy, Jr. "The Social System of Sport: A Humanistic Perspective," Quest 19 (Winter 1973):7.

ness is decried by these scholars, and they are beginning to produce a growing body of literature promoting the personal-expressive potential of play, games and sport.57
57. See, for example, Dorothy J. Allen and Brian W. Fahey, Being Human in Sport (Philadelphia: Lea and Febiger, 1977); Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Beyond Boredom and Anxiety (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1975); Benjamin Lowe, The Beauty of Sport (Englewood Cliffs: NJ Prentice-Hall, 1977).