Sport, Health and Drugs : A Critical Sociological Perspective

Sport may teach people how to win gracefully, but it may also teach them how to win at any cost, even if this involves violence or cheating.

To understand the complex relationship between modern sport and other aspects of society, it is necessary to strip away our preconceptions of how sport ought to operate and to examine, in as detached a manner as possible, the way in which sport really operates.

Particular issues examined include: sport, health and public policy; child abuse and sex abuse in sport; conflicts in the role of club medical staff in professional football; doping in sport; sports medicine and the development of performance enhancing drugs; and a case study of cycling and the 1998 Tour de France.

Interview transcripts, case studies and press cuttings are used to ground theory into reality.

Students and lecturers should find this a useful resource.