@article{24483035e5ab46daafe083a6023aa229,
title = "Touchy Subject: A Foucauldian Analysis of Coaches{\textquoteright} Perceptions of Adult-Child Touch in Youth Swimming",
abstract = "It has been suggested that child safety discourses are creating an environment in which safety from abuse defines every act of adult-child touch as suspicious, resulting in adults who work with children being positioned as {\textquoteleft}risky{\textquoteright} and child-related settings becoming no-touch zones. Research on the impact of these discourses on coaches is limited and there have been few attempts to theorize coaches{\textquoteright} behaviours to better understand how child safety concerns impact on their practice. Focusing on coaches{\textquoteright} avoidance of child touch, this paper uses a Foucauldian perspective to explore coaches{\textquoteright} embodied disciplinary and emancipatory responses to child protection discourses in competitive youth swimming. It also discusses the implications of coaches{\textquoteright} apprehension about child touch on swimming practice and young athletes.",
keywords = "Child protection, child abuse, adult-child touch, Foucault, moral panic, youth swimming",
author = "Melanie Lang",
note = "Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) Wavepower 2012/15: The ASA child safeguarding policy and procedures. Loughborough, ASA. Available at: www.swimming.org/asa/clubs-and-members/safeguarding-children. Accessed 19/6/13. Andrzejewski, C.E., \& Davis, H. A. (2008). Human contact in the classroom: Exploring how teachers talk about and negotiate touching students. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24, 779-794. Barker-Ruchti, N., \& Tinning, R. (2010). Foucault in leotards: Corporeal discipline in women{\textquoteright}s artistic gymnastics. Sociology of Sport Journal, 27, 229-250. Beck, U. (1992). Risk society: Towards a new modernity. London: Sage. Beck, U. (2002). The terrorist threat: World risk society revisited. Theory, Culture and Society, 19, 39-55. Brackenridge, C., Bringer, J. D., \& Bishopp, D. (2005). Managing cases of abuse in sport. Child Abuse Review, 14, 259-274. British Swimming (n.d). Teaching in the water and the handing of children. Available at: www.swimming.org/assets/uploads/library/Teaching\_in\_the\_water\_\_handling\_pupils.pdf. Accessed 19/6/13. Chapman, G. E. (1997). Making weight: Lightweight rowing, technologies of power and technologies of the self. Sociology of Sport Journal, 14, 205-223. Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU). (2003) Standards for safeguarding and protecting children in sport. Leicester: CPSU. Cushion, C. (2007). Modelling the complexity of the coaching process: A response to commentaries. International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, 2, 427-433. Denison, J., \& Scott-Thomas, D. (2011). Michel Foucault: Power and discourse – The {\textquoteleft}loaded{\textquoteright} language of coaching. In R. L. Jones, P. Potrac, C. Cushion, \& L. R. Ronglon (Eds.). The Sociology of Sports Coaching (pp. 27-39). London: Routledge. Fasting, K. Brackenridge, C., \& Sundgot-Borgen, J. (2004). Prevalence of sexual harassment among Norwegian female elite athletes in relation to sport type. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 39, 373-386. Field, T. (2003). Touch. Cambridge, MA.: MIT Press. Foucault, M. (1970). The order of things: An archaeology of the human sciences. London: Tavistock. Foucault, M. (1977a). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison. London: Allen Lane. Foucault, M. (1997b) Sexuality and solitude. In P. Rabinow (Ed.). Ethics, Subjectivity and Truth: Michel Foucault 1926-1984 (pp. 170-196). London: Penguin. Foucault, M. (1978). The history of sexuality. Volume 1: The will to knowledge. New York: Pantheon. Foucault, M. (1983). The subject and power. In H. L. Dreyfus \& P. Rabinow (Eds.). Michel Foucault: Beyond Structuralism and Hermeneutics (pp. 208-226). Chicago: Chicago University Press. Foucault, M. (1984). The history of sexuality. Volume 2: The use of pleasure. London: Random House. Foucault, M. (1988a). Truth, power, self. In L. H. Martin, H. Gutman \& P. H. Hutton (Eds.). Technologies of the Self: A Seminar with Michel Foucault (pp. 1-21). Amherst, MA.: University of Massachusetts Press. Foucault, M. (1988b). Technologies of the self. In L. H. Martin, H. Gutman \& P. H. Hutton (Eds.). Technologies of the Self: A Seminar with Michel Foucault (pp. 16-49). Amherst, MA.: University of Massachusetts Press. Furedi, F. (2001). Paranoid parenting: Why ignoring the experts may be best for your child (1st ed.). London: Allen Lane. Goetz, J., \& LeCompte, M. (1984). Ethnography and qualitative design in educational research. New York: Academic Press. Gray, D., \& Watt, P. (2013). Giving victims a voice: Joint report into sexual allegations made against Jimmy Savile. London: Metropolitan Police Service/NSPCC. Available at: http://www.nspcc.org.uk/news-and-views/our-news/child-protection-news/13-01-11-yewtree-report/yewtree-report-pdf\_wdf93652.pdf. Accessed on 19/6/13. Grenfell, C. C., \& Rinehart, R. E. (2003). Skating on thin ice: Human rights in youth figure skating. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 38, 79-97. Hewitt, D. (2010). Positive reasons for giving and making available physical contact to students. Intensive Interaction [online]. Available at: www.intensiveinteraction.co.uk/blog/user-contributions/positive-rea-to-students/00048.html. Accessed on 14/1/13. Johns, D. P., \& Johns, J. S. (2000). Surveillance, subjectivism and technologies of power: An analysis of the discursive practice of high-performance sport. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 35, 219-234. Johnson, B., \& Christensen, L. (2004). Educational research: Quantitative, qualitative and mixed approaches. Boston: Pearson Education. Jones, A. (2004). Social anxiety, sex, surveillance and the {\textquoteleft}safe{\textquoteright} teacher. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 25, 53-66. Jones, R. L. (2009). Coaching as caring (the smiling gallery): Accessing hidden knowledge. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 14, 377-390. Jones, R. L., Bailey, J., \& Santos, S. (2013). Coaching, caring and the politics of touch: A visual exploration. Sport, Education and Society. doi:10.1080/13573322.2013.769945. Jowett, S. (2005). The coach-athlete partnership. The Psychologist, 18, 412-415. Jowett, S., \& Cramer, D. (2010). The prediction of young athletes{\textquoteright} physical self from perceptions of relationships with parents and coaches. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 11, 140-147. Kidman, L., \& Lombardo, B. J. (Eds.). (2010). Athlete-centred coaching: Developing decision makers. Worcester: IPC. Kneidinger, L. M., Maple, T. L., Tross, S. A. (2001). Touching behaviour in sport: Functional components, analysis of sex differences and ethiological considerations. Journal of Non-Verbal Behavior, 25, 43-62. Lang, M. (2009). Swimming in the Panopticon: An ethnographic study of good practice and child protection in competitive youth swimming, unpublished PhD thesis, Leeds Metropolitan University. Lang, M. (2010). Surveillance and conformity in competitive youth swimming. Sport, Education and Society, 15, 19-37. Lincoln, Y. S., \& Guba, E (1985). Naturalistic enquiry. Beverley Hills, CA.: Sage. Markula, P. (1995). Firm but shapely, fit but sexy, strong but thin: The postmodern aerobicising female bodies. Sociology of Sport Journal, 12, 424-453. Markula, P. (2003). The technologies of the self: Sport, feminism and Foucault. Sociology of Sport Journal, 20, 87-107. Markula, P. (2004). {\textquoteleft}Turning into oneself{\textquoteright}: Foucault{\textquoteright}s technologies of the self and mindful fitness. Sociology of Sport Journal, 21, 302-321. Markula, P., \& Pringle, R. (2006). Foucault, sport and exercise: Power, knowledge and transforming the self. London: Routledge. Marshall K., \& Mellon, M. (2011). Crowding out wisdom: The mechanisation of adult-child relationships. In L. Bondi, D. Carr, C. Clark \& C. Clegg (Eds.). Towards professional wisdom: Practical deliberation in the people professions (pp. 187-204). Farnham: Ashgate. Martin, S. B., Dale, G. A., \& Jackson, A. W. (2001). Youth coaching preferences of adolescent athletes and their parents. Journal of Sport Behavior, 24, 197-212. Maykut, P., \& Morehouse, R. (1994). Beginning qualitative researchers: A philosophical and practical guide. Washington, DC: Falmer. McAlinden, A.-M. (2006). {\textquoteleft}Setting {\textquoteleft}em up{\textquoteright}: Personal, familial and institutional grooming in the sexual abuse of children. Social and Legal Studies, 15, 339-362. McNeill, P. (1988). Doing Social Research. Basingstoke: Macmillan. McWilliam, E., \& Jones, A. (2005). An unprotected species? On teachers as risky subjects. British Educational Research Journal, 31, 109-120. McWilliam, E., \& Sachs, J. (2004). Towards the victimless school: Professionalism and probity in teaching. Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 3, 17-30. Murray, C., \& Malmgren, K. (2005). Implementing a teacher-student relationship programme in a high-poverty urban school: Effects on social, emotional and academic adjustment and lessons learned. Journal of School Psychology, 43, 137-152. Pain, R. (2006). Paranoid parenting? Rematerializing risk and fear for children. Social and Cultural Geography, 7, 221-243. Pearce, C. (2010). The life of suggestions. Qualitative Inquiry, 16, 902-908. Piper, H., Taylor, B., \& Garrett, D. (2012). Sports coaching in a risk society: No touch, no trust! Sport, Education and Society, 17, 1-15. Piper, H., Powell, J., \& Smith, H. (2006). Parents, professionals and paranoia: The touching of children in a culture of fear. Journal of Social Work, 6, 151-167. Piper, H., \& Stronach, I. (2008). Don{\textquoteright}t touch! The educational story of a panic. London: Routledge. Potrac, P., Jones, R., \& Armour, K. (2002). {\textquoteleft}It{\textquoteright}s all about getting respect{\textquoteright}: The coaching behaviours of an expert English soccer coach. Sport, Education and Society, 7, 183-202. Rail, G., \& Harvey, J. (1995). Body at work: Michel Foucault and the sociology of sport. Sociology of Sport Journal, 12, 164-175. Shogan, D. (1999). The making of high-performance athletes: Discipline, diversity and ethics. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Sikes, P., \& Piper, H. (2011). Researching allegations of sexual misconduct in schools: The need for a narrative approach. Sexuality Research and Social Practice, 8, 294-303. Sparkes, A. C. (1989). Paradigmatic confusion and the evasions of critical issues in naturalistic research. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 8, 131-151. Sparkes, A. C. (2000). Illness, premature termination and the loss of self: A biographical study of an elite athlete. In R. Jones \& K. Armour (Eds.). Sociology of sport: Theory and practice (pp. 13-32). London: Addison Wiley Longman. Sport England (2013). Active people survey 7. Available at: www.sportengland.org/research/who-plays-sport/by-sport/who-plays-sport. Accessed on 19/6/13. Sports Coach UK (2011). Sports coaching in the UK 3: A statistical analysis of coaching and coaches in the UK. Leeds: Sports Coach UK. Svender, J., Larsson, H., \& Redelius, K. (2012). Promoting girls{\textquoteright} participation in sports: Discursive constructions of girls in a sports initiative. Sport, Education and Society, 17, 463-478. Ungar, S. (2001). Moral panic versus the risk society: The implications of the changing sites of social anxiety. British Journal of Sociology, 52, 271-291. Williams, E. (2004). False accusations. Times Educational Supplement. 20 February, 11-14. Woods, P. (1986). Inside schools: Ethnography in educational research. London: Routledge \& Kegan Paul. Willis, P. (1980). Notes on method. In S. Hall (Ed.). Culture, Media and Language (pp. 142-156). London: Hutchinson.",
year = "2015",
month = mar,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1123/ssj.2013-008",
language = "English",
volume = "32",
pages = "4--21",
journal = "Sociology of Sport Journal",
issn = "0741-1235",
publisher = "Human Kinetics Publishers Inc.",
number = "1",
}
SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions