Sport, Leisure and Health: A Sociological Study of the Lives of Children and Young People in Liverpool City Region

Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis

Abstract

Children and young people [CYP] in Liverpool live in one of the most under resourced, low-income, areas of England, where the prevalence of poor mental health and other social problems (e.g. educational underachievement, crime, physical inactivity) is higher than the national average (Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, 2023). In Liverpool City Region, as elsewhere, the impact of Covid-19 exacerbated and widened existing health and social inequalities (Marmot and Allen, 2020) which appear to have had lasting impacts on the health and wellbeing of CYP, their educational experiences, leisure engagement and wider social relations. Since Covid-19, programmes delivered by sport-based community organisations and other place-based partnerships have been increasingly implemented (including in and with schools) (Charles et al., 2021; Duffell, Haycock and Smith, 2023; Smith, 2021) to support the needs of CYP. However, few of these programmes have been adequately understood from the perspective of CYP, particularly in relation to their intended impacts on the interrelated features of their lives (e.g. their educational and leisure lives). This sociological study seeks to address this gap in knowledge by drawing upon data generated from 46 focus groups (including creative methods) held with 63 CYP, and semi-structured interviews conducted with 17 adult personnel (aged 18 or over) who work in various community settings, including the programme delivery staff of a sport-for-change organisation, school gatekeepers, and the police. Using key sensitising concepts from figurational sociology (e.g. figurations, power, established- outsider relations) which provided the underpinning theoretical framework of the thesis, this study sheds new light on the complex independencies which exist between the various interdependent features of the lives of CYP, including in their family and peer networks, at school (with school staff and classmates), and during leisure time (especially with friends). By conceptualising CYP and the realities of their lives ‘in the round’, the findings reveal how deep-seated inequalities come to shape their experiences of education, leisure, as well as their health and wellbeing. The findings raise important questions about the degree to which sport-for-change programmes delivered in schools and place-based leisure settings can benefit CYP as intended and tackle the inequalities which characterise their lives.
Date of Award13 Jan 2025
Original languageEnglish
Awarding Institution
  • Edge Hill University
SupervisorANDY SMITH (Director of Studies), Emily Lovett (Supervisor) & GREG DONCASTER (Supervisor)

Keywords

  • Children and young people
  • Inequalities
  • Leisure
  • Education
  • Relationships
  • Figurational sociology

Cite this

'