Phase 1 Ip Sociology

Phase 1 Ip Sociology

Destiny Lehmann
Phase 1 IP
11/26/11
Pernevlon Ellis

You can look at sports from several theoretical perspectives including conflict, functionalist, interactionist, and feminist. Which of these is most useful in looking at the sociology of sports? Why?

After reading about the four theoretical perspectives I believe that all four perspectives are useful in looking at sociology of sports because they each prove different things based on the research done.   However, in my opinion the Interactionist view is the most useful for several reasons.   First of all the interactionist examine sports on the micro level and focus on day to day social behavior rather than focusing on a particular group of people or sports as a whole.   Through the interactionist view you can see that sports heighten the involvement a parent may have in their child’s life.   For example, the parent may not be too involved in their child’s life due to work or lack of interest in what the child does in his or her life.   However if the child joins a sport that the parent likes they then will become more involved in that child’s life because they now have something they can enjoy and do together and in turn form a special bond between the two of them.   Interationists also have shown that friendships are developed through participation in sports.   For example a person may not have many friends until he joins the football team in school, but by joining that gives him the time to get to know and interact with the other teammates and in turn make potential lifelong friends.   They also have shown how people involved in sports can look past any racial, religious, or class difference and work together as a team.   For example, a very wealthy person and a poor person can work together without judgment because they are on the same team.  

Mary Jo Kane, sports sociologist from the University of Minnesota, who specializes in gender and sports for women, did a study on women putting their bodies on...