| dc.description.abstract | Sports is often promoted for its positive impact on people’s physical health, the benefits for
mental well-being, and its value to society. Yet, there is also a negative side to sports. In this
qualitative-interpretive research, I explore this negative side of sports, which is characterised
by integrity violations such as match fixing, doping, and anti-social behaviour, and I aim to
examine how educational programs of NOC*NSF prevent integrity violations from happening.
This study provides an analysis of how educational programs provided by NOC*NSF on antisocial behaviour contribute to a safe sports climate in the Dutch context. Through interviews,
participants observation, and document analysis, the views on anti-social behaviour have been
examined, the educational programs have been investigated, and the perceptions of participants
on educational programs have been studied. The findings show that the educational programs
of NOC*NSF contribute, to a limited extent, to a safe sports climate by raising awareness to
create a sense of responsibility for safe sports in non-athlete actors and by providing them with
tools and measures to address anti-social behaviour. However, the analysis also illustrates that
the contribution to a safe sports climate is limited as anti-social behaviour is defined as
ambiguous and subjective, confusing both educational trainers and participants. Above that, the
educational programs miss profundity. There is a need from participants for more dialogue,
assignments, and cases in which the issue of anti-social behaviour is discussed. Yet, in their
educational programs, NOC*NSF avoids sensitive topics, and the underlying values, social
norms, and cultural beliefs that form the antecedents of anti-social behaviour are not addressed.
As a result, participants do not get enough preventive tools to tackle the causes of anti-social
behaviour, which has a detrimental effect on the creation and maintenance of a safe sports
climate. | |
