Prevalence of sexual harassment among Norwegian female elite athletes in relation to sport type

Although it is often assumed that the prevalence of sexual harassment is different in different sports, this assumption has not been empirically tested. This study considers whether the experience of sexual harassment varies by sport. The female elite athletes (N = 553) in the study participated in 56 different sport disciplines. These were grouped as follows :1) team or individual sports; 2) extent to which clothing required for competition is revealing ; 3) gender structure (male-or female dominated membership statistics); and 4) gender culture (masculine, gender-neutral, or feminine). The data show that sexual harassment occurs in every sport group. Female elite athletes who participated in ‘masculine’ sports appear to experience more harassment than women in the other groups. We conclude that, when it comes to female athletes’ experiences of sexual harassment, sport type matters far less than sport participation per se

The grooming process in sport: Case studies of sexual harassment and abuse

Drawing on interviews with two elite female athletes from different sports, one from a study in Norway and the other from a study in England, this article explores the process of 'grooming' in the context of sport. Both athletes experienced grooming for sex by their male coaches yet were able to stop the process at a particular point. Grooming has been used to demarcate 'sexual harassment' and 'sexual abuse' as separate points on a continuum of sexually exploitative behaviours. Grooming involves slowly gaining trust before systematically breaking down interpersonal barriers. Elite athletes can become trapped into compliance because they trust and like, or even love, their abusers. The motivation behind sexual harassment and abuse is often power, whereby the harasser seeks to take control over another individual. The abusers use threats (such as being cut from the team) and rewards or privileges to secure co-operation and manipulate the victims to maintain secrecy. Our primary purpose here is to use these adapted realist tales to provide a richer and more personal illustration of these events (within-case) than is presented through extrapolated checklists of 'risk factors' (cross-case). The stories also illustrate vividly elements from the different stages in the grooming process in sport, as described in previous literature. Finally, they reinforce the need to identify protective factors as part of anti-harassment and abuse prevention programmes with both coaches and athletes

The characteristics of sexual abuse in sport: A multidimensional scaling analysis of events described in media reports

Most research on sexual abuse has been conducted within family settings (Fergusson & Mullen, 1999). In recent years, following several high profile convictions and scandals, research into sexual abuse has also encompassed institutional and community settings such as sport and the church (Gallagher, 2000; Wolfe et al., 2003). Research into sexual abuse in sport, for example, began with both prevalence studies (Kirby & Greaves, 1996; Leahy, Pretty & Tenenbaum, 2002) and qualitative analyses of the processes and experiences of athlete sexual abuse (Brackenridge, 1997; Cense & Brackenridge, 2001, Toftegaard Nielsen, 2001). From such work, descriptions of the modus operandi of abusers in sport, and the experiences and consequences for athlete victims, have been provided, informing both abuse prevention work and coach education. To date, however, no study has provided empirical support for multiple associations or identified patterns of sex offending in sport in ways that might allow comparisons with research-generated models of offending outside sport. This paper reports on an analysis of 159 cases of criminally defined sexual abuse, reported in the print media over a period of 15 years. The main aim of the study was to identify the nature of sex offending in sport focusing on the methods and locations of offences. The data were analysed using multidimensional scaling (MDS), as a data reduction method, in order to identify the underlying themes within the abuse and explore the inter-relationships of behaviour, victim and context variables. The findings indicate that there are specific themes that can be identified within the perpetrator strategies that include ‘intimate’, ‘aggressive’, and ‘’dominant’ modes of interaction. The same patterns that are described here within the specific context of sport are consistent with themes that emerge from similar behavioural analyses of rapists (Canter & Heritage, 1990; Bishopp, 2003) and child molester groups (Canter, Hughes & Kirby, 1998). These patterns show a correspondence to a broader behavioural model – the interpersonal circumplex (e.g., Leary 1957). Implications for accreditation and continuing professional education of sport psychologists are noted

Evacuation, Hygiene, and Social Policy: The Our Towns Report of 1943.

There has recently been much debate about social policy in Britain during the Second World War. This article takes up Jose Harris's suggestion that historians should look not at large-scale forces, but at ‘those minuscule roots of idiosyncratic private culture’. As a way into the complex amalgam that comprised ideas on social policy in the 1940s, we look in particular at the report on the evacuation of schoolchildren entitled Our towns: a close up, published by the Women's Group on Public Welfare in March 1943. Of course it is undeniable that one report is unrepresentative of all the many surveys that were produced on the evacuation experience. However, the initial wave of evacuation in September 1939 was the most significant, and the Our towns survey, along with a famous leader article in The Economist, has already received some selective attention from historians. Here we subject the survey to a more intensive examination, looking at the backgrounds of its authors, its content, and its reception by various professional groups. The article argues that it was the apparently contradictory nature of the report that explains its powerful appeal – it echoed interwar debates about behaviour and citizenship, but also reflected the ideas that would shape the welfare state in the post-war years

Challenging the Gifted Learner Virtually: A Phenomenological Study

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the experiences of core academic middle school teachers with differentiating instruction and assessment for gifted and talented students in rural southern Maryland. Two theories providing the theoretical framework for this study include Bandura’s self-efficacy theory and McClelland’s achievement-motivation theory These two theories explain learning experiences and interactions between the learner and the instructor while addressing the educator’s efficacy in challenging gifted learners within the virtual classroom. The central research question that guided this research was, “What are the shared lived experiences among select middle school, core academic, teachers when differentiating instruction and challenging gifted learners in southern Maryland during virtual instruction?” The instrumentation for this study was a set of open-ended questions conducted in a face-to-face interview, archival data in the form of document analysis and journal prompts. Data were analyzed by the researcher using MAXQDA qualitative data analysis software. Three themes emerged, including efficacy dependent on available supports and strategies, the challenge of teaching virtually, and positive attitudes and beliefs toward differentiation. The themes that developed revealed that the participants experienced conflicting attitudes toward differentiating for gifted students and felt ill-equipped differentiating instruction for this group of students. The results of this study may inform the body of knowledge regarding the education of gifted learners and address acceleration practices to improve challenging this population in the classroom and achieve academic success

Annual reports of the town officers of Fitzwilliam, N.H. for the year ending January 31, 1921.

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire

Annual reports of the town officers of Fitzwilliam, N.H. for the year ending January 31, 1921.

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire

Annual reports of the town officers of Fitzwilliam, N.H. for the year ending January 31, 1921.

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire

Annual reports of the town officers of Fitzwilliam, N.H. for the year ending January 31, 1921.

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire