Trying to fit in – Upper secondary school students' negotiation processes between sports culture and youth culture. (June 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nielsen, Stine Frydendal; Thing, Lone Friis
• Is Part Of: International review for the sociology of sport. Volume 54:Number 4(2019)
• Page Start: 445
• Page End: 458
• Publication Date: 2019-06
• Subjects: figurational sociology -- focus group interviews -- physical education -- school-based research -- sports culture -- youth culture; Sports -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; 306.48305
• DOI: 10.1177/1012690217725906
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1012-6902

Abstract

In this paper we present results concerning how students in a Danish upper secondary school negotiate between sports culture and the prevailing norms of youth culture in a local school context. The study shows that it can be rather difficult for young people to combine sports culture with the local youth culture, because living a healthy and physically active life doesn't fit very well with the prevailing norms of youth culture, which involve a dominant social arena characterized by parties and alcohol. By applying the figurational sociology of Norbert Elias, this article shows that being included in a sports figuration can result in exclusion from the youth figuration. Young athletic students are therefore in a constant process of negotiation, where they struggle to fit into both sport and non-sport related contexts, because it is important to belong within both. The study is based on 16 focus group interviews [N=120] conducted over four years in one Danish upper secondary school.