Operating under the rubric of sport-for-development, nongovernmental organizations have mobilized sport activities as a tool for international development. Along with these initiatives, a scholarly analysis of the phenomenon has emerged. However, this body of research has not included analysis from a critical occupational perspective. This is a conspicuous shortcoming since, in the language of occupational science, sport-for-development initiatives are occupation-based programs. This study explored sport-for-development using a critical occupational approach to research I constructed, wherein the central site of knowledge production was occupations used in sport-for-development programs. Through five case studies with sport-for-development organizations in Lusaka, Zambia, I describe how staff and youth participants spoke about and understood the use of sport occupations in sport-for-development programs and the sport-for-development ideologies and practices in Zambia and how these shaped the participation of youth. Data generation included observing program activities, interviewing participants, and analyzing organization documents. The findings drew attention to the form, function, and meaning of the sport occupations used in sport-for-development, and illuminate that football, which is a heavily gendered and segregated sport, was constructed as the preferential activity for programs. This prioritization of football, in conjunction with a hierarchical, authoritative approach to decision making, and focus on the development of youths’ sports skills, led to athletic, non-disabled boys living in urban areas being the primary beneficiaries of the programs. I argue that the ideological beliefs that re/produced these understandings contributed to occupational injustices by (1) contributing to the practice of sport being used uncritically as an activity for all youth, (2) perpetuating what were considered acceptable activities for boys and girls in the local context to do, and (3) defining boys in opposition to girls, rural youth, poor youth, and youth with disabilities from both genders. Finally, I propose directions for institutionally-orientated actions to address occupational injustices and consideration of the wider uses and implications of a critical occupational approach within health and social research.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This study examined the role of Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) in peacebuilding, focussing particularly on the case of the Kenya Community Sports Foundation’s (KESOFO) Sport for Peace and Social Transformation (SPST) programme in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. It was meant to provide an in-depth understanding of the role generally played by community NGO programmes in fostering peace in communities through variations of the SDP framework. Additionally, the study’s purpose was to identify lessons of experience from the programme and give recommendations on how the programme can be improved in delivering its stated goal of fostering peace and development in conflict prone communities. The study made use of Johan Galtung’s 3Rs Conflict transformation theory, linking it with the Sports for Development and Peace (SDP) framework, with a critical analysis being proffered all in the quest to inform conceptualisation of this particular study. It made use of the philosophical assumption of interpretivism through relativist ontology and qualitative research methodology anchored on a descriptive approach.

This study expanded on the previous research surrounding the Facebook and Twitter use of non-governmental sport for development and peace (SDP) organizations as well governmental Ministries of Sport. Following the theoretical framework of Lovejoy and Saxton (2012) this research examined specifically how non-governmental and governmental sport organizations share information, form a community and encourage action with their social media audiences. A content analysis of 6003 social media posts demonstrated that both Ministries of Sport and SDP non-governmental organizations (NGOs) primarily use social media to disseminate information to their followers, however, SDP NGOs were more likely to use social media posts for a community function compared to governmental sport organizations. Lastly the use of social media to encourage further action was limited by both types of organizations and on both platforms. The content analysis also revealed that cabinet ministries were more likely to discuss on social programming (e.g., education, youth development) compared to posting about sport. This study also has important theoretical and practical implications and provides further insight into the social media use of sport organizations based in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The United Nations (2016) and International Olympic Committee (2015) have offered analyses highlighting sport's contributions to societal well-being. More particularly, and for their part, scholars have suggested that sport for development (SFD) initiatives can encourage the development of social capital (Kidd and Donnelly, 2007; Nicholson and Hoye, 2008; Lyras and Welty Peachy, 2011; Coalter, 2013). This dissertation investigated those researchers' claims by exploring the relationship between two SFD organization sports programs and social capital formation among their youth participants in Kigali, Rwanda. I conducted semi-structured interviews with the leaders of both SFD entities to obtain their perceptions concerning whether and how the efforts I examined were linked to social capital creation. I utilized the World Bank's Social Capital Initiative Networks View of social capital for my analysis (Woolcock and Narayan, 2000). This study's participants, coaches and curriculum designers, argued that sport for development initiatives fostered such relationships in a variety of ways, including easing ethnic divisions among those participating and challenging social norms, especially as related to gender. Those interviewed for this inquiry also suggested that SFD programs encouraged the formation of simultaneous amalgams of bonding and bridging social capital among participating youth; novel and potentially powerful evidence of the efficacy of sport programming. / Doctor of Philosophy / The United Nations (2016) and International Olympic Committee (2015) have each highlighted the significant contributions sport has made, and can make, to societal well-being. Previous research has suggested that sport for development (SFD) initiatives encourage these results be encouraging the development of social capital (Kidd and Donnelly, 2007; Nicholson and Hoye, 2008; Lyras and Welty Peachy, 2011; Coalter, 2013). This inquiry explored the relationship between SFD and three forms of social capital as perceived by interviewees drawn from the leaders of two such nongovernmental programs in Kigali, Rwanda. The study utilized the Networks View of social capital developed by the World Bank's Social Capital Initiative to examine whether sport for development initiatives fostered social capital (Woolcock and Narayan, 2000). According to this study's participants, such efforts did indeed promote social capital in a variety of ways, including easing ethnic divides and challenging social norms related to gender. Additionally, interviewees also suggested that SFD programs encouraged the formation of simultaneous bundles of bonding and bridging social capital among participating youth; novel and potentially powerful evidence of the efficacy of sport programming.

In determinate circostanze, i giovani vulnerabili possono sperimentare inclusione sociale attraverso lo sport. Dal momento che la comprensione di tali circostanze rimane poco studiata, la tesi fornisce approfondimenti su questo argomento mostrando i risultati della valutazione dialogica di un programma sportivo italiano. I risultati mostrano che: I. Promuovere l'accesso allo sport attraverso tasse sportive agevolate, servizi burocratici e trasporti inclusivi sono presupposti fondamentali per introdurre i giovani allo sport; II. Introdurre professionisti che facciano da ponte tra le società sportive locali e le diverse agenzie che si occupano di giovani vulnerabili è una condizione fondamentale che fornisce maggiori risorse sociali ai giovani, soprattutto in caso di grave vulnerabilità sociale. III. Coinvolgere i club sportivi in una formazione mirata a migliorare la loro capacità di essere inclusivi è una condizione significativa da considerare poiché "competizione" e "inclusione" sono percepiti come valori opposti difficilmente integrabili nel lavoro degli allenatori sportivi. IV. L'esperienza di inclusione attraverso lo sport è collegata all'autoefficacia sportiva e all'interesse dei giovani verso certi sport. Il lavoro discute il ruolo dei processi dialogici nella traduzione della conoscenza scientifica alla pratica e viceversa. I risultati forniscono suggerimenti orientati alla pianificazione e la gestione dei programmi sportivi. / Under certain circumstances, vulnerable youngsters might experience social inclusion through sport. Since the understanding of such circumstances remains under-researched, the dissertation provides insights into this topic by showing the dialogic evaluation outcomes of an Italian sport-based programme. The results shows that: I. Promoting access to sport through subsidised sports fees, inclusive bureaucracy services and transport are fundamental preconditions to introducing youth to the sports; II. Introducing professionals who bridge the gap between local sports clubs and diverse agencies dealing with vulnerable youth is a fundamental condition that provides increased social resources to youngsters, especially in case of severe social vulnerability. III. Involving sports clubs in training aimed at enhancing their capacity to be inclusive is a meaningful condition to consider since “competition” and “inclusion” are perceived as opposite values that can hardly be integrated into sports coaches work. IV. The experience of inclusion through sport is connected to sport self-efficacy and the interest of youth toward certain sports. The work discusses the role of dialogic processes in the translation of scientific knowledge to practice and vice versa. Results provide action-oriented evidence for sport for development planning and management.

The purpose of this study was to understand the role of Sport for Development (SFD) in addressing health disparities in low-SES communities. This was done using a multiple case study design, in which administrators, staff, and youth participants from five SFD programs were interviewed. A theoretical model, consisting of the theory of fundamental causes (Link & Phelan, 1995), the classification of SFD programs (Coalter, 2007), and the ecological model of health promotion (McLeroy, 1988), was developed to guide this study. Interviews were transcribed and then analyzed using a deductive coding process (Gilgun, 2005). The findings revealed that the SFD programs in this study were driven by goals such as providing access and opportunity to sport, helping youth develop life skills, and promoting health. The programs worked to achieve those goals by providing education, through their use of sport, and by providing resources and services. Finally, the programs in this study promote health at the intrapersonal, interpersonal, organization, environment, and policy levels. These findings hold various practical, scholarly, and policy implications and could shed light on how SFD programs may operate in order to reduce health disparities among low-SES populations.

Governments, United Nations (UN) agencies and international and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have mounted a concerted effort to remobilize sport as a vehicle for broad, sustainable social development. This resonates with the call by the UN Inter-agency Task Force for sport to be a key component in national and international development objectives. Missing in these efforts is an explicit focus on physical education within state schools, which still enroll most children in the global South. This study focuses on research into one of the few instances where physical education within the national curriculum is being revitalized as part of this growing interest in leveraging the appeal of sport and play as a means to address social development challenges such as HIV/AIDS. The study examines the response to the Zambian government’s 2006 Declaration of Mandatory Physical Education (with a preventive education focus on HIV/AIDS) by personnel charged with its implementation. The decree directed personnel to immediately begin implementing the teaching of physical education in all Basic and Secondary schools in Zambia to “ensure physical fitness and the enhancement of values, skills and holistic development of the learner” (Ministry of Education, 2006). The study examined the response of 17 teachers and education administrators from Lusaka province, Zambia. The interviews were conducted between September and December 2009. The purpose of the study was to: 1) evaluate the implementation of the Presidential Decree on physical education as a strategy for addressing HIV/AIDS through Physical Education and Traditional Zambian Games; 2) explore and understand the response of teachers and administrators to the implementation of the 2006 Presidential Decree on physical education; 3) explore how the school context influences the implementation of the Presidential Decree; and 4) map a critical path of key personnel and their resource requirements, and make recommendations for strengthening the effectiveness of HIV prevention education. Drawing on education policy implementation literature, this study provides an analysis of the rising influence of the sport for development movement and of the ways in which physical education and sport may address HIV/AIDS within national education in Zambia. The findings of the study reveal promising signs for the potential of physical education, and of particularly traditional games, for student engagement and for addressing HIV/AIDS. Yet these promising signs are undermined by poor planning and support from the education bureaucracy, deficiencies that stem from years of neglect of, until recently, non-examinable subjects such as physical education. The findings confirm that the literature on education policy implementation drawn mostly from the global North is just as applicable to education sectors in the global South.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the intersection of sport for development and peace (SDP) and global corporate philanthropy through a case study of the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) “Basketball Without Borders” (BWB). The NBA promotes BWB as a means to social and economic development in the global South by wedding basketball with education on social issues and the development of sport-related infrastructure. However, the NBA’s participation in SDP is emblematic of broader issues in neoliberal globalization, and, as such, an historical and discursive analysis is undertaken to interrogate the seemingly divergent pursuits of capitalism and international development. I argue that the consequences of transnational corporations like the NBA entering developing nations for the purposes of promoting development through sport results in the prioritization of commercialism over development, and the (re)production of hegemonic and neocolonial ideologies and practices. / Thesis (Master, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2010-03-17 14:51:15.919

Governments, United Nations (UN) agencies and international and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have mounted a concerted effort to remobilize sport as a vehicle for broad, sustainable social development. This resonates with the call by the UN Inter-agency Task Force for sport to be a key component in national and international development objectives. Missing in these efforts is an explicit focus on physical education within state schools, which still enroll most children in the global South. This study focuses on research into one of the few instances where physical education within the national curriculum is being revitalized as part of this growing interest in leveraging the appeal of sport and play as a means to address social development challenges such as HIV/AIDS. The study examines the response to the Zambian government’s 2006 Declaration of Mandatory Physical Education (with a preventive education focus on HIV/AIDS) by personnel charged with its implementation. The decree directed personnel to immediately begin implementing the teaching of physical education in all Basic and Secondary schools in Zambia to “ensure physical fitness and the enhancement of values, skills and holistic development of the learner” (Ministry of Education, 2006). The study examined the response of 17 teachers and education administrators from Lusaka province, Zambia. The interviews were conducted between September and December 2009. The purpose of the study was to: 1) evaluate the implementation of the Presidential Decree on physical education as a strategy for addressing HIV/AIDS through Physical Education and Traditional Zambian Games; 2) explore and understand the response of teachers and administrators to the implementation of the 2006 Presidential Decree on physical education; 3) explore how the school context influences the implementation of the Presidential Decree; and 4) map a critical path of key personnel and their resource requirements, and make recommendations for strengthening the effectiveness of HIV prevention education. Drawing on education policy implementation literature, this study provides an analysis of the rising influence of the sport for development movement and of the ways in which physical education and sport may address HIV/AIDS within national education in Zambia. The findings of the study reveal promising signs for the potential of physical education, and of particularly traditional games, for student engagement and for addressing HIV/AIDS. Yet these promising signs are undermined by poor planning and support from the education bureaucracy, deficiencies that stem from years of neglect of, until recently, non-examinable subjects such as physical education. The findings confirm that the literature on education policy implementation drawn mostly from the global North is just as applicable to education sectors in the global South.

abstract: This thesis explores the relationship between sports and human rights based on United Nations reports and literature within the growing Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) sector. Recognizing the benefits of sport (including physical activity and play), SDP posits sport as an effective tool for achieving humanitarian, development, and peace objectives. Inspired by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team in Training (TNT) sports charity training model, which provides participants valuable coaching in exchange for charity fundraising, this research looked at the contribution of TNT and endurance sports to SDP for individual and social change. Interviews were conducted with TNT staff and team members (who are recent or current participants of the program) in order to find out specific reasons about why people join the program and to identify the benefits of combining endurance training with charity fundraising and what impacts this had on personal life goals and challenges. Using thematic analysis to identify key themes from the interview data, the study acknowledged the program's successes in developing endurance athletes and raising money for LLS research and services but also found an additional dimension to the merit of the program. The accomplishment of completing four months of training culminating in the completion of an endurance event with the support of team mates and coaches provides a life changing experience for participants. The study concludes that positive impacts of the TNT program can be applied to other organizations, causes and social issues. In particular it showed how endurance sport not only has physiological benefits but can be used as a method of healing and reconciliation, can aid in advocacy and awareness, and promote individual development. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Social Justice and Human Rights 2012