PERSPECTIVES OF ELITE ATHLETES WITH DISABlLITIES: PROBLEMS AND POSSIBlLITIES. A Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Ian Stuart Brittain Department of Leisure Faculty of Leisure and Tourism Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College BruneI University July, 2002 Abstract Disability sport, and especially elite disability sport, has been all but ignored in terms of academic research in this country. This thesis, therefore, is an attempt to begin redressing this situation. It focuses on the Great Britain Paralympic track and field squad, that competed in the Sydney Paralympic Games between 18th and 29th October 2000. Through a series of in-depth interviews, which took a focused life history approach, the researcher attempted to gain a greater understanding of the kinds of factors, both positive and negative, that had an affect upon the lives of these athletes from the time they first took up the sport of athletics to the present day. In line with current research in the field of disability studies it adopts a social construction approach. The results of the analysis are set within the social model of disability in order to try and highlight the impacts of the perceptions of disability, embedded in the dominant medical model discourse, on these athletes' attempts to get involved and progress within the sport of athletics. Key findings highlighted by this research are the major influence that the medical model discourse of disability has on the perceptions of large areas of the able-bodied population with regard to disability in general and disability sport in particular. Able-bodied perceptions of disability greatly influence not only to what extent people with disabilities are able to operate within the society they live in, but also how they view themselves and their own abilities. This research also highlights some of the ways these socially constructed perceptions of disability are recreated and reinforced. In keeping with the emancipatory approach adopted for this research, the athletes were given the opportunity to comment upon an initial draft of the research findings. This was an attempt to be inclusive and keep the participants informed. Also it was an attempt to try and portray as accurate and as authentic account of the sporting life of an athlete with a disability as is possible. Throughout this thesis the researcher attempts to give an open and reflective account of the whole research process in order to make the reader aware of the possible effects of the researcher's own background on the research outcomes. In conjunction with the athletes, suggestions are made about how to better inform policies or strategies for British disability sport in general and disability athletics in particular. Dedication. I wish to dedicate this thesis to my Uncle Michael. He dedicated his life to education and was always there to help and inspire me when I needed it. Sadly he passed away before I could complete it. 11 Acknowledgements. I would like to acknowledge my grateful thanks to all the participants in this research for their valuable time and for sharing their experiences with me in such a frank and open manner. I would also like to thank my supervisors, Professor Bill Tancred for getting me started, Professor John Tribe for stepping in to fill the void when Professor Tancred had to step down due to ill health and especially Professor Barbara Humberstone for her sound advice and also for putting up with my jokes! 111 Contents Page Number Abstract Dedication II Acknowledgements III Contents iv List of Figures vii List of Appendices viii List of Abbreviations and Acronyms IX Chapter One - Introduction 1 Outline of Thesis 6 Chapter Two - Contextualising Disability Sport 15 Disability, Definitions and Societal Perceptions 17 The Economic and Social Position of People with Disabilities in Britain 19 Disability and Sport 20 Political and Organisational Development 27 Impairment Groupings and Disability Sport 32 Barriers to Participation in Sport and Leisure Activities 36 Barriers to Sporting Excellence 43 Chapter Three - Methodology 51 The Aim of Research 52 A Methodological Overview 53 The Paradigm Debate 55 Positivism 57 The Interpretative Paradigm 60 Critical Science 61 Disability and the Paradigm Debate 65 Non-Disabled Researchers and Disability Studies 69 Reflexivity in the Research Process 71 The Evolution ofthe Research Question 75 Method of Data Collection and Analysis 78 Sociology and the Interview 80 'Life Histories' 89 Life Histories and the Emancipatory Approach 91 Methodological Overview and Analysis of Data 94 Respondent Validation 99 IV Chapter Four - Social Construction, the Social and Medical Models 103 of Disability and Disability Sport The Origins of Social Construction Theory 103 Power - Knowledge, Medical Model Discourse and Disability 109 Social Construction and the Social Model of Disability 113 People with Disabilities as Non-Contributors to Society 118 The Social Model of Disability and its Application to Sport 120 An Emancipatory Research Paradigm 123 Outline of the Following Chapters 130 Chapter Five - Perceptions of Disability and their Effects 133 The Impact of Negative Perceptions of Disability on Social Interaction in 135 Relation to People with Disabilities Sport and Disability 139 The Socially Constructed 'Reality' of Disability and Sport and Some of its 141 Effects Upon the Self-Perceptions of People with Disabilities Self-Confidence and Self-Image 141 Dependency 143 Self-Perception and Sport 144 Negative Perceptions of Disability and their Influence upon People 147 with Disabilities Lack of Awareness Amongst People with Disabilities 148 Media Coverage of Disability Sport 150 The Media and its Representation of Disability in General 155 Concluding Remarks 157 Chapter Six - The Role of Schools in Constructing the 'Reality' of Sport 159 and Physical Education in Relation to People with Disabilities A Special School or Mainstream Education for Children with Disabilities? 161 Special Schools 163 Mainstream Schools 168 The Role of Teachers in the Integration Process 172 Teachers, Talent Identification and Mainstream Schools 177 Possible Impacts of Mainstream Schooling on Elite Disability Sport 179 Concluding Remarks 182 Chapter Seven - Key Personnel and Their Significance in the Running 183 of Disability Sport. Coaches 184 Administrators and Officials 188 Event Organisers 196 Concluding Remarks 201 v Chapter Eight - Material Factors (Non-Financial) 202 Material Limitations to Involvement in Sport 203 Transport 203 Time/ Pace 206 Physical Accessibility 207 The Rules of (Able-bodied) Sport 209 An Example of a Disability Specific Implication: Guide Runners for Blind 210 Athletes Availability of Adapted Sports Equipment 213 Availability of Competition at the Correct Level 215 Concluding Remarks 217 Chapter Nine - Financial Issues 218 Getting Started in Sport 219 Charitable Handouts, Dependency and Self-Esteem 222 World Class Performance Funding (also known as Lottery Subsistence Grants) 225 Perceived Benefits of World Class Performance Funding 226 Perceived Problems and Pressures Stemming from World Class Performance 227 Funding Fear, Power and Possible Discrimination within the Lottery System 230 Concluding Remarks 236 Chapter Ten - Conclusions and Recommendations 238 The Problems 239 Possible Underlying Causes 243 Overcoming or Alleviating the Problems 245 A Possible Way Forward 247 The Emancipatory Approach to Research 248 Recommendations for Future Research 249 Appendices 251 Bibliography 273 VI List of Figures. Figure 1. The History and Development ofthe Summer Paralympic Games 25 1960 - Date. Figure 2. Influences on Leisure Participation. 36 Figure 3. The smart-casual look. 86 Figure 4. A conversation ice-breaker with the sighted athletes. 86 Figure 5. Flow chart depicting the structure of chapters 4 - 9 and set 131 within a framework of the social model of disability. Figure 6. School attendance between the age of 5 and 16 and type 163 of school attended. Figure 7. A comparison ofthe average ages of the Great Britain Paralympic 180 track and field team in Sydney by disability grouping and with the able-bodied Olympic track and field team in Sydney. Figure 8. Total annual income from the lottery for participants in this 225 research. Figure 9. Total annual income from all sources for participants in this 226 research. Vll List of Appendices. Appendix 1. laC - IPC Formal Agreement. 251 Appendix 2. Sports Participation by Disability Grouping for the Sydney 262 2000 Paralympic Games. Appendix 3. Contact Details for the British Disability Sports Organistaions 263 and International Disability Sports Federations. Appendix 4. ACE UK Personal Development Courses. 266 Appendix 5. News of the World Article on Bob Matthews - Great Britain 267 Blind Track Athlete. Appendix 6 Interview Agenda 268 Appendix 7. Short Sporting Biographies of the Research Participants 269 (In tabular format) Appendix 8. Daily Telegraph 'Sports Round-Up' Article on the BBC's 271 failure to provide a ramp to allow Tanni Grey-Thompson to accept her third place award at the Sports Personality of the Year ceremony, 2000. Appendix 9. Application form and agenda for the UK Athletics 3rd annual 272 congress of athletics, 2001. V111 List of Abbreviations and Acronyms. BALASA British Amputee and Les Autres Sports Association BBC British Broadcasting Corporation BOA British Olympic Association BPA British Paralympic Association BBS British Blind Sport BWSF British Wheelchair Sports Foundation CISS Comite International