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Child Protection in Voluntary Sector Sport Organisations

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Child Protection in Voluntary Sector Sport Organisations Child Protection in Voluntary Sector Sport Organisations Diana Elizabeth Summers May 2000 A thesis submitted to the University of Bristol, through Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education in part requirement for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Word Count 84, 530 Abstract This thesis examines the issue of child protection policy in voluntary sector organisations. More particularly it examines policies concerned with protecting children from child sexual abuse, within the Church of England and British voluntary sector sport over a period in the mid-1990s. Using a poststructuralist theory, specifically Actor Network Theory (ANT) this thesis explores child protection policy and discussion through case studies in the contexts of one Church of England diocese and seven voluntary sector sport organisations, utilising semi­ structured interviews and documentary analysis. It is suggested that the Church of England and British voluntary sector sport have common discursive 'frames', through the historical incorporation of Christian discourses into the beginnings of modem sport in the 19th Century English Public Schools, that support sexual violence against women and children and which provide legitimate identities for abusers. This cultural support for abuse, combined with similar incoherence in the organisational structures in both the Church of England and British voluntary sector sport organisations, is identified as preventing the effective dissemination of child protection policy, where such existed. The major difference between the two areas is identified as the focus within sport organisations on an 'organisational body project' by which organisational aims are achieved. This focus on the body in sport, it is argued, provides increased access and opportunities for abuse by those, like coaches, who most immediately manage the 'organisational body project'. i Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisors, especially Cara Aitchison and Diana Woodward, for their time and their support, and Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education for the resources provided for this research. I would like to thank my parents whose moral and material support have enabled me to complete this project, as well as my many friends, particularly Gavin Parker and Conrad Harriss, without whom this thesis would never have seen the light of day. This thesis is also respectfully dedicated to the victims of sexual abuse in sport and Christianity, particularly the victims, known and unknown, of Paul Hickson. ii Author's Declaration The Work contained in this thesis is the sole effort of the author. The views expressed within are those of the author, not of the college or the University. Diana Summers May 2000 iii ESTABLISHING A UNIVERSAL VIEW What is skillfully established will not be uprooted; What is skillfully grasped will not slip away. Thus it is honoured for generations. Cultivate the inner self; Its Power becomes real. Cultivate the home; Its Power becomes abundant. Cultivate the community; Its Power becomes greater. Cultivate the organization; Its Power becomes prolific. Cultivate the world; Its Power becomes universal. Therefore, through the inner self, The inner self is conceived. Through the home, The home is conceived. Through the community, The community is conceived. Through the world, The world is conceived. How do I know the world? Through this. Lao Tzu iv Table of Contents 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Introduction 2 1.2 Thesis Context and Outline 2 2 Theory, Organisation, and Corporeality 11 2.1 Introduction 12 2.2 Theory 16 2.2.1 Structuralism 17 2.2.2 Postmodernism and Poststructuralism 19 2.2.3 Actor Network Theory 21 2.2.4 Feminism and Poststructuralism 24 2.2.5 Implications of the Use of Poststructuralist Theory 25 2.3 Organisation 27 2.3.1 Organisation and Structure 27 2.3.2 Organisation and Discourse: Construction of Organisational Meaning 29 2.3.2.1 Meaning in the Physical World 30 2.3.2.2 Meaning and Interaction 31 2.3.2.3 Meaning and Fixity 31 2.3.2.4 Meaning and Identity 32 2.3.3 Organisational Culture 33 2.3.4 Organisation and Politics: Interactions of Actors 34 2.4 Organisation and Corporeality 38 2.4.1 Organisation and Identity: Creation of Subjectivities 38 2.4.2 Organisation and Sexuality 45 2.4.3 The Body as an 'Organisational Project' 50 2.4.4 Resistance and Mediation 53 2.5 Summary 55 3 Christianity, Sport, and Sexuality 59 3.1 Introduction 60 3.2 Christian Discourses, Sexual Identity, and Sexual Abuse 62 3.2.1 Theological Struggles and Constructions of Gender and Sexuality in the History of the Christian Church 63 3.2.2 Children, Education, and the Christian Church: Middle Ages to Post­ Reformation 65 3.2.3 Sexual Abuse and Contemporary Christianity 68 3.2.4 Summary 74 3.3 Muscular Christianity: The Marriage of Religion and Sport 75 3.3.1 Secularisation of Religious Discourses 75 3.3.2 Institutionalisation of Protestantism 76 3.3.3 Sport and Public Schools in the 19th Century 79 3.3.4 Christian Discourses in 19th Century Public School Sport 81 3.3.5 Secularisation of Muscular Christian Discourses 87 3.3.6 Summary 90 v 3.4 Mutation of Christian Discourses in Contemporary Sport, Sexual Identity, and Sexual Abuse 91 3.4.1 Contemporary Sport and Sexual Identity 91 3.4.2 Secularised Christian Discourses and Child Abuse in Contemporary Sport 93 3.5 Summary 107 4 Methodology III 4.1 Introduction 112 4.2 The Social Research Process 113 4.2.1 Conceptual Phase: The Implications of Research Philosophy for Research Strategy 113 4.2.2 Collection and Analysis Phases: Selection of Methods 116 4.3 Research Design and Philosophy in Present Work 120 4.3.1 Phase 1: Conceptual Phase 120 4.3.1.1 Researching Sensitive Topics 123 4.3.2 Phase 2: Data Collection 127 4.3.2.1 Stage One 127 4.3.2.2 Stage Two 128 4.3.2.3 Stage Three 133 4.3.3 Phase 3: Data Analysis 134 4.4 Critical Reflections on the Research Methodology 136 4.5 Summary 138 5 Data Presentation and Discussion 140 5.1 Introduction 141 5.2 Child Protection within the Church of England and British Voluntary Sector Sport 143 5.2.1 The Church of England 144 5.2.1.1 Standing Conditions in the National Network 144 5.2.1.2 National Child Protection Policy Network 148 5.2.2 British Voluntary Sector Sport 151 5.2.2.1 Standing Conditions in the Network 151 5.2.2.2 Child Protection Policy Network 154 5.3 Case Studies 160 5.3.1 A Church of England Diocese 160 5.3.1.1 Standing Conditions of the Diocesan Network 160 5.3.1.2 Child Protection Policy Network 164 5.3.2 Sport A 169 5.3.2.1 Standing Conditions of the Network 169 5.3.2.2 Child Protection Policy Network 175 5.3.3 Sport B 182 5.3.3.1 Standing Conditions of the Network 182 5.3.3.2 Child Protection Policy Network 187 5.3.4 Sport C 194 5.3.4.1 Standing Conditions of the Network 194 vi 5.3.4.2 The Child Protection Discussion Network 197 5.3.5 Sport D 203 5.3.5.1 Standing Conditions of the Network 203 5.3.5.2 Child Protection Policy Network 206 5.3.6 Sport E 210 5.3.6.1 Standing Conditions of the Network 211 5.3.6.2 Child Protection Discussion Network 215 5.3.7 Sport F 219 5.3.7.1 Standing Conditions of the Network 219 5.3.7.2 Child Protection Discussion Network 222 5.4 Cross-Case Analysis 226 5.4.1 Similarities and Differences between Networks and Standing Conditions in the Church of England and British Voluntary Sector Sport 227 5.4.2 Similarities and Differences between Child Protection in the Church of England and British Voluntary Sector Sport Networks 230 5.4.3 British Voluntary Sector Sport Networks and the Issue of Child Protection 232 5.5 Summary 234 6 Conclusions 236 6.1 Introduction 237 6.2 Summary of Findings 237 6.3 Conclusions 240 6.4 Future Research 242 6.5 Coda: The Current State of Affairs 242 6.6 Summary 244 7 Reflections on the Research Process 245 7.1 Interaction between Experience, Knowledge, and the Act of Naming 246 Bibliography 249 Appendices A Code Book B Interview Schedule C Panel of Experts Sheet vii Table of Figures Figure 4.1 Research Network 122 Figure 4.2 Template Coding Process 134 Figure 5.1 Standing Condition in the National Network of the Church of 148 England Figure 5.2 Church of England National Child Protection Policy Network 150 Figure 5.3 Standing Conditions in the National Network of British Voluntary Sector Sport 154 Figure 5.4 British Voluntary Sector Sport National Child Protection Policy Network 159 Figure 5.5 The Standing Conditions in a Diocesan Network 163 Figure 5.6 A Diocesan Child Protection Policy Network 168 Figure 5.7 The Standing Conditions in the Network of Sport A 175 Figure 5.8 The Child Protection Policy Network in Sport A 181 Figure 5.9 The Standing Conditions in the Network of Sport B & B 1 186 Figure 5.10 The Child Protection Policy Network in Sport B & B 1 193 Figure 5.11 The Standing Conditions in the Network of Sport C 197 Figure 5.12 The Child Protection Discussion Network in Sport C 202 Figure 5.13 The Standing Conditions in the Network of Sport D 205 Figure 5.14 The Child Protection Policy Network in Sport D 210 Figure 5.15 The Standing Conditions in the Network of Sport E 215 Figure 5.16 The Child Protection Discussion Network in Sport E 218 Figure 5.17 The Standing Conditions in the Network of Sport F 222 Figure 5.18 The Child Protection Discussion Network in Sport F 226 viii Chapter One Introduction 1 Chapter One Introduction 1.1 Introduction This chapter provides the overview of the thesis, describing the context and presenting an outline of the chapters to come.
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