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SOCIAL MOBILITY, AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL AND THE ABORIGINAL ATHLETE: A CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVE. MASTER OF ARTS Andrew James M^Aree DEPARTMENT OF PHYSIC^^lJUCATION AND RECREATION FACULTY OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT VICTORIA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY FTS THESIS 305.513089915 MACA 30001004466936 McAree, Andrew James Social mobility, Australian rules football and the Aboriginal athlete: a ABSTRACT Aboriginal Australians clearly occupy a marginal position within the class structure of Australian society. They experience discrimination in all public forums and have differential access to health care and education. As such, it appears that Aborigines are disadvantaged in relation to opportunities for achieving upward social mobility. International research into the relationship between race, ethnicity and sport has suggested that professional sports participation may positively assist members of minority groups to achieve upward social mobility. It has been shown that Aboriginal participation in post-colonial sport can be divided into three eras that represent periods of over-representation. The first spanning the years 1880 to 1930 involved the participation of Aborigines in athletics and cricket [Blades, 1985]. The second, described by Tatz [1987J as the 'Golden Era', spanned the years 1930 to 1979 and involved Aboriginal participation in professional boxing. The third domain of over-representation has spanned the years 1982 to the present day. This domain has been characterised by the widespread participation of Aborigines in the major football codes of Australia. An examination of the available research literature revealed that little or no social mobility was achieved by Aboriginal participants during the first and second periods of post-colonial sport in Australia. Rather than challenging the existing social order, the participation of Aborigines in sport during the first two domains appeared to have no significant influence upon improving their place in the existing social order. The third domain remains relatively unresearched. This thesis is concerned with examining the rates of social mobility achieved by Aboriginal players in the Australian Football League. This thesis therefore had two major research questions. The first question concerned whether there was ever a period during the history of the Victorian Football League or Australian Football League that witnessed an over-representation of Aborigines relative to their proportion in the general population. The second research question was concerned with whether or not the research group comprising Aboriginal Footballers in the Australian Football League had achieved a greater degree of social mobility when compared to Non-Aboriginal Footballers, Aboriginal Non-Footballers and the General Public. The first research question was addressed by undertaking an analysis of the participation of Aborigines in Victorian Football League/Australian Football League from 1898 to the present-day. Past and present Aboriginal players were identified through a review of literature related to Aboriginal participation in sport and by contact with the Australian Football League and member clubs. As a result, the names and career details of 78 Aboriginal Footballers in the Victorian Football League/Australian Football League were obtained. In addition, census data related to both the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations of Australia was obtained so that comparisons could be made. As a resuh of these investigations it was possible to examine the patterns of participation and involvement of Aborigines in the Victorian Football League/Australian Football League and to compare these patterns with figures related to the proportion of Aboriginal males within the Australian population. To examine the second research question a representative sample of Australian Football League players was obtained by surveying 12 of the 15 Australian Football League clubs. The remaining three clubs did not wish to be involved in the study. The questionnaire employed consisted of items related to football experience, social class, class of origin, descriptive characteristics, perceptions of success and the respondent's perceptions of available routes for social mobility. As a result of employing this methodology a sample of 447 Non-Aboriginal Footballers and 24 Aboriginal Footballers was obtained. An age matched sample of 22 Aboriginal Non-Footballers was subsequently obtained by approaching various Aboriginal agencies for assistance in identifying Aboriginal males aged 18-34. A similar questionnaire was used for the Aboriginal Non-Footballer research grouping. Survey responses were coded with due recognition of the methods employed by contemporary sociologists in the analysis of social class and social mobility [Gotdthorpe, 1980; Baiter, Emmison, Western, & Western, 1991]. Results were then tabulated and compared between the four research groupings. The two major conclusions of this thesis were: 1. The years 1982 to the present-day constituted the third domain of Aboriginal over-representation in post colonial sport by way of involvement in the Victorian Football League/Australian Football League. 2. A .'jignificantly greater proportion of the Aboriginal Footballer group achieved upward social mobility when compared to the groups comprising Aboriginal Non-Footballers and the General Public. iii The major recommendations emanating from this study were: 1. Further research related to the social mobility and involvement of racial, ethnic and religious minority groupings in Australian sport is warranted in support of the principle of social justice. 2. Detailed examinations of the social characteristics of elite sportspeople are required that employ recognised, contemporary measures of social class and social mobility and include the analysis of the race, gender, ethnicity and religion of participants. 3. Encouragement of further studies into the intra-generational social mobility experienced by elite Aboriginal athletes during and at the cessation of their sporting careers should be undertaken to examine whether any social mobility achieved by such athletes during their playing careers is sustained at the cessation of their respective sporting careers. 4. The patterns of involvement and experiences of male and female Aborigines in Australian sport also require immediate examination in order to gain a greater appreciation of a range of equity, access and lifestyle related issues and outcomes. The capitalisation of the terms Aborigine(s) and Aboriginal(s), when used to refer to the indigenous peoples of Australia, is confimiecl as being appropriate by Associate Professor Nick Evans, Head of Linguistics, University of Melbourne and Dr. John Altman, Director of the Centre of Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, Australian National University. IV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank a number of people for their assistance and guidance throughout the duration of this thesis. To my supervisors Mr Hayden Power and Dr Terence Seedsman, I wish to express my thanks for the direction and clarity of instructions they gave me throughout the research endeavour. Their genuine support and breadth of knowledge in the field of research methodology and its application to the sociology of sport ensured the completion of this thesis. To my father, Mr Peter McAree, and brother. Dr. Ross McAree, I am extremely gratefiil for their reading of the early drafts of this thesis and their helpfiil contribution into the selection of a research design. It is hard to tell engineers that qualitative research is of value, yet they approached their critique and review with open minds and objective criticism. To Mr Ross Oakley, the late Mr. Alan Schwabb and Miss Karen Phelan of the Australian Football League, I wish to express my sincere gratitude for their support and generous allocation of time and commitment to the study. To the managers, coaches and team officials of each of the Australian Football League clubs who took the time to listen to my research plans and who arranged times for me to survey players, I am appreciative of the interest, assistance and time given to collect research data. The help and support of Mr Michael Edwards of the Aboriginal Sport and Recreation Co-operative were also invaluable. He helped me to appreciate the struggle of urban Aborigines and to construct a survey that kept the interests of Aboriginal respondents in mind. He also allowed me into his world and in so doing provided me with an education and appreciation of the values and struggles of the Koori population. Finally, I wish to acknowledge my wife Donna for her love, support and sustained encouragement throughout the research process. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract ii Acknowledgment v Table of Contents vi List of Tables xi List of Figures xiii Chapter I i. Introduction 2. Significance of the Study 4. I Statement of Problem and Research Questions 5. Research Hypothesis 5. Null Hypotheses 6. Limitations of the Study 6. Delimitations of the Study 7. Definifion of Terms and Abbreviations 8. Chapter II: Review of Literature 13. y Introduction 14. Section 1: Sport, Race and Social Mobility 1 The Focus of Research Related to Race, Sport and Social Mobility. 15. I Methods Employed in the Study of Race, Sport and Social Mobility. 16. ' Findings of Research Related to Race, Sport and Social Mobility. 17. Summary of Section 1. 18. Section 2: The Position of Aborigines within Australian Society and the Role of Anglo-Celtic Sport as a means for Social Mobility Introduction