Sociological Perspective of Sport

An updated and expanded new edition of this popular text continues to offer a comprehensive look at the social world of sport. The author has organized coverage of the sociology of sport around pivotal sociological concepts — culture, social organization, socialization, deviance, small groups, collective behavior, mass media, and institutional inter-relationships (sport, education, politics, and religion). Chapters move from the “macro” perspective to the “micro” view, to make the nature of the sport/society connection clear.

Using a consistent sociological framework, the text is based on three central themes: 1) Sport is a social institution worthy of sociological examination like the more traditional institutions of marriage/family, politics, economy, religion, law, health/medicine, science, and education; 2) Sport is a microcosm of the larger society as it reflects and reinforces the dominant ideology; 3) There are numerous institutional connections between sport and other societal institutions which make it impossible for changes in one sphere not to reverberate throughout all spheres.