Justifications for Unethical Behaviour in Sport: The Role of the Coach

MAY 2004 FEATURE

Justifications for Unethical Behaviour in Sport: Role of the Coach
It is almost a truism that socialization into sports nowadays has as much to do with becoming adept at breaking and bending the rules, not to mention other forms of cheating and violence, as it does with furtherance of athletic excellence (Morgan, 2002).

Introduction

Sport can be a vehicle for teaching positive lessons, and those lessons come from involvement in activity where ethical dilemmas occur frequently. The way one reacts when faced with an ethical dilemma is influenced by beliefs that are based upon individual values. Our values are shaped by experiences as well as by significant others who influence our lives including parents, teachers, coaches, and friends. If we have been influenced in such a way as to value winning above personal excellence, sportsmanship, and honour, that will be reflected in our approach to participation in sport (Dodge, 1998). Recent work by Robertson (2002), which investigated primary influences of sport and recreation on youth, reported that coaches were more influential than parents and teachers, and second only to friends. From the athlete perspective, little is known about the personal values that influence participation in sport or how those values are shaped.

Ethics is the sub-discipline of philosophy that is concerned with issues of right and wrong. That being the case, sport today is a haven of opportunity for ethical analysis. However, while the more tangible and scientific aspects of sport, such as assessing specific elements of human performance in a laboratory, have received considerable attention by researchers, the moral component of sport behaviour has received comparatively little. It is not that ethical issues are not of interest, but rather that they are often overshadowed by our desire to conduct research that will help athletes go higher, faster, and grow stronger.

This focus on the physical prowess of high performance athletes, especially in professional sport, has created an environment characterized by self-interest and self-gain. Because of broad exposure by the media, this narcissistic approach permeates down through other levels of sport. Even at the varsity levels, where the values of amateurism and education are foundational, student athletes often go to the highest bidder who can offer them the most in terms of material gain. Throughout the entire sport system are examples where adherence to moral principles is sadly lacking.

One of the factors that has constrained attention being paid to cheating in sport is the lack of agreement by ethicists on conceptual issues. In a 1988 article, Shogan posited that sport was not structured to monitor ethical behaviour, only legal behaviour that relates to adherence with the rules. Since breaking the rules in cases such as a "good foul" is considered to be game strategy, doing so is not necessarily considered to be an issue of ethics. Sport officials can only act on rule infractions, not whether the intention behind the cheating was ethical or not. Morgan (2002) distinguished between abstract moral discourses on sport and the need for agreement by those in the sport community as to what actually constitutes acceptable ethical behaviour. If the normative crisis in varsity sport is to be addressed, a communicative action approach is required where those involved in sport reach consensus on how the game is to be played and what is considered to be ethical behaviour. In the meantime, navigating the minefield of ethics is left to athletes and coaches.

The work of Shogan (1988) and Morgan (2002) raised the question of whether or not engagement in specific behaviours, considered by some to be unethical or at least questionable, are actually viewed as such by the athletes themselves. Given that ethicists are not in agreement as to what constitutes appropriate ethical behaviour, is it any wonder that athletes are challenged by the concepts of what is right or wrong when it comes to appropriate behaviour in sport?

Coaches fill important socially sanctioned roles, roles that carry certain rights and responsibilities. Included in the responsibilities is teaching through example. Coaches have a role to play in facilitating the development of moral reasoning skills in athletes by suggesting appropriate behaviours and condemning those considered to be socially unacceptable (Drewe, 2003). Coaches have the power and authority to monitor ethical behaviour. For instance they can bench a player for a moral transgression while a game official generally cannot. Coaches are well positioned to teach athletes about moral behaviour, set standards and expectations for athletes, monitor their behaviour, and take punitive action if lines are crossed. Coaches are often best positioned to recognize ethical misconduct and should be concerned with the moral development of their athletes.

The ultimate goal in sport is to win, and whether winning is defined as a personal best or securing first place and the associated gold medal, participants do play to win. In some cases, at the more elite levels of sport, winning may bring with it extrinsic benefits such the opportunity to compete at a higher level (as with national team athletes attempting to make an Olympic team), or the opportunity to play a sport professionally and therefore realize financial gains. Some purists would argue that satisfaction from winning should be based on performing well, competing within prescribed rules, and defeating a worthy opponent (Osterhoudt, 1991). But at times, athletes feel excessive pressure to win, and particularly when extrinsic rewards are at stake, they may resort to questionable behaviours in an attempt to ensure victory.

For some athletes, the desire (and pressure) to win causes them to look for ways to gain an advantage over their competition including engaging in behaviours that may supersede the realm of acceptable sport behaviour. There are many ways in which athletes attempt to gain an advantage over their opponents, but the common thread is that the rules are somehow circumvented. This is done through illegal modifications to equipment, through the use of banned or illegal performance-enhancing drugs, by bending or breaking the rules, or by any other means as they conspire to gain the upper hand against an opponent.

Not all athletes resort to these types of illegal behaviours in order to achieve success in sport. However, both male and female athletes encounter moral dilemmas throughout their careers where decisions must be made about how to react in situations that test one's ethical beliefs. Crown and Heatherington (1989) as well as Clopton and Sorell (1993) found that while men and women appear to engage in similar moral reasoning when considering the appropriate course of action in competitive athletic encounters, due to socialization, women may conceive of morality differently than men due. Decker and Lasley (1995) reported that boys and girls actually differ in moral reasoning, and that boys more readily adopt a self-interest perspective in sport than do girls.

Regardless of sex, athletes routinely face ethical situations as part of their sport experiences and they must decide how to react. Often those decisions revolve around whether to engage in certain behaviours in order to gain an advantage. Presumably, the way one reacts when faced with an ethical dilemma is influenced by personal beliefs based upon individual values. Values are shaped by a myriad of external factors, not the least of which for athletes is the influence of their coaches. Although much has been written about the relationship between athletes and coaches, the influence of coaches on the ethical decision- making of athletes is an issue that has gone largely unexplored in the literature.

This research attempts to address that void by exploring the concept of ethical behaviour from the perspective of the athletes. Not withstanding Shogan's (1988) arguments as to whether violating the rules of sport is a legal or moral issue, the fact is that regardless of motivation, varsity athletes know when they are acting in ways that are not in accordance with the rules of the game and understand that those actions are considered by many to be unethical. Whether or not athletes engage in behaviour that clearly violates the rules of sport and the justifications for doing so were examined. Central to this investigation is the role of the coach in suggesting engagement in various types of questionable behaviours. Particular emphasis is placed upon understanding the experience of female athletes with implications for female coaches.

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le Journal en français

MAY 2004
Vol. 4, No. 4
Front Page
CONTENTS

Justifications for Unethical Behaviour in Sport: The Role of the Coach

Discussion and Conclusion

References

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