The Journal of Sport for Development (JSFD) is pleased to announce the publication of its tenth issue, a Special Issue on Sport for Development and Peace in Latin America and the Caribbean. Guest editors include: Daniel Parnell, Alexander Cárdenas, Paul Widdop, Pedro-Pablo Cardoso-Castro and Sibylle Lang.
Esta edição da Revista de Esporte para o Desenvolvimento tem como objetivo apresentar a crescente literatura sobre “Esporte para o Desenvolvimento e a Paz” (EDP) na América Latina e no Caribe. Ela foi concebida durante pesquisas de campo em Medellín (Colômbia) nos anos de 2014 e 2015 pelos editores desta edição especial. Essas pesquisas envolveram trabalhos com departamentos governamentais, acadêmicos e grupos comunitários com o intuito de examinar o papel do esporte e do futebol e seus diferentes impactos sociais. Nosso período em Medellín nos permitiu ver o EDP como um esforço comunitário coletivo e uma genuína abordagem colaborativa do governo e das universidades locais.
Esta edición especial tiene como objetivo ofrecer un punto de enfoque para la creciente literatura sobre el “Deporte para el Desarrollo y la Paz” (DDP) en América Latina y el Caribe. Fue concebida durante visitas de campo a Medellín (Colombia) por los editores de esta edición especial en 2014 y 2015. Estas visitas implicaron trabajar con departamentos gubernamentales, académicos y grupos comunitarios para examinar el papel del deporte y del fútbol dentro de una amplia gama de objetivos sociales. Nuestra visita a Medellín nos permitió ver el DDP como un esfuerzo colectivo comunitario y como un enfoque de colaboración genuino por parte del gobierno local y las universidades.
This Special Issue aims to offer a focus point for the growing literature on ‘Sport for Development and Peace’ (SDP) in Latin America and the Caribbean. It was conceived during field visits to Medellín (Colombia) in 2014 and 2015 by the editors of this Special Issue. These visits involved working with government departments, academics and community groups to examine the role of sport and football for a broad range of social outcomes. Our time in Medellin allowed us to view SDP as a collective community endeavour, and a genuine collaborative approach by local Government and Universities.
The focus of this study is a specific SDP programme, entitled Sports Visitors, executed in partnership between George Mason University and the U.S. Department of State. The purpose of this programme evaluation was to examine a subset of Latin American and Caribbean groups to ascertain the immediate, short-term impact of an intervention programme on the attitudes of participants relative to programme objectives. Nine groups comprised of 150 sport visitors participated in this investigation over a five year period. After the data were cleaned, 143 valid responses remained for analysis. The findings are based upon descriptive and effect size outcomes of quantitative survey data supplemented by qualitative comments provided by participants. The overall total mean for all seven items combined yields a very large effect size of 1.43. The results indicate that a) positive change occurred among LAC participants across all objectives measured, and b) changes were consistently reflected across each type of LAC participant group based upon gender, role, and gender with role.
While sport for development programmes can be found across the globe, there is a gap in the literature describing and evaluating programmes that have been proven successful in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The Belizean Youth Sport Coalition was a two-way coaching exchange project that spanned three years. The goal of this project was to promote positive youth development and social change through sport in the small Central American nation of Belize. The purpose of the current study, which is part of a larger ongoing evaluation, was to assess the immediate outcomes of the education programme provided to 33 youth sport coaches in the first year of the project as well as their subsequent implementation. Multiple data sources indicate the education programme was effective in terms of participants’: (1) satisfaction with the training, (2) content knowledge, (3) attitudes and beliefs, and (4) capacity to implement the contents of the education programme. This study contributes to the sport for development literature by highlighting the important relationship between coach education and programme implementation. Moreover, it contributes to the literature on programmes that have been proven feasible and culturally relevant in the LAC region.
This unique study is the first to apply the human capability approach (HCA) to explicitly investigate gender role attitudes from the perspective of boy and girl participants in SDP. We believe it is vital to include voices of all participants to more critically examine how SDP might both challenge and reinforce restrictive gender norms. This paper is drawn from a research project for a doctoral thesis in Development Studies and focuses on adolescent participants, youth coaching trainees, programme facilitators and government administrators involved in SDP programmes in Barbados and St. Lucia (n=104). The primary author conducted surveys, focus group discussions, interviews and journaling to gather the data presented here and in the thesis. Using the HCA as a theoretical framework, we argue that these SDP programmes tend to integrate participants into masculinised, heteronormative forms of sport that may unwittingly reinforce restrictive gender norms for both boys and girls. In order to better support the capability development of all participants, SDP leaders must actively challenge restrictive gender role attitudes of masculinity and femininity.
A history of drug trafficking in Medellin, Colombia resulted in the city receiving the dubious distinction of being the murder capital of the world in 1991. Over a quarter of a century later, drug trafficking has left a complex legacy of an illegal and violent culture, which has subsequently eroded values systems that leave disadvantaged children vulnerable to criminal activities. To begin addressing this social problem, the Conconcreto Foundation has leveraged Colombia’s passion for football in its sport-for-development (SFD) ‘Seedbeds of Peace’ programme. A case study design was used to illustrate how the ‘Seedbeds of Peace’ programme uses football as an analogy to teach life skills and redefine moral values. This case study adds to the limited theoretical understanding of how sport works in social change and further equips SFD practitioners with a sport mechanism not previously discussed in the literature.
This paper proposes a promising tool for analyzing the contents of sport for development and peace (SDP) agency reports (activity or annual). Contributing to ongoing methodological discussions in this field is important since reports afford rich data when access to the ground is not timely, practical, or feasible. Building on Greimas’ Actantial model and the SDP Snakes and Ladders model, a semiotic analysis method specifically adapted for sport for development and peace projects is proposed. Such analysis of concepts that theoretically help or hinder sport for development projects are brought to the fore and serve as an initial waypoint when analyzing reports. By applying this approach to one specific sport for development project report (case study), this paper demonstrates that valuable insights about management priorities and practices may be obtained through the systematic and rigorous application of this proposed research tool. Moreover, the importance of content analysis as a precursor to, or in concurrence with, fieldwork is also discussed.
Recent research on the role of ‘safe space’ within Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) shows that the social inclusion of young women in traditionally male sporting spaces may shift who can comfortably access and shape public spaces. Framing safe space as a social construction and a dynamic process, and drawing from six months of ethnographic research conducted in two volatile neighbourhoods with a Colombian SDP organisation, this paper will explore the social, cultural and historical complexities that shape and constrain safe space. It will argue that while the SDP organisation’s ability to adapt to change and resign control makes it accessible to the local community, the positioning of both the organisation and participants simultaneously permits the continuation of gendered space. This data is then analysed through Spaaij and Schulenkorf’s multi-dimensional interpretation of safe space. In conclusion, further research about the physical and psycho-social barriers that constrain females from participating in SDP programming is suggested.
Journal of Sport for Development 