Inclusion of Outsiders Through Sport

Social work strategy is increasingly applying sports and physical activity programs as a vehicle for the social inclusion of outsiders. The underlying assumption is that interactions between diverse social groups generate social capital, which can potentially function as a social lever for socially disadvantaged groups. Knowledge about how and when this levering process occurs is, however, insufficient. The generation and acquisition of social capital requires adequate qualities in the relationship between social entities. Hence, meticulous research is essential to expound on the mechanisms and circumstances under which the socially disadvantaged can benefit from social capital generated through sports and physical activity. The article is primarily based on qualitative interviews with different groups of socially disadvantaged people. The interviews were conducted as part of a large-scale investigation of participation in sports in socially deprived neighborhoods. Subsequently, the findings from the qualitative interviews were triangulated with findings from an assessment of documentation and evaluation reports covering about 200 projects, and findings from a scientific literature review. The findings suggest that strategies aiming at social inclusion through sports and physical activities need to take social context into consideration