<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> 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</p></abstract>

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

Inclusion of Outsiders Through Sport

University of Southern Denmark Institute of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics Campusvej 55 DK-5230 Odense M, Denmark

Physical Culture and Sport. Studies and Research

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"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...

Inclusion of Outsiders Through Sport

Published Online: Apr 10, 2015

Page range: 31 - 40

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/pcssr-2015-0009

Keywords
inclusion,sport, socially disadvantaged

© by Michael Fehsenfeld

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Inclusion of Outsiders Through Sport

Published Online: Apr 10, 2015

Page range: 31 - 40

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/pcssr-2015-0009

Keywordsinclusion,sport, socially disadvantaged

© by Michael Fehsenfeld

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
inclusion,sport, socially disadvantaged