Sports Ethics and Sport Policy - Research Paper Example

Sport Ethics and Sport Policy Ethics of Sport The development and investment in the sport sector have received popularity among various governments. This can be due to the benefits and revenue gotten from the sport sector; the benefits are such as good and healthy lifestyles, raises the standards of living. The importance of formulating a sport policy to govern how the sporting activities should be undertaken is also on the increase in many Governments. The sport policies objectives are to help government and partnered institutions to manage well the sports. This includes beneficial results such as creation of employment opportunities, mechanisms to reward excelling athletes, etc. This policy is grounded o the hypotheses that there key principles required for the creation of quality sport and should be incorporated in the policy. These principles include: the sport should be value-based, efficient, technically sound, planned, sustainable, shared, and comprehensive. Also, it is necessary for participating in sport activities to maintain good conduct and maintain integrity of sports. Implementation of the sport policy The policy is a tool of offering the Government and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) the appropriate direction so as to realize the desired results. It enables the government and NGOs to flexibly carry out their core mandates within their jurisdictions, and consistently contribute to the set objectives. Implementation of the policy is done through complementary action plans deduced by the state either individually and collectively, or bi-laterally and multi-laterally, or both, and other stakeholders in the sport and related sectors. Due to the constantly evolving and dynamically changing technological advancements and developing of new needs these policies should be under constant review to meet these needs (Bloyce & Smith, 2009). Strategic challenge Governments always get involved in the development and promotion of sporting activities amongst its people. This is evident especially in sport systems at the national or high-performance level and in the community level irrespective of the age and experience of an individual. Notably there are few governments that venture into sport activities as a way of promoting peace and development, both domestically and internationally. Sport activities actually can positively impact on the growth of the countrys economy and allow the state achieves its developmental goals. However, currently sports experience to champion for these goals has been great been cramped to several small-scale ventures. It is regularly undertaken through policy frameworks that previously exist in government, which are faced with the constraint of inadequate funding, capability and forecast for lasting sustainability (Bloyce & Smith, 2009). To obtain full benefits from sports, there is the need to embrace the approach of the sport for development and peace. This should be also incorporated into the wider growth toolkit. There is a need to streamline different national policies, investment rules and strengthen the state capacity in order to ensure that different programs are upgraded to a national level. The journey to this reality reveals a dual challenge. First, different stakeholders need to acknowledge and utilize sport for fostering development and aligning sports with their policies and programs. Second, the national government needs to realize that sports can help them achieve their domestic economic growth objectives, and appreciate the need of incorporating sport into their growth precedences and plans (Bergsgard, 2007). After creation of the major policies, the government needs to deal with the challenge of creating programs and make sure they have the ability to carry them efficiently. A lot of the programs and initiatives will necessitate the formation of partnerships to enable sustainable support. This will involve partnerships with NGOs, sport organizations, multilateral agencies and the private sector. This will allow getting more expertise in the sport field, leverage resources, and harmonize capacity-building and program activity. Some of these partnerships form during the policy making process (Bergsgard, 2007). Barriers to Implementation of Sport Policy The process of implementing the sport policy is not that smooth and sometimes the state experiences some obstacles during the process. This is influenced by the little research conducted regarding data collection techniques. Sometimes the data collected usually dont represent the wishes of the larger population. The low number of participants in various sports hinders the realization of the policy objectives. This sometimes due to people not understanding on the importance of taking part in sporting activities or are ignorant on the benefits to be accrued. Also, negative attitudes towards sports (both recreational and competitive sports) can impede greatly on the individuals participating in sporting activities. During the process of implementing the policies, some marginalized groups maybe under-represented or totally forgotten; this is a setback to the policies goals (Chalice, 1995). Corruption to is a major obstacle for development of sport, as in any business enterprise. In order to enjoy the relevance of sports in fostering growth, this menace of corruption should be eliminated. Involved parties in the sport sectors, inclusive of athletes, managers, and the staff should not engage in corrupt practices. Strict rules and regulations should be put in place to punish corrupt individuals. Also the responsibility of not engaging in corrupt practices should start from inside the individual ad show a sense of good ethical conduct (Gratton & Henry, 2001). There is also the problem of availability of inadequate resources within the government sector to support the growth of sports. This can be partly contributed by the lack of knowledge on the importance of engaging in sporting activities, in the society and economic growth. Thus, many governments set aside little budgetary allocations to go to the sport sector. This raises the need of carrying out mobilizations and campaigns to increase awareness on the benefits to be incurred by the investing in sports, with the sole goal of increasing sports funding. In other situations, there is usually high knowledge on the usefulness of sports by the state but due to resource constraints within the state little funding is allocated to the sports area. Hence the importance of finding new ways of getting new incomes while also is optimizing the available resources (Bergsgard, 2007). The development of effective and robust policy which will benefit the entire society only be realized if the barriers or gaps in implementation are fixed. Enough investment should be made in the research and collection of data. Research should be conducted to understand why people participate, and others dont participate in sporting activities. The different views and attitudes collected should represent up to views of people at the local authority level. Also research needed to be conducted on the under-represented groups in the society and possible activities that can offer employment opportunities to the society (Gratton & Henry, 2001). Factors that influence change The following factors will positively affect change in the realization of the policy goals (Bergsgard, 2007): 1) The government should actively participate in sporting activities; show commitments through coming up with action plans and collaborate with other departments. 2) NGOs should also be active members through development of associated action plans, promotion of the policies objectives amongst its members and able to work with other related sectors. 3) Tactically being able to relay information regarding the policy and how to implement it to all concerned parties and the sport community at large, so as to attract and retain relevant stakeholders and partners. 4) There should be continuous evaluation on progress of projects through transparent monitoring both done by the NGOs and the government. 5) Supervision of policy performance to recognize and act in response to up-and-coming issues, opportunities and the dynamic environment. 6) Contemplation of opportunities so as to associate the implementation of present and upcoming policies in linked sectors with that of the policy so as to acquire several partnerships (Bergsgard, 2007). Sport, values and policy The participation in any sporting activity is free and open to all people. May it be recreational sports or competitive sports? Sporting activities usually incorporates children to the elderly people, irrespective of race or gender, whether someone is able or with a disability; all fit in some particular sport. Due this involvement of a large number of members there must be rules and regulations that govern how these activities take place take. These rules can be referred to as policies. Despite the presence of rules and guidelines needs to develop good standards conduct. These are the recognizable right and wrong practices in the sporting activities. Thus, all this three aspects, that is, sports, policies and standards are interrelated to ensure free and fair sporting activity (Jones & McNamee, 2003). The code of sport ethics The convention of sport values is widely accepted throughout the whole world, and its major objectives are to create a conducive and healthy environment for practicing sports. Without being oblivious on the rapidly changing society norms and values, and technological advancements; this code is subject to evolving. The code champions for fair play in all sporting events through means such as creation of awareness and learning about the best ethical practices; athletes should uphold. It also aims at promoting high-quality practices to encourage participation in several sports and contest all forms of prejudices. Every person has the right to freely and fairly engage in any sporting activity, and be able to achieve contentment from the sport. It is the duty of different government sectors and stakeholders to ensure that individual rights are not infringed upon. This code of ethics applies to everyone regardless of the site or part played in a sporting activity (McNamee, 2007). Fairs play does not only involve following the rules; there is more to that. It entails notions such as comradeship, deference for others and the sporting spirit. Sport ethics does not just denote a definite conduct but also a fastidious mode of thinking. It entails the eradication of cheating, doping, physical and verbal violence, bending the rules, abuse of food additives, the harassment and sexual abuse of young people and women, unequal opportunities, discrimination, trafficking in young sportsmen and women, excessive commercialization, exploitation and corruption (McNamee, 2007). The practice of equality in sports is an idiom of human brilliance, has two dimensions: 1) institutional: bias founded on grounds other then performance should be discarded; the rules should be discharged with equity and no seeking of alternative back-door routes and decisions; 2) personal; needs to morally follow the set rules, in harmony with the values of fair play. Performance and results ought to materialize from the earned and commendable growth of individual talent (McNamee, 2007). The code of ethics stresses on the necessity of stakeholders in sports (adults and organizations) to persuade and motivate children and youthful persons to aggressively partake in sporting activities at the same time upholding the right morals and sport values. The involved parties especially parents, adults, spectators and people in leadership roles should be good role models to children and youthful persons by shunning from acts of discrimination, and diligently apply the necessary sanctions when need arises. They have an obligation of ensuring that the children receive the required training and have needed standards of qualifications, remembering also their point or stage in the participation, in the sport. An important feature of sport ethics is that it formulates the way in which individuals and teams should conduct themselves before or during sporting events. In this situation, the main objective is competing hard while upholding of good morals and ethics. In youth sports, the aim is to foster character growth, and the ethical issues to be upheld are self-control, collaboration, respect, endurance, and conscientiousness. In competitive sport, the aim is to win and achieve success through endeavoring and merit instead of cheating. These ethical issues are individual oriented however family, friends, teammates, fans and coaches may impose strong influences (McNamee, 2007). Ethical theories in the ethics of sport Ethical theories can be grouped into three general focus areas: normative ethics, meta-ethics, and applied ethics (Cahn, 2008). Meta-ethics deals with how theoretical ideas and notions arose and their meaning. Normative ethics is concerned with what are the acceptable moral standards that standardize that form of behavior is right or wrong. This approach is more of practically oriented (Smith, 2006). What is regarded as good behavior is based on the rules and regulations needed to be followed or possible outcomes certain conducts have on others. The sub-categories are consequential theories, virtue theories, deontological theories and evolutionary ethics (Michael, 1994). Applied ethics deals with precise, vague, contentious issues like social disparity, abortion, capital castigation, ecological concerns and racial discrimination. The application of sports in business perspective is through the development of various league organizations for the youths and also in professional sports. This develops the main link between sport ethics and business ethics. Organizations and institutions experience tough competitions, at the same time the global economy is constantly and quickly changing; this strenuous development may result in mechanization of unethical means of competition. These pressures lead to the attitude of business to make profits irrespective of how the profits are made. This principle may also be applied in sports. The athletes and teams regularly go through different challenges and competition. These pressures the same like in business can be from different sectors such as government, fans, coaches, other clubs and sport governing organizations (McNamee, 2007). To desist from the habit of unethical behavior it is necessary for companies to realize the long-term significance of upholding good standards to individual, team and organization achievement. Sometimes it seems right and convenient to act unscrupulously so as to thrive in sports. Each person should realize that this mirrors a short-term view of success that usually overlooks the consequences to be incurred in the long-term. Unethical perspectives and action should be substituted with the comprehension that upright moral values are beneficial for sports and persons taking part in sports. It is required for sport executives to have the know-how of the process of moral decision-making so as to enable them carry out their duties with sincerity, competently and ethically. Regardless of the place an individual holds in the management or supervision of a team or sport activity/department, all should engage in momentous moral and legal notions rife in, sports. In the case, a ofn individual is confronted with a situation whereby he needs to make ethical or moral decision should base his final decision on explicit guiding values (Arnett, 2005). It is very important to create an environment that champions for the essence of sports; character growth, fair play and fineness. Like any other enterprise, sport stresses the need to follow rules and regulations. Conclusion The formulation of a sport policy has positive development through the enhancement of partnerships within government institutions, which in turn solidifies the sports sectors capability to improve growth of athletes and deliver sport. The objectives of the sports policy can be efficiently achievable if all sport stakeholders show commitment during its implementation process and be able to work together harmoniously. Also, respect and education are major factors that determine whether the support of the sport and sporting dedication will be thriving in an ethical framework. Governments can be able also to acquire substantial resources through the various partnerships both internally and externally. A government will achieve success if only it can manage to work through the unavoidable challenges that crop up due to dissimilar models regarding the working cultures, principles and timeframes of organizations and sectors. Sports can enhance the economic growth in society and stimulate good relations between nations as long as it is done fairly. It builds individuals self-confidence, tool for social interaction and allows acquisition of skills and knowledge that depicts a persons capabilities. It enhances enjoyment, happiness, health and well-being. The wide network involved in sporting activities like clubs and volunteers brings people together to undertake responsible roles in their societies. Also being responsibly committed to sporting activity will help in the spreading of environmental awareness. References Arnett, R.C., & Clifford, C. (2005). Dialogic Confession: Bonheoffers Rhetoric of Responsibility. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illnois University Press. Bergsgard, N. (2007). Sport Policy. A Comparative analysis of stability and change. Oxford: Butterworth and Heinemann. Bloyce, D., & Smith, A. (2009). Sport Policy and Deveoplment: An Introduction. Abingdon: Routledge. Cahn, S.M., & Markie, P. (2008). Ethics: History, Theory and Contemporary Issues. (4th edition). New York: Oxford University Press. Chalip, L. (1995). Policy Analysis in Sport Management. Journal of Sport Management , 9, 1-13. Gratton, C. & Henry, I.P.. (2001). Sport in the City: The Role of Sport in Economic and Social Regeneration. New York: Routledge. Jones, C. & McNamee, M. (2003). Moral Development and Sport: character and cognitive developmentalism contrasted. In J. Boxill (Ed.), Sport ethics: an anthology. (pp. 40-52). Malden, MA.: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. McNamee, M. (2007). Sports, Ethics and Philosophy; Context, History, Prospects. Sports, Ethics and Philosophy , 1 (1), 1-30. Michael, R. (1994). Evolutionary Theory and Christian Ethics: Are They in Harmony? Journal of Religion & Science , 29 (1), 5-24. Sheth, H. & Babiak, K.M. (2010). Beyond the Game: Perceptions and Practices of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Professional Sport Industry. Journal of Business Ethics. , 91 (3), 433-450. Slaughter, J. (1993). Ethics and Athletics: an oxymoron? CLaremont, CA.: Claremont McKenna College. Smith, T. (2006). Ayn Rands Normative Ethics: The Vituous Egoist. New York: Cambridge University Press. Stevens, A. (2011). Telling Policy stories: An Ethnographic Study of the use of Evidence in Policy-making in the UK. Journal of Social Policy , 40 (2), 237-55. Read More