Scholarship: Sport Advocacy: Challenge, Controversy, Ethics & Action

Here is the link to work by researcher John Hall and partial abstract. 49 pages.  –Moderator Hank Nuwer

Running head: SPORT ADVOCACY Sport Advocacy: Challenge, Controversy, Ethics & Action John Heil Psychological Health Roanoke This is an expanded version of an article which originally appeared in Heil, J. (2016). Sport advocacy: Challenge, controversy, ethics, and action. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 5(4), 281-295. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/spy0000078. Copyright © 2016 American Psychological Association. Adapted with permission. Abstract – Professional Sport psychologists should consider advocating for athletes’ rights and responsible organizational practices. There is demonstrated need, solid science, and clear direction through the American Psychological Association’s ethical principles. Yet the voice of psychology is conspicuously absent in the public discourse in sport on issues such as hazing, bullying, gender equity, sexual violence, doping, and athlete safety, perhaps because speaking out is often fraught with challenge and controversy. The author shares a number of his experiences encountering and addressing advocacy and offers lessons learned. The sample issues include: unrecognized and unfilled training needs for professionals; potentially misapplied rules; inadequately defined and applied safeguards for training and competition; helping institutions and athletes both achieve important goals that might seem to conflict; and even a situation where all the psychologist’s expertise was unable to bring a wholesome resolution. , with the veiled threat of additional adverse consequences for those who speak out.