Book dossier

Sport, Health and Drugs

by I. Waddington

Sport may teach people how to win gracefully; but it may also teach them how to win at any cost, even if this involves violence or cheating. In order to understand the complex relationships between modern sport and other aspects of society, it is necessary to strip away our preconceptions of how sport ought to operate and to examine, in as detached a manner as possible, the way in which sport actually operates. For the first time, a sociological perspective is brought to bear on a topic which has received much previous attention, largely from a medical or physiological perspective. Particular issues examined include: * Sport, health and public policy * Child abuse and sex abuse in sport * Conflicts in the role of club medical staff in professional football * Doping in sport * Sports medicine and the development of performance enhancing drugs * Case study of cycling and the 1998 Tour de France. Sport, Health and Drugs is a valuable and unique addition to the existing literature. Interview transcripts, case studies and press cuttings are used to ground theory in reality. Students and lecturers alike will find this an immensely readable and challenging resource.