Sociological investigations into the athlete–medical practitioner relationship are scarce due to medical bias for positivist epistemologies. The aim of this research was to identify the scope and purpose of medical interventions for four athletes, within the context of social processes that enable medicine to claim athletic bodies as objects of practice and performance. The role and function of power in the athlete–medical doctor transaction and athlete embodiment were also of interest. Using a story-analyst approach grounded in narrative analysis, the ideologies of ‘slim to win’ and ‘performance’ were identified as the impetus for the athletes seeking the expertise of doctors. Doctors were positioned as accomplices in ‘slim to win’ and ‘performance’ ideologies within the athletes’ stories, which influenced medical practices and compromised athlete health. Disciplinary power was enacted when the doctors observed, corrected and manipulated the athletes’ bodies through medical practice. Athletes also had agency through renegotiating the meaning of the ‘treatment’ process by reconfiguring medical doctor’s disciplinary power as forms of empowerment knowledge. This research highlights the complex nature of the athlete–medical doctor transaction and how these encounters can be productive and oppressive for athletes.
History
Publication title
Sport Education and Society
Volume
25
Pagination
57-69
ISSN
1357-3322
Department/School
Faculty of Education
Publisher
Carfax Publishing
Place of publication
Rankine Rd, Basingstoke, England, Hants, Rg24 8Pr
Rights statement
Copyright 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
Repository Status
Restricted
Socio-economic Objectives
Other education and training not elsewhere classified; Other health not elsewhere classified