Part 3 GLOBAL ISSUES: HARASSMENT AND ABUSE RESEARCH

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Definition of emotional abuse in sport A strong criticism of the work conducted to date on emotional abuse, both generally, and in sport specifically, is the lack of a standardized definition and classification structure for emotional abuse. Definitions of emotional maltreatment often differ depending on whether the occurrence of maltreatment is defined by the behaviour itself 13 or the outcome of a particular behaviour. 14 This discontinuity may be accounted for by examining the purpose for which the definition or classification was designed. 15 For clinical purposes, while emotional abuse may be best defined based on the degree and/or type of harm experienced, from an applied research and intervention perspective, these definitions are not sufficient. Rather, in order to advance the identification and prevention of emotional abuse in sport, a definition of what constitutes emotional abuse must include criteria of the behaviour perpetrated. As such, the following definition of emotional abuse was proposed: EMOTIONAL ABUSE = a pattern of deliberate non-contact behaviours by a person within a critical relationship role that has the potential to be harmful. Acts of emotional abuse include physical behaviours, verbal behaviours, and acts of denying attention and support. These acts have the potential to be spurning, terrorizing, isolating, exploiting/corrupting, or deny emotional responsiveness, and may be harmful to an individual’s affective, behavioural, cognitive, or physical well-being. This definition of emotional abuse is the first definition derived from the experiences of emotional abuse within an athletic environment. It combines previous definitions of emotional abuse, and attempts to include both the syndrome of the abuse as well criteria for identifying emotionally abusive behaviour. Types of emotional abuse in sport Emotionally abusive behaviours of the coach occur in three ways: through physical behaviours, verbal behaviours, and the denial of attention and support. Physical emotionally abusive behaviours include acts of aggression such as hitting and throwing objects either at the athlete, or in the presence of the athlete. Participants of the study reported that objects were recurrently thrown by the coach following an athlete’s inadequate 12
performance. Items thrown by the coach in anger included objects such as kickboards (swimming equipment), coke cans, flag poles, chairs, pool toys, markers, pylons, blocks, erasers, and water bottles. Verbal behaviours consist of yelling and shouting at an athlete or group of athletes, belittling, namecalling, and degrading, humiliating, or intimidating comments. Finally, the third category of emotionally abusive behaviour includes the intentional denial of attention and support that would be expected from a coach. Effects of various types of emotional abuse on athletes Athletes’ reactions differ between the three types of emotional abuse. Participants reported that the denial of attention and support had the most negative effect, followed by the experience of verbal emotionally abusive behaviours. Interestingly, the physical behaviours used had the least negative effect. One potential explanation for the differences in response to the three types of emotional abuse is the degree to which each of the behaviours threatens the athlete’s self-esteem and her relationship with her coach. The use of physical behaviours can be intimidating but they do not compromise an athlete’s self-esteem to the same degree as verbal behaviours and the denial of attention and support. Also, despite the aggressive nature of the coachathlete relationship that occurs with the assertion of physical behaviours, the relationship is still intact, and the coach and the athlete are still interacting with one another. Verbal behaviours including belittlement and degrading comments can be internalized by the athlete and have a damaging effect on the athlete’s self-esteem and athletic identity. However, like physical behaviours, the coach is still providing the athlete with some form of attention, although not necessarily positive, thus preserving the coach-athlete relationship. The denial of attention and support is the most threatening as it compromises both the athlete’s relationship with her coach and her sense of identity which is immersed in this domain. According to the athletes, denying attention and support is used by the coach as a form of punishment that compromises the closeness of the coach-athlete relationship and tells the athlete that she is not worthy of attention. This has the result of degrading the athlete’s sense of self-worth and reducing her ability to cope with the emotional abuse. Experiences across time 13
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Part 3 GLOBAL ISSUES: HARASSMENT AND ABUSE RESEARCH

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