About this Research Topic
Therefore, scholars with different theoretical backgrounds have been working to describe, conceptualize and analyze the nature of different types of abuse in sports. These efforts allowed the first safeguarding programs to progressively flourish. At the same time, governments and umbrella organizations began developing national and specific policies and procedures to prevent and tackle violence, abuse, and discrimination in sports. These consider complementary levels of intervention (macro-, exo- meso- micro-system), different stakeholders (athletes, coaches, parents, among others), each country’s individual status (culture, resources, national legal framework), and specific settings (type of sport, age of athletes, level of competition). Although a collective effort is needed to efficiently tackle abuse, implementing and monitoring prevention programs requires trained stakeholders with specific skills. As such, Club/National Safeguarding Officers are gradually rising in sports organizations internationally. Despite the cooperation of sport stakeholders from all over the world to create general policies, share data and examples of good practices, there is still a lot to improve on safeguarding in sports, which is expected to be one of the hot topics in Psychology and Sports Sciences in the next years.
In this Research Topic, our main aims are for submissions:
1) to present a conceptual analysis of the different types of abuse and discrimination in sports
2) to describe and analyze the nature and prevalence of these episodes in sports
3) to understand the effects of abuse and discrimination on stakeholders, organizations, and sport setting
4) to share clinical approaches to stakeholders involved
5) to analyze evidence-based strategies and programs
6) to review the major policies and projects developed worldwide on safeguarding in sports
7) to review the legal framework of different countries regarding athlete welfare
Scope:
Safeguarding; violence; abuse; discrimination; international policies; evidence-based strategies/policies; instruments and methods
Types of manuscripts:
Original research article; rapid/short communications; review articles; case studies; methods paper
Image: Augustas Cetkauskas
Keywords: maltreatment in sport, athlete welfare, safeguarding in sports, mental health, safe sport
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.