Transcript SOCIOLOGY 259 - University of Western Ontario

SOCIOLOGY 259
ATHLETES
AND
PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS
THERESA KLACHAN
BEN JOHNSON
Arrived in Canada from poor homeland of Jamaica
Scrawny young boy
At 15 began working with coach Charlie Francis
Willing to follow every instruction his coach and physician
gave him
Used AAS for over 8 years and never caught
Knew he and Carl Lewis would probably compete in the
fastest 100-metre in history
Stood to earn an estimated $30 million in endorsements,
appearance fees, fame and a better way of life if he was not
caught
1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, Ben
Johnson tested positive for anabolic-androgenic steroid
(AAS) stanozolol
According to many athletes, the
only thing that separated Ben
Johnson from a great number of
others who competed in Seoul is
that he got caught.
DOPING
The use of any substance (natural or
synthetic) taken into the body by any
route – by mouth, injected, instilled,
inhaled or inserted – for non-therapeutic
reasons to enhance performance.
Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS)
Human growth hormone (hGH)
Blood transfusions
Brake drugs
HISTORY
1865 – canal swimmers and cyclists
speedball – mixture of heroin and cocaine
End of 19th Century – prizefighters
alcohol and strychnine
1886 – 1st recorded drug-related death
English cyclist – overdose of trimethyl
1952 Olympic Winter Games, Oslo, Norway
1st notable amphetamine-related doping cases
Several speed skaters became ill
1950’s – anabolic-androgenic steroids were thrust on the
sports scene
Taking pills to enhance performance was not considered
unethical or illegal in the 1950’s and 1960’s
Olympic drug testing began in 1968
IOC banned AAS prior to the 1976 Montreal Olympics
Drug testing and detection became effective in 1983 – Pam
Am Games, Caracas
DRUG TESTING
Process to detect synthetic testosterone. (urine sample)
Ratio between testosterone and epitestosterone
Normal Ratio – 1:1
IOC Medical Commission – 6:1 ratio is allowed
This allows 5.9 times the natural level without
fear of breaking standards.
SOME SIDE EFFECTS
Premature baldness
Prostate enlargement in males
Cystic acne
Breast development in males
Excessive body and facial hair
growth in women
Aggressiveness and feelings of
indestructibility and power “roid
rage”
INVOLVEMENT IN DOPING
ATHLETES
COACHES
TRAINERS
PHYSICIANS
NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
TV NETWORKS AND SPONSORS
FANS
BLACK MARKET DRUG SUPPLIERS
EXPLANATIONS FOR DOPING
Drugs create power, mass and endurance
Shortcuts to victory – competitive edge using performance enhancing
drugs
Look better, feel more confident, increased sex drive
Desire to succeed, be competitive and win is instilled in the minds of
young people
National commitment and individual incentive – Example: Socialist sports
hero
An incredible desire to succeed and the perceived impossibility of reaching
a goal through normal natural means
Athletes feel they need to use drugs to stay even with everyone else, low
chance of getting caught, better life
National Associations – prestige victory brings to their program, reluctant
to endorse aggressive drug testing programs - need world-class
performance to keep their business rolling, depend on international
competitions (Pepsi Classic) as major part of fundraising
Officials – shield offenders
Physicians – because it isn’t illegal, basis for meeting athlete’s demands
was established, athletes were going to take it anyway
TV Networks, Sponsors and Fans – people don’t pay to watch losers,
corporations don’t sponsor teams that can’t bring home gold
AAS sales on black market are estimated to be a $200 million business
BEATING THE SYSTEM
Catheterization – insert bogus urine into bladder
Female athletes insert condoms with clean urine into vagina
Male athletes put plastic bags with clean urine under armpits with tube
leading to penis
Drink copious amounts of water
Take diuretics to dilute urine
Scoop toilet bowl water
Steroid gurus – experienced drug users teach various tricks to avoid
detection
Ineffective drug testing: “advance-notice drug testing” – athletes know
when they will be tested and know how to clean drugs from their bodies in
order to pass the tests
Accidental drug use – permitted one one-time-only basis
The athletes might be able to use this pardon to help them cheat with full
understanding they would be let off the hook
Science of avoiding drug detection is as sophisticated as the science of
drug testing
New drug testing – new methods of avoiding evolved
New designer steroid – THG – work being done to detect THG
EXPLANATION OF DEVIANCE
“Magical Immunity Belief”
Criminals don’t think they’ll be caught.
“Economic Theory”
A market for offence opportunities exists, just as a market for legitimate
ones.
Cost-Benefit Ratio
Potential Costs – risks, difficulty, lost opportunities, expenses, time
Potential Benefits – material emotional
Likelihood of detection and punishment changes balance of ledger.
“Rational Choice Theory”
Decision diagrams – tracing path of offender’s reasoning in each situation
or context
Deviance occurs when, after considering situational factors, the individual
decides that the expected cost of violating the rules is outweighed by the
expected gain
EXPLANATION OF DEVIANCE
“Classical Strain Theory”
Robert Merton –
“deviance is a form of
adaptation to the
strain that exists
between culturally
prescribed aspirations
and socially structured
avenues for realizing
these aspirations”
Modes
Cultural
Goals
Means
Conformity
+
+
Innovation
+
_
Ritualism
-
+
Retreatism
-
-
+/-
+/-
Rebellion
EXPLANATION OF DEVIANCE
“American Dream”
Messner and Rosenfeld’s Strain Theory
goal of material success to be pursued by
everyone
Emphasis is on seeking the most efficient way to
achieve economic success, crime is often seen as
the most efficient way to make immediate
monetary gain
The more likely the logic of the economy
(competitive, individualistic and materialistic) – a
powerful social force will motivate the pursuit of
money by any means necessary
Positive Function of
Deviance
Negative Function of
Deviance
Number of elite athletes were asked:
Would they be willing to take a special pill
that would guarantee them an Olympic
gold medal even if they knew this pill
would kill them within a year.
50% of the athletes surveyed said YES