Abstract
Despite the increasing global concern about athlete maltreatment in elite sport, policymakers and scholars have given little consideration to its institutional origins and structural contradictions. Drawing upon the concept of wicked problems and new institutionalism, the purpose of this thesis is to explore how athlete maltreatment is generated, interpreted and controlled within the institutional context of South Korean elite sport. Scandals related to two specific organisations (the Korea Skating Union, the Korea Triathlon Federation) serve as the strategic sites for analysis. Grounded in critical realist ontology, the study utilises a multi-method approach, including contextual analysis, document analysis (e.g., examination of governmental and private entities’ records), and 20 semi-structured interviews involving 12 stakeholders and 8 elite athletes.
Specifically, this study of maltreatment in sport is guided by four interrelated research questions: (a) how and why can athlete maltreatment be regarded as a ‘wicked problem’?; (b) how might the elite sport system’s rules (e.g., policies, programmes and institutional arrangements) enable athlete maltreatment and how do these individual elements mix/combine to shape and reinforce the behaviour and views of key stakeholders (e.g., athletes, coaches, administrators)?; (c) how does the mix of practices and narratives converge to enable athlete maltreatment or diverge to prompt calls for systemic change?; and (d) what are the contradictions and limits of three countermeasures (rule changes, the establishment of the Korea Sport Ethics Centre (KSEC), the development of education programmes) introduced to address maltreatment?
There are four major findings. First, it was shown that utilising a wicked problem approach can provide an alternative perspective along with a broader array of tools and strategies for addressing athlete maltreatment. Within the unique South Korean sport governing structure (e.g., self-regulation, exemption from oversight), it was observed that efforts to address maltreatment not only resulted in new or unintended consequences but also made it difficult to identify other solutions. In response, the results indicate that engaging with the issue through the lens of a ‘wicked problem’ presents a substantial endeavour for stakeholders, providing a broader understanding of the issue and its evolutionary trajectory. Second, findings show that the instruments within the existing hierarchical structure of the elite sport system (such as the Semi-Professional Team System and the Specialist Athlete System) are interconnected and complemented each other to facilitate elite sport success. However, the interaction of multiple instruments in maintaining institutional structures and systems suggests that the mix of policy instruments aimed at achieving the state’s sport/political objectives may sustain and reinforce maltreatment. Third, practices and narratives in elite sport were found to be shaped by a complex and interrelated mix of unique socio-cultural attributes (Confucianism, seniority, a military-service culture and meritocracy) inherent within South Korean society. While these practices and narratives intensify the effects of instruments, the findings suggest that the convergence of practices and narratives exacerbates maltreatment particularly within the context of Korea’s unique elite sport structure and culture. Fourth, policies implemented to address maltreatment (rules, the KSEC and education programmes) have yielded political legitimacy but have also engendered conflicts amongst stakeholders, as well as unintended consequences. These limitations resulted from insufficient collaboration and coordination amongst pivotal organisations, each with disparate approaches for tackling the issue.
Overall, this thesis suggests that athlete maltreatment arises from the mix of policy instruments and a combination of practices and narratives that reinforce the power of institutions. Owing to the lack of ‘policy integration’, countermeasures to safeguard athletes were reported to be ineffective and are constrained by a number of limitations. The thesis concludes that South Korea’s distinct institutionalised sport system not only contributes to its coherence but exacerbates the issue, thus suggesting that an institutional approach can offer an alternative to advancing our understanding of athlete maltreatment as a social or wicked problem.