Background and objective of the project
A look at the structure of members and active participants in Swiss sports clubs shows that people with a migration background, especially adolescents and young adults, are significantly less active and represented than their proportion of the total population would actually suggest (Fischer et al., 2010; Lamprecht et al., 2014). This certainly raises doubts about the integration claim of organised sport, even though the package of measures adopted by the federal government in 2007 to "promote the integration of foreigners" underlines the great importance of sport as a social setting in the context of integration policy (Bundesamt für Migration, 2008, 1-4). However, the existing under-representation can only be explained to a limited extent by referring to a lack of willingness to integrate on the part of people with a migration background. Sports clubs themselves can also have certain barriers that prevent people with a migration background from participating.
The planned study pursues the following key questions:
- What factors play a role in the long-term participation/retention of adolescents and young adults with a migration background in club sport and to what extent does social integration into the club take place beyond purely formal membership?
- How do sports clubs deal with the topic of integration and to what extent do certain structural conditions of sports clubs favour or hinder integration processes?
Theoretical-methodological approach
In order to be able to analyse the mechanisms of successful integration of people with a migration background into organised sport, the structural conditions of sports clubs on the one hand and the social factors that influence individual decision-making regarding club membership on the other must be taken into account. The planned study will differentiate between the following reference levels:
- At the organisational level, the club-specific structural conditions must be examined with regard to their ability to integrate.
- At the interactional level, club-specific interaction contexts are to be analysed with regard to social exclusion practices.
- The individual level takes into account that social inclusion in club sport is a consequence of individual choice behaviour and cultural self-positioning.
Due to the complexity of the research subject, both quantitative and qualitative analysis methods are to be applied within the framework of case studies (n = 36 sports clubs). In the quantitative sub-study, both club-specific structural data and individual data of adolescents and young adults with a migration background are initially collected and correlated in accordance with the multi-level design. In the qualitative sub-study, in-depth analyses of selected club-specific interaction contexts with a view to social boundary-drawing practices are carried out in a few sports clubs (n = 3 sports clubs) over a longer period of 8-10 months using guided interviews and participant observations.
Relevance of the project
The research project focusses on the target group of "adolescents and young adults with a migration background", which has not yet been sufficiently reached in the area of general sport and physical activity promotion. In particular, sports clubs can contribute to increasing sporting and physical activity due to the health-promoting, educational and social functions of sporting activities. In addition, sports clubs with their social and sporting opportunity structures can promote the integration of people with a migration background into sport and beyond into society in a variety of ways.
Based on the results, advisory programmes for sports clubs in dealing with the topic of "cultural diversity" can be further developed in a targeted manner with a view to intercultural sports club development and thus strengthen their intercultural skills. The results also contribute to an understanding of the developmental and educational effects of active membership of sports clubs in adolescence and young adulthood. The project is also of central importance for organised sport itself, insofar as sports clubs need to underpin their own status in the integration policy discourse and overcome current and future challenges (e.g. stagnating/declining membership figures, recruitment of young talent, talent development).
Literature
Bundesamt für Migration. (2008). Umsetzung Massnahmenpaket Integration 2008 [Implementation of integration measures 2008]. Bundesamt für Migration.
Fischer, A., Wild-Eck, S., Lamprecht, M., Stamm, H.-P., Schötzau, S., & Morais, J. (2010). Das Sportverhalten der Migrationsbevölkerung: Vertiefungsanalyse zu "Sport Kanton Zürich 2008" und "Sport Schweiz 2008" [The sporting behaviour of the migrant population: In-depth analysis of "Sport Kanton Zürich 2008" and "Sport Schweiz 2008"]. Kantonale Fachstelle für Integrationsfragen und Fachstelle Sport.
Lamprecht, M., Fischer, A., & Stamm, H.-P. (2014). Sport Schweiz 2014. Sportaktivität und Sportinteresse der Schweizer Bevölkerung [Sport Switzerland 2014: Sports activity and interest in sport among the Swiss population]. Bundesamt für Sport.
