The Crisis of Toxic Cultures in Competitive Sport

The barrage of stories from athletes about their experiences of maltreatment in sport has led some to conclude that sport is “in crisis”. Across sport types and levels, men’s and women’s sports, and countries, stories of athletes’ experiences of maltreatment are remarkably similar, pointing to the central role played by sport cultures and norms. The characteristics of sport cultures that increase vulnerability to maltreatment experiences bear resemblance to the characteristics of toxic cultures, including being authoritarian and fear-based, and devoid of values and diversity. In this chapter, the powerful role of social norms will be emphasized to understand sport as a toxic culture and to suggest ways of de-toxifying this culture. Recommendations are made to revise the predominant social norms in sport through changes in environmental cues and the engagement and empowerment of all stakeholders to affect cultural change.