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Papers by Adam Benkwitz

Children

Despite the breadth of health benefits associated with regular physical activity (PA), many child... more Despite the breadth of health benefits associated with regular physical activity (PA), many children in the UK are not sufficiently active enough to meet health guidelines, and tend to become less active as they mature into and throughout adolescence. Research has indicated that children’s school, home and neighbourhood environments can all significantly influence their opportunities to engage in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). However, less is known about how children’s MVPA patterns within these key environments may change across the school year. The current mixed-methods case study aims to explore this issue by tracking key stage 2 (KS2) and key stage 3 (KS3) children’s MVPA patterns across the school year. Fifty-eight children (29 boys, 29 girls, KS2 = 34, KS3 = 24) wore an integrated global positioning systems (GPS) and heart rate (HR) monitor over four consecutive days in the first term of school (autumn), before these measurements were repeated in the two remai...

Higher Education Research & Development

Universities are now compelled to attend to metrics that (re)shape our conceptualisation of the s... more Universities are now compelled to attend to metrics that (re)shape our conceptualisation of the student experience. New technologies such as learning analytics (LA) promise the ability to target personalised support to profiled ‘at risk’ students through mapping large-scale historic student engagement data such as attendance, library use, and virtual learning environment activity as well as demographic information and typical student outcomes. Yet serious ethical and implementation issues remain. Data-driven labelling of students as ‘high risk’, ‘hard to reach’ or ‘vulnerable’ creates conflict between promoting personal growth and human flourishing and treating people merely as data points. This article argues that universities must resist the assumption that numbers and algorithms alone can solve the ‘problem’ of student retention and performance; rather, LA work must be underpinned by a reconnection with the agreed values relating to the purpose of higher education, including democratic engagement, recognition of diverse and individual experience, and processes of becoming. Such a reconnection, this article contends, is possible when LA work is designed and implemented in genuine collaboration and partnership with students.

Sports

The school environment is ideally placed to facilitate physical activity (PA) with numerous windo... more The school environment is ideally placed to facilitate physical activity (PA) with numerous windows of opportunity from break and lunch times, to lesson times and extracurricular clubs. However, little is known about how children interact with the school environment to engage in PA and the other locations they visit daily, including time spent outside of the school environment i.e., evening and weekend locations. Moreover, there has been little research incorporating a mixed-methods approach that captures children’s voices alongside objectively tracking children’s PA patterns. The aim of this study was to explore children’s PA behaviours according to different locations. Sixty children (29 boys, 31 girls)—35 key stage 2 (aged 9–11) and 25 key stage 3 (aged 11–13)—wore an integrated global positioning systems (GPS) and heart rate (HR) monitor over four consecutive days. A subsample of children (n = 32) were invited to take part in one of six focus groups to further explore PA behavio...

Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education

UK Universities are increasingly being ‘encouraged’ to focus on student engagement, retention and... more UK Universities are increasingly being ‘encouraged’ to focus on student engagement, retention and performance, with learning analytics becoming commonplace. Based on inter-related student-staff partnerships, this study adopted a human and compassionate approach to the use of student data and subsequent interventions. Analysis of focus group and interview data from 86 student participants explored key themes: peer-mentoring increasing engagement with the communal-habitus; increased confidence and engagement; and the demystification and humanisation of the university environment. Findings highlight the importance of emphasising human and compassionate support for students within rapidly developing learning analytics approaches, with subject-specific peer-mentoring found here to be beneficial.

Mental Health and Physical Activity

Personal recovery has an emerging prioritisation in western mental health services (Wallace et al... more Personal recovery has an emerging prioritisation in western mental health services (Wallace et al., 2016), however, there is limited literature to support the filtering down of this focus into community contexts. Whilst there are numerous different interpretations of what personal recovery might mean, Anthony's (1993) definition is most frequently cited, which outlines how it is "a deeply personal, unique process of changing one's attitudes, values, feelings, goals, skills, and/or roles. It is a way of living a satisfying, hopeful, and contributing life even within the limitations caused by illness" (p.527). Personal recovery can be seen as a subjectively viewed and valued process (Borg & Davidson, 2008; Slade, 2009), which accepts that each individual's experience is different and that there is no blueprint for recovery (Perkins & Slade, 2012), an approach that is gaining increased support (Watson, 2012). One issue of personal recovery is the degree of conceptual confusion or misunderstanding (Davidson & Roe, 2007) and also how it lacks an evidence base (Davidson et al., 2006). In response to these claims, there has been a body of work from Mike Slade and colleagues (the REFOCUS programme, see Bird et al., 2014; Slade et al., 2011; Wallace et al., 2016) that has aimed to address this. Their work includes the development and 'validation' of the empirically-based CHIME conceptual framework for personal recovery that comprises five recovery processes, namely Connectedness, Hope and optimism, Identity, Meaning and purpose, and Empowerment (Leamy et al., 2011). The implementation of this framework is gaining traction in varying contexts (e.g., Brijnath, 2015), although critics have claimed that the CHIME framework tends towards the positive or optimistic (Connell et al., 2014) and does not always encompass the difficulties faced by many (Stuart, Tansey & Quayle, 2016). The framework and subsequent critique have contributed to moving the FOOTBALL AND MENTAL HEALTH RECOVERY 2 broader recovery discourse forwards, which has in recent years led to more attention being given to social recovery. Ramon (2018) made the case to look at social recovery consistently alongside personal recovery. Existing literature suggests that there is not a specific definition of social recovery, instead that it reflects that health services, policy makers and practitioners must look beyond the person, and appreciate issues of social justice and social inclusion (Davidson et al., 2009), as well as considering how the recovery processes can be supported in communities and facilitate social relationships (Fenton et al., 2017).

Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Mental Health

A key part of developing an understanding of 'what works' within the evolving mental health recov... more A key part of developing an understanding of 'what works' within the evolving mental health recovery evidence base is finding ways of serviceusers (and their friends and family) and practitioners working collaboratively. This interaction is slowly shifting practice, whereby care is potentially coconstructed in a setting between those involved to facilitate recovery-oriented processes. Increasingly, mental health services are appreciating the potential role of sport. This study adds to this body of literature by providing analysis of a football project in a medium-secure service context. This study also expands the methodological and theoretical scope of the literature by adopting an ethnographic approach and by utilising the CHIME conceptual framework as an evaluative tool. 47 participants were involved in the study, which included service-users, staff and volunteers. The data demonstrated that these sessions have considerable links to the CHIME processes, and can therefore be considered to enhance personal recovery for those involved.

Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 14660970 2012 677224, Apr 25, 2012

Academic literature on football fans has shifted focus, away from the study of ‘exceptional fans’... more Academic literature on football fans has shifted focus, away from the study of ‘exceptional fans’, most notably hooligans, towards ‘everyday fans’ and their experiences. Especially, the rivalry-related aspect of football fandom has been given growing attention. Gradually increasing literature has demonstrated that rivalries are unique and complex, underpinned by social, historical and/or cultural factors. This suggests that each rivalry must be studied in-depth in order to understand the underlying factors that shape oppositions and social identities. Although attempts have been made to sociologically explore rivalries in such a way, two fundamental issues have not been fully addressed: paucity of in-depth empirical evidence and lack of transparency in terms of research methodologies. Therefore, this essay, after locating football rivalries within the broader genre of fandom, proposes to use ethnographic research methodologies to elicit rich, qualitative data, thus providing empirically grounded interpretations of fans’ perceptions. Also, it calls for more open and detailed methodological and theoretical discussions which would aid our understanding of the unique and complex factors underpinning football fan rivalries.

Soccer & Society, 2016

This article explores the interdependent, complex socio-cultural factors that facilitated the eme... more This article explores the interdependent, complex socio-cultural factors that facilitated the emergence and diffusion of football in Birmingham. The focus is the development of football in the city, against the backdrop of the numerous social changes in Victorian Birmingham. The aim is to fill a gap in the existing literature which seemingly overlooked Birmingham as a significant footballing centre, and the 'ordinary and everyday' aspects of the game's early progression. Among other aspects, particular heed is paid to the working classes' involvement in football, as previous literature has often focused on the middle classes and their influence on and participation in organised sport. As the agency of the working classes along with their mass participation and central role in the game's development is unfolded, it is argued that far from being passive cultural beings, the working classes, from the beginnings, actively negotiated the development of their own emergent football culture.

The International Journal of the History of Sport, 2015

Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 2016

The contemporary corpus of psychological research into “fandom” in sports remains largely beholde... more The contemporary corpus of psychological research into “fandom” in sports remains largely beholden to a strong social-cognitive orthodoxy. Using instruments such as the Sport Spectator Identification Scale, the bulk of studies are focused upon the production of formal taxonomies of fans and, particularly, upon making a clear analytic distinction between authentic “fans” and mere “spectators.” In doing so, variables such emotional connectedness, everyday investment and impact upon ones sense of self are taken to be key.
Such work is grounded in the intuitive cognitive assumption that fan-identity itself both precedes and (largely) determines the manner in which such an identity is conceptualised and communicated. In this paper, however, a critique of this broad approach is advanced from a discursive psychological perspective, and a formal analysis advanced of the manner in which four self-declared soccer fans organize accounts of their own fandom. It is noted how many of the issues that inform cognitive analysis (not least emotional attachment and matters of ancestry) are therein assembled as members’ concerns in the service of persuasively accounting for particular claims, and generating context-sensitive accounts for the fans’ identities as “authentic” where they reason that aspects of their talk might be received sceptically. It is concluded that until a more complete description of these public procedures for self-identification is advanced, analytic abstractions made for the sake of “clarity” can guarantee no relevance to the social psychological lives of everyday fans themselves.

Ethnography is a research approach that is gradually being utilised more extensively within diver... more Ethnography is a research approach that is gradually being utilised more extensively within diverse healthcare settings. It most commonly includes a combination of participant
observation and interviews, which enables data collection through both formal and informal means within a natural setting. This paper briefly interrogates the philosophy and benefits of ethnography, paying particular attention to the flexibility that is afforded to the researcher. A review of relevant ethnographies within healthcare is provided, before acknowledging some of the challenges of this approach.

Soccer & Society, 2012

Academic literature on football fans has shifted focus, away from the study of 'exceptional fans'... more Academic literature on football fans has shifted focus, away from the study of 'exceptional fans', most notably hooligans, towards 'everyday fans' and their experiences. Especially, the rivalry-related aspect of football fandom has been given growing attention. Gradually increasing literature has demonstrated that rivalries are unique and complex, underpinned by social, historical and/or cultural factors. This suggests that each rivalry must be studied in-depth in order to understand the underlying factors that shape oppositions and social identities. Although attempts have been made to sociologically explore rivalries in such a way, two fundamental issues have not been fully addressed: paucity of in-depth empirical evidence and lack of transparency in terms of research methodologies. Therefore, this essay, after locating football rivalries within the broader genre of fandom, proposes to use ethnographic research methodologies to elicit rich, qualitative data, thus providing empirically grounded interpretations of fans' perceptions. Also, it calls for more open and detailed methodological and theoretical discussions which would aid our understanding of the unique and complex factors underpinning football fan rivalries.

Conference Presentations by Adam Benkwitz

Despite regular participation in sport providing numerous outcomes vital for a life of enhanced w... more Despite regular participation in sport providing numerous outcomes vital for a life of enhanced wellbeing and reduced risk of chronic ill health, trends in post-16 dropout persist.
The study sought to examine the process of decline in male students’ participation in football by identifying the perceived constraints influencing their (de)motivation and (dis)engagement in the sport.
A qualitative, inductive, explorative approach was taken; employing grounded theory methodology to conduct one-off in-depth semi-structured interviews with 6 (20-21 years) members of the aforementioned population.
Results: Lack of time, lack of social support, and changes in sporting preferences were identified as the major perceived constraints hindering subjects’ participation in football; with intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural constraints being interrelated.

Based on an ethnographic case study of the intense rivalry between football fans in Birmingham, t... more Based on an ethnographic case study of the intense rivalry between football fans in Birmingham, this paper reflects on the many benefits and challenges of ethnography. Initially, it details how the football fan rivalry in Birmingham was studied, using participant observation and semi-structured interviews. Subsequently, there are reflections included that aim to continue the conversation about conducting this type of research, which centre on the importance of being reflexive and, to borrow from Sugden (1996), the ‘perils of ethnography’.

Emphasis is placed on the significance of reflexivity. Notably, how it exposes and makes explicit many of the moral dilemmas that are there but go unnoticed in non-reflexive research (Etherington 2004). Previous candid accounts based on fieldwork by Klein (1993), Sugden (1996), Bourgois (2002) and Venkatesh (2008) have discussed not only the theoretical underpinnings of ethnography, but also the formal and informal practical aspects of actual self-immersion in a subculture. This paper shall contribute to this discussion of the ‘perils of ethnography’ by reflecting on some of the ethical dilemmas (e.g. upon witnessing illegal acts) and physical risks (e.g. being hit by missiles thrown) involved in this case study. These aspects are central to the ethnographic methodology, however they are often omitted from current literature, therefore it is argued here that this sort of transparency is vital not only for individual projects but also for future growth and progress in this area.

Academic literature on fandom, in particular football fandom, has shifted focus in recent decades... more Academic literature on fandom, in particular football fandom, has shifted focus in recent decades from ‘exceptional’ fans to exploring the ‘ordinary and everyday’ fans and their experiences. Especially, the rivalry-related aspect of football fandom has been given growing attention. Gradually increasing literature has demonstrated that rivalries are unique and complex (Giulianotti 1999; Thompson 2001), underpinned by social, historical and/or cultural factors (Armstrong and Giulianotti 2001). This suggests that each rivalry must be studied in-depth in order to understand the underlying factors which shape oppositions and social identities.
One such football fan rivalry that has previously received no academic attention is that of Aston Villa and Birmingham City, despite these two being the main clubs in Birmingham, England’s second largest city, with a long history of intra-city rivalry. Since the first fixture between the two in 1879, a strong and distinct conflict has developed between the two clubs, based on its own unique and idiosyncratic social, historical and cultural factors. The notion that “soccer, and indeed sports fandom more widely in Europe in the past 30 years, is undergoing a series of important transformations that are still in process” (Williams 2007: p.144) provides justification for the in-depth examination of each subculture and the ‘everyday’ lived experiences of the fans, in a fluid and reflexive manner, in order to elucidate and continually advance the understanding of football fandom and (sub)cultural conflict.
Previous literature demonstrated that one of the most effective ways to explore and interpret football fan (sub)cultures has been through ethnography (e.g., Giulianotti 1995; Armstrong 1998; Clark 2006; Weed 2006). Participant observation was conducted at football matches involving Aston Villa and involving Birmingham City, including matches when the two played each other, as the aim was to be a participant observer where the imagined communities (Anderson 2006) of fans come together and interact (Emerson et al. 2001). In addition to participant observation, semi-structured interviews were conducted with fans of both Aston Villa and Birmingham City. These interviews were interwoven with participant observation, as one of the strengths of ethnography is that the flexibility of the research process enables interviews to provide further insight and clarification on themes and lived experiences that may have been identified during participant observation (Bryman 2008). The ontological and epistemological approach (constructivist) adopted in this study perceived people’s knowledge, opinions, interpretations and experiences as meaningful properties of their social reality and, thus, this study aimed to gather data from those whom actually experience the rivalry – the fans. This data collection process was selected in order to gain a deep and reality congruent insight into the unique and complex social, cultural and historical factors that underpin this urban conflict.
From the ethnography, it became clear that one of the key factors that underpinned the rivalry was the battle for territory within the city. The concept of territoriality (Sack 1986; Storey 2001; Delaney 2009; Elden 2010) aligned well with the data, and provided a useful structure for the analysis and discussion of data. Therefore, this first paper centres around two of the main facets of territoriality: Firstly, the majority of this paper centres on the classification of area, which essentially focuses on claims to control or own territory in Birmingham, as the data collected suggested this was of central interest to the fans; and secondly, the communication of boundaries is examined as a secondary, inter-related theme, which explores the ways some of these claims for territory are communicated and the meanings behind this communication.
Based on the data collected, it is understood that there is a substantial amount of disagreement in terms of classifying and communicating territorial boundaries. Therefore, the territoriality argument does not ‘work’ (Delaney 2009), and this leads to tension and contestation, which has been found to be a central factor in this urban conflict. More specifically, the classification of boundaries demonstrated that both sets of fans attempt to claim territory as theirs in order to gain, or be perceived to have, more power. However, the claims made by fans are complex, inconsistent, and often contradictory. One specific theme that did emerge was that Aston Villa’s historical footballing success is often linked to (perceived) control of territory in Birmingham, and in this respect is used to attempt to legitimise their hegemonic domination (Gramsci 1971)over their rivals when considering territory.
However, Aston Villa fans also conceded small amounts of cultural capital (Bourdieu 1984) to Birmingham City fans with regard to Birmingham City bearing the city’s name, which represents a degree of negotiation within the struggle for hegemonic power. Thus, in terms of classification of boundaries of territory, due to the link that fans make between footballing success and territory, fans of Aston Villa are considered here to be the legitimising identity (Armstrong and Giulianotti 2001), and Birmingham City’s fans can be viewed as adopting a resistance identity.
With regard to the communication of boundaries, a Foucauldian (1977; 1978; 1980) interpretation of discourse is useful, as the importance of knowledge and how power is exerted through discourse during the strategic ‘game’ (Smith-Maguire 2002) was evident. Access to discourse is said to be important (Barker 2008), it has been interpreted that no individuals or groups have any particular dominance in terms of communication, which leads to further tensions and contestation as fans continue to try to gain some authority or dominance. Access to communication (and therefore discourse) remains relatively equal. Both sets of fans have similar access to the internet and fan forums. They all have the ability to collectively chant at football matches. They can all talk in groups both on match days and during the rest of the week, and so on. Therefore, with no dominance or control of the discourse, in terms of communicating territoriality, it is suggested that neither set of fans is the legitimising identity (Armstrong and Giulianotti 2001). Instead, they both appeared to be adopting an on-going project identity in order to try to change their collective situation and become dominant in terms of communicating boundaries of territory. As each rivalry is fluid and on-going, this particular urban conflict remains unresolved and a central component of both the fans’ collective identities and also of the city’s identity.

Football’s ‘everyday fans’ and inter-club fan rivalry have come into academic focus in recent yea... more Football’s ‘everyday fans’ and inter-club fan rivalry have come into academic focus in recent years. The tensions between ‘imagined communities’ of fans are based on unique and complex socio-cultural and historical factors, and therefore each rivalry is unique and complex. This paper is based on a broader ethnographic study exploring those factors underpinning an important 130-year rivalry in the heart of England’s second largest city between fans of Aston Villa and Birmingham City, which has not yet received any academic attention. It looks specifically at one of the key emerging themes, territory, finding that the struggle for control of space in the city represents a struggle for power and (perceived) superiority between the imagined communities, which creates tension and conflict and further reinforces fan rivalry. This informs our sociological understanding of this case study and further provides an in-depth analysis of the role territory plays in rivalry and conflict between groups.