<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><bold><italic>Introduction</italic></bold>. The purpose of this article is first to provide a picture of disability sport in general and second to increase knowledge of sport for women with disabilities.<bold><italic>Material and methods</italic></bold>. The study method is a qualitative text analysis of organised Swedish disability sport and of media reporting of the Paralympics. The study begins in 1969, the year when the Swedish Sports Organization for the Disabled (SHIF) was formed, and continues until the Summer Paralympics in 2012. The theory is based on three conceptual pairs: integration and inclusion, the medical and social models, and the traditional and progressive models of media coverage.<bold><italic>Results</italic></bold>. The results show that SHIF strove principally not for inclusion but for integration. Further, women in SHIF led a hidden existence, except for the period between the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s, when initiatives were taken to improve their position. In other respects, this was a non-issue. Moreover, the medical model was dominant, and sport was viewed above all as rehabilitating. Finally, mainstream media reporting was traditional, namely Paralympic participants were portrayed first and foremost as people with disabilities and secondarily as sports practitioners.<bold><italic>Conclusion</italic></bold>. Swedish disability sport during this period was not included in the sports movement in general and integration work was, for the SHIF board, superordinate to the gender aspect.</abstract>

Introduction. The purpose of this article is first to provide a picture of disability sport in general and second to increase knowledge of sport for women with disabilities.Material and methods. The study method is a qualitative text analysis of organised Swedish disability sport and of media reporting of the Paralympics. The study begins in 1969, the year when the Swedish Sports Organization for the Disabled (SHIF) was formed, and continues until the Summer Paralympics in 2012. The theory is based on three conceptual pairs: integration and inclusion, the medical and social models, and the traditional and progressive models of media coverage.Results. The results show that SHIF strove principally not for inclusion but for integration. Further, women in SHIF led a hidden existence, except for the period between the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s, when initiatives were taken to improve their position. In other respects, this was a non-issue. Moreover, the medical model was dominant, and sport was viewed above all as rehabilitating. Finally, mainstream media reporting was traditional, namely Paralympic participants were portrayed first and foremost as people with disabilities and secondarily as sports practitioners.Conclusion. Swedish disability sport during this period was not included in the sports movement in general and integration work was, for the SHIF board, superordinate to the gender aspect.

Sport, Disability, and Women: A Study of Organised Swedish Disability Sport in 1969-2012

Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, Department of Sport and Health Sciences

Polish Journal of Sport and Tourism

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Introduction. The purpose of this article is first to provide a picture of disability sport in general and second to increase knowledge of sport for women with...

Sport, Disability, and Women: A Study of Organised Swedish Disability Sport in 1969-2012

Published Online: Jan 19, 2018

Page range: 213 - 220

Received: Jun 28, 2017

Accepted: Sep 12, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/pjst-2017-0020

Keywords
disability sport, women, integration, inclusion, medical and social model, media

© 2017 Pia Lundquist Wanneberg, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Sport, Disability, and Women: A Study of Organised Swedish Disability Sport in 1969-2012

Published Online: Jan 19, 2018

Page range: 213 - 220

Received: Jun 28, 2017

Accepted: Sep 12, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/pjst-2017-0020

Keywordsdisability sport, women, integration, inclusion, medical and social model, media

© 2017 Pia Lundquist Wanneberg, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
disability sport, women, integration, inclusion, medical and social model, media