NCJ Number
220454
Journal
Child Abuse Review Volume: 16 Issue: 4 Dated: July-August 2007 Pages: 237-251
Date Published
July 2007
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This article evaluated the United Kingdom Rugby League’s implementation of child protection policies within their organization.
Abstract
State-funded national governing bodies of sports in the United Kingdom have recently received a mandate to produce, disseminate, and embed child protection policies within their organizations. Given the sociocultural and historical context of organized sport as a whole, and traditional male sport in particular, and the fact that the majority of the Rugby clubs did not respond to the questionnaire, it appears unlikely that there is a full engagement with child protection issues. In the questionnaires that were answered, there appeared to be a lack of serious engagement with the policy. The low questionnaire response rate, coupled with some of the qualitative data presented, indicate that within the rugby league community, despite evidence of crucial changes, such as the adoption of policy and the appointment of child protection officers (CPOs), there remains considerable gaps in implementing the principles of child protection policy and discourse in the United Kingdom. If a broader community of interest is concerned with the safeguarding of children there is likely to be a greater impact on a social problem of this kind, and sports can play a key role in the protection of children given its wide reach into the population. In the context of sport-wide child protection planning, lessons might be learned from a critical approach to management and strategic planning. Problems of planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and overall success are rarely if ever solved by one organization. Given the data presented in this study, the recommendations advocated would make a positive contribution towards cultural change in the context of Rugby League and assist in the safeguarding of children at least within its borders. Further research should examine the issue more fully. Tables, figure, references