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Stop the Spread: Criminalizing Sport and Physical Recreation During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Thu, Nov 14, 8:00 to 9:20am, Foothill F - 2nd Level

Abstract

The current study employs a qualitative content analysis of news articles (n=66) concerning the criminalization of sport and physical recreation activities during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. Our analysis reveals that news media often endorsed politicians’ calls for civilians to engage in the surveillance of neighbours and community members. Indeed, politicians often employed morality policing as a mechanism of social control, suggesting that failing to call the authorities on neighbours reflected an unwillingness to “stop the spread.” Articles that mentioned the issuing of tickets to those refusing to comply with COVID-19 restrictions were often phrased ambiguously, failing to name the violations explicitly. We suggest the policing of pandemic sport is amorphous and discuss the consequences of the expansion and diffusion of social control for access to health and wellness opportunities.

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