In recent years sport-based interventions have been implemented as a mechanism via which to target marginalised youth in relation to the development of social inclusion. Much of the political rhetoric surrounding social inclusion programmes highlights engagement with education, employment, or training, as key metrics. This has led some scholars to observe that conceptualising social inclusion in this way can act to further marginalise young people who fail to engage with these metrics. In contrast, this paper seeks to employ an alternative understanding of social inclusion, which uses the concepts of recognition and acceptance, to infer how participation in sports-based programmes may enable marginalised youth to meet mainstream societal expectations and aid with social assimilation. Drawing upon findings from two small-scale studies of sport-based interventions located in three UK cities, this paper places participant accounts at the centre of the analysis to explore broader notions of pro-social development in relation to recognition and interpersonal acceptance. The paper concludes by suggesting that within contexts in which young people are able to generate strong interpersonal relationships with key personnel (such as coaches), and which are built upon trust, recognition and developing self-worth, there is clear potential for sport-based programmes to incubate social assimilation.

This position article addresses the issues surrounding the development of active citizenship and social capital through volunteering in sport. The present UK Government has aligned much of its policy intent with fiscal constraint and identifying alternatives to balance the ‘shortfall’ of public provision. One such policy idea, ‘Big Society’ extols the need for citizen engagement through volunteering, to benefit both the individual and wider society. However, the basis for such social advantage has been uncritically determined, and as such, this article will address three main concerns. First, the notion that activities such as volunteering contribute to an individual's accumulation of social capital will be critically examined. Second, the extent of government involvement in facilitating community engagement will be articulated, to determine whether ideas and policies such as the ‘Big Society’ – which emphasize liberation of the individual and limited government involvement – are instrumental to social capital enhancement. Finally, the article will offer a critical commentary on how the ‘Big Society’ may be realized through volunteering in sport, outlining key messages for those involved in the delivery of community sport as to how they may best position themselves to profit from current Government thinking.

Sport is often framed as a panacea for social disharmony, especially within the context of marginalised youth populations, and is widely promoted as a mechanism through which a multiplicity of social policy objectives can be achieved. Yet while political rhetoric has long pointed towards sport’s transformative abilities, the basis for such claims remains unproven. Theory-based approaches to evaluation have been posited as a useful device to explore the impact of specific initiatives and indicate where best practice may operate. The aim of this paper is to highlight one such theory-based framework that has been devised by practitioners in recent years around the operationalisation and evaluation of sporting interventions in criminal justice settings and which has come to be adopted as the dominant ‘theory of change’ across sport and criminal justice practitioner settings in the UK, but has, as yet, eluded academic scrutiny. To address this omission, the present discussion offers an in-depth analysis of this framework with the aim of discerning more clearly ‘what might work’ within sport and criminal justice contexts. In turn, the paper aims to stimulate further academic debate around the instrumental role of sport within criminal justice and the value of such frameworks for both policy and practice.

Prevailing academic notions regarding Sport-for-Development-and-Peace (SDP) programmes advocate a ‘transformative vision’ that is hoped to convert the movement from a ‘damaging’ development practice, to one which fulfils its potential and elicits benefits worldwide. Volunteers are perceived to be a fundamental element of this transformative vision. This paper provides insight into the voluntary experience of the SDP movement, placing particular attention towards notions of self, the (re)construction of identity and its impact upon the delivery of a developmental initiative located within a Zambian community. Utilizing an interactionist perspective, the paper identifies three related themes that collectively represent the experiential landscape across which participant views were aired – preconceptions and effect on identity and behaviour; experiences and effect on identity and behaviour; and responses to experiences of identity disruption. Following analysis of these themes, the paper finds that SDP programmes may be enhanced through increased transparency of communication in relation to the role of the volunteer to limit preconceptions and expectations associated with the programme and enable volunteers to arrive in the field better equipped to respond to the challenges of the role.

(Re-)Engagement with education and employment is a common objective within interventions designed to enhance social inclusion through sport participation. Consequently, the acquisition of capital to expedite the (re)engagement process has become a familiar theme. Literature has examined how various forms of capital may be accumulated through participation in sport. However, competing literature has explored how participation may enable positive psychological capital—which comprises personal qualities such as resilience, hope, optimism and self-efficacy—to be developed. This article adds to this work, by providing insights from a sports-based project which aimed to develop social inclusion among marginalized youth in three regions of the UK. Utilizing data from semi-structured interviews, we highlight how participation enabled young people to enhance the components of positive psychological capital, and offer a further theoretical vantage point from which to understand and debate the relationship between participation in sport and social inclusion.

Recent government policy in the United Kingdom has encouraged marginalized youth to acquire human and social capital in order to enhance their social mobility prospects. While literature observes how community-based organisations, such as sports clubs, hold potential to facilitate the accumulation of such capital, other scholarship has advocated that the acquisition of positive psychological capital—comprising of self-efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience—is equally necessary to actualise social mobility. However, few studies have explored how participation in community-based interventions may facilitate this form of capital. Utilizing data collected from youth participants and club coaches who engaged with a sport-based project delivered in London (UK), this article will focus on two main concerns. First, it will highlight how opportunities offered within community-based organisations may enable the development of positive psychological capital, and second, offer tentative insights into the conditions that are necessary to enhance elements of positive psychological capital through sport.