After reading this chapter, the student should be able to do the following:

• Identify the major problems seen when studying deviance in sports.
• Explain how deviance would be defined when using functionalist theory and when using conflict theory.
• Explain how deviance would be defined when using interactionist and critical theories.
• Distinguish between deviant overconformity and deviant underconformity.
• Define the sport ethic, and identify the norms of the sport ethic.
• Explain why athletes tend to overconform to the norms of the sport ethic, and why some athletes are more likely to engage in deviant overconformity than other athletes do.
• Explain the group dynamics and social processes that occur in connection with deviant overconformity in power and performance sports, and indicate how deviant overconformity might be connected with deviant underconformity among elite athletes.
• Outline the major strategies that could be used to control deviant overconformity among athletes.
• Summarize the major findings from research on deviance among athletes, on the field and off the field, especially in connection with delinquency rates, academic cheating, alcohol use and binge drinking, and felony rates.
• Explain when sport participation may discourage deviance in off-the-field situations.
• Explain why performance enhancing substance use is so prevalent among athletes today.
• Identify the problems faced when trying to define, ban, and control the use of performance enhancing substances in sports today.
• Identify the major arguments for and against drug and substance testing in sports.
• Outline the strategies that might be used in controlling substance use in sports today.