Cultural Sport Psychology And Elite Sport In Singapore

Guided by the principles of cultural sport psychology (CSP), this book explores the psychosocial issues surrounding elite sport and psychological practice in Singapore. CSP recognises the importance of understanding people as individuals, rather than objectifying and interpreting psychological processes independent of the socio-cultural context in which they stem from. For sport psychology to progress, it is imperative to distinguish and appreciate the difference between treating someone the same (i.e., culturally blind approach) and treating them equally (i.e., possess cultural awareness). To address the paucity of cultural-specific research, this book explores the psychosocial issues of elite sport in Singapore using CSP as a theoretical and guiding philosophy. Given Singapore’s recent successes at the Olympic and Paralympic levels, this book is ideally timed to investigate the social and cultural developments of elite sport as they occur in a specific sociocultural context. The authors argue that if elite sport and sport psychology is to progress in Singapore, there is a need to refine its elite ecosystem, regulate the practice of sport psychology, and work towards establishing a professional community centred around a culture of constructive exchange, debate and cooperation. This book presents a blueprint to any researcher, national institute, or practitioner, to systematically explore the culture and context within which they operate and organise action plans to address unique needs that were identified through this process.

"Cultural Sport Psychology is the first full text to offer a complete and authoritative look at this developing field by a diverse group of established and aspiring contributors. As clinicians develop their practice to include more diverse athletes and sport psychologists expand to work in multicultural settings, this text will undeniably spark increased discussion, reflection, and research of cultural considerations in sport psychology practice."--BOOK JACKET.

Cultural issues have become a significant aspect of the sport psychology field. As clinicians develop their practice to include more diverse athletes and sport psychologists expand to work in multicultural settings, Cultural Sport Psychology will prove to be a beneficial reference for the field. It is the first full text to focus entirely on cultural awareness, and its timeliness will spark increased discussion, reflection, and research of cultural considerations in sport psychology practice. Cultural Sport Psychology offers researchers, practitioners, and consultants an excellent starting point for future research and practice. With contributions from a diverse group of established and aspiring experts in sport psychology, the text offers a complete and authoritative look at this developing field. The first two sections of the book will help readers understand the background of cultural sport psychology and how and why it should be studied. Concepts and theories shaping cultural sport psychology are identified and explored, and general guidelines are provided for practitioners to employ a cultural sport psychology approach. Part III of the text offers rich and varied approaches to the practice of cultural sport psychology. Within this extensive 12-chapter section, contributors offer their firsthand experiences working with athletes in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ghana, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Nigeria, Russia, Singapore, Sweden, and the United States. Some contributors offer a national perspective, focus on the influence of religion, or discuss cultural communities within a country and how to work effectively in relation to each. Others focus on cultural communities outside the mainstream, such as specific minority groups within the United States, Canada, and Australia. Case studies, advice, and suggestions in each chapter assist practitioners in engaging in multicultural exchanges within their sport psychology consulting sessions. Each chapter concludes with final suggestions or reflections based on the authors' experiences. Cultural Sport Psychology focuses on important cultural factors such as religion, gender, personal space, and social structure. These factors and many others are laden with cultural assumptions that may contribute--positively or negatively--to athletic performance and an athlete's well-being. As the first compilation on the topic of multicultural considerations in sport psychology, Cultural Sport Psychology assists practitioners in creating strategies relative to the culture and context of their clients. This text is certain to stimulate ongoing discourse and encourage increased focus on effective cultural sport psychology practice.

Sport and exercise psychology as a profession is becoming increasingly popular, with a growth in the number of students applying for and studying Undergraduate and Postgraduate degrees in sport and exercise psychology in recent years within the UK and International Higher Education landscape. Developing a Sport Psychology Consultancy Practice: A Toolkit for Students and Trainees provides logistical and practical information about becoming and working as an applied sport psychology practitioner and the critical processes involved in setting up a consultancy practice. The book focuses on three broad areas: Pathways into Applied Sport Psychology Practice Setting up a Sport Consultancy Practice Personal and Professional Development Within these areas, the chapters provide coverage on topics related to UK and International training and qualification routes, setting up, operating and marketing successful consultancy practices, engaging in administrative and quality assurance processes and optimising technology for effective practice. The chapters further focus on the practitioner’s journey of personal and professional development, including the importance of maintaining a healthy work–life balance for mental health, integrating self-care strategies into daily lives, developing cultural competence and engaging in lifelong learning. This book is a valuable resource for students who are considering training as an applied practitioner, including students enrolled on undergraduate and postgraduate Sport and Exercise Psychology, Sport and Exercise Science and Psychology programmes. It is also a vital aid for current trainees and recently qualified Sport and Exercise Psychologists.

A practical and easy-to-understand introduction to applied psychology In the newly revised second edition of Applied Psychology, distinguished psychologist and author Graham C. Davey delivers an accessible introduction to the main areas of applied psychology from the perspectives of practitioners and researchers in the United Kingdom, Europe, and other parts of the world. It explains the core psychological knowledge and research that underpins the most commonly employed areas of applied psychology. This latest edition adds six brand-new chapters that cover emerging topics in applied psychology, as well as a chapter on teaching psychology, and extensive revisions to the individual clinical psychology chapters. The book is accompanied by a resource website that offers a wide range of teaching and learning features, including a test bank, instructor slides, and a collection of professional and training chapters. Readers will also find: Thorough introductions to clinical, health, forensic, and educational psychology Comprehensive explorations of occupational, sport, and counselling psychology Practical discussions of coaching psychology, including the application of psychological theory during coaching Fulsome treatments of emerging topics in applied psychology, including environmental, consumer, and community psychology Perfect for Level 1 introductory psychology students, Applied Psychology will also benefit Level 2 and 3 students seeking core theoretical and professional information highly relevant to their future practice.

Elite athletes lead a particular way of life, which creates significant learning and shapes their selves. This is the first sociological-pedagogical text to conceptualise athlete learning in elite sport and across athletic careers. It outlines theories of learning and argues for a cultural perspective capturing contextual influence, temporal changes, individual dispositions, and subjectivity. Presented in three parts—landscaping elite sport and theorising athlete learning; showcasing athletes’ learning in elite sport; and informing research and practice—the book features nine international, multi-contextual, and multi-experience case studies of athlete careers, experiences, and learning across individual and team sports such as boxing, rugby, basketball, hockey, and gymnastics. This is fascinating reading for students, researchers, and practitioners in sport organisations, sports coaching, coach education, and sport sociology and pedagogy.

International Perspectives on Key Issues in Sport and Exercise Psychology is a series of edited books, with a global focus, which reflect the state of art in areas of current and emerging interest in the study of sport and exercise psychology. Each volume in the series contributes to the better understanding of a key issue facing researchers and practitioners in sport psychology. This volume in the series focuses upon the sociocultural issues that challenge and often undermine participation, performance, and well-being in sports. Contributors address a number of important issues, such as exclusion, miscommunication, and ineffective practice in sport. The book extends the recent interest in culture within sport psychology by using a critical approach to highlight less mainstream sports such as martial arts, circus arts, extreme sports, and dance, and it will help sports participants and social scientists to gain an understanding of these marginalized sporting identities. By highlighting "subcultural" contexts, with their individual practices and values, it is hoped that the volume will promote the goal of achieving a more just, inclusive, and ethical sport psychology. The Psychology of Sub-Culture in Sport and Physical Activity will be ideal reading for sport and exercise academics and practitioners, advanced students of applied sport psychology, and related fields such as sport science, critical studies, sociology, cultural studies and social anthropology.

I welcome you to the 2014 accepted writings of Athletic Insight. The ordering of papers does not match with the sequence in which they were released. Rather, I chose to do something a little different in this, my final year as Editor and Chief of Athletic Insight. What the reader finds in this most recent compendium of Athletic Insight writings is nineteen papers, beginning with the most recently accepted as parts of the Autumn, 2014 edition of the journal. Afterward, I reordered the remaining accepted papers so that they made the whole of the book more coherent to the readership. Briefly, there were a significant number of papers submitted to Athletic Insight from India, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Sweden, Norway, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Several of these papers were screened out even before they were sent out to editorial board members or guest reviewers for a thorough peer evaluation. Those that were deemed acceptable were then farmed out to scholars well versed in the various topics submitted to the journal. The topics submitted spanned coaching, motor learning and sport psychology intersections, youth sport, elite amateur sport, professional sport, cultural sport psychology, and various aspects relating to exercise psychology. This diversity in subject matter confirms what I have always known that Athletic Insight is inclusive and open to a breadth of topics, critical scholarship, and emerging and contentious issues pertinent today within the sphere of sport and exercise psychology.