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Summary:

Abstract: Parents make decisions on behalf of their children on a daily basis. Some parents in the United States face the unique decision of whether or not to allow football participation for their child at a very young age. Using sensemaking theory, I examined how parents assessed the risks involved in making the decision to allow their child to play tackle football. I interviewed 24 participants in the form of 12 parental couples who had children playing middle school football and coded their responses to identify themes and strategies for risk assessment. Themes that emerged were decision-agency (parent and child agency), risk assessment (downplaying risk, acknowledgement of risk with rationalizations, zero risk assessment), and decision-making concepts (cultural influence, familial identity, social influences, information sources). I expanded on the sensemaking supposition of individual identity by arguing that familial identity can also impact decision-making. A key finding to this study was the typology of parents that emerged including football families-parent agency, hesitant family- parent agency, and child focused family-child agency. The type of family reflected families' reception to community culture, impact of social influence, and openness to information sources. Family type also impacted the risk assessment process and belief of control over outcomes in football participation.

Author/Creator:

Boneau, Rebecca Dunnan , author

Contributors:

Richardson, Brian K. , major professor

Languages:

English

Language Notes:

Item content: English

Main Work:

This is Your Brain on Football: Making Sense of Parents' Decision to Allow Their Child to Play Tackle Football [by Boneau, R.D.]

Related Series:

NT thesis, Communication Studies; [volume] 2018

Subjects:

Football for children — Health aspects

Youth league football — Health aspects

Football players — Health risk assessment

Parents

Decision making

Genres:

Academic theses

Dissertation Notes:

M.S. ― University of North Texas, 2018.

General Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.
Description based on: Online resource; title from PDF title page (UNT Digital Library, viewed March 10, 2021).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (vi, 89 pages).

Call Numbers:

Electronic Thesis

OCLC Numbers:

1300230937