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THE SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL BENEFITS AND BARRIERS OF TRADITIONAL KARATE PARTICIPATION FOR CHILDREN FROM LOW-INCOME SETTINGS

Date

2023-03-03

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

ORCID

0000-0002-3473-6142

Type

Thesis

Degree Level

Doctoral

Abstract

Children from low-income settings have higher rates of mental health challenges than other children. In part, these challenges can be mitigated through sport participation; however, children from low-income settings have low rates of sport participation. Charmaz’s constructivist grounded theory methodology informed development and completion of this research with integration of a Patient-oriented Research approach. Along with the academic advisory committee, research team members included parents whose children participated in charitably funded sport and people who had formerly participated in karate with the support of the Dream Brokers program. Stakeholders were also part of the team including Sask Sport and the Dream Brokers program. The overall purpose of this constructivist grounded theory research was to examine the social and emotional benefits and barriers of traditional karate participation for children from low-income settings which had the potential to improve rates of sport participation for children from low-income settings. The specific objectives of this research were to: 1) Gain an understanding of the emotional and social benefits and barriers of karate for children from low-income settings from the perspective of children and their parents; 2) examine the social process involved in participation in sport for children from low-income settings; and, 3) create a substantive theory describing the experiences of parents and children in karate participation. The research was guided by the following questions: 1) What are the experiences of children who participate in karate and their parents?; and, 2) what are the underlying social processes that support or prevent children from low-income settings and their families to participate in karate? Purposive and theoretical sampling were used to recruit 15 participants (eight children and seven parents) and thirty-four interviews were completed with the participants. Constant comparison was used to direct data analysis throughout the data gathering process, and initial coding, focused coding, and theoretical coding were completed. Multiple rounds of coding resulted in examining the underlying social problem discussed by participants indicating concerns about limited opportunities for children from low-income settings to belong to the larger community. This led to exploration of the basic social process titled, Finding Belonging in Sport. Finding Belonging in Sport became the core process from which the substantive grounded theory was developed and included three subprocesses and their obstacles: Physical Belonging (Knowledge, Cost, Child Independence, and, Transportation), Social Belonging (Having Fun, Making Friends, and, Dojo Norming), and Building Competence (Learning Karate Skills, Performing Karate Tests). In this study, children needed to accomplish the three subprocesses in order to experience Finding Belonging in Sport. The substantive grounded theory has implications for nursing practice, education, and research. Nurses can assist families and guide sport and government organizations to improve supports for families from low-income settings. Nursing students can use the substantive grounded theory as a foundation for their assessments and activities for community practicums. There are opportunities for future research to test the substantive grounded theory with different populations, geographic regions, sports, and other health promotion activities.

Description

Keywords

health promotion, sport, children, low-income, karate, constructivist grounded theory, Patient-Oriented Research

Citation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Department

Nursing

Program

Nursing

Part Of

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DOI

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