Children's engagement in leisure time physical activity: exploring family structure as a determinant

This paper draws on Bourdieu's key concepts in an effort to understand particular social practices and the effect of family as a social environment and determinant for participation in leisure time physical activity. As an exploratory study, the aim was to elicit children's subjective views of their engagement in leisure time physical activity settings. Adopting an interpretive perspective, six 11‐ to 14‐year‐old children from intact couple families and single parent families were interviewed in small groups, exploring lived experiences of their participation in physical activity in relation to their family structure. The study suggests that family structure plays a vital role in helping to shape children's dispositions towards physical activity. All children were subject to the transmission of parental beliefs and values towards physical activity though this was further reinforced in intact couple families through joint participation. Moreover, children from single parent families were seen to exhibit more sedentary dispositions that reflected the environment in which they reside. We argue that children's individual habitus, as bearing the experiences of their familial backgrounds, provided them with certain desires to participate in physical activity which are mediated by their family circumstance. The study suggests that family structure is becoming a more prominent issue within society, and thus, children's leisure activity from this perspective requires further research that explores this phenomenon in greater detail.     

Nonresident Fathers' Leisure with Their Children

This study examines nonresident fathers' leisure with their children, which leads to nuanced understandings of nonresident fatherhood, father–child relationships and the role of leisure in these relationships. In-depth interviews were conducted with 18 nonresident fathers residing in the Hunter region, Australia. The fathers who participated in the study were a diverse group. Despite fathers' different life circumstances, experiences of separation, and divorce and child contact arrangements, leisure was an important context for fatherhood. Leisure was a vital aspect of fathers' engagement with their children and a means for them to make valuable contributions as parents to the lives of their children.     

Lifestyle,leisure and pluralism — a response

In this paper we use data from the Scottish Young People's Surveys in order to examine the effects of post-16 experiences and social class on the leisure patterns of young people with an average age of just over 19 years. We analyse leisure patterns in relation to labour market status and assess the longer term effects of post-16 experiences on young people's leisure activities. We argue that young people's social class and experiences after the age of 16 have an important and lasting effect on their subsequent leisure patterns.     

Play and culture: a study of English and Asian children

The investigation described in this paper examines the relevance of social factors to variations in preschool children's play behaviour. The research was carried out by direct observation in three virtually identical playbuses (obsolete buses converted to mobile play-centres) which catered for children below school age in different areas of Birmingham where the population was made up of a variety of ethnic and social class groups. English children from working- and middle-class backgrounds were observed, together with children from three ethnic groups — Sikh, Muslim and Hindu. The social group to which children belonged was associated with differences in the content and style of play. Membership of cultural and class groups appears to be beginning to differentiate children's behaviour patterns, motivations and social competences even at the preschool stage. Some of the reasons for this are discussed. It is suggested that understanding the influence of socio-cultural factors on behaviour could well be of importance to playleaders and the providers of children's leisure facilities in general.     

‘I Was Trapped at Home’: Men's Experiences with Leisure While Giving Care to Partners During a Breast Cancer Experience

Men whose partners are diagnosed with breast cancer experience many changes to daily living, including taking on additional family and household roles and responsibilities, caring for their partner, and often relinquishing leisure activities. Although leisure participation has been found to help individuals cope and to mitigate the negative effect of traumatic life events, men's experience with leisure during their partners’ breast cancer experience has received little attention. The purpose of this study was to explore men's experiences with leisure and the meaning of those experiences during and following their partners’ breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 10 men. The findings illuminate that men's leisure became more home-based, was used to release and regulate emotions, and provided a means to maintain identity. The illness experience also increased men's appreciation of leisure with their partners.     

Children's tourist world: Two scenarios

This study discusses how tourism enriches children and how children conceptualize their tourist world under two scenarios (recreational and red tourism). Chinese urban children demonstrate a rich sense of tourism and treat it as an upgraded version of the daily play that is more fun and exhilarating. In children's eyes, recreational tourism refers to children enjoying a good time with their parents, while red tourism offers educational opportunities that promote values such as patriotism and collectivism. A child's tourist world is different (but not inferior) to the adult tourist world. These findings reveal children's perspectives and can help improve the practice of children's and family tourism.     

Leisure and Social Capital: An Analysis of Types of Company and Activities

The relation between leisure activities and social capital is examined in this paper. The focus is on two dimensions: the company in which the activities were performed (household members versus friends and acquaintances) and the nature of the activities (productive versus consumptive). Data are employed from a time-use survey conducted in the United Kingdom in 2000. Productive activities are positively related to the social capital indicators of civic engagement and helping, while consumptive activities are not. The type of activity matters more than the type of company. Leisure activities especially further people's social capital among groups that are already gifted with high levels of civic engagement and helping.     

Exploring intersections of physicality and female‐only canoeing experiences1

The benefits of single‐gender experiences for females have been discussed in a variety of contexts, including education, sport and outdoor recreation. In both the discourses of female‐run outdoor adventure travel programs providing such experiences, and the leisure studies and outdoor education literatures, claims are made about the distinct social environment created on such trips and the positive outcomes for females undertaking them. Absent from these discourses is reference to empirical research exploring women's perceptions of such experiences, thereby allowing one to evaluate the merit of such claims. In what would initially appear to be an observation in a completely different vein, there is also a relative dearth of scholarly examinations within leisure and recreational studies of women's lived‐body experiences of their physicalities through active outdoor recreation, and the potentially empowering effects of them. This paper seeks to draw out the connections between these seemingly disparate observations through a qualitative examination of women's experiences of female‐only wilderness canoeing. While the reasons articulated by the women for undertaking such an experience did not explicitly identify issues related to their physicalities, clearly these issues resonated with and held implications for their experiences of them. This, in turn, provides substantiation for claims regarding the importance of the provision of all‐female outdoor experiences.     

Giving young people a well-rounded education: a study of the educational goals parents attach to the leisure activities of their children

Policymakers strongly stimulate young people’s participation in organised leisure activities because it is believed to provide young people with important ‘work’ skills and attitudes. Special attention is paid to the underrepresented working-class youth. To stimulate (especially working-class) parents to play an active ‘guiding’ role, policymakers often assume that they have to be made aware of the educational benefits of engagement in leisure activities. The empirical basis of this assumption is, however, thin. Therefore, this study examined the educational goals middle- and working-class parents attach to their adolescents’ leisure activities on the basis of 32 interviews conducted in a small city in Belgium. Although there were subtle socio-economic differences in some goals parents pursued through their children’s leisure activities (i.e. teaching skills and societal values and norms, belonging to a peer group, independent thinking and relaxation), these were not of a magnitude that they could contribute to our understanding of socio-economic differences in parents’ role and in turn, in young people’s leisure use. We argue that further research needs to focus on socio-economic differences in available resources from which parents construct particular strategies to shape their young people’s leisure spending.     

Children and structured holiday camping: Processes and perceived outcomes

Holiday camping and time spent in outdoor environments are critical childhood experiences. This study aims to identify the outcomes and processes underlying children's experiences of holiday camping. The researchers use the contextual model of learning as the theoretical background underpinning the study. Chinese children who left their families and participated in structured camping trips formed as the research respondents. Several child-centred research methods, including participant observation, focus group discussions, and interviews based on elicited drawings, were employed to study the children's construction of their experiences. Children mainly reported positive camping outcomes, including enhanced interpersonal skills, improved self-awareness, general knowledge and skills, and positive emotions. Negative outcomes including feelings of anxiety and boredom were also occasionally observed. The ongoing interplay of personal, social, and physical contexts works together to generate these camping outcomes. Practical and theoretical implications are offered to enhance positive outcomes and reduce negative ones when children go camping.     

Leisure Diversity as an Indicator of Cultural Capital

The diversity of activities in a repertoire of leisure is a variable shown to have considerable impact on the quality of leisure and beneficial personal outcomes, and it is proposed as one important indicator of cultural capital. Theoretical perspectives on cultural capital indicate the importance of education in preparing individuals for broad patterns of leisure consumption in addition to status attainment. Contemporary advances demonstrate that status attainment cannot be equated with high cultural consumption and that broadly omnivorous leisure pursuits may be more valuable to social actors. Role attachment theory and disengagement theory are additionally explored as possible theoretical explanations that assist in predicting leisure diversity that is highly patterned by employment and one's age. The number of different leisure experiences that constitute an individual's leisure repertoire is expected to change throughout the life-course as needs for cultural capital vary and as demands in paid and domestic work change. Tobit models of leisure diversity are proposed using American Time Use Survey (ATUS) data. Findings indicate that leisure diversity is impacted by ethnicity, recent immigration, age and socio-economic status, and theoretically relevant conditional relationships are explored.     

Editor's note

The relationship between work and leisure has most often been described in terms of three basic models. First, the spillover model suggests that one's choice of leisure is affected by interests and attitudes developed during work. Second, the compensation model holds that leisure choices are the opposite of one's work activities, thus providing satisfaction not realized in the work context. Third, according to the segmentation model, work and leisure are distinct life domains and do not interact. Occasionally, a fourth perspective is added: Work and leisure are mutually influential. Evidence for the first three perspectives is mixed. Moreover, there is a units‐of‐analysis problem in studying work and leisure; that is, what about work and leisure is comparable? A patterned socialization model of work and leisure that encompasses and augments these perspectives is presented in this article. Evidence from the outdoor recreation activities of a sample of workers in the machining and tooling industries of western Pennsylvania is consistent with the position that work and leisure influence each other and that both are the result of prior socialization. The units‐of‐analysis problem is solved to some extent for this group of informants by comparing their work with machines and their leisure experiences with machines. Finally, machinists who engage in more outdoor recreation activities using machines are more satisfied with their leisure, in general.     

Inclusive leisure experiences of older adults with intellectual disabilities at a senior centre

Inclusive leisure is described as the extent to which people with and without impairments engage in leisure ventures together. The leisure experiences of four older adults with intellectual impairments, four ‘mainstream’ older adults and three staff members from a senior citizen recreation centre were captured using the interpretive phenomenological research methods of focus group interviews and field notes. Self-determination theory provided the conceptual framework for the study and facilitated the interpretation of the findings. Thematic analysis of the conversations revealed three themes with respective subthemes (a) shared leisure motivations, (b) expecting too much and (c) wanting even more. Although the mainstream older adults and centre staff recognised a need for more inclusive activities, older adults with impairments expressed satisfaction with the inclusive nature of the centre. The challenges and successes of the inclusive nature of the community-based senior citizens centre have also been discussed.     

Why People Play at Work: A Theoretical Examination of Leisure-at-Work

ABSTRACT

Postmodern perspectives on work and leisure acknowledge the interwoven nature of these domains, an example being the increasing number of organizations intentionally incorporating leisure into the employee experience. Existing research, however, provides no specific theoretical guidance regarding the potential impacts of strategically integrating recreation activities into the work domain. Thus, based on positive organizational scholarship and leisure science theories, we build an individual level model describing the phenomenon of leisure-at-work (LAW). We propose LAW activities have the ability to produce feelings of personal expressiveness at work as moderated by employees' perceptions of the activities. Personal expressiveness then mediates LAW activities' ability to promote the development of organizational commitment, work engagement, and resilience among employees.     

The offshore sailor: enskilment and identity

This paper employs the concept of enskilment – becoming skilful through active engagement – to investigate how a sense of identity, as an offshore sailor, is contingent upon being attuned to one’s environment. It draws on auto-ethnographic accounts to highlight the embodied practices that constitute ‘being’ an offshore sailor. In doing so, it draws on and extends investigations of leisure experiences concerned with offshore sailing, auto-ethnographic inquiry, the relationship between the body and the environment and developing a sense of identity. It highlights the process of enskilment that allowed the author to ‘(re)inhabit’ a particular leisure identity. The paper draws attention to the temporal and contingent identity of ‘being’ an offshore sailor that is grounded in the practice of offshore sailing. To understand the meaning of leisure experiences, it is helpful to foreground the embodied practices that constitute an activity, and consider how enskilment shapes participation and identity.     

Young children's vacation experience: Through the eyes of parents

The travel industry has witnessed remarkable development of the children's market in recent decades; however, relevant academic research remains scarce, especially with younger children. By adopting a netnographic approach, this study explores young children's (0–4 years old) holiday experiences through the eyes of their parents. Research findings revealed parents' preferred types of destinations for family vacations. Two broad themes were identified from analyses of parents' accounts: enjoyment of nature and social development. Findings are discussed in the context of relevant literature, and industry recommendations are provided.     

Women,shopping and leisure

This paper examines the social antecedents, occupational experiences and problems currently challenging executive managers within the public leisure services in Britain. It describes those processes involved in an historic development which has seen leisure managers moving from the margin to occupy a more central role in local government, and explores the major dificulties currently challenging senior managers who have experienced this process of status transition, including: power conflicts with established professional groups, difficulties associated with one's role, mission, occupational identity and philosophy. All of these problems are addressed by different types of managers in different ways. The paper identifies four characteristic types of managerial executive in leisure: ‘The Traditionalist’, ‘The Sports Centred’. ‘The Generalist Graduate’ and ‘The Second Chance Careerist’, and relates each of these to different class, cultural, gender and occupational experiences. It suggests that, whereas in the past, work in leisure management was conventionally perceived to be a low status and marginal occupational largely colonized by the aspirant working class, this pattern is now rapidly changing. A new type of confident middle class generalist graduate who extols the virtues of ‘the amateur’ and ‘the good all-rounder’ is rapidly colonizing elite roles in leisure management. These people provide a new cohort of leadership which will face both the professional and social problems challenging the public leisure services in the 1990s.     

Migrating to the East: a qualitative investigation of acculturation and leisure activities

This study sought to explore leisure behaviours associated with acculturation and immigration experiences among emigrants from the United States and Canada who moved to South Korea. Three main themes were identified as leisure engagement associated with acculturation: (a) embracing new leisure behaviours, (b) experiencing dynamics of interpersonal relationships and (c) improving cultural understandings. The findings of this study indicated that leisure provided an opportunity for participants to develop the ability to adapt to a new environment and gain cultural knowledge. In addition, this study indicates that as a result of leisure activities, participants explored, understood and experienced a new cultural environment that may facilitate acculturation.     

The dark side of leisure: obsessive passion and its covariates and outcomes

The present paper challenges the notion that engagement in leisure activities is exclusively conducive to well‐being. By applying the Dualistic Model of Passion in a leisure context on 467 participants, the measurement of obsessive passion for a leisure activity was related to indicators of ill‐being and unrelated to general well‐being. In Study 1, obsessive passion for a leisure activity was associated with activity addiction, escapism engagement, and intrapersonal conflicts. In Study 2, obsessive passion was negatively related to basic need satisfaction in activity engagement as well as positively related to negative affective outcomes from activity engagement. We argue that the present findings may lead towards a broader understanding of motivation and outcomes in leisure activities.