TY - JOUR
T1 - Agentic Denial
T2 - How Athletic Teams Sustain Divergent Structures During Concussion Events
AU - Zanin, Alaina C.
AU - Kamrath, Jessica K.
AU - Corman, Steven R.
N1 - Funding Information:
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8463-9853 Zanin Alaina C. 1 Kamrath Jessica K. 2 Corman Steven R. 1 1 Arizona State University, Tempe, USA 2 California State University, Fullerton, USA Alaina C. Zanin, Hugh Downs School of Human Communication and The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Arizona State University, 950 S. Forest Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA. Email: Alaina.Zanin@asu.edu 11 2019 1046496419883948 © The Author(s) 2019 2019 SAGE Publications This study reveals how athletic health care teams, embedded within large bureaucratic organizations and complex social systems, negotiate and sustain multiple divergent structures. An iterative analysis of 69 in-depth interviews with National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I athletes’ certified athletic trainers (ATCs) and coaches from four high-contact sports (i.e., women’s lacrosse, men’s wrestling, men’s soccer, and men’s football) revealed that team members coconstructed and negotiated multiple conflicting structures during concussion events. The divergent macro-, meso-, and micro-level structures include (a) formal versus hidden authority structures, (b) prevention versus inevitability discourse, (c) assigned versus enacted roles, and (d) authentic versus inauthentic injury performance. The analysis also revealed how a specific speech act, termed agentic denial , enabled members to obscure their agency within concussion events. Theoretical implications and practical recommendations are discussed. athletic health care teams structurational divergence theory concussion reporting edited-state corrected-proof Declaration of Conflicting Interests The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Funding The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The authors received funding for this research from the United States National Collegiate Athletic Association Mind Matters Research Challenge program. ORCID iD Alaina C. Zanin https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8463-9853
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2019.
PY - 2020/6/1
Y1 - 2020/6/1
N2 - This study reveals how athletic health care teams, embedded within large bureaucratic organizations and complex social systems, negotiate and sustain multiple divergent structures. An iterative analysis of 69 in-depth interviews with National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I athletes’ certified athletic trainers (ATCs) and coaches from four high-contact sports (i.e., women’s lacrosse, men’s wrestling, men’s soccer, and men’s football) revealed that team members coconstructed and negotiated multiple conflicting structures during concussion events. The divergent macro-, meso-, and micro-level structures include (a) formal versus hidden authority structures, (b) prevention versus inevitability discourse, (c) assigned versus enacted roles, and (d) authentic versus inauthentic injury performance. The analysis also revealed how a specific speech act, termed agentic denial, enabled members to obscure their agency within concussion events. Theoretical implications and practical recommendations are discussed.
AB - This study reveals how athletic health care teams, embedded within large bureaucratic organizations and complex social systems, negotiate and sustain multiple divergent structures. An iterative analysis of 69 in-depth interviews with National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I athletes’ certified athletic trainers (ATCs) and coaches from four high-contact sports (i.e., women’s lacrosse, men’s wrestling, men’s soccer, and men’s football) revealed that team members coconstructed and negotiated multiple conflicting structures during concussion events. The divergent macro-, meso-, and micro-level structures include (a) formal versus hidden authority structures, (b) prevention versus inevitability discourse, (c) assigned versus enacted roles, and (d) authentic versus inauthentic injury performance. The analysis also revealed how a specific speech act, termed agentic denial, enabled members to obscure their agency within concussion events. Theoretical implications and practical recommendations are discussed.
KW - athletic health care teams
KW - concussion reporting
KW - structurational divergence theory
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85074841712&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85074841712&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1046496419883948
DO - 10.1177/1046496419883948
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85074841712
SN - 1046-4964
VL - 51
SP - 342
EP - 374
JO - Small Group Research
JF - Small Group Research
IS - 3
ER -