A Sociological Perspective of Sport, Fifth Edition offers a comprehensive look at the social world of sport. The text is organized to show how sport is a vital component of major sociological concepts such as culture, social organization, socialization, deviance, small groups, collective behavior, mass media, and institutional interrelationships (education, politics, and religion). Chapters move from the "macro" perspective to the "micro" view to make the connection between sport and society clear. A Sociological Perspective of Sport is based on three central themes: sport is a social institution worthy of sociological examination like the more traditional institutions of marriage/family, politics, economy, religion, law, health/medicine, science, and education; sport is a microcosm of the larger society and as such reflects and reinforces the dominant ideology; and numerous institutional connections between sport and other societal institutions make it impossible for changes in one sphere not to have reverberating effects in all spheres.

This text looks at the sociology of sport. Narrative case studies of sports sociology from all over the world provide examples of how to interpret issues in professional and elite sports from a sociological perspective.

Sociology of Sport and Social Theory presents current research perspectives from major sport scholars and leading sociologists regarding issues germane to the sociology of sport while addressing traditional and contemporary sociological theories.

Sport is something rather taken for granted and little studied as part of man's and society's behaviour. This collection of essays, many of which appear in print for the first time, provides an international comparative and developmental orientation to the sociology of sport, thereby clarifying the nature of modern sports and their central structural and functional characteristics. The sports treated include football, soccer, rugby, wrestling, baseball, and bull-fighting, and some historical background is given on the development of sport. In the introduction to each section, the editor explains the questions that the selections are intended to illustrate, and treats briefly such matters as theories of sport and play, the social factors in their development, sport and socialization, class and race in sport, sport as an occupation and an industry, and conflict and social control in sport. This reader will be of interest to those professionally concerned, either as teacher or student, with sociology and physical education, but it should also appeal to athletes, sports-lovers, and sports commentators who like to keep their thinking in good shape too.

Sociological Perspectives on Sport: The Games Outside the Games seeks not only to inform students about the sports world but also to offer them analytical skills and the application of theoretical perspectives that deepen their awareness and understanding of social processes linking sports to the larger social world. With six original framing essays linking sport to a variety of topics, including race, class, gender, media, politics, deviance, and globalization, and 37 reprinted articles, this text/reader sets a new standard for excellence in teaching sports and society.