SPORT-BASED INTERVENTIONS AND SOCIAL INCLUSION: INSIGHTS ON THE ‘POWER OF SPORT’

Sport is often promoted as a vehicle through which a variety of social policy outcomes can be achieved, one of the most common of which is the enhancement of social inclusion opportunities for marginalized youth populations. However, more critical literature has questioned the potential of sport-based interventions to act as a ‘panacea’ to address youth marginalization and has called for more nuanced research that examines the mechanisms within such programs that may enable positive outcomes. Drawing upon research findings from studies of sport-based interventions that aim to engage and assimilate marginalized young people, this chapter seeks to examine some of the key mechanisms within such interventions that enable the social assimilation and inclusion of young people. In doing so, the chapter seeks to challenge popular notions associated with the instrumental use of sport within such contexts highlighting how those involved in the operationalization of sport-based interventions are critical to the harnessing of ‘the power of sport’ in terms of social inclusion.