THE SOCIOLOGY OF RISK, PAIN, AND INJURY - A COMMENT ON THE WORK OF NIXON,HOWARD,L. II

This paper presents a sociological assessment of Howard L. Nixon II's work on risk, pain, and injury in sport. Nixon employs a variant of so cial network analysis in order to understand the ''culture of risk'' w hich, he claims, constrains athletes to play with pain and injuries. B y drawing on aspects of figurational sociology, one might expand Nixon 's work and account for the broader social processes connected to the development of modern sport and, concurrently, the networks of relatio nships in which athletes are bound up. His notion of the ''sportsnet'' is examined, and further research is recommended to enable an underst anding of how socially appropriate modes of behavior in sport come to be embedded at subconscious levels for all members of the sportsnet.