An empirical research on relationship building between people with and without disabilities through wheelchair softball in Japan

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to clarify how wheelchair softball players in Japan, which is players with disabilities （PWD） and players without disabilities （PWOD）, build relationships from the viewpoints of “relationship in sport” and “space in sport”.
Previous studies of relationship building between PWD and PWOD through sport have pointed out they use manners appropriate to the distance and space between them and the other person. However, the quantitative approach has not been examined to determine what trends or aspects may be observed.
Therefore, this study was conducted using a web questionnaire survey from February to March 2020. 116 （61 PWD, 55 PWOD） valid responses could be obtained. The main survey items were basic information about wheelchair softball, content of conversations in different spaces in sport and behaviors in different relationships in sport.
In this study, a two-way ANOVA was conducted using the factors of “content of conversations in space in sport” or “behaviors of relationship in sport” and “PWD or PWOD”. Main results are as follows.
1） The conversations that are essential to wheelchair softball, such as “type and degree of disability,” are more likely to take place “in-court”, and conversations about players’ personal information are more likely to take place at practice than at tournaments.
2） Disability-related behavior such as “information gathering” and “careful probing” tended to be more common with “new players”. On the other hand, the behavior of “teasing” and “being teased” about disability and play was more common for “close players” than for “new players”, and the frequency of “being teased” tended to be higher for PWOD than for PWD.
The results of the survey suggest that wheelchair softball players practice sensitive consideration by switching their behavior according to “space in sport” and “relationship in sport”.
In particular, it was suggested that one of the peculiarities of “space in sport” is that it is a space where even PWOD can be exposed to the disabilities of PWD because “in-court” is an essential condition for both PWD and PWOD to play together.
It was also suggested that a characteristic aspect of consideration was to neutralise the mistakes of PWOD by grasping their role and expectations and by “teasing”.