2016 Volume 24 Issue 2 Pages 53-68
This study was done as part of examination of “socialization into wheelchair basketball” of a person with acquired disability. The purpose of this study was to analyze the contribution of specific other individuals to the process of “socialization into wheelchair basketball” of a former racing driver with acquired disability in a traffic accident who developed the careers of wheelchair basketball and another sport, paying attention to the aspects that he overcame the challenges and difficulties. The research method the author used was life history. His life history was investigated on the basis of the narration recorded mainly through the interviews with the subject. Major findings from this study were as follows:
After being injured in a traffic accident, the subject experienced the difficulty coping with a disability and the difficulty in his life after retirement from the career as a car racer. While the subject was under medical care, “the others” who contributed to the process of overcoming the former were “irreplaceable others” (father) and “close others” (best friend). They were also considered “the others” constructing “intimate sphere” of the subject. The subject overcame the difficulty of retirement by not only playing wheelchair basketball but also continuing auto race activity that he had devoted himself to before he acquired a disability for recreation. Both of them were valuable activities for him. In the process of the subject’s socialization into wheelchair basketball, two activities went side by side with each other. The specific other individuals who contributed to the process were “recruiting others” (associate in the facility) who invited the subject to wheelchair basketball, “leading others” (senior member in wheelchair basketball club), and “close others” (best friend) who supported the subject mentally through wheelchair basketball activities. In addition, they were “linking others” (associates of auto race) who connected the subject with recreational auto race activity. Except “recruiting others,” the three others can be considered constructing his “intimate sphere.”
