To Örebro University

oru.seÖrebro University Publications
Change search
Link to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Barker-Ruchti, NatalieORCID iD iconorcid.org/0000-0002-3918-7904
Alternative names
Publications (10 of 135) Show all publications
Schubring, A., Bergentoft, H., Caspers, A., Jaczina, K., Lundvall, S., Jacobsson, J., . . . Grau, S. (2025). A Systematic Scoping Review of the Social Dimensions: A Systematic Scoping Review of the Social Dimensions. Sustainable Development
Open this publication in new window or tab >>A Systematic Scoping Review of the Social Dimensions: A Systematic Scoping Review of the Social Dimensions
Show others...
2025 (English)In: Sustainable Development, ISSN 0968-0802, E-ISSN 1099-1719Article, review/survey (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [en]

Sports have been identified as an important contributor to social sustainability, and the benefits for health, well-being, and social learning in young people are well evidenced. Youth elite sports, however, have been criticized as being unsustainable. Following calls for a more socially sustainable development of youth elite sports, research on the topic has increased. However, studies vary in disciplinary origin, concepts, content, and methodology. The aim of this systematic scoping review is to identify and synthesize the current disciplinary research knowledge. Five disciplinary databases were searched. Based on six eligibility criteria and a double-blind review process, a total of 99 articles were selected. Findings were first charted in tables and then examined using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Key findings are that there is a lack of conceptual clarity regarding social sustainability, and that the field of study is multidisciplinary with distinct thematic research areas (athlete development, athlete health and well-being, athlete development environment). Most research focuses on athlete-related micro aspects and less on organizational and societal dimensions. Inequity issues were found regarding social diversity, including an overrepresentation of soccer and men's sports. Furthermore, mostly quantitative methodologies are used. A theoretically based and empirically tested understanding of social sustainability is needed as well as research addressing aspects of holistic youth development. Attention should be paid to contextual and macro-level influences. Knowledge about preventive programs and practices that advance social sustainability in youth elite sports is necessary. Organizational conditions and funding programs should be created to increase trans- or multidisciplinary research.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
John Wiley & Sons, 2025
Keywords
elite youth sports, multidisciplinary, social sustainability, sustainable development and SDGss, ystematic review
National Category
Sport and Fitness Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-121281 (URN)10.1002/sd.3526 (DOI)001497223700001 ()
Available from: 2025-05-28 Created: 2025-05-28 Last updated: 2025-08-07Bibliographically approved
Barker-Ruchti, N. & Purdy, L. G. (2025). Education for Sustainable Development: Fostering Sustain‘abilities’ in Sports Coaches. In: Laura Purdy, Natalie Barker-Ruchti (Ed.), Sports Coaching Education and Alternative Pedagogies: Approaches in Higher Education. Routledge
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Education for Sustainable Development: Fostering Sustain‘abilities’ in Sports Coaches
2025 (English)In: Sports Coaching Education and Alternative Pedagogies: Approaches in Higher Education / [ed] Laura Purdy, Natalie Barker-Ruchti, Routledge, 2025Chapter in book (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

Consensus is that despite critical discussions, formal coach education is limited in equipping practitioners to operate within complex and ever-changing sport environments. In this article, we (1) introduce Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and consider its value in relation to coach education; (2) conceptualise how coach education can foster sustain‘abilities’ and (3) showcase the university course (read also module; paper) IIG206 Sustainable Sports Coaching, which was developed based on the ESD approach and delivered to third-year undergraduate sports coaching students at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Important considerations include pedagogical approach and delivery, time to reimagine a course, positioning of course in a degree programme, course time frame, curricular coherence and teacher flexibility.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Routledge, 2025
National Category
Sport and Fitness Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-120655 (URN)9781032574899 (ISBN)9781003439646 (ISBN)
Available from: 2025-04-17 Created: 2025-04-17 Last updated: 2025-04-23Bibliographically approved
Barker-Ruchti, N. & Purdy, L. G. (2025). I wanted to make a complaint, but no one told me what I had signed up to do: Navigating the abuse complaint reporting process. In: Mike Hartill and Bettina Rulofs (Ed.), Child Abuse in Sport: Critical Perspectives (pp. 119-139). Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Open this publication in new window or tab >>I wanted to make a complaint, but no one told me what I had signed up to do: Navigating the abuse complaint reporting process
2025 (English)In: Child Abuse in Sport: Critical Perspectives / [ed] Mike Hartill and Bettina Rulofs, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2025, p. 119-139Chapter in book (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

Gymnasts worldwide have turned to media to speak out about their experiences of abuse in sport. More formally, services to report abuse have been recognised as important; however, we know little about athletes' experiences of the process. Therefore, we consider in this chapter how (former) athletes experience the process of reporting abuse and maltreatment. This chapter begins with a narrative poem that was created using direct quotes from an interview with a former gymnast, Lisa (pseudonym), who described her involvement with her national gymnastics federation's reporting process. We then examine reporting services and discuss the reasons why (former) athletes may not report abuse and maltreatment. As a conceptual framework, we present the pixie model of women's artistic gymnastics (WAG) as the root of the culture of fear, control and silence that prevents gymnasts from reporting their experiences, and discuss factors that enable the reporting of abuse and maltreatment. To illustrate the ways the WAG pixie model shaped Lisa's reporting experience, the poem presented at the outset of this chapter is extended to a narrative about her engagement with reporting processes. The chapter concludes with a call to put abuse and maltreatment on the sports governance agenda, the development of trauma-informed processes and further research on reporting abuse in sport.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2025
Series
Research in the Sociology of Sport Series
Keywords
abuse and maltreatment, complaint reporting process, narrative, the ‘pixie’ ideal, Women’s artistic gymnastics
National Category
Sport and Fitness Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-119185 (URN)10.1108/S1476-285420250000025007 (DOI)2-s2.0-85216114952 (Scopus ID)9781837532551 (ISBN)9781837532568 (ISBN)
Available from: 2025-02-07 Created: 2025-02-07 Last updated: 2025-03-07Bibliographically approved
Barker-Ruchti, N. (2025). Potential outcomes of interpersonal violence for women's artistic gymnasts: a qualitative analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine, Article ID bjsports-2025-110089.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Potential outcomes of interpersonal violence for women's artistic gymnasts: a qualitative analysis
2025 (English)In: British Journal of Sports Medicine, ISSN 0306-3674, E-ISSN 1473-0480, article id bjsports-2025-110089Article in journal (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [en]

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify, map and provide insight into the potential outcomes former elite-level women's gymnasts associate with their history of interpersonal violence (IV).

METHODS: The study used a trauma-informed qualitative approach. The sample criterion was women's gymnasts, who had spoken out about IV through social and/or traditional media since the release of the documentary Athlete A. Recruitment occurred purposively through social media; data were generated through online life-history interviews. The interview transcripts were analysed via a hybrid inductive/deductive thematic analysis.

RESULTS: The study sample included 18 former elite-level women's artistic gymnasts and one former elite-level rhythmic gymnast, aged 20-53, from 12 countries across four continents. The former gymnasts recounted extensive polyvictimisation by their coaches during formative years, which they associated with 54 potential negative and 7 potential not categorically negative outcomes. Their descriptions of the experiences indicate extensive and complexly interconnected potential psychological, behavioural, physical and material/performance outcomes. The younger, recently retired former gymnasts described their experiences in acute terms, the older former gymnasts recounted recurring and new outcomes. The public discourse on IV in women's gymnastics was acknowledged to have facilitated the development of not categorically negative outcomes.

CONCLUSION: The study provides an overview of potential negative and not categorically negative outcomes of IV for women's artistic gymnasts. The insights allow a nuanced understanding of the long-lasting impact of IV, which can raise awareness and inform education, research and care protocols for victims of IV in sport.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
BMJ Publishing Group Ltd, 2025
Keywords
Disclosure, Gymnastics, Qualitative Research, Sociology, Women in sport
National Category
Sport and Fitness Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-122829 (URN)10.1136/bjsports-2025-110089 (DOI)001561053300001 ()40819884 (PubMedID)
Note

Funding agency:

Swedish Research Council for Sport Science, project grant P2021-0021.

Available from: 2025-08-20 Created: 2025-08-20 Last updated: 2025-09-10Bibliographically approved
Barker-Ruchti, N. & Purdy, L. G. (Eds.). (2025). Sports Coaching Education and Alternative Pedagogies: Approaches in Higher Education. Routledge
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Sports Coaching Education and Alternative Pedagogies: Approaches in Higher Education
2025 (English)Collection (editor) (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

Sports Coaching Education: Applying Innovative Pedagogies theorises alternative pedagogies and presents examples of what such teaching looks like in sports coaching higher education. To do this, this new volume outlines the teaching goals of higher education coach education, summarises the limitations of this education that research has demonstrated, and presents alternative pedagogy as a way forward. The book then turns to showcasing work by an international selection of authors practicing alternative pedagogies that focus on a range of topical issues relevant to sports coaching such as; ethics; power; safeguarding/abuse; sustainability gender/sexuality; race/ethnicity; pain/injury, the authors of each of the international chapters outline the alternative pedagogical approach they employ in their teaching and present exemplary teaching materials that can be used by educators.

Alternative or non-traditional pedagogies are strategies of delivery that are becoming more popular in undergraduate and postgraduate coach education, Sports Coaching Education: Applying Innovative Pedagogies raises attention to contemporary issues in sports coaching and alternative pedagogies of delivery for university coach education students.

Using alternative pedagogies, the book presents coach education teaching materials on a range of topical issues that higher education scholars can implement in their teaching and will be key reading for academics, researchers and students in the areas of sport coaching, sport education and the related disciplines.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Routledge, 2025. p. 232
National Category
Sport and Fitness Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-120654 (URN)9781032574899 (ISBN)9781003439646 (ISBN)
Available from: 2025-04-17 Created: 2025-04-17 Last updated: 2025-04-23Bibliographically approved
Kuhlin, F. & Barker-Ruchti, N. (2025). The abuse narrative in sport: the findings of a framework synthesis literature review. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 17(5), 382-400
Open this publication in new window or tab >>The abuse narrative in sport: the findings of a framework synthesis literature review
2025 (English)In: Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, ISSN 2159-676X, E-ISSN 2159-6778, Vol. 17, no 5, p. 382-400Article, review/survey (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

In recent years, athletes from around the globe have taken to social and traditional media to share their stories of abuse in sport. Their stories include a love for a sport and dream to become successful, a getting used to and enduring abusive coaching and training methods, and later in life, recognising that their experiences were abusive. The purpose of this article was to explore the abuse narrative in sport by conducting a framework synthesis literature review. A narrative sociological framework informed by Arthur Frank conceptualised the abuse narrative in sport as a process that shapes lives. The descriptive results reveal that scholars predominantly research abuse while athletes are in sport. The thematic results demonstrate that the abuse narrative constitutes three phases, through which athletes get to know the abuse narrative (normalisation), accept and cope with the abuse (embodying), and possibly later in life, recognise that their experiences were abusive (interruption). Importantly, our Frankian interpretations reveal that the abuse narrative silences athletes and prevents them from recognising abuse. Later in life, stories of abuse in sport, told by others, are powerful resources that can interrupt individuals' abuse narrative in sport. While new to qualitative sport sciences, the framework synthesis review method has potential for researching sensitive topics.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Routledge, 2025
Keywords
Athletes, stories of abuse, silencing, Arthur Frank, qualitative research
National Category
Sport and Fitness Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-120653 (URN)10.1080/2159676x.2025.2487700 (DOI)001462375600001 ()2-s2.0-105002613104 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2025-04-17 Created: 2025-04-17 Last updated: 2025-09-01Bibliographically approved
Varea, V., Primus, R. S., Barker-Ruchti, N. & Quennerstedt, M. (2025). The anatomy of body shaming in sports coaching. Sport in Society: Cultures, Media, Politics, Commerce, 28(5), 722-739
Open this publication in new window or tab >>The anatomy of body shaming in sports coaching
2025 (English)In: Sport in Society: Cultures, Media, Politics, Commerce, ISSN 1743-0437, E-ISSN 1743-0445, Vol. 28, no 5, p. 722-739Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Stories of body shaming in sports coaching are becoming widespread, and can intentionally, unintentionally, or inadvertently be used in different sports coaching practices. These practices do not necessarily intend to harm athletes. The aim of this paper is to explore body critical and body sensitive sport coaching practices that have the potential to be shaming, or as we call it in the title, the ‘anatomy’ of body shaming. The study used photo elicitation interviews including vignettes for data generation with 12 coaches from nine different sports. The results demonstrate that body criticality and body sensitivity function in different subtle ways and that coaches were well-aware of the potentially damaging influence that they can have on athletes. The article concludes with recommendations for further research exploring how athletes experience the most subtle and invisible ways of body critical and body sensitive practices, and how they internalize this well-intended but still potentially shaming advice.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Taylor & Francis, 2025
Keywords
Body shaming, body criticality, body sensitivity, coaching, elite athletes
National Category
Sport and Fitness Sciences
Research subject
Sports Science
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-115222 (URN)10.1080/17430437.2024.2380452 (DOI)001271395700001 ()2-s2.0-85198857565 (Scopus ID)
Funder
Swedish National Centre for Research in Sports
Available from: 2024-08-06 Created: 2024-08-06 Last updated: 2025-08-05Bibliographically approved
Annerstedt, C., Annerstedt, M., Barker-Ruchti, N. & Grahn, K. (2025). The Second Women´s Olympic Games, Gothenburg, 1926. International Journal of the History of Sport
Open this publication in new window or tab >>The Second Women´s Olympic Games, Gothenburg, 1926
2025 (English)In: International Journal of the History of Sport, ISSN 0952-3367, E-ISSN 1743-9035Article in journal (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [en]

This article examines the preparations, organization, and media coverage of the 2nd Women Olympic Games in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1926. It explores the context of women's athletics in Sweden, which evolved amidst advancements in female liberation and efforts to promote women's participation in sports. However, the progress was hindered by a predominantly male-dominated sports organization with limited commitment to women's sports. The Games, orchestrated by influential men, were considered successful for Swedish women's athletics, but critical voices also raised concerns about whether athletics was suitable for women and if they had enough technical skills. As time passed, men took increasing control over women's athletics, diminishing female agency and influence. The study highlights the challenges and gender dynamics that shaped the course of women's sports in Sweden and reflects broader issues in the international sports landscape.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Taylor & Francis, 2025
Keywords
1926 Womens' Games, Olympic games, athletics, women, Sweden, gender, sport organizations
National Category
Sport and Fitness Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-118550 (URN)10.1080/09523367.2025.2455602 (DOI)001411219500001 ()
Available from: 2025-01-16 Created: 2025-01-16 Last updated: 2025-02-17Bibliographically approved
Lundqvist, C., Camps, J., Vertommen, T., Barker-Ruchti, N. & Kolbeinsson, Ö. (2025). Toxic leadership in high-performance sports and its consequences for mental health and performance: a scoping review. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Toxic leadership in high-performance sports and its consequences for mental health and performance: a scoping review
Show others...
2025 (English)In: International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, ISSN 1750-984X, E-ISSN 1750-9858Article, review/survey (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [en]

This scoping review aimed to identify the current state of knowledge on toxic leadership in high-performance sports and its consequences for mental health and performance at individual, interpersonal, and organizational levels. Abstract screening (n = 768) and full-text review (n = 83) resulted in the inclusion of 26 studies, predominantly conducted in North America and Europe. Studies used inconsistent definitions, theoretical frameworks, and methodological approaches to study darker or toxic leadership. Several antecedents and maintaining factors to toxic leadership were identified, such as individual leader characteristics, a performance-oriented culture, status/power structures, and a lack of reporting processes or consequences within organizations. The empirical literature provided initial support for the negative consequences of toxic leadership on athletes' mental health, injuries, and motivation to remain in high-performance sports. Few studies have investigated the consequences of toxic leadership on sports organizations, staff or coaches. We conclude that research on toxic leadership in high-performance sports is in its early stages, with an underdeveloped understanding of how problematic leadership can be detected, prevented, and addressed to minimize its impact in sports. Researchers, governing bodies, and sports organizations must intensify their efforts to comprehend the emergence and persistence of toxic leadership within high-performance sports environments.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Routledge, 2025
Keywords
Abuse, Dark triad, Elite sport, Destructive leadership, Toxic culture
National Category
Sport and Fitness Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-118723 (URN)10.1080/1750984X.2025.2457038 (DOI)001406258200001 ()
Available from: 2025-01-20 Created: 2025-01-20 Last updated: 2025-08-07Bibliographically approved
Matthews, C. R., Barker-Ruchti, N., Coates, E., Lang, M. & Hardwicke, J. (2024). Children's rights, human development and play - rejecting performance-orientated youth sport. Sport, Education and Society
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Children's rights, human development and play - rejecting performance-orientated youth sport
Show others...
2024 (English)In: Sport, Education and Society, ISSN 1357-3322, E-ISSN 1470-1243Article in journal (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [en]

This commentary is distinctly personal for us. We think it should be likewise for all scholars, leaders and organisers involved in youth sport. This is because, to our minds, at the core of most people's ways of approaching and promoting these supposedly healthy activities to children and young adults, is an apparent well-meaningness which centres on wanting the best for current and future generations. Unfortunately, while we accept such good intentions are present, they do not negate the empirical reality that critical scholars of sport have been pointing towards for over five decades - that is, professional and performance focused sports are often socially, politically and ethically questionable enterprises. If central features of our argument in this direction are accepted, several problems in terms of children's rights, health, and wellbeing become apparent as quite fundamental to the model of sport which is currently dominant in the Western imagination. To offer a path forward we outlined a focus on human development as the foundation upon which we build a series of clear recommendations. We conclude with the purposely pithy, populist and powerful statement that encouraging players to play, rather than thinking of sport as akin to work, should not be understood as some impossible task, but rather, a return to the ways that many of us were first drawn to the amazing potentials embedded in 'sport'. We compel scholars to reflect deeply on their place in the subcultures we critique, and if after doing so, they find themselves complicit in maintaining a world of sport that damages young people, contributes to them dropping out, and otherwise reduces the fun, enjoyment and positive development they gain from physical activity, we hope they will join us in being part of the solution rather than continuing to be central to the problem.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Routledge, 2024
Keywords
Children's rights, human development, play, performance-sport, youth sport
National Category
Sport and Fitness Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-115353 (URN)10.1080/13573322.2024.2385556 (DOI)001284096700001 ()2-s2.0-85200468409 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2024-08-19 Created: 2024-08-19 Last updated: 2025-02-11Bibliographically approved
Organisations
Identifiers
ORCID iD: ORCID iD iconorcid.org/0000-0002-3918-7904

Search in DiVA

Show all publications