Adult Play Embedded in the Daily Routine, Essay Example

The main point of Erna Imperatore Blanche’s article, “Play and Process: Adult Play Embedded in the Daily Routine,” is to illustrate that play performs important functions for adults not only in their leisure time but also during the course of their working day and daily routines.  Blanche’s research sought to examine the manner in which adults incorporated play into all aspects of their life, and what role such activities had on their quest for individual meaning and enjoyment.  Blanche found that adults who engaged in creative process-oriented activities in which the end result of their creations was not known at the outset of the process allowed them to experience self-awareness and personal freedom.  These activities were not constrained by any goal-oriented requirements, which allowed participants to focus on their own experiences rather than the end result.  Occupations rooted in play, adventure, and the exploration of creativity provides adults with an opportunity to relax and restore their sense of self.  This has the overall effect of creating positive occupational experiences while giving them unique opportunities to redefine what it means to work, what it means to play, and how these two acts need not exist in opposition.

The main point of Chapter Two, “How Soccer Explains the Pornography of Sects,” in Franklin Foer’s How Soccer Explains the World is that the behavior of soccer fans can illustrate many of the issues of sectarianism.  The hatred between groups based on perceived differences is exemplified in the violence of Scottish soccer fans, who have been known to attack rival fans purely because of the team they support.  Despite the hopes of globalization, which aimed to limit the influence of tribalism and class warfare, Scottish soccer hooligans demonstrate that sport can become one way in which social frustrations are expressed.  Foer points out that on an individual basis, these soccer fans are not inherently dangerous or ill-intentioned.  However, mob mentality and the social forces which breed discontent meld together and encourage violent behaviors which are ostensibly about soccer rivalries but also speak to issues of race, class, and religion.  The contentious relationship between the Catholic Celtics and the Protestant Rangers illustrates how soccer fandom has, in a sense, replaced religion as a vehicle for passion, faith, and sectarianism.

The main point of Bernard Suits’ article “The Elements of Sport” is that while game and sport are not entirely the same, an understanding of sport informs an understanding of game and helps to determine the overall importance of sport.  The elements of game are comprised of goals, a way of achieving these goals, concrete rules, and an attitude towards sport that Suits  terms “lusory” (Suits 9).  According to Suits, games may be considered a sport if the game is one requiring skill, if that skill is thereby physical and is generally popular amongst a wide body of people, and the fans of the game are generally stable.  Games and, by extension, sports in general, often encounter a generalized attitude which seeks to deem them unimportant.  However, Suits’ argues that games and sport need not be relegated only to leisure time.  Instead, the messages that they impart on participants regarding rules of behavior, personal enjoyment, and physical activity all serve to broaden one’s understanding of both self and the culture one exists in.

Works Cited

Blanche, Erna Imperatore. “Play and Process: Adult Play Embedded in the Daily Routine.”Play and Process: The Experience of Play in the Life of the Adult. Berkeley, CA: University of Southern California, 1998.

Foer, Franklin. “How Soccer Explains the Pornography of Sects.” How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization. New York, NY: Harper Collins, 2010.

Suits, Bernard. “The Elements of Sport.” The Philosophy of Sport: A Collection of Essays. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas Publisher Ltd., 1973.