Essay Example on Doping in Sports: A Global Scourge That Must Be Eradicated

Introduction

Illegal drug use in sport is a problem that has persisted. This problem is affecting almost all sports whereby the participants are using illegal Performance Enhancement Drugs (PED's) and other steroids. The uptake of these illegal drugs is geared towards giving these individuals a competitive advantage over their opponents. Doping or the use of these illegal drugs in sports is a vise that has continued to be condemned globally. Sports play a vital role in uniting people, both medical and mental education, and most importantly promoting corporation and understanding internationally. Therefore, it is an activity that requires high standards of discipline and ethics to avoid tainting the image of the sporting activity. The effects of the use of illegal drugs in sport are immeasurable. The effects may be seen in the gameplay, the business of sports, and the fans. In addition, the use of these drugs can harm the users hence rendering them unable to participate in those sporting activities. Whereas the use of drugs gives an individual competitive advantage, doping is perceived different from an ethical, sociological, and psychological perspective.

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Literature Review

The use of drugs in sporting is a complex issue in the world that needs undivided attention to be handled. The problem is causing an uproar both in the local and international sporting activities. The integrity of these sports is affected when the participants compete unfairly and end up compromising the credibility of any sporting performance. The use of drugs in sporting is an ancient practice that can be traced back millenniums ago. Initially, doping involved drinking herbal infusions that would give them strength before races or any sporting activities in the ancient Olympics in Greece and also the ancient Rome. The core objective of these doping endeavors was to outshine everyone else and emerge the winner.

Scholar and experts from different disciplines approach the issue of drug use from different perspectives. The main perspectives are sociological, psychological, and ethical perspectives. However, despite the differences in the conclusion drawn by the scholars in these disciplines, illegal drug use in sporting affects the gameplay, the business, the players or the users, and most importantly the fans. The gameplay is affected such that the competitors are not playing at the same level field since some are using performance enhancement drugs. The athletes may be affected by the continued use of these drugs such that they develop some complications that might make them unable to compete. The athlete may also be banned by the existing anti-doping agencies hence significantly affecting his or her sporting career. The business side of the sporting affected is from the losses obtained due to the withdrawal of sports sponsors. The sporting fans are affected by continued drug use by their "perceived hero" which make them lose morale in watching of following up that sporting activity.

Drug use in sporting is a form of corruption in sporting that seems to be changing quite fast. Sporting has evolved through stages such as de-amateurization, medicalization, politicization, and commercialization. According to Masters (2017), the sporting industry is now a business that is worth about $141 billion annually. As a result, the sporting industry appears to have entered the criminalization phase since more public finding is being directed to support the growth of this industry. The sponsors, betting companies, and the coaches are putting pressure on the athletes to try and use unorthodox means as ways of getting rich quick. This pressure triggers the athletes to use shortcuts to attain those honors and money hence propagating that form of corruption in the sporting industry.

Illegal use in sporting activities can be attributed to different reasons. The level or the kind of doping adopted depends on the nature of the sporting activities involved and the kind of the physical attributes required in that sport. For instance, weight lifters and marathon runners require more energy than sports such as table tennis and darts. Therefore, the users are focused on finding drugs that will ensure or help them recover quickly from injury. Further, the drug is also expected to have the capability to increase the body's recovery capacity after the athlete has been subjected to intensive training. The other benefit that the athletes seek to obtain from the drugs they use is the increase in muscle strength and mass such that they are strong. These drugs also decrease the fat tissues and enhance the level of endurance in sporting (Vlad, Hancu, Popescu & Lungu, 2018).

The psychology of using illegal drugs in sports is rather complicated. According to Ehrnborg & Rosen (2009), the primary motive as to why people use drugs in their sporting activities it is to improve and also maintain their physical functioning. Further, the users of these drugs do so to help them cope with psychological pressures as well as the social pressures they receive.

The illegal drug users in sports believe that the use of these substances is part of helping them strive towards achieving both social and psychological goals. Other goals achieved through doping are the financial goals or economic goals. Winning at all costs as well as the cost verses benefit are some of the core agents that make the athletes opt for the drug use (Ehrnborg et al., 2009).

Sociologists have investigated the abuse of drugs in sports for a long time. According to Connor (2009), the issue of illegal drug use can be explained through handling issue from a holistic angle rather than an individual issue. He argued that it is important to consider the personal issues that are of concern to society. Further, the issue is then connected to social issues, forces, and problems.

Sports is an activity that has increasing been commercialized. As a result, the profits have become the primary motivation a factor that has shadowed the ideals of fair play and engaging in sports for fun. On the other hand, the current society has shown people how much money or financial benefits should be valued. It is a societal issue that people want to use shortcuts available to obtain cash and maintain high social standards (Connor, 2009).

Sporting activities are supposed to be guided by fairness. However, from an ethical standpoint, the use of drugs to give you a competitive advantage is morally wrong. Most agencies and sports planners prohibit the use of performance-enhancing drugs (Simon, 2018). However, these policies are constantly violated by athletes. Obtaining of unfair advantages to some competitors through drugs is wrong, and it should be eliminated since it eradicates the whole essence of sporting which is to compete fairly and to win or lose without any unfair advantages (Elbe & Brand, 2016).

Academic perspectives

Drug dependence is a multifaceted modern social issue. It is a complex issue due to how it affects the individual user psychologically, socially and biologically. The issue also affects the society, politics, laws, and economics. Doping has various effects such as damaging an athlete's health, damaging the spirit of just play and impartiality in competition. The current strategies to control doping are ineffective since they emphasize systematic detection procedures and enforcement of sanctions which have not succeeded to stop this vice.

Psychologists believe that the use of drugs and methods to boost performance has been in use since the beginning of sports history and it is not always considered to be cheating. The motives for doing include improving and maintain physical abilities, trying to fulfill psychological and social pressures and goals comprising economic gains. Athletes consider various factors such as the doping dilemma, cost, and benefits of the use and the desire to win at all costs. According to the life-cycle model of performance, enhancement is that doping is not accidental; rather it is a sustained, self and goal oriented determination. This model proposes intervention strategies that can help address this issue. Doping is, therefore, shows signs similar to those of traditional drug use behaviors. An athlete uses a drug to improve a skill or a function. Doping can be addressed by changing the attitude of athletes regarding the achievement of physical development and establishing working approaches to expose drug abuse. Doping is an issue that can be addressed through sport values-based education to equip young learners with strong values that represent the spirit of sport. Doping behavior can be addressed by focusing on attitudes, intentions, causes and vulnerability issues related to doping. Further, psychological skills training, as well as decision-making models, are direct interventions that have not been used in trying to address the issue of doping while they can play a big role in addressing the issue (Hodge et al., 2013).

Ethical perspective on doping is that doping is cheating and it is unfair. It causes temporary and long-term damage to an athlete's health. It also is wrong in that it misleads children and young people who desire to become athletes because they respect athletes and consider them as role models. Doping is unusual and degrading. Illegal drugs in sports can be attributed to moral indignation and an increasingly cynical attitude to be the top athlete in sports. The code of ethics, as well as the anti-doping strategies used in sports, has been under criticism by the ethics community where there is a belief that there is a lack of a substantial definition of the concept of "spirits of sports." The fight against illegal drug use in sports is questionable due to doubtful claims about fairness in sports and regards to the level playing field in sports. Further, questions are raised regarding the violation of the principle of non-male ficence and privacy of athletes by physicians when they are involved in developing and administering these substances (Moller, 2009).

Drugs in sports can also be analyzed from the sociological perspective where researchers focus on social forces. Doping is a social problem that is considered a severe deviant behavior. Other people believe that the illegal use of drugs in sports occurs due to a detrimental but unavoidable consequence of institutionalization and professionalization of contemporary sport. However, it should be noted that doping was prohibited to protect the health of an athlete and also to maintain the image of sports. Doping should not be legalized. However, it is essential to avoid the negative perceptions of illegal drugs in culture and society. Research indicates that young people and adolescents are using performance enhancement drugs to improve their physical appearance. These drugs are increasingly being used by other people in society such as police officers. However, these people do not receive the kind of media coverage that athletes receive when they are confirmed to have used the medications. Sports have become international competitions, and athletes are pushed to perform better by the market economy where there is less meaningful employment and the high cost of living. Further sports have a rising national significance where athletes are celebrated by receiving acknowledgments, recognition, and rewards. Performance profiling is another issue that contributes to the issue of illegal drugs in sports since in sports only the best are recognized and rewarded, and therefore this motivates athletes to do whatever they can to perform better (Connor, 2009).

The perspectives of Experts

An interview of experts in sports had similar views to what different disciplines state. According to one of the experts, athletes use illegal drugs to improve their muscular strengt...