Middle School Football, Sense of School Membership, and Student Delinquency

There are currently mixed findings on the social and academic benefits of youth participation in school sponsored sports, such as football. While some research suggests positive outcomes through increased sense of school belongingness, other studies link participation in football to increased delinquent behavior. Social control theory informed the development of a structural model that maps the association of middle school students’ football participation with student belongingness and student delinquency. We administered a survey to 292 male middle school students in two diverse suburban New York middle schools that measured school belongingness, delinquent behavior, and background characteristics. We then tested a model which mapped the relationships between participation in school-sponsored football, level of belongingness, and delinquency. Participation in football did not increase student sense of belongingness but was associated with increased delinquent behavior. Level of student belongingness was associated with markedly less delinquency. Although causality cannot be inferred, the present study provides evidence that participating in school-sponsored football is linked to conformity to deviant subgroup norms which include a greater propensity toward school-specific delinquent behavior.