Hoop Dreams on Wheels:: Disability and the Competitive Wheelchair Athlete (Contemporary Sociological Perspectives)

Hoop Dreams on Wheels is a life-history study of wheelchair athletes associated with a premier collegiate wheelchair basketball program. The book, which grapples with the intersection of biography and history in society, situates the study in broader context with background on the history and sociology of disability and disability sports. It documents the development and evolution of the basketball program and tells the individual life stories of the athletes, highlighting the formative interpersonal and institutional experiences that influenced their agentive actions and that helped them achieve success in wheelchair sports. It also examines divisions within the disability community that reveal both empowering and disempowering aspects of competitive wheelchair athletics, and it explores some of the complexities and dilemmas of disability identity in contemporary society. The book is intended to be read by a general audience as well as by students in college courses on disability, sports, social problems, deviance, medical sociology and anthropology, and introductory sociology. It also will be of interest to scholars in the sociology of disability, sociology of sports, and medical humanities, as well as life-history researchers and professionals in the fields of physical education, therapeutic recreation, and rehabilitative counseling. Hoop Dreams On Wheels Is Written In An Accessible Story-telling Style, As It Is Intended To Be Read By A General Audience As Well As By Students In College Courses On Disability, Sports, The Body, And Social Problems. The Main Component Of The Book, The Life Histories Of The Players, Will Be Especially Appealing To Students, Who Will Find These Accounts Useful As A Way To Develop Their Sociological Imagination, That Is, An Understanding Of The Interrelationship Between Biography And History In Society And The Ways In Which Personal Troubles Are Related To Public Issues. By Linking Personal Stories To Collective Narratives, The Life Histories Reveal The World Of Ordinary People's Problematic Lived Experience, To Quote Norman Denzin, And Show How Society Speaks Itself Through The Lives Of Individuals. Additionally, The Book Is Of Interest To Scholars In The Sociology Of Disability, Sociology Of Sports, Sociology Of The Body, Life-history Researchers, And Professionals In The Fields Of Therapeutic Recreation And Rehabilitative Counseling.--jacket. Disability In Society -- Disability, Sports, And Basketball -- A Case Study Of Competitive Wheelchair Athletics -- The First Generation -- The Second Generation -- The Third Generation -- The Fourth Generation -- Living With Disabilities : Pathways To Wheelchair Sports -- Competitive Sports And The Dilemmas Of Disability Identity. Ronald J. Berger. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [151]-157) And Index. Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 8 Illustrations......Page 10 Series Editor’s Foreword......Page 12 Preface......Page 14 PART I Disability, Sports, and Society......Page 16 CHAPTER 1 Disability in Society......Page 18 CHAPTER 2 Disability, Sports, and Basketball......Page 34 CHAPTER 3 A Case Study of Competitive Wheelchair Athletics......Page 44 PART II Life Histories of Wheelchair-Basketball Players......Page 56 CHAPTER 4 The First Generation......Page 58 CHAPTER 5 The Second Generation......Page 78 CHAPTER 6 The Third Generation......Page 98 CHAPTER 7 The Fourth Generation......Page 112 PART III Sociological Themes: The Collective Narrative......Page 134 CHAPTER 8 Living With Disabilities: Pathways to Wheelchair Sports......Page 136 CHAPTER 9 Competitive Sports and the Dilemmas of Disability Identity......Page 146 Notes......Page 162 References......Page 166 Index......Page 174 Presents the life histories of the players that help students develop their sociological imagination, that is, an understanding of the interrelationship between biography and history in society and the ways in which personal troubles are related to public issues A sociological account of wheelchair athletics, intended for use in courses on disability, the sociology of sport, and social problems – that challenges societal stereotypes about people with disabilities.