Football plays a prominent role in American culture. Yet, youth tackle football has become particularly controversial because of the mixture of benefits and health risks that it offers. Using National Sports and Society Survey (N = 3993) data, this study analyzes public opinion about the appropriateness of children playing tackle football. In the process, we examine how adults’ social structural locations, traditionalist ideologies and group affiliations, and sport-related values and contexts, including football-related interactions and experiences, are associated with beliefs about the appropriateness of youth tackle football. We find that the issue is quite contested. Several prominent social structural locations (e.g., identifying as male, heterosexual) and traditionalist ideologies and group affiliations encourage support for football. Support is also elevated among those (e.g., non-White, poorer, and less educated adults) who may be most apt to view football as a means for social mobility and as relatively meritocratic. Finally, beliefs in the value of sport and immersions within football cultures and interactions seem to enhance support for children playing tackle football. Overall, our results indicate that there is substantial disagreement about the appropriateness of youth tackle football and that social forces are important in justifying and problematizing the (re)construction of it.

中文翻译：

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当孩子们互相殴打是可以的：检查美国成人对青少年解决足球的支持

足球在美国文化中扮演着重要角色。然而，由于足球带来的好处和健康风险的混合，青少年足球已经变得特别有争议。使用全国体育和社会调查（N= 3993) 数据，本研究分析了公众对儿童踢铲球是否合适的看法。在此过程中，我们研究了成年人的社会结构位置、传统主义意识形态和群体归属，以及与体育相关的价值观和背景，包括与足球相关的互动和经历，如何与青少年踢足球的适当性信念相关联。我们发现这个问题非常有争议。几个显着的社会结构位置（例如，确定为男性、异性恋）和传统主义意识形态和团体隶属关系鼓励对足球的支持。那些可能最倾向于将足球视为社会流动的手段和相对精英化的人（例如，非白人、贫困和受教育程度较低的成年人）的支持也得到了提高。最后，对体育价值的信念以及沉浸在足球文化和互动中似乎增强了对儿童踢铲球的支持。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明，对于青少年铲球的适当性存在重大分歧，而社会力量在证明（重新）构建它的合理性和问题化方面很重要。