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Quitting the Game: Covert Disengagement from Butler County Eight Ball
Author(s) -
Roberts John M.,
Chick Garry E.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1525/aa.1984.86.3.02a00010
Subject(s) - league , covert , disengagement theory , recreation , competition (biology) , sociology , psychology , political science , gerontology , law , medicine , ecology , philosophy , linguistics , physics , astronomy , biology
This study of the Monday Nite Pool League is a continuation of earlier research into recreational tavern pool. We argue that the very competition that is the reason for the league's being contributes to the development of endogenous conflicts within the game that lead some players to quit because the original reasons for their involvement in the game have been eliminated or vitiated. This dynamic, the development of endogenous conflicts, probably holds for all voluntary associations that permit voluntary withdrawal, sponsor competitive activities, and meet expressive needs. This dynamic may hold for many other cultural contexts as well. JOHN M. ROBERTS is Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. GARRY E. CHICK is Assistant Professor. Leisure Behavior Research Laboratory. Department of Leisure Studies, University of Illinois, Urbana‐Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820.