Idrott - en väg in i samhället : En fallstudie om utrikes födda personers integrering genom basket

This study highlights how people born outside of Sweden experience that their participation in a basketball association contributed to integration into the Swedish society and in which ways it occurred. Furthermore, we study how possibilities and limitations are created for the participants to use sports as a platform for integration for the purpose of becoming a part the society. Through a case study we have interview people from a basketball association. The theories we used in this essay is the intersectional perspective and the theory of integration processes to find out how the individual’s ability to integrate can be affected by different social structures. Six themes were created to become the basis of the analysis: Focus on competition – a barrier for integration?, sports as a tool for language development, community as an inclusive factor, basketball - a sport for immigrant women, a social network creates the conditions for integration, and economic benefits of basketball. With the support of the theories we found that all themes have a significance on the individual ability to integrate and that the basketball association has been a platform for out participants to become a part of the community and to develop knowledge of the Swedish language