The civilised skateboarder : a figurational analysis of the provision of adventure recreation facilities

This thesis is concerned with the increasingly formalised provision of adventure recreation facilities via a mixed economy provision model. Utilising a figurational analysis based upon the work of Norbert Elias, the study highlights how such an analysis of the processes impacting upon the wide stakeholder environment of - ' providers, funding bodies and operational partners can assist in understanding the successes and failures of such provision. Through a case study analysis of a skatepark in Dundee, Scotland, the thesis charts the development of a civilising process within skateboarding as a recreational activity. This process is shown to emerge as a result of the development of a standardised approach to provision dominated by centrally supported 'arm's length' funding bodies, such as SportScotland which focuses upon instilling the activity with a series of behaviour codes and approaches, which contradict the anti-structural characteristics of the typical skateboarding participant: The thesis argues that this civilising process, inadvertently leads to the social exclusion of the original target community, who reject the formalised provision mechanism offered to them. As a result, the thesis concludes that the current provision model is both ineffective and inefficient in its work and requires re- consideration in order to meet the needs of emerging sports such as those within the adventure recreation realm.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo