Cure de Jour: exploring the potential of boxing as a mechanism for change among vulnerable groups

Jump, Deborah ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5525-6693 and Blakemore, Amy (2023) Cure de Jour: exploring the potential of boxing as a mechanism for change among vulnerable groups. In: Sport, Physical Activity and Criminal Justice: politics, policy and practice. Routledge Research in Sport, Culture and Society . Routledge, London, pp. 166-180. ISBN 9781032036861 (hardback); 9781003207788 (ebook)

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Abstract

Boxing has long been touted as a cure for all social ills, spanning criminal justice, mental health, and childhood trauma. However, what is it about the sweet science that causes such furore? This chapter discusses the ‘hooking’ potential of boxing, the appealing nature to policy makers, communities, and individuals, and unpack what attracts swathes of people to this controversial sport. The chapter highlights how the environment of the boxing gym can contribute, if at all, to a process of individual change, and how that change manifests across the varying groups it attracts. Using data from projects that have worked with vulnerable groups, we present arguments that demonstrate boxing's ‘hooking’ potential, but also its controversy as a panacea.