UNDERSTANDING CHRONIC TRAUMATIC ENCEPHALOPATHY IN THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: THE IMPLICATIONS OF PUBLIC DISMISSAL AND MEDIA CONVERSATION OF THE DISEASE
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, more commonly referred to as CTE, has been a critical health issue in the National Football League that has received insufficient attention. The neurodegenerative disease is caused by repeated head trauma, often sustained through impact collisions and concussions from football. Despite increased research on CTE in the early part of the 21st century, it has taken almost two decades for the NFL to begin to acknowledge and act towards the issue. This research explores how and why the NFL was able to dismiss the disease for so long, the long-term implications for player health and safety, and steps moving forward given the league’s monopolistic influence over the sport as well as strong media influence. By comparing the NFL to Robert Proctor’s work on the tobacco industry and the long-term effects of smoking, as well as taking into account literature from Fainaru-Wada and Fainaru as well as Oriard, it is apparent that the NFL’s handling of CTE is based on business motives and reputation, even going as far as the league doing a complete turnaround in their messaging, as seen through the media analysis outlined in Table 1 of this paper. It is evident that there needs to be a structural shift in policy, accountability, and awareness tactics in order to manage and prevent CTE in the NFL and the harsh consequences of the disease. By taking a holistic approach through science, technology, and society, the politics of the league can shift, and ethics can be reinforced to realign league priorities around CTE.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Date created | May 28, 2021 |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Cowan, Rachel |
|---|---|
| Degree granting institution | Stanford University, Department of Science, Technology and Society |
| Primary advisor | Freese, Jeremy |
Subjects
| Subject | Science Technology and Society |
|---|---|
| Subject | chronic traumatic encephalopathy |
| Subject | CTE |
| Subject | National Football League (NFL) |
| Subject | concussion |
| Subject | media conversation |
| Subject | neurodegenerative brain disease |
| Subject | health technology |
| Subject | machine learning |
| Subject | policy |
| Genre | Thesis |
Bibliographic information
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- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
Preferred citation
- Preferred Citation
- Cowan, Rachel. (2021). UNDERSTANDING CHRONIC TRAUMATIC ENCEPHALOPATHY IN THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: THE IMPLICATIONS OF PUBLIC DISMISSAL AND MEDIA CONVERSATION OF THE DISEASE. Unpublished Honors Thesis. Stanford University, Stanford CA.
Collection
Stanford University, Program in Science, Technology and Society, Honors Theses
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- Contact
- rachelrcowan@gmail.com
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