The Attitude of Young Professional Sportsmen to Doping: the Case of Athletes in St-Petersburg

Doping in sport is a widely known phenomenon, especially today in connection with doping scandals which happen in different types of sport as, for example, scandal of 2016 in track and field athletics. Enough attention is given to doping use in biomedical, psychological and criminological literature while it is less studies in sociology. The phenomenon of doping should be considered also from the sociological point of view because it will help to deeply understand motives and the reasons of the use of dope by athletes, so to make anti-doping programs more effective. The aim of this study was to examine the factors influencing the attitudes of athletes to the PES (performance-enhancing substances). Ten professional athletes who live in St. Petersburg aged from 18 up to 23 were interviewed. Results indicated several factors that influence the attitudes of athletes to dope: sports and financial goals, influence of an environment, sources of information and knowledge about dope. By understanding the influence of these factors, it is possible to identify the reasons of its using by athletes, as a result the relevant preventive measures may be introduced.