Constraints on Recreation Among People of Color: Toward a New Constraints Model

Abstract

This paper reports on the findings of a study that examined constraints on leisure experienced by African American, Latinx and Asian users and nonusers of recreation programs offered by a park district from a mid-size Midwestern community. The objectives of the study were to examine the constraints experienced by people of color and explore differences and similarities in constraints based on race and ethnicity, socio-economic status and user status. Individual and group interviews were conducted with 46 users and nonusers of recreation programs and services of a park district located in central Illinois. The findings revealed that the types and the strength of constraints experienced by the interviewees were related to cost, lack of knowledge of opportunities, transportation, time, programs and facilities, safety concerns, immigrants' context of arrival, and language barriers. Based on the findings, we propose a new ecological model of constraints in which constraints are divided into individual, interpersonal, and context.