Capoeira clubs as inclusive and therapeutic communities for youth and young adults experiencing social exclusion

Abstract

Capoeira is an effective rehabilitative practice for marginal populations. There is a need to define the essential elements of the trainee’s experience, and to conceptualize and define the processes of inclusion and rehabilitation associated with Capoeira training. This study aimed to explore the therapeutic rehabilitative elements of Capoeira pedagogy as perceived by Capoeira instructors who work with youths and young adults who experience social marginalization. Ten Capoeira instructors working with diverse populations were interviewed to gain insights regarding rehabilitative characteristics of Capoeira practice from their experiences. Thematic analysis revealed four components of Capoeira pedagogy that correspond to rehabilitative concepts: an alternative of non-violent aggression, inclusion into a community, promotes diversity and grants the trainee an experience of a significant being in the world and promotes an awareness of freedom and liberation. Combining several rehabilitative paths to a cohesive practice, initiates Capoeira as a fertile terrain for rehabilitation through inclusion.

Keywords:

• Capoeira
• inclusive communities
• oppression
• body-mind
• agency

Acknowledgements

The study was conducted by a researcher from the Institutional Review Board (IRB).

Ethical standard

The present study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Institutional Review Board (IRB).

Disclosure statement

The author declares no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gila Amitay

Gila Amitay is an assistant professor at the Max Stern Yezreel Valley College and the head of the Center for Action Research and Social Justice. She received her Ph.D. from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel. She teaches at the department of criminology and is member of several human rights and children’s’ rights organizations. Her main research themes concern power-structure and social construction and refine practices of opposition to oppression in educational settings. She specializes in researching facilities of education and rehabilitation and also spiritual rehabilitation for people in social exclusion, especially youth and young adults and young women who experience social exclusion. Gila is training in Capoeira in the five recent years.