A Critique of Leisure Constraints: Comparative Analyses and Understandings

Abstract

This paper reports two separate analyses based on interviews in which people talked about the factors that shaped leisure within their everyday lives. In the first analysis, researchers used the leisure constraints model of Crawford, Jackson and Godbey (1991) and sought examples of structural, interpersonal and intrapersonal constraints. That analysis seemed to confirm the existence of leisure constraints and constraint negotiation in people's everyday lives; however, it also missed many of the dynamic factors that shaped and influenced these people's leisure choices. The researchers then returned to the data and used constant comparative analysis in order to capture the factors that best described the way these people made decisions about their leisure. A comparison of these two analyses is the basis for discussion and critique of leisure constraints as a framework for understanding factors that influence people's leisure choices and behavior.