From Crisis to De-escalation: An Examination of Politics in a U.S. High School Steroid Testing Program

Preventing the use of performance enhancing drugs in sport has long been a concern for policymakers. In the United States, amidst national attention the state of Texas constructed the country’s largest steroid testing program for high school athletes. However, resource allocation steadily declined until the program was defunded in 2015. Using escalation of commitment theory as a framework, this conceptual paper examines the critical, but less studied, role of politics and de-escalation behavior that directed this distinct sport situation. By combining policy and media documents with the academic literature, this paper allows for a greater understanding of how the steroid testing program was formulated and implemented, which may influence how policymakers address steroids among amateur athletes in the future. This paper also offers new opportunities for future research by highlighting a new sport context in which escalation of commitment theory applies and specifically noting the significant role politics can play in escalation or de-escalation decision making.