Kohlberg suggested that mature moral reasoning results in something called "structural wholeness," which can be defined as moral reasoning that is applicable in a range of conditions. Bredemeier notes that recent empirical studies suggest otherwise. Many adults maintain separate kinds of moral reasoning that is based on specific contexts. Bredemeier's theoretical studies focus on whether sports is one of those contexts where moral reasoning is substantially altered.
Bredemeier suggests these differing contexts are defined by cognitive and affective boundaries. She says that we employ different concepts to sports, for example, than we do to work or to relations in the family. Moreover, she says that by establishing these psychic boundaries, we have a different emotional response to, for example, injury. In the case of sports, we might valorize an injury as a sign of courage while simultaneously display less empathy.
She calls these boundaries "brackets." We have a moral bracket for our day-to-day relations at home, our relations at work, our relations in public and -- especially -- our relations in war. These brackets set certain activities apart from our usual lives, and demand a different kind of moral reasoning. Cruelty might be excused in war. Avariciousness might be excused in market relations. Bredemeier is interested in what is set apart for sports. One of her research topics was related to the morality of "intentional injury" during competitive sports. She found that many people who would see intentional injury of anyone in other situations as morally reprehensible believed it was excusable in sports competition.
She is also interested in moral compartmentalization by sports competitors, as epitomized by a particularly brutal competitor who might also be known as a kind and loving character in everyday life. She notes that some athletes "objectify and distance" themselves during competition from what they believe are their "real" selves. She suggests that one of the attractions of sports is that this other context is a "release" from their obligations to others -- a kind of moral time-out.