bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Race, Ethnicity, and Youth Perceptions of Criminal Injustice
Authors: Hagan John , Shedd Carla , Payne Monique R.
Published: January 2010

This paper advances a comparative conflict theory of racial and ethnic similarities and differences in youth perceptions of criminal injustice. We use HLM models to test six conflict hypotheses with data from more than 18,000 Chicago public school students. At the micro-level African American youth are more vulnerable to police contacts than are Latinos, who are more at risk than whites, and there is a corresponding gradient in minority group perceptions of injustice. When structural sources of variation in adolescents' experiences are taken into account, however, minority youth perceptions of criminal injustice appear more similar to one another, while remaining distinct from those of white youth. At the micro-level, Latino youth respond more strongly and negatively to police contacts, even though they experience fewer of them. At the macrolevel, as white students in schools increase cross-sectionally, perceptions of injustice among both African American and Latino youth at first intensify and then ultimately abate. Although there are again signs of a gradient, African American and Latino responses to school integration also are as notable in their similarities as in their differences. Reduced police contacts and meaningful school integration are promising mechanisms for diminishing both adolescent African American and Latino perceptions of criminal injustice.
Age for Leisure? Political Mediation and the Impact of the Pension Movement on U.S. Old-Age Policy
Authors: Amenta Edwin , Caren Neal , Olasky Sheera Joy
Published: January 2010

This article elaborates a political mediation theory of the impact of social movements on states and policy, positing that the influence of mobilization and specific strategies of collective action depends on specified political contexts and the type of influence sought. Examining the influence of the U.S. old-age pension movement, which involved millions of people, this article appraises the mediation model using state-level data from the 1930s and 1940s on Old Age Assistance—the main support for the aged at the time-and a Senate vote for generous senior citizens' pensions in 1939. Our models control for other potential influences, notably public opinion, which is often ignored in empirical studies and sometimes claimed to be responsible for causal influence mistakenly attributed to challengers. We employ pooled cross-sectional and time series analyses and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (FSQCA), which is especially suited to appraising the combinational expectations of the political mediation model. Both sets of analyses show that the pension movement was directly influential on the outcomes and provide support for the political mediation arguments.
The Independence of Young Adults and the Rise of Interracial and Same-Sex Unions
Authors: Rosenfeld Michael J. , Kim Byung-Soo
Published: January 2010

Interracial unions and same-sex unions were rare and secretive in the past because U.S. society was organized to suppress such unions. The rise of same-sex and interracial unions in the past few decades suggests changes in the basic structure of U.S. society. Young adults have been marrying later, and single young adults are much less likely to live with their parents. The independence of young adults has reduced parental control over their children's choice of mate. Using microdata from the U.S. Census, this article shows that interracial couples and same-sex couples are more geographically mobile and more urban than same-race married couples. The authors view the geographic mobility of young couples as a proxy for their independence from communities of origin. The results show that nontraditional couples are more geographically mobile even after individual and community attributes are taken into account. Same-sex couples are more likely to be interracial than heterosexual couples, indicating that same-sex and interracial couples are part of a common fabric of family diversification. The article discusses related historical examples and trends.
Interracial Relationships and the Transition to Adulthood
Authors: Joyner Kara , Kao Grace
Published: January 2010

This study tracks and explains changing patterns of involvement in interracial sexual relationships during the transition to adulthood. Using a life course perspective that highlights the role of historical changes as well as age-graded changes in contexts and relationships, the authors hypothesize that involvement in interracial sexual relationships declines with increasing age among young adults. The analyses are based on some of the first nationally representative surveys to collect detailed information on sexual relationships: the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and the National Health and Social Life Survey. Findings from these surveys show that individuals are decreasingly likely to be in an interracial relationship between the ages of 18 and 35 years. They also suggest that the age decline in interracial involvement is a by-product of the transition to marriage in young adulthood and the increasing formation of interracial relationships in recent years. These findings have implications for future research on interracial relationships and family formation.
Migration and Gender among Mexican Women
Authors: Parrado Emilio A. , Flippen Chenoa A.
Published: January 2010

Despite their importance to women's empowerment and migrant adaptation more generally, the social and cultural processes that determine how gender relations and expectations evolve during the process of migration remain poorly understood. In this article, data from a survey conducted in Durham, North Carolina and four sending communities in Mexico are used to examine how the structures of labor, power, and emotional attachments within the family vary by migration and U.S. residency, women's human capital endowments, household characteristics, and social support. Using both quantitative and qualitative information, the main finding of the study is that the association between migration and gender relations is not uniform across different gender dimensions. The reconstruction of gender relations within the family at the place of destination is a dynamic process in which some elements brought from communities of origin are discarded, others are modified, and still others are reinforced. Results challenge the expectation that migrant women easily incorporate the behavior patterns and cultural values of the United States and illustrate the importance of selective assimilation for understanding the diversity of changes in gender relations that accompany migration.
The Legacy of Lynching and Southern Homicide
Authors: Messner Steven F. , Baller Robert D. , Zevenbergen Matthew P.
Published: January 2010

This article assesses the influence of the legacy of lynching on homicide levels within the contemporary South. Drawing upon literature relating to the brutalizing effects of capital punishment and “self-help” in the absence of access to formal law, this study hypothesizes that a measure of the frequency of lynching in the past will exhibit positive effects on contemporary homicide levels for the overall population and for race-specific populations (white and black offending). The results of negative binomial regression analyses of counties and county-clusters in the South are generally consistent with expectations. The measure of lynching exhibits consistently positive effects on overall homicide levels and levels of black offending in models with controls for other theoretically relevant covariates. For whites, the effect of lynching emerges for a particular type of homicide: interracial homicides that evolve out of interpersonal conflicts. At a general level, our findings underscore the relevance of the historical context for understanding variation in contemporary levels of homicide.
Interorganizational Determinants of Promotion: Client Leadership and the Attainment of Women Attorneys
Authors: Beckman Christine M. , Phillips Damon J.
Published: January 2010

Explanations of gender inequality typically emphasize individual characteristics, the structure of internal labor markets, or pressures from the institutional environment. Extending the structuralist and institutional perspectives, this article argues that the demographic composition of an organization's exchange partners can influence the demographic composition of the focal organization when the focal organization is dependent upon its partners. Specifically, law firms with women-led corporate clients increase the number of partners who are women attorneys. Data on elite law firms and their publicly traded clients support a bargaining power hypothesis whereby law firms promote women attorneys when their corporate clients have women in three key leadership positions: general (legal) counsel, chief executive officer, and board director. These effects are stronger when the law firm has few clients, reinforcing the hypothesis that interorganizational influence is more vital when a focal organization is dependent on its exchange partner. The results also support a related explanation based on homophily theory. The analysis rules out several alternative explanations and establishes a relationship between the presence of women-led clients and the promotion of women attorneys in law firms.
Fatalities and the Organization of Child Care in the United States, 1985-2003
Authors: Wrigley Julia , Dreby Joanna
Published: January 2010

Nearly 8 million children of employed parents are in nonrelative child care, but little is known about safety risks. Drawing on the literature reporting mistakes in organizations and medical errors, the authors analyze fatalities in U.S. child care. Types of child care vary greatly in organizational features, from formally organized centers to informal care offered in providers' or children's homes. This allows analysis of how the social organization of care affects risks. A unique national dataset is used to provide a lower bound on fatalities and to analyze fatality rates across types of care. Data come from three sources: (1) a systematic national media search for 1985-2003, (2) legal records of civil and criminal court cases involving fatalities and serious injuries in child care, and (3) ethnographic data from state records in seven states. Overall child care is quite safe, but there are striking differences in fatality rates across types of care. Center care is significantly safer than care offered in private homes and offers particular protection against fatalities from violence. Detailed narratives of how fatalities occur suggest that the organization of work is a crucial factor in risk differences.
Sexual Initiation in Early Adolescence: The Nexus of Parental and Community Control
Authors: Browning Christopher R. , Leventhal Tama , Brooks-Gunn Jeanne
Published: January 2010

This study explores the link between neighborhood collective efficacy and the timing of first intercourse for a sample of urban youth. The authors hypothesize that youth who experience lower levels of parental monitoring and higher levels of exposure to neighborhood environments are more likely to be influenced by collective supervision capacity. The study also examines the extent to which parental and neighborhood controls differ in their impact on first intercourse experiences by gender. Analyses of multilevel and longitudinal data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods indicate that neighborhood collective efficacy delays sexual onset only for adolescents who experience lower levels of parental monitoring. Although parental monitoring exerts significantly greater influence on girls' timing of first intercourse, the moderating effect of parental monitoring on collective efficacy holds for both boys and girls.
Through Thick and Thin: Layers of Social Ties and Urban Settlement among Thai Migrants
Authors: Korinek Kim , Entwisle Barbara , Jampaklay Aree
Published: January 2010

A unique longitudinal and prospective approach is used to analyze the social embeddedness of rural-urban Thai migrants and their subsequent migration. More than any one particular social tie, it is the configuration of social ties at multiple levels that influences whether migrants experience their destination as integrative and a place for settlement or not. Social ties at multiple levels and from multiple sources weave into a social fabric that surrounds migrants in destination contexts, shaping their migration trajectories. The findings show that urban-integrated migrants with diverse social support ties in the urban destination who reside in village enclaves and households that promote social adaptation and incorporation tend to be found again in urban destinations 6 years later. By comparison, semi-integrated and urban-isolated migrants whose social support ties, community structures, and households provide relatively weak links and support within the urban setting exhibit stronger tendencies to return to their villages of origin or to migrate onward from their initial destination. The findings suggest that migrants' mobility pathways-whether they settle in their current destination, return to their villages of origin, or make additional movements onward—depend on the organization of urban social relations and migrants' positions therein.
Marriage Market Mismatches in Japan: An Alternative View of the Relationship between Women's Education and Marriage
Authors: Raymo James M. , Iwasawa Miho
Published: January 2010

In Japan, unlike in most other industrialized societies, the decline in marriage rates has been most pronounced among highly educated women. Theoretical interpretations of this distinctive pattern of change have typically emphasized increasing economic independence for women and reductions in the gains to marriage. In this paper, the authors develop and evaluate an alternative explanation that emphasizes women's continued dependence on men's economic resources and decline in the relative supply of highly educated men. Using data from four rounds of the Japanese National Fertility Survey, the authors decompose the observed decline in marriage rates into changes in the propensity to marry and changes in the educational composition of the marriage market. Results indicate that change in the availability of potential spouses accounts for one-fourth of the decline in marriage among university-educated women and explains a substantial proportion of the growing educational differences in marriage. The conclusion is that the relatively large decline in marriage among highly educated Japanese women likely reflects both increasing economic independence and continued economic dependence on men.
The Worldwide Diffusion of Market-Oriented Infrastructure Reform, 1977–1999
Authors: Henisz Witold J. , Zelner Bennet A. , Guillén Mauro F.
Published: January 2010

Why do countries differ so much in the extent to which they adopt neoliberal, marketoriented reform in their infrastructure industries? Building on world-society and neoinstitutional theories in sociology, this paper argues that international pressures of coercion, normative emulation, and competitive mimicry strongly influence the domestic adoption of market-oriented reform. The paper considers the effect of such pressures on the adoption of four reform elements: the privatization of state-owned firms, the formal separation of the regulatory authority from the executive branch, the de facto elimination of executive political influence on the regulatory authority, and the opening of the retail market to multiple service providers. It finds generally robust support for its arguments using a multivariate probit analysis of reform adoption in the telecommunications and electricity industries of as many as 71 countries and territories between 1977 and 1999. The results also suggest that the coercive effect of lending by the IMF and World Bank differs for each reform element. The paper discusses the possibility that, by leading countries to adopt some reform elements but not others, international coercion may not produce ideal outcomes.
Economic Globalization and the Welfare State in Affluent Democracies, 1975–2001
Authors: Brady David , Beckfield Jason , Seeleib-Kaiser Martin
Published: January 2010

Previous scholarship is sharply divided over how or if globalization influences welfare states. The effects of globalization may be positive causing expansion, negative triggering crisis and reduction, curvilinear contributing to convergence, or insignificant. We bring new evidence to bear on this debate with an analysis of three welfare state measures and a comprehensive array of economic globalization indicators for 17 affluent democracies from 1975 to 2001. The analysis suggests several conclusions. First, state-of-the-art welfare state models warrant revision in the globalization era. Second, most indicators of economic globalization do not have significant effects, but a few affect the welfare state and improve models of welfare state variation. Third, the few significant globalization effects are in differing directions and often inconsistent with extant theories. Fourth, the globalization effects are far smaller than the effects of domestic political and economic factors. Fifth, the effects of globalization are not systematically different between European and non-European countries, or liberal and non-liberal welfare regimes. Increased globalization and a modest convergence of the welfare state have occurred, but globalization does not clearly cause welfare state expansion, crisis, and reduction or convergence. Ultimately, this study suggests skepticism toward bold claims about globalization's effect on the welfare state.
Interpreters of the Literary Canon and Their Technical Instruments: The Case of Balzac Criticism
Authors: Mallard Grégoire
Published: January 2010

Drawing insights from the ethnographies in the natural sciences, which have focused on the role of technical instruments in laboratory practices, this article asks, “What role do technical instruments play in the humanities?” Editions of La Comédie humaine, written by Honoré de Balzac, are taken as a case study. Primarily based on ethnographic research with Balzac scholars, this article traces the evolution of Balzac's text from a unified and unadorned text in the 1930s, to a single annotated text in the critical edition of the 1970s, and to a searchable electronic format of different versions. The author shows that the different schools of interpretation in Balzac criticism (traditional, semioticians, socio-critics) constructed these diverse editing technologies to influence the evolution of literary theories. For instance, traditional scholars' theory of authorship entertains en elective affinity with the critical edition of La Comédie humaine. Sociocritics challenged its assumptions and constructed electronic editions to develop their own theories, particularly on the genesis and reception of Balzac's texts. By focusing on the epistemic cultures in which research practices are embedded, this case study complements purely institutionalist perspectives on knowledge-production in the academic field and highlights the presence of diverse epistemic cultures in literary criticism.
Networks, Race, and Hiring
Authors: Fernandez Roberto M. , Fernandez-Mateo Isabel
Published: January 2010

It is common for scholars interested in race and poverty to invoke a lack of access to job networks as one of the reasons that African Americans and Hispanics face difficulties in the labor market. Much research has found, however, that minorities do worse when they use personal networks in job finding. Research in this area has been hampered by the complicated and multi-step nature of the job-finding process and by the lack of appropriate comparison data for demonstrating the various ways in which minorities can be isolated from good job opportunities. We seek to specify what it means to say that minorities are cut off from job networks. Building on the literature on social networks in the labor market, we delineate the various mechanisms by which minorities can be isolated from good job opportunities. We examine how these mechanisms operate, using unique data on the chain of network contacts that funnel to an employer offering desirable jobs. We find that network factors operate at several stages of the recruitment process. We find scant evidence, however, that these network factors serve to cut off minorities from employment in this setting. We conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and methodological implications of the case for the study of networks, race, and hiring.
Deterring Delinquents: A Rational Choice Model of Theft and Violence
Authors: Matsueda Ross L. , Kreager Derek A. , Huizinga David
Published: January 2010

This article examines criminal behavior from a rational choice perspective, the set of behavioral principles underlying our legal institution. The authors use a subjective utility approach and specify experiential learning models of the formation of risk perceptions and rational choice models of theft and violence. They estimate the models using panel data on high risk youth from the Denver Youth Survey. Using random effects Tobit models of perceived risk and negative binomial models of counts of criminal acts, the authors find support for a rational choice model. Perceived risk follows a Bayesian updating model in which current risk perceptions are a function of prior risk perceptions plus new information based on experience with crime and arrest and observations of peers. Theft and violence are a function of the perceived risk of arrest, subjective psychic rewards (including excitement and social status), and perceived opportunities.
The Egalitarian Face of Islamic Orthodoxy: Support for Islamic Law and Economic Justice in Seven Muslim-Majority Nations
Authors: Davis Nancy J. , Robinson Robert V.
Published: January 2010

The authors test two theories linking religion and economic beliefs in predominantly Muslim nations using data from national surveys of Algeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. Moral Cosmology theory posits that because the religiously orthodox are theologically communitarian in viewing individuals as subsumed by a larger community of believers subject to timeless laws and God's greater plan, they are disposed toward economic communitarianism, whereby the state should provide for the poor, reduce inequality, and meet community needs via economic intervention. Modernists are theologically individualistic in seeing individuals as having to make moral decisions in a temporal context and as responsible for their own destinies. As such, modernists are inclined to economic individualism, whereby the poor are responsible for their fates, wider income differences promote individual initiative, and government should not interfere in the economy. An alternate hypothesis, based on Islamic scripture's discussion of economic matters, limits the effect of orthodoxy versus modernism to the one clear economic directive of Islam: the state's responsibility to care for the poor. The authors find that Islamic orthodoxy—measured as the desire to implement Islamic law (the shari'a)—is associated with the broad economic communitarianism expected by Moral Cosmology theory.
Infant Mortality, Social Networks, and Subsequent Fertility
Authors: Sandberg John
Published: January 2010

The research presented here addresses a longstanding but previously unsupported theoretical proposition related to social learning in the demographic literature. This is that individuals should respond to lower (higher) infant mortality of socially proximate others with decreased (increased) fertility. On a more general level this problem directly concerns the translation of the effects of macro-demographic forces such as mortality into micro-level individual behavior through social interaction. Using unique data that combine identification of individuals belonging to women's social networks with direct measurement of these network members' mortality experience, this research demonstrates such a linkage. Information concerning the level and variation in infant mortality available to women from a small Nepalese mountain population in their social networks is seen to influence the tempo of their fertility. It is suggested that the methodology employed has important implications for quantitative analyses of reciprocal processes of social construction and micro-macro linkages more generally.
Social Isolation in America: Changes in Core Discussion Networks over Two Decades
Authors: McPherson Miller , Smith-Lovin Lynn , Brashears Matthew E.
Published: January 2010

Have the core discussion networks of Americans changed in the past two decades? In 1985, the General Social Survey (GSS) collected the first nationally representative data on the confidants with whom Americans discuss important matters. In the 2004 GSS the authors replicated those questions to assess social change in core network structures. Discussion networks are smaller in 2004 than in 1985. The number of people saying there is no one with whom they discuss important matters nearly tripled. The mean network size decreases by about a third (one confidant), from 2.94 in 1985 to 2.08 in 2004. The modal respondent now reports having no confidant; the modal respondent in 1985 had three confidants. Both kin and non-kin confidants were lost in the past two decades, but the greater decrease of non-kin ties leads to more confidant networks centered on spouses and parents, with fewer contacts through voluntary associations and neighborhoods. Most people have densely interconnected confidants similar to them. Some changes reflect the changing demographics of the U.S. population. Educational heterogeneity of social ties has decreased, racial heterogeneity has increased. The data may overestimate the number of social isolates, but these shrinking networks reflect an important social change in America
Trends in Civic Association Activity in Four Democracies: The Special Case of Women in the United States
Authors: Andersen Robert , Curtis James , Grabb Edward
Published: January 2010

This study assesses whether civic association activity has declined in four Western democracies: Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Influential accounts of decreasing civic engagement in the United States lead to the expectation of similar patterns in the other three nations. The authors test this hypothesis using data from time-use surveys of adult national samples for the mid-1960s to the late 1990s. One major finding is a clear decline in association activity in the United States, especially after 1975, but relative stability in the other three countries. Equally important are further results indicating that the American decline pertains only to women. Findings are sustained even after controlling for social background characteristics and four other activities (television watching, paid work, childcare, and physical activity). The analysis casts doubt on the theory that declining civic association activity in the United States reflects generational differences. Possible explanations for the reduced activity among American women, including lower levels of state support, are considered.
Bowling Young: How Youth Voluntary Associations Influence Adult Political Participation
Authors: McFarland Daniel A. , Thomas Reuben J.
Published: January 2010

Do the voluntary activities of youth increase political engagement in adulthood? Political participation is typically characterized by inertia: reproduced within families, highly correlated with social class, and largely stable after the onset of adulthood. This research illustrates an element of political socialization that occurs just before the transition into full citizenship, that mimics adult civic life, and that can be available regardless of family advantage. The authors use two longitudinal national datasets to identify the kinds of voluntary associations that encourage members to be more politically active later in life. They find that general involvement in extracurricular activities is important, but that in particular, involvement in youth voluntary associations concerning community service, representation, speaking in public forums, and generating a communal identity most encourage future political participation. The authors find these effects net of self-selection and causal factors traditionally characterized in political socialization research. The influence of youth voluntary associations on future political activity is nontrivial and has implications for both democratic education and election outcomes.
The Rise of Anti-foreigner Sentiment in European Societies, 1988-2000
Authors: Semyonov Moshe , Raijman Rebeca , Gorodzeisky Anastasia
Published: January 2010

The study examines change over time in sentiments toward out-group populations in European societies. For this purpose data were compiled from four waves of the Eurobarometer surveys for 12 countries that provided detailed and comparable information on attitudes toward foreigners between 1988 and 2000. A series of multilevel hierarchical linear models were estimated to examine change in the effects of individual- and country-level sources of threat on anti-foreigner sentiment. The analysis shows a substantial rise in antiforeigner sentiment between 1988 and 2000 in all 12 countries. The rise in anti-foreigner sentiment was steep in the early period (between 1988 and 1994), then leveled off after that. Although anti-foreigner sentiment tends to be more pronounced in places with a large proportion of foreign populations and where economic conditions are less prosperous, the effects of both factors on anti-foreigner sentiment have not changed over time. The analysis also shows that anti-foreigner sentiment is more pronounced in places with greater support for right-wing extreme parties. The impact of individual-level socioeconomic characteristics such as education has remained stable over the years, but the effect of political ideology has increased. The meaning and significance of the findings are discussed within the context of European societies.
Documenting Desegregation: Segregation in American Workplaces by Race, Ethnicity, and Sex, 1966–2003
Authors: Tomaskovic-Devey Donald , Zimmer Catherine , Stainback Kevin , Robinson Corre , Taylor Tiffany , McTague Tricia
Published: January 2010

Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act made employment discrimination and segregation on the basis of race, ethnicity, or sex illegal in the United States. Previous research based on analyses of aggregate national trends in occupational segregation suggests that sex and race/ethnic employment segregation has declined in the United States since the 1960s. We add to the existing knowledge base by documenting for the first time male-female, black-white, and Hispanic-white segregation trends using private sector workplace data. The general pattern is that segregation declined for all three categorical comparisons between 1966 and 1980, but after 1980 only sex segregation continued to decline markedly. We estimate regression-based decompositions in the time trends for workplace desegregation to determine whether the observed changes represent change in segregation behavior at the level of workplaces or merely changes in the sectoral and regional distribution of workplaces with stable industrial or local labor market practices. These decompositions suggest that, in addition to desegregation caused by changes in the composition of the population of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission monitored private sector firms, there has been real workplace-level desegregation since 1964.
Ethnography, the Ecological Fallacy, and the 1995 Chicago Heat Wave
Authors: Duneier Mitchell
Published: January 2010

In Chicago in July 1995, the Cook County Medical Examiner classified 739 heat-related deaths after one week of record high heat and humidity. In the 2002 book Heat Wave, Eric Klinenberg provides an influential account of these deaths. Klinenberg specifically contrasts mortalities in two neighboring communities, black North Lawndale and Latino South Lawndale. He explains the mortality difference by focusing on how elderly black residents, including those in “literal isolation,” were impacted by neighborhood conditions. However, Klinenberg's book provides no data on the individuals who died. The author of this Research Note reports more data obtained by traveling to these two communities and to the bordering white community of Archer Heights. The author compares his findings against data available on death certificates for all decedents. At the time of the heat wave, many of the people who died were not elderly and only two elderly victims in North Lawndale were living alone. In the bordering white community, most decedents were living alone during the heat wave and none had ever married. The author questions whether Klinenberg's theory operates at the individual level in North Lawndale and assesses whether Robinson's “ecological fallacy” pertains to Klinenberg's study.
Is Telling Stories Good for Democracy? Rhetoric in Public Deliberation after 9/11
Authors: Polletta Francesca , Lee John
Published: January 2010

This article develops a sociological perspective on the rhetorical conditions for good public deliberation, a topic of longstanding interest to scholars of the public sphere. The authors argue that the capacity of reason-giving, storytelling, and other rhetorical genres to foster deliberation depends on social conventions of the genre's use and popular beliefs about its credibility relative to other genres. Such beliefs are structured but contingently so: concerns about the generalizability of personal stories or the abstraction of logical arguments come into play on some occasions and not others. The authors appraise this argument by way of a systematic comparison of personal storytelling and reason-giving in public deliberation, the first such empirical study. Drawing upon an analysis of 1,415 claims made by 263 people in 12 discussion groups, the authors show that ordinary conventions of storytelling helped deliberators to identify their own preferences, demonstrate their appreciation of competing preferences, advance unfamiliar views, and reach areas of unanticipated agreement. The ambivalence, however, with which participants generally viewed storytelling as a rhetorical form restricted personal stories to discussions that were seen as without impact on the policymaking process. More broadly, by drawing attention to the evaluative structures through which people's use of cultural forms is differentially assessed, the authors provide an alternative to both instrumentalist and structuralist approaches to culture.
The Dynamics of Protest Diffusion: Movement Organizations, Social Networks, and News Media in the 1960 Sit-Ins
Authors: Andrews Kenneth T. , Biggs Michael
Published: January 2010

The wave of sit-ins that swept through the American South in the spring of 1960 transformed the struggle for racial equality. This episode is widely cited in the literature on social movements, but the debate over its explanation remains unresolved—partly because previous research has relied on case studies of a few large cities. The authors use event-history analysis to trace the diffusion of sit-ins throughout the South and to compare cities where sit-ins occurred with the majority of cities where they did not. They assess the relative importance of three channels of diffusion: movement organizations, social networks, and news media. The authors find that movement organizations played an important role in orchestrating protest; what mattered was a cadre of activists rather than mass membership. There is little evidence that social networks acted as a channel for diffusion among cities. By contrast, news media were crucial for conveying information about protests elsewhere. In addition, the authors demonstrate that sit-ins were most likely to occur where there were many college students, where adults in the black community had greater resources and autonomy, and where political opportunities were more favorable.
The Dynamics of Economic Disadvantage and Children's Life Chances
Authors: Wagmiller Robert L. , Lennon Mary Clare , Kuang Li , Alberti Philip M. , Aber J. Lawrence
Published: January 2010

Recent research suggests that child well-being and subsequent status attainment are influenced not only by the duration of exposure to economic disadvantage during childhood, but also by the timing and sequencing of exposure. Unfortunately, traditional measures of children's economic deprivation typically fail to differentiate between exposures to disadvantage at different stages in childhood and largely ignore how economic circumstances change over time. In this article, the authors propose a new method for assessing economic disadvantage during childhood that simultaneously captures children's overall levels of exposure to economic disadvantage as well as the timing and sequencing of their exposure. This new method uses finite mixture modeling to classify children into a limited number of classes with similar histories of exposure to economic disadvantage. With this new methodology, it is possible both to assess how family characteristics affect patterns of exposure to disadvantage and to directly test alternative theories about the effect that different patterns of exposure have on achievement. The authors find that extended exposure to economic deprivation during childhood is least favorable to early adulthood achievement, but that—at least for human capital formation-the timing and sequencing of poverty also are important.
Family Instability and Child Well-Being
Authors: Fomby Paula , Cherlin Andrew J.
Published: January 2010

Children who experience multiple transitions in family structure may face worse developmental outcomes than children raised in stable, two-parent families, and perhaps even worse than children raised in stable, single-parent families—a point denoted in much prior research. Multiple transitions and negative child outcomes, however, may be associated through common causal factors such as parents' antecedent behaviors and attributes. Using a nationally-representative, two-generation longitudinal survey that includes detailed information on children's behavioral and cognitive development, family history, and mothers' attributes prior to children's births, we examine these alternative hypotheses. Our results suggest that, for white children, the association between the number of family structure transitions and cognitive outcomes is largely explained by mothers' prior characteristics but that the association between the number of transitions and behavioral outcomes may be causal in part. We find no robust effects for number of transitions for black children.
Risky Business: Assessing Risk Preference Explanations for Gender Differences in Religiosity
Authors: Roth Louise Marie , Kroll Jeffrey C.
Published: January 2010

Scholars of religion have long known that women are more religious than men, but they disagree about the reasons underlying this difference. Risk preference theory suggests that gender gaps in religiosity are a consequence of men's greater propensity to take risks, and that irreligiosity is analogous to other high-risk behaviors typically associated with young men. Yet, research using risk preference theory has not effectively distinguished those who perceive a risk to irreligiousness from those who do not. In this article, we evaluate risk preference theory. We differentiate those who believe in an afterlife, who perceive a risk to irreligiousness, from nonbelievers who perceive no risk associated with the judgment after death. Using General Social Survey and World Values Survey data, multivariate models test the effects of gender and belief on religiousness. In most religions and nations the gender gap is larger for those who do not believe in an afterlife than for those who do, contradicting the predictions of risk preference theory. The results clearly demonstrate that the risk preference thesis is not a compelling explanation of women's greater average religiosity.
Leaving a Legacy: Position Imprints and Successor Turnover in Young Firms
Authors: Burton M. Diane , Beckman Christine M.
Published: January 2010

This article considers how local firm histories influence individual turnover rates in organizations. We argue that position imprints—the legacies left by the first incumbents of particular functional positions—constrain subsequent position holders. We show that the functional experience of the person who creates a position influences the turnover rate of successors who later occupy that position. When the first position holder has an atypical background, all successors experience high turnover rates. Individuals who are both typical with respect to the normative environment and similar to the position imprint have the lowest turnover rates. Surprisingly, we find lower turnover rates among individuals who match the position imprint even if they violate normative expectations. Thus, contrary to institutional theory predictions, we find that local firm histories dominate. In revealing how social structures emerge within firms and affect individual outcomes, our research revisits core topics of bureaucratization and organizational stratification including idiosyncratic jobs, occupational segregation, and differential mobility. In addition, we integrate structuralist and interactionist perspectives on role theory by considering how roles are created. Finally, in demonstrating the effects of position imprints on successor mobility we add a temporal dimension to theories of turnover.
Cultural Context, Sexual Behavior, and Romantic Relationships in Disadvantaged Neighborhoods
Authors: Harding David J.
Published: January 2010

When culture is invoked to understand the consequences of growing up in disadvantaged neighborhoods, the isolation of ghetto residents from mainstream institutions and mainstream culture is often emphasized. This article attempts to reorient current theorizing about the cultural context of disadvantaged neighborhoods, particularly when it comes to adolescent decision making and behavior. I argue that rather than being characterized by the dominance of “oppositional” or “ghetto-specific” cultures, disadvantaged neighborhoods are characterized by cultural heterogeneity: a wide array of competing and conflicting cultural models. I apply this conception to sexual behavior and romantic relationships among adolescents using survey data from Addhealth. Analyses show that disadvantaged neighborhoods exhibit greater heterogeneity in cultural frames and scripts and that, in more heterogeneous neighborhoods, adolescents' frames and scripts are poorly predictive of their actual behavior.
African American, Hispanic, and White Beliefs about Black/White Inequality, 1977-2004
Authors: Hunt Matthew O.
Published: January 2010

Do African Americans, Hispanics, and non-Hispanic whites differ in their explanations of the socioeconomic divide separating blacks and whites in the United States? Have such explanations changed over time? To answer these questions, I use data from the 1977 to 2004 General Social Surveys (GSS) to map race/ethnic differences in support for, trends in, and the determinants of seven “modes of explanation” for blacks' disadvantage. Trends over time indicate the continuation of a long-standing decline in non-Hispanic whites' use of an ability-based (innate inferiority) explanation. Non- Hispanic whites' beliefs in a purely motivational and a purely educational explanation are increasing, however, along with the view that none of the explanations offered in the GSS explain blacks' disadvantage. African Americans and Hispanics also evidence increases in a purely motivational explanation, but they differ from non-Hispanic whites in demonstrating clear declines in structural beliefs—especially the perception that discrimination explains blacks' lower socioeconomic status. These conservative shifts in blacks' and Hispanics' beliefs result in greater similarity with non-Hispanic whites over time. Notably, however, significant “static” race/ethnic group differences remain: non- Hispanic whites score highest, and blacks lowest, on a purely motivational explanation, while African Americans are more likely than both non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics to endorse a discrimination-based explanation. I conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for racial policy support.
The Structure of Charismatic Mobilization: A Case Study of Rebellion During the Chinese Cultural Revolution
Authors: Andreas Joel
Published: January 2010

This article makes a case for bringing the concept of charismatic authority back into the study of social movements. Three decades ago, with the paradigmatic shift from psychological to strategic explanations, Weber's concept virtually disappeared from scholarship about collective action. Based on an investigation of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, I examine the distinctive structure and capacities of charismatic mobilization. During the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong called on students, workers, and peasants to attack the officials of his own party. Because Mao employed both bureaucratic and charismatic methods of mobilization, this movement offers an opportunity to compare the structural characteristics of the two and evaluate their distinctive capacities. Through a case study of the most prominent Cultural Revolution rebel organization, I demonstrate that the informal structure of charismatic mobilization gave the movement a rule-breaking power that made it highly effective in undermining bureaucratic authority. I then suggest how the concepts of charismatic and bureaucratic mobilization might be used to analyze other social movements and to clarify issues in long-standing debates about the tendency of social movement organizations to become conservative.
Climbing the Dispute Pagoda: Grievances and Appeals to the Official Justice System in Rural China
Authors: Michelson Ethan
Published: January 2010

In the wake of heightened scholarly and media attention to the growing volume of conflict in rural China, this article represents the first effort to use survey data to identify the causes both of popular grievances and of popular actions taken to resolve them in the Chinese countryside. An analysis of data collected in 2002 from almost 3,000 households across six provinces shows that the volume and character of grievances, as well as the volume of appeals to the official justice system, exhibited substantial variation both by macrolevel regional conditions and by microlevel family resources. With respect to regional variation, in contrast to classical theoretical expectations of a positive correlation between law and economic development, the data reveal that law was mobilized with greatest frequency in the most economically distressed parts of China where grievances were the most prevalent. Additional variation in the volume of legal mobilization between similarly aggrieved regions of similar economic character is explained by contextually-specific historical conditions. With respect to family resources, the survey evidence reveals that families with social connections to local government officials were relatively sheltered from grievances and relatively more likely to mobilize the official justice system when they did experience grievances.
Class and Status: The Conceptual Distinction and its Empirical Relevance
Authors: Chan Tak Wing , Goldthorpe John H.
Published: January 2010

In this article, we return to Max Weber's distinction between class and status as related but different forms of social stratification. We argue that this distinction is not only conceptually cogent, but empirically important as well. Indeed, class and status do have distinct explanatory power when it comes to studying varying areas of social life. Consistent with Weber's assertions, we show that economic security and prospects are stratified more by class than by status, while the opposite is true for outcomes in the domain of cultural consumption. Within politics, class rather than status predicts Conservative versus Labour Party voting in British general elections and also Left-Right political attitudes. But it is status rather than class that predicts Libertarian-Authoritarian attitudes.