bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Conflict in Networks
Authors: Szmatka Jacek , Skvoretz John , Sozanski Tad , Mazur Joanna
Published: September 2012

The study of exchange in networks has been extremely fruitful, generating much theory and empirical analysis and uncovering basic structural principles governing the distribution of power in exchange networks. However, exchange is only one type of fundamental relation between actors. Willer's “Theory of Elementary Relations” proposes two others: coercion and conflict. There are several empirical studies of coercive relations but virtually no studies of conflict relations in networks. We propose a modified definition of conflict relations that we believe facilitates their experimental study. We then describe two experimental protocols designed to implement conflict relations as theoretical defined. Finally, we report on a study intended to evaluate the technical merits of each design and to provide a “proof of concept,” namely, that conflict relations in networks can be studied experimentally.
Asian Americans as a Model Minority: Self-Perceptions and Perceptions by other Racial Groups
Authors: Wong Paul , Lai Chienping Faith , Nagasawa Richard , Lin Tieming
Published: September 2012

Although an abundance of anecdotal and journalistic articles about Asian Americans as a model minority has appeared in the past two decades, a review of the literature revealed surprisingly few empirical studies on this subject. Specifically, no research has been done on whether Asian Americans perceive themselves as a model minority and how they are perceived by other racial groups. In this paper, the results of a sample survey of a large public land-grant university on Asian Americans' self-perceptions and other racial groups' perceptions of Asian Americans in terms of their preparedness for college, motivation, and expectations of future career success are reported. Using whites as a comparison group, it was found that Asian Americans perceived themselves as more prepared, motivated and more likely to have greater career success than whites. Also, the perceptions that Asian Americans were superior to whites in those three areas were shared by whites, African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans. In contrast, the other three minority groups each viewed itself as inferior to whites in each of the three areas measured, and were so viewed by the other racial groups as well. The implications of these findings are explored.
The Social Origins and Maintenance of Gender: Communication Styles, Personality Types and Grid-Group Theory
Authors: Franzwa Gregg , Lockhart Charles
Published: September 2012

Starting from the distinctive communication styles that Deborah Tannen associates with men and women, we probe for the bases of gender differences. We suggest that these contrasting communication styles, which contribute to systematic miscommunication between women and men, are indices of deeper differences that serve the more fundamental purpose of providing individuals with the benefits of multiple distinctive world views, thus improving their chances for dealing successfully with the range of contingencies with which life confronts them. In essence, our argument runs that the imperfect empirical associations between communication styles and gender that have attracted Tannen's attention are consequences of the constellations of basic personality characteristics that form Carl Jung's personality types. Various gender-associated personality types are, in turn, socially cultivated by disparate organizations faithful to the principles of the rival cultures that constitute Mary Douglas' grid-group theory. These distinctive ways of life are thus crucial to the social maintenance of evolutionarily constructive cultural diversity among human groupings as small as mating pairs.
A Research Note on Post-Dating Relationships: The Social Embeddedness of Redefining Romantic Couplings
Authors: Foley Lara , Fraser James
Published: September 2012

This is an exploratory, descriptive study of relationship redefinition. Using symbolic interaction theory, this paper examines the contours of post-dating relationships, asking the following questions: 1) how do people orient themselves to one another after a dating reltaionship ends?; and, 2) what is the power dynamic between one's social network and his or her post-dating relationship? Using a snowball sample (N = 30), interview data are analyzed as narratives about the respondents' construction of post-dating relationships. Until recently, research has focused on postdivorce relationships and has characterized these as maladaptive (Weiss 1975; Spanier and Casto 1979; Berman 1985). This study joins recent research which suggests that relationships between former spouses or lovers may satisfy legitimate needs such as friendship, shared history, and extended social networks (Metts, Cupach and Bejlovec 1989; Aydintug 1995).
Trends in Women's Economic Status
Authors: England Paula , Browne Irene
Published: September 2012

We consider trends over the last several decades in the economic status of women relative to men. Trends in the proportion of women employed outside the home, occupational sex segregation, the sex gap in earnings, and poverty are reviewed. A review of research that provides explanations for these gender inequalities is presented.
The Future of Women and Work: Ending the Twentieth Century
Authors: Acker Joan
Published: September 2012

Global capitalist economic restructuring is affecting the working lives of American women. This article examines the growth of women's employment opportunities and the quality of their jobs as a consequence of the restructuring of employment, increasing flexibility of work, changing skill demands, and attempts to reduce hierarchy and increase workers' participation in the work process. The outlook for the 1990s is negative for many women, yet positive for a few if trends continue in their present direction.
Occupational Desegregation in the 1970s: Integration and Economic Equity?
Authors: Roos Patricia A. , Reskin Barbara F.
Published: September 2012

During the 1970s, women made dramatic inroads into a select number of traditionally male occupations. Although media pundits touted women's gains as dramatic, there is reason to suspect whether these inroads actually represent progress for women. Using a queuing perspective, we examine whether women's gains represent genuine integration, ghettoization, or resegregation, and whether women gained economically from occupational feminization. Case studies of fourteen occupations that became feminized during the 1970s reveal that women's occupational and economic progress relative to men was disappointing. While women did make inroads into traditionally male occupations, they gained access to them because the occupations had lost much of their attractiveness to men and were becoming less advantageous for women as well. The desegregation of census occupational titles masked substantial internal segregation. In those occupations in which the wage gap did decline, it did so more because of declines in men's real earnings than because of increases in women's.
Organizations, Labor Markets, and Gender Integration in Academic Sociology
Authors: Kulis Stephen S. , Miller-Loessi Karen
Published: September 2012

This paper examines several facets of gender integration within academic sociology: total segregation, as in all-male faculties; appointments of women in token or solo positions; variations in the departmental faculty sex ratio; and the “ghettoization” of women in lower academic ranks and positions with heavy committee assignments. These outcomes are analyzed at the organizational level as the product of the operation of internal and external labor markets in academia. Drawing on a representative 1984 national survey of sociology departments (N = 230), multivariate analyses indicate that a large proportion of the variation in gender integration from one department to the next can be predicted from the organizational context. Several organizational factors appear to militate against total segregation (all-male faculties) while promoting balance in the faculty sex ratio and in the distribution of academic rank. These include demand for labor in the form of job opportunities, especially those created through turnover; women in the institutional power structure, including a separate women's studies program; and a state legislative climate favoring women's legal and political rights.
Affirmative Action: A Case Study of an Organizational Effort
Authors: Espinosa Dula J.
Published: September 2012

This article tests affirmative action effectiveness with organizational compliance to affirmative action regulations. Effectiveness is tested with data from a case study that in many ways represents a “best case” scenario. Goals are compared with outcomes using affirmative action progress reports and the employee database that was used to compile the reports. Although few of the goals were met by the end of the set timetable, exaggeration of progress was found and was found to occur most when actual progress was weakest. The implications of “status inflation” are then discussed in light of research linking mobility to organizational manipulation of work arrangements.
International Economic Dependence and Human Misery, 1938–1980: A Global Perspective
Authors: Ragin Charles C. , Bradshaw York W.
Published: September 2012

Previous quantitative cross-national studies of international inequality have skirted several basic questions raised by dependency and world-system theories. These shortcomings stem from data limitations and from difficult problems in design and conceptualization. This paper attempts to overcome some of these problems by: (1) complementing the study of economic development with analyses of cross-national variation in physical quality of life; (2) using data at five points in time (1938, 1950, 1960, 1970, and 1980) and reporting the results of a variety of panel models with different time lags; and (3) implementing a multiple indicator approach to the measurement of economic development, dependency, and physical quality of life. Overall, the analyses show that dependency has a more harmful effect on physical quality of life than on economic development. This holds for a variety of panels and sample definitions. The analysis shows, further, that these effects become stronger with a greater time lag, supporting the long-term historical view of dependency and world-system theories.
Enterprises and B Phases: The Overseas Expansion of U.S. Auto Companies in the 1920s and Japanese Auto Companies in the 1980s
Authors: Dassbach Carl H.A.
Published: September 2012

This article addresses a neglected aspect of long wave theory—the increase in certain types of investments during a B phase. Drawing on Arrighi's conceptualization of long waves, a theoretical explanation is developed for increased investments, especially foreign investments, during a B phase. Two examples of foreign investment during a B phase are then examined: American automobile companies in Europe during the 1920s and Japanese automobile companies in the United States during the 1980s. It is demonstrated that there are several parallels between the two which can be explained by the theoretical model developed in the first section. Finally, it is argued that the parallels between the foreign activities of American automobile companies in the 1920s and the foreign activities of Japanese automobile companies in the 1980s will continue and the fate of Japanese companies in the United States during the 1990s will be similar to the fate of American companies in Europe during the 1930s.
Gambling on Real Estate: Limited Rationality in the Global Economy
Authors: Logan John R.
Published: September 2012

Urbanization is taking on a more global character, with increasing scale of development organizations and new linkages between developers and financial institutions. These changes bring into question the way sociologists think about urbanization processes. This paper argues that the reshaping of real estate markets under the influence of global restructuring is not a one-way process, nor is it necessarily rational or functional. One should be skeptical of theoretical approaches from either an ecological or Marxist perspective that attribute autonomous causal power to “globalization” or “economic restructuring.” Deal-making, politics, mistakes, and miscalculations are as essential to the interorganizational network at the global level as at the local level. The challenge for urban theory is not to shift from local to global explanations, but rather to examine how processes at both levels intersect and collide with one another.
Industrial Structure and Party Competition in the New Deal: A Reply to Webber
Authors: Ferguson Thomas
Published: September 2012

This paper is a response to Webber's (1991) critique of Thomas Ferguson's (1983, 1984, 1986) essays on the New Deal and his “investment theory” of political parties. It argues that Webber's evidence is invalid and that his statistical design is conceptually flawed. The sample is defective: it includes many people it should not and it excludes others who should have been reckoned in, notably many Texas oilmen. His procedure for ascertaining corporate partisanship is inadequate, since, among other problems, it excludes large payments made to the 1936 Democratic campaign by firms such as Standard Oil of New Jersey and General Electric. The campaign finance data he relies upon are also far less complete than he implies.

An entirely new data analysis is presented, incorporating not only Webber's data, but much new material from archives. The results confirm Ferguson's central thesis about the 1936 election: contributions to the Democrats in 1936 do indeed come from firms that are more internationally-oriented and capital-intensive than those contributing to the Republicans.
Power and Work: The Development of Work as a Civilizing Process in Examples of Fictional Literature
Authors: Kuzmics Helmut
Published: September 2012

In the most highly developed industrial societies of today, the meaning of work and of social power-structures in work has become rather difficult to grasp. The less visible the constraints of work are, the less real they seem to become in the perception of many professional observers who see a decline of the Protestant work ethic (Bell; Lasch) or the rise of the “postworking” society (Gorz; Offe). The article gives emotions a central place in the description of work, using fiction as its prime source. Rural work in a partly pre-market society (an Austrian alpine village) is compared with office work in a service bureaucracy and with the professional work of college teaching. The development of work is analyzed in terms of a civilizing process (Elias) and an analogy is drawn with the transformation of warriors into courtiers in early modern France. The alien constraints imposed by people and a hostile nature turn into a net of milder but nonetheless “real” self-restraints.
Arts and Craft: Implementing an Arts-Based Development Strategy in a “Controlled Growth” County
Authors: Gendron Richard
Published: September 2012

This study examines the partnership between local growth machines and the arts. Specifically, it focuses on the nine-year struggle over the construction of a performing arts/hotel resort complex on a large tract of central California coastal property. Through interviews with key persons connected with the project, and through analyses of campaign literature and other archival sources, this case study attempts to provide empirical evidence for the thesis that construction of arts facilities in commercial real estate projects is used to blunt opposition to development. Implications of the findings are discussed in light of recent work on the arts/growth machine alliance, neighborhood mobilization against development, and the symbolic politics of land-use disputes.
Game-Theory Models for Exchange Networks: Experimental Results
Authors: Bienenstock Elisa Jayne , Bonacich Phillip
Published: September 2012

The goal of current exchange-network literature is to develop algorithms, loosely based on rational choice, that predict how resources are distributed through exchange networks and which positions have power to accumulate resources. These objectives closely resemble those of N-person cooperative games with transferable utility, which are based on formal explicit models of rational choice. Experimentally, power is exhibited when a position can amass a favorable proportion of available resources by negotiating a division with another network member. Game-theory solution concepts that address the question of power in networks are introduced and compared to network-exchange models to evaluate the effectiveness of the game-theory solutions and those of exchange theory in predicting results observed in experiments. Experimental data show that there is a utility in incorporating game theory into the discussion of exchange in negatively connected networks. Furthermore, the use of game theory leads to a more comprehensive understanding of many processes to which exchange theory is insensitive.
The Effect of Modernization on Suicide in Finland: 1800–1984
Authors: Stack Steven
Published: September 2012

Durkheim's theory of suicide stressed the historical processes of modernization in explaining the rise in suicide. Tests of Durkheim's theory have, however, been largely ahistorical. The present study fills this void with a time-series analysis of Finnish historical suicide data. A Cochrane-Orcutt analysis finds that a one percent increase in urbanization is associated with a.19 percent increase in suicide. The results are independent of control variables from alternate perspectives on suicide. Some evidence is found to support Halbwach's “Law of Convergence.” Whereas a one percent increase in modernization increases suicide by .22 percent in the 19th century, this figure drops to .12 percent in the 20th century.
Shame and Expressed Emotion: A Case Study
Authors: Ryan Michael Timothy
Published: September 2012

This article interprets excerpts from a dialogue between an ex-patient and his wife to develop a theory of “expressed emotion” (EE). EE has been shown to be predictive of relapse among schizophrenic and depressed psychiatric patients. I propose a model of emotions occurring both within and between family members to explain the relationship between EE and rate of relapse. EE is hypothesized to correspond with the shame/anger dynamics of a patient's family interaction. Microlevel analysis of a tape-recorded conversation between a patient and spouse rated for EE is used to identify cues for emotion in the couple's interaction. My analysis suggests that high ratings of EE correspond to high levels of unacknowledged shame and anger in patients' families. When shame is evoked and not acknowledged or dispelled, affectional bonds are threatened and symptoms are likely to recur.
Explaining Feminization in the U.S. Banking Industry, 1940–1980: Human Capital, Dual Labor Markets or Gender Queuing?
Authors: Rich Brian L.
Published: September 2012

This case study of the banking industry, 1940–1980, examines three competing theories of increases in women's labor force participation. Combining census and industry regulatory data, three models of the feminization process are compared: human capital, dual labor market, and gender queuing. The gender queuing model best explains empirical variation in industry-level feminization. Clerical intensity (the proportion of clerical jobs to all jobs in the industry), especially, makes the substitution of female labor a cost-cutting alternative. Theories of feminization must incorporate spatial and temporal variation in the causal strength of relevant social forces. Gender queuing theory is best equipped to do this, as it allows for better historical interpretation of how varied social forces, both economic and patriarchal, impinge on class and gendered actors. Gender queuing theory subsumes determinants of feminization found in other theories while rejecting both their untenable assumptions and their interpretations of how labor markets actually function.
The Peripheralization of Rural America: A Case Study of Latino Migrants in America's Heartland
Authors: Cantú Lionel
Published: September 2012

Archival and ethnographic data are used to examine the recent influx of Mexican and Chicano laborers to a rural community in southern Iowa. The author argues that the changing role and presence of Latino labor in the Midwest is an effect of global economic restructuring, which has consequences at the local level, manifested in part by contested ideas of community and citizenship. It is contended that the state plays an integral role in the world system by fostering the reproduction and maintenance of “core-periphery” distinctions as marginalized social relations.
Religious Homogamy and Voluntary Childlessness in Canada
Authors: Krishnan Vijaya
Published: September 2012

Given the greater propensity of married women to choose a childless lifestyle in recent decades, it is important to understand what contributes to or deters this decision. This paper focuses on religious homogamy as a possible predictor. Data from the Canadian Fertility Survey (CFS) are used to examine the relationship between religious homogamy and voluntary childlessness in the context of several sociodemographic and economic controls. The results indicate that non-Catholic wives in homogamous marriages who attend church services frequently are less motivated to control fertility, regardless of their sociodemographic background. It may be argued that, unless more attention is devoted in the literature to various dimensions of religion, little consensus on the effect of religious factors on childlessness can be expected.
Black/Immigrant Competition Re-Assessed: New Evidence from Los Angeles
Authors: Waldinger Roger
Published: September 2012

This paper reports on a survey of employers to assess the impact of immigration and employer practices on black employment chances in Los Angeles. We observe a process of cumulative causation in which a set of mutually reinforcing changes raise barriers to the hiring of blacks. Network hiring seems to have a dual function, bringing immigrant communities into the workplace, while at the same time detaching vacancies from the open market, thus diminishing opportunities for blacks. Employers also perceive immigrants as far more desirable employees than blacks, in part, because they expect that immigrants will be the more productive workers, in part, because they also see immigrants as more tractable labor. Any managerial propensity to favor immigrants is likely to be reinforced by the attitudes of the predominantly Latino workforce, as inserting a black worker in a predominantly Latino crew is not a technique for increasing productivity, given the hostility between the two groups. And African-Americans seem to play their own role in this process, apparently opting out of the low-level labor market in response to rising expectations, on the one hand, and the anticipation of employment difficulties on the other.
Must Sociological Theory and Sociological Practice be so Far Apart?: A Polemical Answer
Authors: Turner Jonathan H.
Published: September 2012

It is argued that sociological theory and its applications to real world problems should constitute the core of the discipline. Yet, the notion of “socioligical practice” is abandoned in favor of a more rigorous application of sociological theory and research to engineering applications. Sociology should redefine and reorient its practive to create an engineering dicipline where abstract theoretical principles are boiled down to rules of thumb and used to build or tear down social structures. By adopting an engineering orientation, sociological thoery and research will be more focused and useful.
Changing Marital and Family Patterns: A Test of the Post-Modern Perspective
Authors: Jacques Jeffrey M.
Published: September 2012

Four central constructs of the post-modern perspective are extended and tested using secondary analysis of Census data and the NORC General Social Survey: 1972–94 data sets. The modified postmodern themes of: (1) the decline of a single universal family organizational standard, and (2) growing cultural diversity, which is seen as legitimate—diversity which is increasingly based upon affectivity and achievement emanating from an emphases on relationship cooperation, friendship, individual choice and expressive communications, were supported by examining changes in American family structure, attitudes toward such structural changes, and changing attitudes toward marital and family patterns over the last quarter century. However, little support was found for the greater use of, and reliance on, (3) the mass media. Mixed results were found on the fourth construct, greater variance in, and/or loss of, personal happiness or personal or family life satisfaction. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed. Given the growing importance and acceptance of organizational and cultural diversity, future studies of family structure and processes may profit from more narrowly defined localized and pragmatic parameters of finely delimited social aggregates. Such studies are more consistent with the realities of contemporary American social organization and cultural values of family life, the behaviors and attitudes of Americans, and the modified post-modern perspective.
The Pursuit of Human Nature in Sociobiology and Evolutionary Sociology
Authors: Maryanski Alexandra
Published: September 2012

Outside of sociology, evolutionary theory is once again commanding widespread attention in social science. Having sat out the spirited debates over sociobiology in the 1970s, most sociologists are largely unaware that the field has prospered and is now a respected, interdisciplinary science with a growing number of influential scholars within the social sciences. This article takes a critical look at sociobiology with a consideration of both its historical origins and its now modified theoretical stance, which is exemplified by Timothy Crippen's article “Toward a Neo-Darwinian Sociology.” In addition, this essay summarizes an alternative approach that might be called “evolutionary sociology.” While it also incorporates the Modern Synthesis, it uses established sociological methods and theory, along with primate data and the fossil and archaeological records, to consider the biological legacy of humankind.
Sociobiology and the Wayward Critic
Authors: Carey Arlen D. , Lopreato Joseph
Published: September 2012

The article begins by underscoring the widely noted “sociological crisis” and the message from the history of science that the crisis may be susceptible to resolution through an application of a general law pertaining to a neighboring science (sociobiology in our case). From here, the article proceeds to pinpoint the basic argument of Professor Crippen's article (this issue) and then critically examines the two articles that critically accompany it. We find some errors of interpretation in Professor Maryanski's article, but on the whole it is a constructive critique of Crippen's essay and a related invitation to a biologically informed evolutionary sociology. By contrast, Professor Freese's interminable article fails to confront Crippen's argument and in the process offers a tortuous, tendentious itinerary of politically correct interpretations of scientific inquiry in general and sociobiological science in particular.
Living Alone during Middle Adulthood
Authors: Glick Paul C.
Published: September 2012

During the last half-century, the number of one-person households has consistently increased faster than other households. An overlooked part of this process has been the adults who live alone while they are between 25 and 54 years of age. Through recent decades, the growth in the number of these households has been affected by the longer delay before marriage, increase in divorce, and a decline in traditional family values. A majority of these lone adults have never married, have had college education, have had no children, have been dating have good or excellent health, and are working for pay. Whether living alone during middle adulthood is, on balance, beneficial to the person, to the person's significant others, or to society in general depends on the circumstances.
Developing Cumulative and Practical Knowledge through Metatheorizing
Authors: Turner Jonathan H.
Published: September 2012

A particular strategy for metatheorizing is proposed. This strategy is designed to produce better theory and is to be distinguished from alternative types of metatheorizing that do not generate testable propositions. This strategy involves extracting the key processes, and their relations, from existing theories in order to create analytical models that express the dynamic processes contained in each theory. Then, these models are reconciled and used to produce abstract principles which, it is argued, can produce testable hypotheses guiding empirical research. This strategy is illustrated by an analysis of three theories of geopolitics.
Metatheorizing in a Postpositivist Frame
Authors: Colomy Paul
Published: September 2012

This paper situates metatheorizing in a postpositivist approach to social science. Postpositivism contends that social science is organized around competing traditions, which are comprised of generalized discourse and research programs. Following an examination of the relations between discourse and programs, the dynamics fueling social scientific competition are outlined. Because that competition is subject to recurrent distortions and therefore cannot insure that the best arguments win, it is proposed that metatheorizing assume an adjudicative posture and evaluate the conflicting claims of rival schools. This suggestion is elaborated in the context of Ritzer's pioneering work on metatheorizing.
The Changing Nature of Neo-Marxist Theory: A Metatheoretical Analysis
Authors: Ritzer George , Schubert J. Daniel
Published: September 2012

This paper analyzes recent developments in neo-Marxist theory from a metatheoretical viewpoint. Specifically, the focal concern is with post-Marxism, including analytic, empirically oriented, and postmodern Marxism. The goal is to gain a better understanding of post-Marxism by utilizing the four dimensions (internal-social, internal-intellectual, external-intellectual, external-social) of the subtype of metatheorizing oriented toward such a greater understanding. Three conclusions are derived from this analysis. First, the classic schools of neo-Marxist theory are declining in significance. Second, Marx's own ideas are also of decreasing importance. Third, the post-Marxists are drawing increasingly less on Marx's ideas and neo-Marxist theories and more on other intellectual traditions. This is seen as a healthy set of developments and as part of the larger movement towards greater theoretical synthesis. The paper closes with a discussion of alternative perspectives on the development of post-Marxism.
Actors' Responses to Outcomes in Exchange Networks: The Process of Power Development
Authors: Skvoretz John , Zhang Pidi
Published: September 2012

Leading theories of power in exchange networks make assumptions about actors' reactions to being included in or excluded from exchanges. These assumptions, that actors consistently included increase their demands on others and that actors consistently excluded decrease their demands, provide the behavioral mechanism by which structural differences in position convert into power advantages or disadvantages. We test these assumptions with data gathered by experiment from five different networks. We find that while actors generally respond as assumed, the parameters of response to inclusion and to exclusion are not symmetric, depend on the level of experience of the subjects, and interact both with type of network (strong power versus weak power) and with network position.
Attitudes toward Cohabitation, Family, and Gender Roles: Relationships to Values and Political Ideology
Authors: Lye Diane N. , Waldron Ingrid
Published: September 2012

This study investigates four hypotheses concerning relationships between values or beliefs and attitudes toward cohabitation, family and gender roles. These are the Social Concerns Hypothesis, the Political Ideology Hypothesis, the Higher Order Needs Hypothesis, and the Consumerism Hypothesis. Each hypothesis has been tested, using data from several nationally representative subsamples of white high school seniors. As predicted by the Social Concerns Hypothesis, students with more social concerns had more favorable attitudes toward gender equality and nontraditional gender roles, particularly among males. This finding suggests that, for males, concern for fairness and the well-being of others may be an important motive for support for gender equality and acceptance of nontraditional gender roles. As predicted by the Political Ideology Hypothesis, conservative political beliefs were associated with traditional attitudes toward cohabitation, family, and gender roles. In contrast, our findings provide only weak support for the Higher Order Needs Hypothesis, and our findings suggest that the Consumerism Hypothesis should be reformulated.
Sibship Size and Educational Attainment in Peninsular Malaysia: Do Policies Matter?
Authors: Pong Suet-Ling
Published: September 2012

The Second Malaysian Family Life Survey is used to explore one of the most important components of interfamily inequality of school attainment: Sibship size. The survey data document the differences in the effects of sibship size on children's secondary school attainment among Malaysia's three ethnic communities. They also show the response of the sibship size effect to public policies targeting the ethnic Malay population. Three broad questions can be addressed using the available data: First, how important is sibship size as a determinant of educational attainment, ceteris paribus, within the Malay and nonMalay populations? Second, how have the effects of sibship size changed over time? Third, are there ethnic differences in any such changes, differences that could be interpreted in light of the government's regulation of school supply and employment opportunities for each group? Addressing these questions in the case of Malaysia illuminates the extent to which public policy more generally can alter the effect of sibship size on educational attainment. The findings indicate that restrictions on family size by each of Malaysia's ethnic groups were a rational attempt by parents to compensate for constraints on their ability to invest in their children's education.
Training Functions of Ethnic Economies: Mexican Entrepreneurs in Chicago
Authors: Raijman Rebeca , Tienda Marta
Published: September 2012

This article evaluates the frequent claim that ethnic economies operate as a training sector for future entrepreneurs. Results from a representative community survey of Mexican business owners in Chicago show that previous employment in a coethnic firm increases the likelihood of acquiring skills relevant for running a business. Mexican business owners who previously worked in a coethnic firm were exposed to training opportunities that differ from the experiences of their ethnic counterparts who did not. However, Mexican immigrants' chances of entering the world of business through employment in a coethnic firm are low, as less than half ever worked for a coethnic boss before opening their current business. Thus the proliferation of Mexican-owned and Mexican-operated businesses may remain relatively low until the small base of Mexican businesses expands.
Looking Backward, Moving Forward: Expanding Sociological Horizons in the Twenty-First Century: 2000 Presidential Address to the Pacific Sociological Association
Authors: Charmaz Kathy
Published: September 2012

Two research stories provide a means of looking backward at our discipline over the twentieth century and of thinking about moving forward in the twenty-first. These stories recount individuals' quest for control when their moral status is threatened. Both research stories and sociological stories render reality, subscribe to rules for such renderings, contain an inner logic, and make moral claims for credibility. When looking backward at the discipline, sociologists need to build on the classical theorists, not dismiss them. At the millennium sociological theory and methods are contested; and challenges to foundational assumptions that gained momentum in the late 1960s have recently been raised anew. Moving forward in the twenty-first century means recommitting ourselves to empirical inquiry and basing our moral claims on it. I call for acknowledging the diversity of sociological approaches, agreeing on strong standards for each approach, and recognizing and examining our disciplinary moral claims.
The Globalization of the Gay & Lesbian Socio-Political Movement: Some Observations about Europe with a Focus on Italy
Authors: Nardi Peter M.
Published: September 2012

The emergence of new social movements focused on gay and lesbian issues during the past 25 years has been well documented in American society. The diffusion of a gay and lesbian socio-political movement in other Western cultures and many developing societies has been the subject of more recent inquiries. This article assesses the globalization of the international gay and lesbian social movement by focusing on Europe and Italy, in particular, and raises questions about the socio-political conditions that might be necessary for the development of a new social movement—one based on sexual orientation identity concepts rather than one based on age-structured or gender-structured relationships. Historical information about social and legal changes in Italy and in the rest of Europe is presented along with current issues facing the increasingly visible gay movement in Italy. What emerges is a portrait of a culture changing and questioning its relationship to traditional patriarchal, religious, and gender concepts while becoming interconnected with global gay and lesbian communities and issues.
How Physicians View Caregivers: Simmel in the Examination Room
Authors: Barone Armand D. , Yoels William C. , Clair Jeffrey M.
Published: September 2012

The presence of caregivers in medical encounters changes the doctor-patient relationship. Although there is extensive literature on how caregivers affect medical encounters, there is little research on how physicians view such caregivers. We explore that issue by conducting structured, in-depth interviews with eighteen pediatricians and eighteen geriatricians. The interviews were recorded and transcribed, content analysis was performed, and conceptual codes were developed based on material in the interviews. Findings support Simmel's theory about the changes occurring when dyads become triads. Adding caregivers to medical encounters leads to a loss of intimacy between patients and physicians, decreased patient participation, and the formation of coalitions between physicians and caregivers. We conclude by urging medical schools to sensitize physicians to how caregivers affect medical encounters.
The Myth of the Migrant Homeless: An Exploration of the Psychosocial Consequences of Migration
Authors: Lindquist Christine H. , Lagory Mark , Ritchey Ferris J.
Published: September 2012

While migration status is frequently used to differentiate homeless subgroups, little empirical work has explored sociological distinctions between migrant and nonmigrant homeless. This article attempts to fill the gap in the literature by comprehensively examining differences in the two groups in terms of demographic characteristics, psychological and social resources, life stressors and circumstances, and psychological well-being. We use a random probability sample of 63 migrant and 98 nonmigrant homeless, distinguished by length of residence in the study city (Birmingham, Alabama). The analysis indicated that migrant and nonmigrant homeless persons share similar demographic characteristics, stressors, and levels of psychosocial resources. Multiple regression analyses revealed that although the two groups display similar levels of depressive symptomatology, the factors influencing depression appear to operate differently among migrants and nonmigrants. Although psychosocial resources are associated with lower depression for both groups, there is a significant interaction effect between migration status and mastery, with mastery being a more salient resource for the mental health of migrants. The implications of these findings for homeless service provision are discussed.
The Utility of a Strategic Postmodernism
Authors: Lee Janet
Published: September 2012

Although the postmodern turn has profound implications for the social sciences, its reception in sociology has been mixed. In this article I briefly review these encounters and suggest an embrace of a “strategic postmodernism.” Such an approach explicitly integrates both the institutional basis of discursive understandings of the self and the empirical project of knowledge construction within the context of change and transformation.
Contextual Effects of Perinatal Substance Exposure among Black and White Women in California
Authors: Finch Brian Karl , Kolody Bohdan , Vega William A.
Published: September 2012

This secondary analysis assessed the impact of neighborhood characteristics on individual substance exposures among pregnant women in California. Zip code-level census data were attached to data from the 1992 California Perinatal Substance Exposure Study to serve as a proxy for neighborhood characteristics. The central hypothesis of this study suggests that there are differences in substance exposure rates among women living in neighborhoods with differing socioeconomic statuses. The second hypothesis for this study suggests that there are no differences among black and white prevalence rates after controlling for neighborhood characteristics. Logistic regression analyses indicated that the proportion of a neighborhood receiving public assistance was a significant predictor for use of amphetamines, opiates, marijuana, tobacco, and any illegal drug but not alcohol or cocaine. Results also indicated that blacks had higher predicted prevalence risks for alcohol and cocaine while whites had higher predicted risks for tobacco, marijuana, and amphetamines.
Interest-Network Structures in Exchange Networks
Authors: Whitmeyer Joseph M.
Published: September 2012

Studies of power in exchange networks have concentrated overwhelmingly on how the power distribution in the network is affected by the network structure. In this article I look at how one type of interest-network structure—the distribution of interest coincidence among network members—affects the power distribution in exchange networks. All exclusionary networks—networks in which power differences stem from differential ability to exclude exchange partners from exchange—have assumed an interest-network structure of homogeneous interests among network members. All connected actors have opposing interests within exchange; when one partner does better the other does worse. Here I allow connected pairs of actors to vary in the degree to which their interests are opposing or coincident. This creates the possibility of a wide variety of structures of interest coincidence in exchange networks. Using two different methods—an analytic method derived from power-dependence principles and a modification of a widely used computer program simulating exchange in networks—I show that, given the assumptions embodied in those methods, the interest-network structure of interest coincidence can have substantial effects on the power rankings of network members.
Introduction: The Academy under Siege
Authors: Hohm Charles F. , Wood James L.
Published: September 2012

The first eight articles in this Special Issue on “The Academy Under Siege” deal with tenure-related issues. The ninth and tenth articles deal with problems related to distance learning. The last two articles offer some practical suggestions on how the above problems can be addressed.
Reflections on Tenure
Authors: Perley James E.
Published: September 2012

During my four years of service as President of the AAUP, higher education has been under increasing critical scrutiny and these examinations of the academy have led to a variety of suggestions for change. Some of the suggested changes would alter such essential aspects of academic life as tenure and collegial governance. An analysis of these suggestions indicates that there may be other motives for making the suggested changes other than those that are obvious. They may reflect a desire to save money and to shift the delicate balanced partnership that has characterized higher education.
There's Far More Than Tenure on the Butcher Block: A Larger Context for the Recent Crisis at the University of Minnesota
Authors: Leik Robert K.
Published: September 2012

Threats to tenure are not isolated challenges, but result from broad systematic change that have extensive implications for academe. Social system factors such as changed public attitudes, increased competition for public funds and increased competition for students are generating budget reductions which in turn affect views about how universities should be managed. Increasingly, higher education is seen as a business, and academic programs are evaluated in ‘bottom-line’ budgetary terms. These trends, in turn, may have many important consequences for the academic world, from grade inflation to reduced academic freedom. Examining such forces and trends should help place the tenure debate in a larger context so as to better understand why it is occurring and what might be needed to protect tenure.
The Interpretive Repertoires of Whites on Race-Targeted Policies: Claims Making of Reverse Discrimination
Authors: Fraser James , Kick Edward
Published: September 2012

Drawing on the accounts of white men and women, we examine the role that discourse plays in the formation and reinforcement of ideals that perpetuate social disadvantaging. In addition, using discourse analysis we examine the redefinition of race-targeting policies from being a social remedy into being a current social problem. We collected interview and questionnaire data from a sample of 310 students and faculty at a predominantly white university, regarding their attitude toward race- and income-targeted social policies in the United States. We find that the majority of respondents who oppose race-targeting policies (1) frame racial discrimination as a problem of the past; (2) define race-targeting as a subversion of meritocracy; and therefore, (3) devalue programs that seek to provide differential opportunity to those groups that have been structurally disadvantaged in American society. We conclude that the “American stratification ethos” can be employed for disadvantaging purposes.
Fictive Kin as Social Capital in New Immigrant Communities
Authors: Ebaugh Helen Rose , Curry Mary
Published: September 2012

Fictive kin, defined as family-type relationships, based not on blood or marriage but rather on religious rituals or close friendship ties, constitutes a type of social capital that many immigrant groups bring with them and that facilitates their incorporation into the host society. We describe three types of fictive kin systems in different immigrant populations and argue that their functions are similar across various ethnic groups and types of fictive kin relationships. Fictive kin systems expand the network of individuals who provide social and economic capital for one another and thereby constitute a resource to immigrants as they confront problems of settlement and incorporation. While anthropologists have long noted systems of fictive kin in premodern and modernizing societies, sociologists have paid little attention to fictive kin networks. We argue, however, that systems of fictive kin constitute an important part of the social networks that draw immigrants to a particular locale and provide them with the material and social support that enables them to become incorporated into a new and often hostile society. Data are derived from interviews with informants from various immigrant groups in Houston, Texas, and from a Yoruba community in Brooklyn, New York.