bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Comparative Study of Child Support in Fifteen Countries
Authors: Bradshaw Jonathon , Ditch John , Holmes Hilary , Vilhiteford Peter
Published: March 2007

This article reports on a study of the child support package in all countries of the Euro pean Community, Australia, Norway and the United States of America. The package is defined as consisting of all social security ben efits, child support (maintenance) arrange ments where they are guaranteed, benefits for lone parents and equivalent help kind such as Food Stamps; it also includes fiscal arrange ments and benefits that mitigate the impact of housing costs or reduce the costs of health care, schooling and pre-school child care.
Pitfalls and Dilemmas in Labour Market Policies for Disadvantaged Groups - and How To Avoid Them
Authors: Nicaise Ides , Bollens Joost , Dawes Len , Laghaei Shahm , Thaulow Ivan , Verdié Mmelle , Wagner Alain
Published: March 2007

This article summarizes the findings of an explorative research project commissioned by the European Commission's Third Poverty Programme, on inefficiencies and undesired side-effects of targeted labour market policies. These 'pitfalls and dilemmas' are discussed in relation to three types of socioeconomic effects that are expected from these polices:
Mainstream Pattern, Deviant Cases: the New Zealand and Danish Pension Systems in an International Context
Authors: Overbye Einar
Published: March 2007

In the late 19th and early 20th century, indus trialized countries introduced a variety of pen sion schemes to sustain elderly people. These initial schemes may broadly be classified as 'contributory' or 'assistance-based'. However, over time, there has been a convergence to wards dual mandatory systems where the ma jority receive contribution- based pensions, while the poor depend on tax-financed in come-tested assistance schemes. Within this general convergence, however, New Zealand, and to a lesser extent Denmark, represent de viant cases. This article seeks to explain both the common pattern and the deviant cases, and asks whether this difference is likely to persist.
Labour Market Transitions and Social Exclusion
Authors: Heady Christopher
Published: March 2007

This article considers the dynamic effects that the labour market has on poverty and social exclusion.1 It shows how the analysis of labour markets can help our understanding of social exclusion and reviews some of the evi dence from Europe and the United States. The evidence is that there is consaderable move ment into and out of poverty. However, there is a significant group who stay in poverty for a number of years and a group that experience repeated poverty spells. The data also show that labour market transitions are an import ant cause of movements into and out of pov erty, although demographic factors are about equally important.

There are tnterestang similarities between the pattern of movements into and out of un employment and those for poverty: many people leave unemployment quickly, but there are also important groups who are unem ployed for several years or who become unem ployed repeatedly. It is not only easily observable personal characteristics that are relevant to determining an individual's em ployment patterns: repeated periods of unem ployment appear to result from 'unobserved heterogeneity', rather than any damaging ef fect from earlier unemployment spells. This finding raises the interesting possibility that the observed repeated spells of poverty are also due to unmeasured personal character istics.
Welfare State Regimes and Child Poverty in the Uk and Hungary
Authors: Jarvis Sarah , Redmond Gerry
Published: March 2007

Recent social policy reforms in Hungary have signalled a significant reduction in state sup port for working mothers, including the mtro duction of means-tested benefits for families with children. In this article we argue that this represents a move towards a welfare-state regime similar to that found in the UK, which, for families with children, encourages the 'Breadwinner' household where the father is the sole earner and the mother works in the home. Comparative analysis of the incidence of child poverty in the UK and Hungary in 1993, prior to the recent reforms, shows that children in Hungary were less likely to fall into poverty than their UK counterparts. We argue that this was a result of a combination of gen erous and universal state benefits for families with children, and high rates of labour market participation by mothers. We maintain that the reforms recently implemented in Hungary can be expected to lead to increases in child poverty, the incidence of which is partly deter mined by the degree of welfare state support for families with children and the extent of female participation m the labour market.
Comparing Welfare States: Social Protection and Industrial Politics in France and Britain, 1930-1960
Authors: Whiteside Noel , Salais Robert
Published: March 2007

In most comparative studies of welfare states, the remit of social legislation is taken as given. Little attention is paid to political convention which determines the scope and viability of specific types of state intervention. By focusing on the conventions which underpinned broader labour market policies, this article demonstrates how established parameters of state action defined contrasting spheres of social protection in these two countries in a period of welfare reform. In France, state regulation of the labour market emerged as the source of social protection and equity; in Britain, continuities rooted in a liberal pol itical economy meant that industrial relations and social welfare remained separate spheres. Using legislative provision (such as social insurance) as a basis for comparative studies distorts academic analysis because the contex tual significance of such provision varies - not only between countries, but also within dif ferent industrial and regional contexts as well as over time.
Central European Health Reform: the Case of Slovakia, 1990-97
Authors: Lawson Colin , Nemec Juraj
Published: March 2007

The focus of this article is changes in Slovak health-care policy 1990-7. To place these changes in a comparative perspective we also examine recent Czech, Polish and Hungarian experiences. In the Slovak case we show that although there has been official support for privatization, decentralization, mixed sources of provision, accountability and individual choice, in practice progress towards these goals has been very slow. This relative immo bility has been caused by public preferences; chronic political instability; the legacy of plan ning; a policy-making process dominated by a small number of politicians and a politicized bureaucracy. In addition we argue that the variety of health-care policies we observe in Central Europe reflects the general lack of a clear vision of social policy during transition. The article has six main sections. In the first we use public choice theory to explain why the results have occurred. In the second we sketch the health-care system under communism. There follows a description of policy changes since 1989. This topic is split into three parts. First the political background to change is de scribed, then the finance of health care is discussed, and finally issues of organization, control and delivery are raised. A concluding section has a summary and discussion of the arguments.
A Theology of Corporeality Embodied in the Butch Femme Bar Culture of the 1950s and 1960s
Authors: Cartier Marie
Published: March 2007

It is my intention in this brief study to extend the argument that Nestle begins with her seminal article,' Butch-Femme Relationships: Sexual Cour age in the 1950s', and that Henking and Comstock continue by including it in the critical anthology of writings on'being queer' and 'being religious', Qu(e)erying Religion. I want to do this by making 'an overt claim' that the butch-femme community of the 1950s (actually this community is active from the 40s through the early 60s) created its own spirituality—in the content of a corporeal theology between couples and individually, and that these couples/individuals were also part of this larger 'bar community' that created a space for the community to refine this theology in terms of self-defining community. I want to argue that this self-defined community served to function for its members in many of the same ways any religious community functions that is held together by a common faith and/ or theology.

...I praise those hands, with scars she's proud of, on gender fuck forearms. They steady my pulse, settle down, settle down, curve on my cheek in the dark like a prayer.

...Her hands say yield and make it sound safe. They enter me like something holy.

It takes time to interpret the tongue of her hands, the whispering of 'come here', or the bunch and knot of 'back off', as they churn cement, hoist bricks,

sludge mortar into cracks, knife off the excess, until she's built Jericho and I have no trumpet...

...I am in the sweet, inquisitive poultice of her hands, proudly helpless, wanted, given. She makes loaves and fishes of me.2
A Response to Amos Yong
Authors: Gelpi Donald
Published: March 2007

This response by Donald Gelpi appreciates the accuracy of the reviewer's suggestion that the author's experience of charismatic prayer has very much conditioned both the author's written theology and his way of doing theol ogy. More particularly he acknowledges how it has conditioned his under standing of the role of the charisms in the shared faith of the Church, the centrality of the charisms in the practice and theology of the sacraments, and the role of the Spirit in the Paschal Mystery and in revealing the divinity of Jesus. Gelpi proceeds to discuss his notion of 'Christological knowing' as the unique knowledge of Jesus resulting from practical assimi lation to Him in the power of the Spirit—an experience that lies at the heart of Gelpi's Christology and is seen to provide it with its proper object of reflection, as Yong has correctly observed. Gelpi offers affirmation and fur ther elaboration on Yong's recognition of the importance of the philosophy of Charles Sanders Peirce in his own theological work. He joins Yong in the hope that the theological directions he has pursued and proposed might provide an experiential context for dialogue among the world religions.
Hearing 3 John 2 in the Voices of History
Authors: Landrus Heather
Published: March 2007

The hermeneutical method of tracing the 'history of effects', pioneered by Ulrich Luz, has recently been appreciated by Pentecostal biblical scholars as holding much promise for moving beyond notions of 'flat text' to recog nize the word of God moving in and through life. As a case study in this method, this paper examines the interpretations of 3 Jn 2 as they surface in the works of Tertullian, Augustine, Bede, Le Maistre De Sacy, Ambrosius Catharinus, John Bird Sumner, Albert Barnes, Carrie Judd Montgomery, Oral Roberts, Kenneth Hagin, Raymond Brown, Frederick Price, and Paul Yonggi Cho. After discussing each interpretation in relation to the life of its interpreter, the results are assessed in relation to a Pentecostal approach to Scripture. The history of the effects of 3 Jn 2 will remind academicians and the community of faith alike that the Bible is truly a living revelation.Beloved, concerning all thingsI wish you to prosper and be in health,Even as your soul prospers (author's own translation of 3 Jn 2).
A Rebirth of Being 'Born Again': Theological, Sacramental and Pastoral Reflections From a Roman Catholic Perspective
Authors: Canales Arthur
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this article is to alleviate some of the misunderstanding about the phrase 'you must be born-again' found in the Nicodemus Narra tive in John 3.1-15. Particularly, the theological, sacramental, and pastoral aspects ofbeing 'bom-again' will be explored in a Catholic context. Finally, this article will properly situate becoming 'bom-again' as an experience within the process of Christian conversion with implications for Catholic renewal.If you're born once, then you die twice, but if you're born twice, you die once. Pentecostal Riddle
'And the Signs Are Following': Mark 16.9-20— a Journey Into Pentecostal Hermeneutics
Authors: Thomas John , Alexandert Kimberly
Published: March 2007

Though often observed that the Acts narrative is the defining paradigm for Pentecostal doctrine and practice, in point of fact Mk 16.9-20 functions as the 'litmus test' of the early Pentecostal Movement's fulfilling of the apos tolic mandates given by Jesus and carried out by the church. Despite the well-known text-critical problems surrounding the passage, the place of Mk 16.9-20 was unrivaled within the early Pentecostal literature in position and significance. Drawing on methodological approaches including textual criticism, literary analysis, canonical criticism and Wirkungsgeschichte, this study argues for the reappropriation of Mk 16.9-20 in Pentecostal theology and practice. The study begins by identifying the place of Mk 16.9-20 in early Pentecostal literature, surveys early Pentecostal responses to the textual problems, and compares these responses with others of the period. This is followed by a re-examination of Mk 16.9-20 in the manuscript tradition, a modest attempt to identify the origin of these non-Markan verses, and a discussion of their authority. The final major section of this article offers a variety of literary, theological and canonical observations on this 'Longer Ending'. The study concludes with an invitation to those within the Pentecostal tradition to reappropriate this most significant passage in the articulation of contemporary Pentecostal theologies.
Pentecostal Soteriology and Pneumatology
Authors: Studebaker Steven
Published: March 2007

A profound irony characterizes some examples of Pentecostal theology: the Spirit is made subordinate to Christology in an effort to emphasize the Spirit. Protestant scholasticism is the source of this problem. Historically, Pentecostal theologians adopted the soteriological paradigms of Protestant scholasticism to express their pneumatological concerns. The form of the subordination of the Spirit is the tendency to distinguish salvation into Christocentric and pneumatological categories. (Christ achieves redemp tion, and his work is the objective basis of justification. The Spirit applies the work of Christ, and this work of the Spirit is the subjective sanctifica tion of the believer.) The distinctive doctrine of Pentecostalism, the Baptism in the Spirit, accentuates the bifurcation of the work of Christ and the Spirit by implicitly making the primary work of the Spirit subsequent to and unnecessary for salvation. This essay first illustrates and criticizes the foundational role Protestant scholastic soteriological paradigms play in Pentecostal theology and, second, proposes a redemptive soteriology that synthesizes the work of Christ and the Spirit as a way to transcend the problematic irony of Pentecostal theology.
New Industrial Spaces and Industrial Districts in Norway
Authors: Isaksen Arne
Published: March 2007

The article discusses whether the two distinctive con cepts of new industrial spaces and industrial districts are useful in explaining specific parts of regional indus trial development since about 1970. First, the two concepts are clarified and delimited, both in relation to each other and to some other closely linked con cepts. Second, the usefulness of the concepts is dis cussed with respect to three case studies. The cases are well-known industrial agglomerations (in the Norwegian context), with fairly numerous firms in the three flexible production sectors mentioned by Storper and Scott (1989). The two concepts can throw light on important aspects of development in these three examples. However, other elements can also be included in an interpretation of the cases.
Theory and Empiricism in the Social Sciences Regarding Physical Culture
Authors: Krawczyk Zbigniew
Published: March 2007

Present-day methodological controversies in the Humanities arouse a very weak echo in the sphere or social research and physical culture. That is why this study deals with certain contemporary theoretical and methodological conceptions in the social sciences in order to look there for models to be followed in research.

From the above-mentioned experience the conclusion was drawn that it is necessary for further progress in social studies on physical culture to construct a general theory in this field, which is indispensable as a foundation for planning further empirical research, for description, analysis and interpretation of reality. The outlines of such a theory should, according to the author, contain the following ele ments: 1. a set of fundamental analytical categories, 2. a catalogue of the basic the uretical problems, 3. the structure of the fundamental statements related to reality, contained in the conception of ''physical culture", 4. the outlines of the interaction between general physical culture and the particular disciplines. 5. a set of methods of description, measurement and analysis of data.
Judo in the Light of Theory and Sociological Research
Authors: Goodger B.C. , Goodger J.M.
Published: March 2007

Since the Second World War, Judo has undergone a very rapid transformation from a small-scale, rather esoteric, Japanese ''martial art'' to a relatively large- scale, modern, international sport. This transformation has involved changes in the organisational scale, complexity and orientation, and in the nature of the le gitimation of authority, that have profoundly affected the symbolic systems, justi fying beliefs and supporting sentiments of the training cultures within which Judo is practised, and also the processes of cultural transmission.
Semiotic Signs in Sports Activity
Authors: Saraf M.J.
Published: March 2007

Sport as a form of social activity shapes specific semiotic systems, which ex press its aims and value. That is why an analysis of the problem of the place and role of sport in the culture of the contemporary society means learning to know about the semiotic aspects of sport relations.

One can set apart two levels of semiotic sport activity, depending on what functions the semiotic systems perform. The first level are semiotic signs, indispen sable for sport activity as such. They regulate the activity of the sport movement and express its goals. The second — are semiotic signs, arising due to the incorpora tion of sport in the general system of social relations and which properly define its real value status. The change of the status of sport as a value finds its expres sion also in the internal logic of its development.

An analysis of these levels helps to reveal the structure of sport relations, to define more distinctly its functional trends and to understand the hierarchy of values.

This helps to draw conclusions as to the manner in which the various aspects of sport and sport itself in general are reflected in social and individual conscious ness. A semiotic analysis makes it possible to reveal the mechanism of the taking shape of an orientation regarding the value system, which permits the definition of the principal and indispensable aspects of directing the development of physical culture and sport as essential components of the entire aspect. of culture.
About System Analysis of Sport
Authors: Ponomarev N.I.
Published: March 2007

The article examines as an object of research sport in the socialist countries: while utilizing the functional analysis, in a complex manner and also the theoretical anal ysis and generalizations. The author undertook the attempt of constructing a model of sport, conceiving modelling as a means of overcoming the complexity of systems. The work takes into account the basic premises of the theory of activity.

The following aspects of sport are being examined: creative, social, communica tive, psychological, value oriented and cognitive, as well as the sport aspect of game. Each of them expresses the total set of functions.

The creative aspect is connected with the following functions: preparatory, sani tative, educational and normative. The social aspect is constituted by the following functions: ideological, political, socializing, integrative organizational administrative, prestige and cultural functions. The communicative aspect consists in the following functions: interaction and exchange of experience. The creative aspect includes the individualizing, and heuristic functions. The game aspect which belongs to the most complex ones, is expressed in the following functions: competitive, the defensive-com pensatory, hedonistic, recreational and spectacular functions. The psychological aspect is represented by the following functions : will power preparation, distraction, intel lectualization, projecting and cathartic functions. The value-orientation aspect includes also estimation functions. The cognition aspect is reflected in the following functions: prognostics, propaganda, education and information functions. The enumerated func tions of sport are mobile and some to light in unity.

Per analogy with other social phenoinena, the article also deals with the funda mental, particular and special functions of sport.
The System of Rewards in Women's Professional Golf
Authors: Theberge Nancy
Published: March 2007

Data taken from a survey of players on the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour indicate that the reward system is varied. Most players cannot meet their playing and traveling expenses from tournament winnings alone. Supplementary sources of income are available, however, from sponsorships, endorsements and fees for teaching golf. Although the financial rewards from this work are limited for most, the players are generally satisfied with their careers. This is because other features of the reward system are also important. These additional features involve several forms of enjoyment and personal satisfaction that are derived from partici pation.
The Funny Side of Sport
Authors: Ciupak Zofia
Published: March 2007

In my paper I deal above all with a certain form of comicality, namely with sport humour. The humoristic, contemplative and philosophical attitude in regard to the absurdities created by modern sport asks for indulgence.

But satirical attitudes are not lacking and they happen to be ruthless and ridicule sport.

The comic side of sport is quite extensive and it results, from the communi cative aspect of sport and certain revaluations of culture being also the outcome of the popularization of sport.

In this study I base myself on the assumption that changes in the style of culture and changes of structures create a very favourable foundation for comicality.

Examples serve to illustrate the accepted assumption. These examples are of a varied nature and have a variety of sources, which I think is permitted in subject matter formulated in this way.
Social Factors Associated with Adoption of Running as a Sport Innovation
Authors: Lance Larry M. , Antshel Debbie
Published: March 2007

Research was conducted to determine the degree of the association between selected social factors of southeastern metropolitan American runners and their running adoption. Data were collected from 220 runners by means of self-adminis tered questionnaires. Concerning the degree of relationship, findings indicated that running adoption was significantly (p < .001) related to sex, with males char acterized by greater running adoption than females. While running adoption was significantly (p < .05) and positively related to occupational prestige, running adoption was not found to be significantly related to educational level.
Age and Sex Differences Among Adolescent Participants in Recreational Activities
Authors: Amuchie F.A.
Published: March 2007

The problem of this study is to determine if age and sex differences exist in the recreational patterns of adolescents. Specifically the study addresses itself to the following subproblems: 1. Is there a significant age difference in the choice of recreational activities among Nigerian adolescents? 2. Is there a significant sex difference in the choice of recreational activities among adolescents? 3. Are there age differences in the extent of participation in recreational activities among adollescents?

If for nothing else, this study is important to determine the recreational patterns of male and female adolscents in Nigeria in an attempt to decide whether they require diversified programmes due to intra group differences or whether they should be treated as a homogeneous group for recreational planning purposes.
Theoretical and Methodological Questions of the Development of Needs and Motives in Sports as a Presupposition for a Higher Level of Sporting Activity
Authors: Gras Fred
Published: March 2007

The development of needs and motives is characterized by the respective his torically determined social conditions and the depending living conditions of the society. To obtain a higher level of sporting activity (in quantity and quality) of different social groups means to master in an ever increasing degree the dialectic relations of social conditions and individual behaviour, of development and satis faction of needs. Thus, it is of importance to perceive the quality of the social conditions and the social behaviour in and towards sports expressed in diffferent ways, the underlying interests, needs and motives by means of adequate methods and procedures. The higher thoretical and methodological claim in the investi gation of needs and motives consists above all in finding the degree and the effect of those aspects of determination of sporting activity of the personality, resulting from his position in society, from his affiliation to a sociostructural unit like class, stratum or social group. Thus, the possibility increases to compy with the formation of a sports directed motivation and finally with the development and satisfaction of needs in the social field of sports in a differentiating way.

Taking into account this complicated process, more people can be encouraged to regular sporting activity according to their interest and inclination with a high efficiency in terms of their physical well-being, joy and recreation.

The paper deals with theoretical and methodological positions and discusses selected results of research.
Leadership and Interpersonal Relations: A Sociometric Study of the 1982 Canadian Mount Everest Expedition
Authors: Bratton Robert D. , March Bill , Baillie Rusty
Published: March 2007

This paper is a case study report on the 1982 Canadian Mount Everest Expe dition. The climbers were asked to evaluate each other on the basis of three statements reflecting (a) personal friendship, (b) mountaineering expertise, and (c) responsibility and reliability at pre, mid and post expedition dates. Following two tragic accidents six of the fifteen climbers left the expedition. There were significant differences in interpersonal evaluations between some members of the group who stayed and some members of the group who left. The group who left lowered their evaluations of the leader in particular. The leader's autocratic style was not perceived by some climbers to always be appropriate to the situation prior to the accidents. Once the group was reduced in size and personality conflicts between some who stayed and some who left were eliminated, along with several other situational factors, the leader's style changed and was seen as more appropriate to the situation and the life cycle of the group. Emotional reactions to the directives of the leader were seen as a major factor in evaluating his decisions.
The Phenomenon of Soviet Sport and Its New Developmental Stage
Authors: Wohl Andrzej
Published: March 2007

The comparative data given in this article testify clearly to the exceptionally many-sided development of physical culture in te USSR during the course of the past 15 years and also to the fact that this development was made possible by certain socio-structural conditions. These data show that the model of Soviet sport is clearing the way to pass over from sport of a mass character to its uni versal aspect, a model inseparably connected with the structure of socialism, with the planned aspect of the development of its economy and with its ideological guidelines. This is undoubtedly a humanistic model, in accordance with the au thentic and essential needs of people.
Relations between Taxonomic Structures Determined on the Indicators of Social Status and Taxonomic Structures Determined on the Measures of Motoric Abilities
Authors: Petrovic K. , Momirovic K. , Hosek A.
Published: March 2007

Taxonomic structures have been determined by an algorithm for the deter mination of polar taxons on the sample of 540 men, between 19 and 27 years of age, on the basis of 20 indicators of the attributed social status. On the same sample taxonomic structures on the basis of 110 composite measures of motoric abilities have been also determined by an analogous algorithm. The relations between these taxonomic structures have been analyzed by an algorithm for the estimation of canonical relations between latent structures..

Several significant correlations between taxonomic structures in social and motoric space were achieved and an important canonical correlation between taxonomic dimensions were obtained. It was possible to interpret them in accor dance with developmental thories of Hebb and Piaget.

Facilitatory effects of the favourable social surroundings are considerably stronger in taxonomic structures which are mostly defined by the motoric struc tures depending on efficiency of functioning of processors for serial and pa rallel processing of motoric information.

Accordingly, those sports in which success depends on coordination, explosive force and other more complex motoric abilities, are under a considerably stron ger influence of factors depending on the features of social surroundings. Socio logical investigations in sports and strategic concepts of direct policy in sports should, therefore, be to a greater extent based on these facts.
Role Conflict and the Elite Female Athlete: Empirical Findings and Conceptual Dilemmas
Authors: Allison Maria T. , Butler Beverly
Published: March 2007

Whereas gender-related literature portrays an image of psychological struggle, role conflict and identity crisis for the female athelete, empirical studies indicate that female athletes perceive and experience a relatively low level of conflict, regardless of their age, level of competitive experience and the sport in which they compete. This study further supports these findings. 44 female powerlifters competing at the 1981 National US championship were administered questionnaires including a role conflict instrument. Factor analysis identified the four factors of emotion, attraction, the sport-performance component and the significant other component and showed the multidimensionality of the construct of role conflict. Further differentiation of this concept is necessary.
Attitudes Toward Professional Foreign Players in Finnish Amateur Basketball
Authors: Olin Kalevi
Published: March 2007

The use of foreign professional players may influence the host country's sport culture. To determine the attitudes toward foreign professionals in various Finnish amateur basketball leagues, all clubs (n = 55) playing basketball in the three highest Finnish leagues were interviewed by mailed questionnaire. The results indicated that recruitment of foreign pros was held to effect negatively the team spirit and the play tactics, the economics of the club, the development of other sport branches in the club and the success of the national team. Positive effects were expected on the number of spectators, public relations of the club and the success of its team. For lower leagues foreign professionals were not recommended.
Who Rules Sport? Gender Divisions in the Power Structure of British Sports Organisations from 1960
Authors: White Anita , Brackenridge Celia
Published: March 2007

The increase in participation of women in sport has not been matched by a similar increase in the involvement of women as administrators and decision-makers. In all British sports organisations studied, women remained underrepresented at administrative, controlling and decision-making levels. Analysis of trends since 1960 revealed little change in the percentage of women occupying positions of power. Women's power has been effectively lessened since the 1960s with the move towards a more professionalised and bureaucratised state-controlled sports environment since there are few women among the new professionals. The trends are further discussed in the context of the changing place of women in British society.
Collective Representations and the Sacred in Sport
Authors: Goodger John M.
Published: March 2007

This paper explores in particular the source of the feelings expressed in sport contexts and the processes of their amplification. Sport activities acquire their significance as collective representations through which people represent to themselves in symbolic form the power of the social groups in which they live, their structures and their moral codes. In so doing, they help to create and sustain and, at the same time, become subject to the influence of the social arrangements to which such symbolic structures relate. The emotions engendered may be amplified through processes of ritual and taboo and the excitement generated by sport encounters, thus leading to an experience of sport as sacred and radically separate from the flow of profane or'normal' life.
A Study of Attitudes Toward Physical Activity Among Secondary School Students in Beijing, China
Authors: CHANGMING DUAN
Published: March 2007

This study investigated attitudes toward physical activity (ATPA) among male and female students in three types of secondary schools in Beijing, China. Physical activity was viewed as a nine-dimensional social phenomenon in this study. The data were obtained by administering a modified version of Kenyon's Attitude Toward Physical Activity Scale and a general information inventory to 390 students randomly selected from three schools: a general school, a key school and a spare-time sport school. The MANOVA of the data revealed that Chinese students had favorable attitudes toward most of the nine dimensions of physical activity. In comparison, males and females evaluated seven of the nine types of physical activity differently. Students from different schools differed in their attitudes toward all of the nine forms of physical activity.
Barriers of Investigative Sports Journalism: An Empirical Inquiry into the Conditions of Information Transmission
Authors: Emig Jürgen
Published: March 2007

Traditional sports reporting by the mass media leaves little room for the thematization of sports as a branch of sociological investigation in which situations and problems of society as a whole are reflected. In this paper, the question of the generating of information is limited to that area of sports journalism which is concerned with social, political and economic aspects. An input-output analysis compares the news items supplied to the agencies with their processing of them as passed on to newspaper editors, and with the form in which they are actually published. Guideline-oriented interviews with gatekeepers at different levels of publication complete the technical, organizational and thematic criteria obtained by this comparison, which determine the journalists' attitudes in making their selection.
Understanding the Relationships between Women and Sport: The Contribution of British Feminist Approaches in Leisure and Cultural Studies
Authors: Talbot Margaret
Published: March 2007

The paper argues that because of the partial development of sports sociology in Britain, academic work on women and sport has been rooted in leisure and cultural studies, or has reacted from recreational provision policy.

Feminist writers have therefore approached the area by making criticisms of both theory and policy making within leisure studies, and offering radical feminist perspectives for change. The areas of cultural and media studies have also provided useful frameworks within which feminists may work, in analysing sport as a popular cultural form.

The contributions of feminist work to the fields of leisure studies, cultural studies and recreation policy are assessed in relation to their fresh understandings of women and sport.
The Development and Theoretical Background of Sport-Sociology in Hungary
Authors: Takács Ferenc
Published: March 2007

The study outlines the formation of sport sociology in Hungary presenting the background of the development of that discipline. After characterizing early Hungarian sociology reflecting at the same time the middle and East European conditions, the author points out the germs of sport sociology in the 18th and 19th centuries subsequently delineating 20th century tendencies. The first step was the formation of a unique sociological theory of sport within the framework of educational sociology that according to Durkheim and Dewey attempted theoretical analysis of physical education in schools (e.g. Ferenc Kemény, Ernö Fináczy etc.). The next trend was the attitude to sports by the sociologists of the so-called "Twentieth Century" and "Galilei" societies. (e.g. József Madzsar, Róbert Braun, Béla Bosnyák etc.). The most outstanding figure of the above circle was Lóránt Hegedüs who was the first to consequently use the term sport sociology in Hungarian. According to him the formation and development of sport can be explained by G. Tarde's imitation theory. The concept of the compensating and "society uniting" influence of sport appeared in his works. The next outstanding personality in Hungarian sport sociology is Sándor Frigyes Varga who analyzed the sport movement of the 20's and 30's on a neokantian basis. The most detailed analysis of the study is devoted to György Doros's system of sport sociology which in its time was a unique achievement in international literature. Doros's ecclectic concept is built on three sociological systems: Comte's positivism, Spencer's biologism and on historical materialism. Doros's unique sport sociology does, in fact, provide an intermediate theoretical synthesis of sport which would be extremely important for the further development of sport sociology.
Participation in Competitive Sport Among Anglophones and Francophones in Canada: Testing Competing Hypotheses
Authors: White Philip G. , Curtis James E.
Published: March 2007

This paper provides tests of competing hypotheses on participation in competitive sport by anglophones and francophones in Canada. Two competing sets of theoretical arguments inform the analysis — one based on an ethnic value differences perspective and the other on an ethnic homogenization perspective. The first view argues that there are key differences in achievement orientation between the Canadian anglophone and francophone language groups. This being the case, anglophones should be more likely than francophones to be involved in competitive sport. Also, among those involved in sport, reported motives of "competition" and "personal challenge" should be more frequent for anglophones than francophones. The competing line of argument has it that, as a consequence of the economic and political modernization of French Canada, francophones have adopted values and behaviours that are highly similar to those of their anglophone counterparts. By this view, there should be minimal, if any, differences in participation in and orientation toward competitive sport between anglophones and francophones. The hypotheses are tested in multivariate analyses of national survey data on forms of sport involvement among male and female Canadian adults. The findings are much as predicted by the value differences thesis both for involvement in competitive sport and for reasons for involvement.
The macho world of sport — a forgotten realm? Some introductory remarks
Authors: Klein Michael
Published: March 2007

This article gives an introduction to the intentions of this special topical issue of IRSS and how far these intentions are realised. The insufficient theoretical discussion of masculinity in sport corresponds to the uncertainty of the male role in modern society in general. This is all the more regrettable, as sport is undoubtedly connected with gender identity, and the favourite sport in society is determined by masculine patterns. In the following contributions some central and corresponding aspects of sport as a male preserve and of masculinity are discussed. This article emphasizes rather the dark sides because usually both are glorified and it is postulated that only the integration of the overt and the hidden polarities can move sport and masculinity from their contemporary desolate status.
Narratives of Men's experiences in Sport
Authors: Laitinen Arja , Tiihonen Arto
Published: March 2007

The first part of the article describes men's experiences from the perspective of women and the second part presents an interpretation of the sport experience from a male's perspective. The relationship between the two parts, which are critical of masculinity yet simultaneously sympathetic to men, are complementary rather than contradictory. As such, the paper represents a contribution to the emergence of a new conception of women's and men's studies. The article's methodological framework is drawn from the field of women's studies and centres on the recollection and interpretation of one's own life history.

The first part of the article is about how masculinity in boys is constructed with the help of sport. It presents selected recollections by male university students about how the cultural processes which reproduce masculinity in men is realized in the case of sport.

The methodological basis for the second part of the paper is drawn from the tradition of textual analysis which has become increasingly influential in Finland in the areas of sociology, literature and politics. The article's second part deals with the deconstrurtion of masculinity in relation to the sportsman. It is a story of a man who has himself unfolded the power relations of sport in the context of his life history, his society and a theoretical frame of reference.
The Development of Games: An Endogenous Explanation
Authors: Kew Francis
Published: March 2007

Applying and extending Elias's (1978) methodological prescriptions for analyzing group dynamics, an explanation is provided of the complex social processes through which many international games are subject to chronic changes to their codified rules. Elias emphasizes that social dynamics are related to the balance of power, the division of function, and the level of complexity of figurations. Applying this perspective, rule-changes are to be understood as the outcome of conflicts of interest between the functionally interdependent groups who produce games, each of whom mobilize their respective power and resources in order to realise their interests. Since there is a balance of power and a division of functions amongst these groups, changes to game rules are both unanticipated and unintended.
Some not so new Arguments in Support of Heterodox Agendas in the Study of Sport 1
Authors: Ingham Alan G.
Published: March 2007

This essay is not a direct response to the articles of Cole, Dewar, Maguire, and Young. Rather it is an attempt to situate their perspectives within the changing face of sociology and the sociology of sport as fields of inquiry. In this essay, I try to address the conflicts that exist between conventional sociologists (orthodox-mainstream) and those of us who oppose the conventional agenda. I ask the question "Which sociological imagination will prevail?" I ask how we connect political agendas to intellectual agendas, and to practices in physical culture. Using Giddens, I ask whether or not North American sociology has recovered from or has regenerated from functionalism and empiricism après la lutte. The articles of my colleagues are highlighted in my discussion.
From Mass Sport to the "Sport for All" Movement in the "Socialist" Countries in Eastern Europe
Authors: Foldesi Gyongyi Szabo
Published: March 2007

Modern societies face a new problem: they have to spread sporting activities for all citizens without having institutions suitable for it. Depending on political, economic and cultural circumstances the individual states provide different answers to this challenge. This paper studies how countries in the Eastern Bloc promoted their population's physical activity.

In the first part political and social backgrounds are discussed. The author argues that the Eastern Bloc countries had very special conditions to develop "Sport for All" compared with Western countries. In Western democracies "Sport for All" can be set as a target but such an aim can hardly be realized. In any democratic country it is each citizen's right to decide what to do and what not to do. Sport involvement can be suggested, opportunities and equality of chances for it can be ensured but sport participation cannot be forced.

On the contrary totalitarian states can not only influence but in many cases strictly determine their citizens' social behaviour.

Though there were significant differences between them, all Eastern Bloc countries were totalitarian. Their political power was absolutely centralized. They were based on a one- party system, on planned economy and even planned culture. Moreover, they declared themselves communist and according to this ideology respect for privacy was very limited. As a consequence of all this — as strange as it may seem — these political structures were or rather could have been favourable for the development of their populations' physical activity.

In the second part a short history of mass sport movements in the fifties, of leisuretime sport movements in the sixties and seventies and of the introduction of "Sport for All" in the eighties in some Eastern European countries, especially in Hungary is described and analyzed.

In conclusion the author deals with the present and future of the "Sport for All" movement in Eastern Europe.
On Memory-Work in the Theory of Body Culture
Authors: Sironen Esa
Published: March 2007

In memory-work as a method, recalling minor events from the course of one's life — often from childhood - is the basis for writing narratives, in which these incidents are interpreted according to various theoretical approaches. In Jyväskylä, the method has been systematically applied to personal experiences of sport and body history.

In this introductory article to the ones by Silvennoinen, Kaskisaari, Tiihonen, and partly also Veijola, the method of memory-work is analysed and located in the sociology of sport research tradition.
Asthma - The Construction of the Masculine Body
Authors: Thonen Arto
Published: March 2007

This article focuses on understanding the social construction of male identity in Finland in the 1960s and 1970s. Sporting experiences of the author are used as material for memory-work (Erinnerungsarbeit), the key experience here being illness (Asthma). By writing through it, the author thematizes the healthy, sporting, and disciplined body inscribed in hegemonic masculinity.
Rational Planning Systems as a Source of Organizational Conflict
Authors: Slack Trevor , Berrett Tim , Mistry Kiran
Published: March 2007

Using a case analysis, this paper examines the impact that the introduction of a rational planning program had on a Canadian national sport organization. It is argued that contrary to popularly held beliefs planning is as much a political activity as it is a technical activity and its political nature can heighten conflict in an organization. Furthermore this conflict is often rooted in the very changes that the planning program is designed to accomplish.
Problems and Future Research in Sports Sociology: A Revolution of Body Culture?
Authors: Eichberg Henning
Published: March 2007

Dramatic changes have occured in the every day life of Eastern Europe, in the world of sports as well as in politics: the breakdown of state top sports, the public attention to doping, the uncovering of deficiencies in "mass sports", the emigration of a professional sport elite...