bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Popular Religion, Catholicism and Socioreligious Dissent in Latin America
Authors: Blancarte Roberto J.
Published: March 2007

Popular religion, Catholicism and religious dissent are part of the same triangle, unavoidable in any analysis of the religious life of Latin America. A conceptual frame has not yet been established, however, to explain, from the point of view of the region's own religious experience, the specific forms taken by this religious life and how they relate to other similar expressions worldwide, as well as to general processes, such as secularization. The paradigm of modernity seems to resist as long as it follows the guidelines of the gestation of a secularization process which translates into the strengthening of individual conscience, the debilitation of ecclesiastical control and the formation of freedom spaces for those who do not think like the group of believers. However, the paradigm does not find its parallel in the European model of Protestantism in the consolidation of a class or social group that feeds and explains this dissenting religious thought. Consequently, it is necessary, from our point of view, to question the centrality or pertinence of the modernity paradigm. Most of all, because the modernity paradigm results in an Eurocentrist paradigm, too oriented towards a set concept of socioeconomic development and, therefore, of religious `evolution'.
`REDISCOVERING OUR DIGNITY'—AN APPRAISAL OF THE UTOPIA OF LIBERATION IN LATIN AMERICA
Authors: Scherer-Warren Ilse
Published: March 2007

This article is based on the supposition that `liberation theology' constitutes one of the most important contemporary utopias, in parallel with the utopias emerging from feminist and eco-pacifist movements. The author examines the social roots for the development of a liberation theology and considers the different social forces within the Latin American Church. This new utopia of liberation existing in Latin America is analysed from the level of theoretical construction and pastoral practice to the repercussions of these practices in the social movements themselves. The influences of feminist and eco-pacifist utopias on the social movements and practices guided by liberation theology are also examined. It is concluded that these movements have enabled oppressed peoples in Latin America to `rediscover their dignity', but that the challenge of `transforming a utopia of liberation into a liberated reality' remains.
HUSSERL'S CRISIS AND GURWITSCH'S NIHILISM: A COMMON PREOCCUPATION - A COMMON CALL
Authors: Kassab E. Suzanne
Published: March 2007

This article brings together two texts: Edmund Husserl's lectures held in Vienna and Prague in 1935 and published in The Crisis of the European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology (1977), and Aron Gurwitsch's essay `On Contemporary Nihilism' (1945). The three-fold thesis maintained in the article is the following: Firstly, that the two texts express a common preoccupation related to their common historical background and concerning, on the one hand, philosophy and the idea of science, and on the other, the socio-political situation. Secondly, that the diagnoses made of this crisis situation, be it for science or for political life, as well as the remedy offered for it by the two thinkers are the same: namely, the loss of faith in Reason and the call for a renewal of this faith respectively. Thirdly, that Gurwitsch's essay can help us to better understand Husserl's motivations and intentions, not made explicit enough in the text of The Crisis. The thesis is substantiated by following the line of argumentation presented in each text and comparing the one with the other.
IMMIGRATION, CITIZENSHIP, AND THE NATION-STATE IN FRANCE AND GERMANY: A COMPARATIVE HISTORICAL ANALYSIS
Authors: Brubaker William Rogers
Published: March 2007

Massive post-war migrations have posed a fundamental challenge to the nation-states of North-Western Europe. Constructing an ideal-typical model of nation-state membership, this paper begins by specifying the multiply anomalous character of the membership status of immigrants. Next, it seeks to explain the striking and persisting difference in the citizenship status and chances of immigrants in France and Germany. While birth and residence in France automatically transform second-generation immigrants into citizens, birth and residence in Germany have no bearing on citizenship. Vis-à-vis immigrants, the French citizenry is defined expansively, as a territorial community, the German citizenry restrictively, as a community of descent. These diverging definitions of the citizenry embody and express distinctive understandings of nationhood, statecentred and assimilationist in France, ethnocultural and `differentialist' in Germany. Focusing on pivotal moments in the shaping and reshaping of citizenship law - the 1880s in France, the Wilhelmine era in Germany - this paper argues that the politics of citizenship vis-à-vis immigrants has been informed by distinctive national self-under-standings, deeply rooted in political and cultural geography and powerfully reinforced at particular historical conjunctures.
Civilization, Culture and the New Barbarians
Authors: Al-Azmeh Aziz
Published: March 2007

There has been a revival in western thought of romantic ideas of society and history that had, before the Second World War, been associated with conservative and right-wing political movements and ideologies. The emphasis on an unreflected notion of `culture', postmodernist relativism, scenarios of the wars of civilizations, fundamentalist reclamations of authenticity and multiculturalist celebrations of difference constitute a revival of irrationalist social theories, where culture replaces race as the organizing principle of a theory of predispositions inherent in ethnic, religious and national groups. This repetition of late 19th-century polemics against degeneration and against the Enlightenment gathered force in a context marked by the fall of the socialist bloc, deregulation, structural marginality and the waning of humanism in favour of an anthropological pessimism emphasizing singularity.
Sociology Associations in Turkey
Authors: Çelebi Nilgün
Published: March 2007

The first acquaintance of Turks with sociology took place in the 19th century. Auguste Comte paid considerable attention to Turks, seeing them as the bridge between Asia and Europe. Since then sociology has been present sometimes as an idea-oriented and sometimes as a data-oriented or policy-oriented discipline. Le Play and Durkheim have also been influential, while in the 1930s German refugees became prominent; since the 1950s there have been more contacts with US sociology. The journey of sociology in Turkey has been an interrupted one, with six consecutive associations, not all exclusively for sociologists, and its progress has often been involved with political developments in the wider society. The current association, founded in 1990, is described in this article.
THE LIFE EXPERIENCE AND STATUS OF CHINESE RURAL WOMEN FROM OBSERVATION OF THREE AGE GROUPS
Authors: Kejing Dai
Published: March 2007

Interview data gathered during two surveys in Anhui and Zhejiang Provinces in 1986 and 1987 are used to depict changes in the social status and life situation of rural women in China in three age groups, 18-36, 37-55 and 56 and over.

For the younger women, marriage increasingly is a result of discussion with parents, not arrangement, but third-party introductions are increasing. They are active in household and township enterprises and aspire to more education and economic independence. The middle-aged group experienced war and revolution and now work non-stop under the responsibility system of household production, aspiring to university education for sons and enterprise work for daughters. The older women, while supported by their sons, live a frugal existence.

In general, preference for sons is still prevalent and deep-seated. At the same time, the bride price and costs of marriage are increasing and of widespread concern. Rural socio-economic growth is required before Confucian traditions are overcome.
REVOLUTION IN SPIRITLESS TIMES. AN ESSAY ON MICHEL FOUCAULT'S ENQUIRIES INTO THE IRANIAN REVOLUTION
Authors: Stauth Georg
Published: March 2007

Michel Foucault's reports and commentaries on the Iranian Revolution in 1978/1979 were born in an attempt to verify empirically the emergence of ideas among the ordinary people and the effect of ideas on people's everyday life in modern times of political unrest and rebellion. This attempt has been described as `infantile leftism'. This article seeks to show that Foucault's understanding of the facts of this Revolution was largely built on the ideas of his political philosophy: the bipolarity of his concept of power, his ideas on mediation, and his hermeneutics of technologies of the self as related to change. Foucault's position on this Revolution remains nonetheless ambiguous. This essay traces Foucault's ambiguity on Iranian matters in his flamboyant concept of Power, his positive Orientalism, and in his most fascinating attempt to understand that something new happened there. In spite of the ambiguity, it is the aim of this essay to show that Foucault's writings on Iran belong to the first, and probably the most coherent, attempts to theorise a model of revolution `in our times'.
CONVERGENCE AND DIVERGENCE IN THE STATUS OF MOSLEM WOMEN: THE CASES OF TURKEY AND SAUDI ARABIA
Authors: Ertürk Yakin
Published: March 2007

The theoretical concern underlying this article is to explore the possibilities of developing an alternative perspective to overcome the inadequacies of both universal (but ethnocentric) and relativist (but legitimising) accounts of culture-specific analysis. The problem addressed is the status of women in Turkey and Saudi Arabia - two Moslem societies representing significantly different models of national transformation. While the cultural and structural variability is illustrated, by focusing on such diverse examples it is also argued that it is not Islam per se (i.e. the implementation of the Sharia) that accounts for the sex segregated structure of society, which places women in a subordinate position to different extents, but rather that it is the religious-political tradition of the `corporate identity' which is so profoundly embedded in the intimate levels of consciousness and gender relations. It is therefore concluded that the liberation of women in Moslem societies is not a religious problem but essentially one of political consciousness and struggle.
ETHNICITY, NATIONALISM, RACE, MINORITY: A SEMANTIC/ONOMANTIC EXERCISE (PART TWO)
Authors: Riggs Fred W.
Published: March 2007

Part One explained how the onomantic method supplements the semantic approach by helping scholars establish unequivocal terms for the various meanings of a term that they need to use. Illustrations were provided by an analysis of the most important meanings of ethnicity, for which terms like generic ethnicity; modern and premodern ethnicity; ethnie and ethnikos; nationalism or primary ethnicity, and secondary ethnicity were suggested. In Part Two further examples are provided based on the multiple meanings of race, minority, group, national, nationalism and nationality. By separating the quantitative from the qualitative meanings of minority, it becomes possible to distinguish between marginalised (disadvantaged) and dominant communities, and groups composing more or less than half of a given population. The notion of an ethnoracial community is distinguished from race as a biogenetic concept, and concepts of ethnoreligious and ethnolinguistic communities can be separated from religious and linguistic communities. The uses of nation to mean an ethnic nation, an ethnonation, a state nation, a nation-state and a national state are distinguished from each other.
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BRAIN DRAIN: FOREIGN DIPLOMAS AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC ATTAINMENT OF ISRAELI PROFESSIONALS
Authors: Yogev Abraham
Published: March 2007

The reverse side of the brain drain issue pertains to the influx of professional immigrants and returning citizens who underwent their professional training abroad into less developed countries. The influence of foreign diplomas on the socio-economic achievements of such professionals has not yet been studied. The dependent economy approach suggests that professionals whose diplomas were obtained in developed countries may gain a labour market advantage over indigenous diploma holders. Yet the credential society thesis predicts a similar treatment of credential holders, regardless of where their diplomas were obtained, within the framework of power relations of the local status groups. Using the 1984 survey of post-secondary and academic degree holders, conducted by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, our discriminant analysis reveals that diploma holders from European and American countries gained some advantage in occupational attainment, but not in income, over those whose diplomas were granted in African and Asian countries, including Israel. This advantage cannot be explained by the different specialisations of professionals in different countries. It disappears, however, under control of socio-demographic characteristics, which explain variations in training countries among age, ethnic and status groups of the professionals, and independently influence their occupational attainment. The study thus supports the credential society thesis: although Israeli professionals, for various reasons, obtained their diplomas in different countries, their educational credentials are similarly treated in the Israeli labour market, in accordance with the local structure of status groups.
THE NEW WORLDS AND SOCIOLOGY: AN OVERVIEW
Authors: Tiryakian Edward A.
Published: March 2007

Since 1988 the world has witnessed unexpectedly massive changes and reforms, including the destructuring of the bipolar world of the Cold War era, the adoption of market economies to replace centrally planned economies, and the democratisation of authoritarian regimes. Essentially, this paper argues that the turbulent transition period of this decade is one that may be characterised as a `new world of new worlds', presenting a vast ensemble of challenges for the sociological analysis of modernity. A historical perspective with previous periods of transition from one social order to the next is proposed, as well as a discussion of salient general socio-psychological features of the contemporary situation, such as changes in collective identity. Finally, attention is given to a methodological approach suitable to make sense of our world situation.
SOCIOLOGY, GLOBALISATION AND POSTMODERNITY: COMMENTS ON THE `SOCIOLOGY FOR ONE WORLD' THESIS
Authors: Smart Barry
Published: March 2007

As processes of globalisation transform economic and cultural life and render the received image of society problematic, what are the prospects for sociology? One view is that there has been a retreat from international endeavour and an increasing preoccupation with diversity, difference, tradition, locality and indigenisation as the discipline has embraced postmodernism. In contrast, it is argued that postmodernism already constitutes an international discourse and that recognition of the increasing significance of global transformations has opened up the analytical frame beyond modernity. Both international and local or regional forms of sociology are necessary for understanding the complex articulation of global processes with local or regional conditions, and it is in this context that an `interpretive' internationalised sociology informed by postmodern preoccupations belongs.
RADICAL CRIMINOLOGY IN AFRICAN LITERATURE
Authors: Agozino Biko
Published: March 2007

This paper examines the reflection of criminological theory in the work of African creative writers. I try to show how the writers' views of their society influence their representation of the crime problem. A criminological reading of the plays The Trial of Dedan Kimathi by wa Thionǵo and Mugo and Oga Na Tief Man by Fatunde and of the novels Devil on the Cross by wa Thionǵo and The Contract by Iyayi demonstrates that criminologists should take creative writing seriously and creative writers should take criminology seriously.
From Maoism to ELLE
Authors: Kunz Jean Lock
Published: March 2007

Through an examination of the social changes in contemporary Chinese society (mid-1960 until present), it is argued that concepts of beauty and fashion are defined by the dominant political ideology. One reason is that ideology defines the social norms and legitimizes the economic structure. It is also hypothesized that individuals have the ability to modify their sense of beauty and fashion within prevailing social norms.

Results from the content analysis of China Reconstructs and the 1994 ELLE (PRC) readership survey support these hypotheses. Beauty and fashion under Maoism were uniformed, and creativity suppressed. This was accomplished by the centralized, state-run economic structure. With the change in the infrastructure, i.e. the economic reform in the 1980s, creativity in fashion has been revitalized. Much of this change could also be attributed to the joint-ventures between China and the developed countries, as well as the creativity of the Chinese.
Paying for Art
Authors: Zolberg Vera
Published: March 2007

In the light of the transition from state-directed to market-oriented economies, the arts are faced with new challenges. Whereas market logic is usually considered to favour standardization, the conventional art logic emphasizes differentiation. Without taking a position in this debate, the article considers the fairly uncritical adoption by nation states that had previously entrusted arts patronage to public agencies of what they consider to be the American model of predominantly private sector support: private patronage. A consideration of the development of patronage of serious art and music in the United States, however, suggests that private patronage is too simple an interpretation of that support, and that commercial considerations have an important part to play in understanding how museums and symphony orchestras were institutionalized.
The Global Economy and Urban Society in Pacific Asia
Authors: Ho K. C.
Published: March 2007

The economic growth in Pacific Asia is a result of the integration of various countries into the global economy. This integration is however disproportionate, impacting on major cities rather than intermediate cities and rural areas. The result is that as metropolitan economies expand, new migrants and foreign workers add to an urban cultural mosaic that is already complicated by new gender and class divisions. While urban societies in Pacific Asia have varying configurations, broad features can be discerned. One key force is the growing middle class and the new urban and suburban landscape of consumption, which coexist amidst the neighbourhoods of the urban proletariat and the squalor of the urban poor. The social and economic diversity implies new challenges for governments which have to balance growing urban aspirations against the interests of larger society as they walk the tightrope between harnessing the rewards of economic integration and attempting to shield society from the inequalities and instabilities created by the capitalist global economy.
Modern Popular Religion
Authors: G. Cristián Parker
Published: March 2007

Popular religion is a widespread phenomenon among peasants of the Third World, but it is the vitality and force of popular religious expressions in the urban popular milieu of developing countries that pose serious questions for classical secularization theories. The religious sense produced by the lower strata of the urban populace in contexts of subjugation in urbanization and globalization is complex and depends on several factors. In order to analyse it, sociology must abandon its rationalist and erudite background to move forward to new paradigms that allow us to understand how it is that contemporary popular religion - including seemingly more primitive religious expressions - pertains to modernity and is able to be understood as part of the dialectic of current globalization. This article proposes a different way of understanding popular life and faith - another view of the people's religious creativity, syncretism and religious heterogeneity, an appreciation of a `different logic' of the people and the countercultural character of the rationality that they acquire in various contexts.
The Role of Centre-Periphery Relations in the Utilisation of the Social Sciences
Authors: Stolte-Heiskanen Veronica
Published: March 2007

This paper explores the separate and joint roles played by intellectual styles, paradigmatic changes and national exemplars in the modernisation of a scientific discipline on the periphery. The post-war development of sociology in Finland is analysed as an example of social science on the periphery. The development of Finnish sociology is characterised by changes largely attributable to exogenous influences. Three distinct phases of development can be discerned, which correspond to shifts from one to two-centre and eventually to multiple-centre influences in terms of intellectual styles and paradigms. The three identified phases of development are related to the differential societal utilisation potentials of sociology. The change from one to ultimately several centre influences had beneficial effects on the internal development of the field in terms of diversification of research practices and orienting concerns towards 'high technology' strategies
Patterns of Minority Identity: an Indian Case Study From the Perspective of Phenomenological Marxism
Authors: Srinivasan Nirmala
Published: March 2007

This paper is an analysis of the identity patterns of Muslims and Christians, the two largest minority communities in India, based on a field study in Lucknow. The focus of the paper is on 'ethnicity' as a social construction of reality by the individual as a member of the minority ethnic group. The self-society axis in the ethnic sphere of existence manifested in private and public identities has been studied from the perspective of the phenomenological sociology of knowledge Theoretical partnership with structural Marxism permits the construction of a mapping of 14 identity categories of minoritiness-minoritisation for 230 case histories which cast doubt on mechanistic and monolithic notions of minority communities
Political Clientelism and Social Exclusion
Authors: Marantzidis Nikos , Mavrommatis George
Published: March 2007

The article relates to two much-discussed concepts in the field of social sciences: clientage relations and social exclusion. Using the city of Sofades in central Greece - where about 2000 Gypsies live - as their empirical research field, the authors attempt the analysis of the following: (1) whether the socially excluded Gypsies of the area form clientage relations, (2) whether their political clientage relations show any particular traits when related to other types of clientage relations and (3) whether political clientage relationships help socially excluded groups surmount their exclusion or not. Even though the dominant theories about clientage relations associate the evolution of those relations with the evolution of a particular society, the study of the clientage relations in Sofades shows that within a society there may coexist more than one type of clientage relationships - from the most traditional to the most modern.
Curbing Identity Crises: Mexican History Reconsidered
Authors: Monteverde Frances E.
Published: March 2007

Shifts in technology and ideology blur distinctions between people and machines, nations, and multinationals. Neoliberal economic policies in Mexico clashed with the national identity traditionally fostered by the official educational system. Calling for dialogue not imposed truths, historians rejected at tempts to align textbooks with the new agenda during a 3-year controversy. [Curriculum is] a specially constructed information system whose purpose, in its totality, is to influence, teach, train, or cultivate the mind and character of youth. —Neil Postman (cited in Brosio, 1994, p. 243)
Ethnic Differences in Processes Contributing to the Self-Esteem of Early Adolescent Girls
Authors: Carlson Cindy , Uppal Sarika , Prosser Ellie C.
Published: March 2007

Ethnic differences in the mean levels and sources of global self-esteem for Hispanic, African American, and White early adolescent girls were examined. Data were derived from a survey administered to students in attendance at three public middle schools. Path analytic techniques were used to assess processes that contribute to self-esteem. For all ethnic groups, higher self-esteem was predicted by authoritative parenting and perceived teacher support and related inversely to family stress. Ethnic identity was a significant predictor of global self-esteem among minority girls. Hispanic girls reported significantly lower self-esteem, which appeared to be related to lower overall scores on the predictor variables. Results are discussed in terms of the theoretical importance of ethnic identity and reflected appraisals from teachers as factors contributing to self-esteem among minority youth, along with the need for additional research on Hispanic girls.
Commentary on the Special Issue:
Authors: Dusek Jerome B.
Published: March 2007

The degree to which the eight contributions to the special issue clarify four concerns raised by DuBois and Hirsch is assessed. It is concluded that the contributions make moderate inroads in the areas of (a) delineating the importance of considering selfesteem to be multidimensional, (b) investigating bidirectional relations of self-esteem to other constructs, (c) linking self-esteem to other contributors to development, and (d) investigating negative as well as positive relations of self-esteem to adjustment. In addition, issues concerning the definition and measurement of self-esteem and the importance of research conducted with special populations to fill voids in knowledge are discussed.
Family Boundary Ambiguity, Marital Status, and Child Adjustment
Authors: Buehler Cheryl , Pasley Kay
Published: March 2007

The association between children’s perceptions of boundary ambiguity and their personal adjustment was examined in a sample of 262 children who lived with their biological parents and 87 children who lived with their single, divorced mothers or their divorced mothers and stepfathers. Adjustment was assessed by measuring mother and teacher reports of child problem behaviors and academic performance. The specific component of boundaries examined was fathers’ psychological and physical presence in the family. The results did not support the hypothesis that an incongruence between children’s perceptions of fathers’ psychological and physical presence would be associated with greater adjustment problems in preadolescents and early adolescents. In addition to testing hypotheses deduced from the boundary ambiguity literature, the independent roles of children’s perceptions of fathers’ psychological presence and family composition were examined to test competing hypotheses. The family structure perspective received the most support.
Ethnic Identity among Monoracial and Multiracial Early Adolescents
Authors: Spencer Michael S. , Icard Larry D. , Harachi Tracy W. , Catalano Richard F. , Oxford Monica
Published: March 2007

A measure of ethnic identity, the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM), was examined in this study with a sample of 2,184 early adolescents who self-identified with a single race or ethnicity (monoracial, n = 1,812) or with two or more racial or ethnic groups (multiracial, n = 372). Principal components and multigroup confirmatory factor analysis were used to explore and confirm the factor structure of the MEIM items. Two factors were identified: (a) identification and (b) exploration. Identification was represented by items that reflect a sense of belonging and pride in an individual’s ethnic group. Exploration was represented by items that characterize a search for ethnic group identity and participation in ethnic practices. Reliabilities were adequate for the two subscales (= .84, identification; = .76, exploration). Also, the results indicated that most individuals from monoracial minority groups and multiracial subgroups scored similarly on overall ethnic identity.
Quality of Parent/Adolescent Attachment and Aggression in Young Adolescents
Authors: Simons Kevin J. , Paternite Carl E. , Shore Cecilia
Published: March 2007

A model of the association between adolescents’ perception of the quality of parent/adolescent attachment and adolescent aggression was examined, with social cognition and self-esteem as mediators. A total of 68 sixth graders, their parents, and their language arts teachers participated. Adolescents completed measures of attachment with mother and with father, self-esteem, social cognition, and aggressive tendencies. Mothers, fathers, and teachers each completed measures of adolescent aggressive and prosocial behavior. Evidence was obtained for social cognition and self-esteem both as mediators between adolescents’ perceived quality of mother/adolescent attachment and adolescent selfreport of aggression. Controlling for mother/adolescent and father/adolescent attachment and adolescent self-esteem, adolescent higher social cognition was associated with adolescent lower self-report of aggression. Controlling mother/adolescent and father/adolescent attachment and adolescent social cognition, adolescent higher self-esteem was associated with father-reported lower adolescent aggression and father-reported higher adolescent prosocial behavior. Implications for further research are discussed.
Aggressive and Nonaggressive Young Adolescents’ Attributions of Intent in Teacher/Student Interactions
Authors: Wyatt Laura W. , Haskett Mary E.
Published: March 2007

Young adolescents classified by teacher report as nonaggressive or aggressive were administered the Attributions Questionnaire, which consisted of 12 hypothetical teacher/student interactions depicting positive, negative, or ambiguous teacher intentions. Variables measured were (a) type of intent attributed to the teacher (i.e., hostile, benign), (b) degree of hostile and benign intent, (c) degree of anger felt, and (d) assignment of blame for negative outcomes. When the teachers’ intentions were ambiguous, aggressive adolescents were more likely than nonaggressive adolescents to attribute hostile intentions to the teachers, and they attributed a higher level of hostile intent, were more likely to blame teachers for the outcome, and reported higher levels of anger. A similar pattern of group differences emerged for situations in which the teachers’ intentions clearly were negative. However, when the teachers’ intentions were benevolent, aggressive youth responded in a manner similar to nonaggressive adolescents. Assessment of gender differences showed aggressive boys and girls to be similar in social information processing.
The Influence of Cognitive Conflict on Religious Thinking in Fifth and Sixth Grade Children
Authors: Abraham Kitty G.
Published: March 2007

This study assessed the impact of an experimental cognitive conflict religious education curriculum on fifth and sixth grade children in Sunday School classes of four Oregon United Methodist Churches. Following deductions from the neo-Piagetian model, the research question became one of determining whether or not the systematic inducement of cognitive conflict into an educational program could accelerate concreteto-abstract movement in childrens' religious thinking. Criterion measures were provided by scores on the two summed scales (Religious Thinking Total Concrete and Religious Thinking Total Abstract) on Peatling's Thinking About the Bible instrument. Analysis of covariance, applied separately to the two scales, revealed a significant interaction effect of program by grade for both scales. Further analysis with t-tests was undertaken to assess the degree of significance between experimental and control group fifth and sixth graders. For fifth graders, no significant differences were revealed on either scale; for sixth graders, significant differences were revealed on both scales. These findings suggest that the use of cognitive conflict in religious education instructional materials may effectively stimulate decreased concrete and increased abstract religious thinking at the sixth grade level.
Concerns of Seventh-Graders about Their Transition to Junior High School
Authors: Mitman Alexis L. , Packer Martin J.
Published: March 2007

A critical ingredient for understanding the experiences that students undergo in the transition from elementary school to junior high school is the changing perceptions of the students themselves. To this end, students completed a Concerns Questionnaire during the fifth week of seventh grade where they responded to a list of potential transition concerns by indicating the degree of their concern both when they first entered junior high school and at the present time. Results showed that most students did not have great concerns about items listed. Given this low absolute level of concerns, students perceived even lower total concerns levels after five weeks in junior high. Also, students reported relatively more concerns about academic work than the social aspects of junior high school. Comparisons suggested that the independent variables of student sex, participation style, and previous classroom organization were important, but consistent patterns were not found.
Identity and Family Relations in Early Adolescence
Authors: Newman Barbara M. , Murray Colleen I.
Published: March 2007

The focus of this paper is on elements of the family system that influence and are influenced by work on identity in early adolescence. The argument is made for the need to study the family from a bidirectional and systems perspective. Yet, studies on both the process of development and the content of adolescent and parental identity lack either approach. A consideration of the interactive and multiplicative effects of each parent-adolescent dyad, the marital relationship, and family rules on identity development of each family member is suggested. Family response to the child's efforts to express individuality is discussed and clarified through the specific case of the reciprocal influences of authority relations and individuation.
Adolescent Development within a Family Context
Authors: Montemayor Raymond , Adams Gerald R.
Published: March 2007

This special issue of the Journal of Early Adolescence is devoted to articles which explore family relations during early adolescence. The topics examined in these 10 articles include parent and peer relations, intrafamily conflict, the association between puberty and family relations, the relationship between family behavior and adolescent cognitive, self-concept, and identity development, resiliency and vulnerability, coping strategies, the effects of divorce on adolescents, and single-parent families. In this introduction the main points of each article are briefly summarized, and strengths and limitations are pointed out.
Pubertal Status and Parent-Child Relations in Families of Seventh-Grade Boys
Authors: Hill John P. , Holmbeck Grayson N. , Marlow Lynn , Green Thomas M. , Lynch Mary Ellen
Published: March 2007

Associations between global ratings of pubertal status and several child-rearing and outcome variables were examined for mother-son and father-son dyads. All variables were assessed with questionnaires in an attempt to confirm and demonstrate the robustness across methods of earlier observational studies. In anticipation of curvilinear effects, multiple regression analyses, wherein pubertal status is treated as a continuous variable and is entered into the regression equations as a set of power polynomial terms, were employed. Significant relations between pubertal status and outcome variables were found for the mother-son (but not for the father-son) dyad and most relations were quadratic. These results are similar to those of earlier observational studies in that temporary perturbations occur in mother-son relations at or near the peak of pubertal growth. No statistically significant effects of socioeconomic status upon relations between pubertal status and the family interaction variables were found.
Relationships between Self-Concept Measures and Social Network Characteristics for Black Adolescents
Authors: Coates Deborah L.
Published: March 2007

This study explores the relationship among social network structure and support characteristics and between these network characteristics and several self-concept dimensions for 343 middle-income black adolescents. Relationships between the family and the friend portions of the network are also examined. Each adolescent completed the 1 1/2 hour Social Network Record which uses graphic and questionnaire stimulus materials to allow respondents to describe how their social relations are organized and function to provide emotional and material support. Network scales are related to factor scores of the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory, to the Ziller nonverbal "identification with others" tasks and to three semantic differential scales designed to assess the adolescents' perception of how parents, male friends and female friends "see" them. Network size, frequency of contact with members and the average length of time members have been known are highly related while density is unrelated to any other structural score. The relationship between the proximity of family members and frequency of contact with them is very high and positive although this is not the case for the analogous friend measures. While network structure measures are more related to "how others see me" self-judgments and to a measure of social affiliation, the support scales are more related to overall self-esteem. The usefulness of a social network analysis for understanding the social interaction basis of the self-concept during adolescence is discussed.
The Long and the Short of Physical Stature in Early Adolescence
Authors: Nottelmann Editha D. , Welsh C. Jean
Published: March 2007

The relationship between early adolescent physical stature and competence perceptions was examined in the self-ratings and teacher ratings of short-and tall-for-age boys and girls in grades 6 and 7. Approximately one half of the sixth-graders were in their last year of elementary school; the other half, and all seventh-graders, were in secondary school. The ratings were obtained with companion scales, The Perceived Competence Scale for Children and The Teacher's Rating Scale of Child's Actual Competence, for cognitive, social, physical, and general competence. Physical stature effects were found in early adolescent self-ratings, in interaction with school context, but not in teacher ratings. The effects, which were stronger among girls than boys, were found in perceived social and general competence. The lowest self-ratings were those of tall girls in elementary school and short girls in secondary school. In contrast to previous research, the results of the present study suggest that self-perceptions may change with social contexts, but only longitudinal research can clarify whether these physical stature effects have consequences for self-perceptions beyond early adolescence.
Modeling Efficacy: The Effect of Perceived Parental Efficacy on the Self-Efficacy of Early Adolescents
Authors: Whitbeck Les B.
Published: March 2007

This study examines the effects of early adolescents' perceptions of parents' efficacy and parents' behaviors on the self-efficacy of early adolescents. Eighty-two young people between the ages of 9 and 15 years provided data on themselves and their parents in structured interviews. Separate path analyses for same and opposite sex parents for boys and girls provide evidence that perceived efficacy of parents has a greater influence on the self-efficacy of boys and that parental behaviors more strongly affect the self-efficacy of girls. It is concluded that the origins of this dimension of self-esteem in boys is more strongly influenced by modeling, while for girls, reflected appraisals are more important.
The Potential of Video in the Promotion of Social Competence in Children and Adolescents
Authors: Harwood Robin L. , Weissberg Roger P.
Published: March 2007

Video training has practical and representational advantages that make it well-suited pedagogically and methodologically for use by investigators developing school-based social competence promotion programs. Pedgogically, video's visual representational medium and attention-focusing capacities help to promote the effective presentation of the process-based reciprocal flow of social understanding and behavior. Methodologically, video enables researchers to standardize training approaches and thus to evaluate more accurately the effectiveness of a given intervention, including the ability to assess the hypothesized processes of skill learning, as well as the social outcomes of such learning. In addition, video is readily accessible for classroom use. As such, it has potential both as a powerful stimulus for learning, and also as the foundation of an intervention that can be both easily disseminated and systematically evaluated. The empirical and theoretical bases of social competence video training in social learning and social information-processing theories are examined, and an agenda is set for developing and evaluating future intervention work in this area.
Correlates of Sexual Activity in Early Adolescence
Authors: Scott-Jones Diane , White Anne B.
Published: March 2007

Demographic, social, and social-cognitive variables associated with beginning sexual activity were assessed in 114 Black and White males and females in early adolescence (X age = 13.95 years), recruited from public schools and community agencies. Of the sample, 28% reported having sexual intercourse at least once. There were no significant race or gender differences in sexual activity or age at first intercourse. Mother's education, having a boyfriend/girlfriend, educational expectations, and age were significant predictors of sexual activity. For nonsexually active adolescents; boyfriend! girlfriend and age were significant predictors of noncoital sexual interactions. Among sexually active adolescents, Whites were more likely than Blacks to use contraception regularly and to use effective methods. In future research and practice, more attention needs to be given to (a) the development of cross-gender relationships; (b) the use of withdrawal as a contraceptive method, especially among Blacks; and (c) the educational expectations and related life options of adolescents.
Parental Influence on Early Adolescent Substance Use
Authors: Andrews Judy A. , Hops Hyman , Ary Dennis , Tildesley Elizabeth , Harris Joyce
Published: March 2007

This study examined both the substance-specific and nonspecific, or generalized, effects of parent substance use, attitudes toward use, and behavior regarding use on adolescent initiation and maintenance of alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana use. Data from 645 target adolescents and their parent(s) regarding their own use and parents' attitude, cautionary statements, and negative consequences were used to predict both the onset of using each substance and the transition from use to nonuse during the following year. Results indicated that not only did parents' influence specific to a given substance affect adolescent use of that same substance, but parents `nonspecific or generalized influence predicted the onset and maintenance of other substance use. Furthermore, parent modeling, attitude, cautionary statements, and consequences were all significant predictors of adolescent initiation and maintenance of substance use. Interactions of the parental influence variables with gender, age, and parents' marital status were found. Implications of these findings for intervention efforts are discussed.
Relations of Parenting Style and Parental Involvement with Ninth-Grade Students' Achievement
Authors: Paulson Sharon E.
Published: March 2007

The purposes of this study were to explore the influence of both parenting style (demandingness and responsiveness) and parental involvement on the achievement outcome of early adolescents and to explore the relations both adolescents' and their parents' perceptions ofparenting, and to compare the influence that the differentperceptions have on adolescents' achievement. Subjects were 247 ninth-grade boys and girls and their parents from urban, suburban, and rural communities in the southeast and the midwest. Questionnaire measures of adolescents' and parents' perceptions of maternal and paternal demandingness, responsiveness, and parental involvement were designed for this program of research. Adolescents'reports ofparenting were found to correlate only moderately with parents' reports. Adolescents'(both boys'and girls'), but not parents', reports of parenting significantly predicted their achievement outcome, with parental involvement significantly predicting achievement above and beyond dimensions of parenting style. The importance of considering both adolescents'and parents'perceptions of parenting is discussed.
Ethnicity, Proximal Family Environment, and Young Adolescents' Cognitive Performance
Authors: Marjoribanks Kevin
Published: March 2007

This study examined relations between ethnicity, family environments, and young adolescents' cognitive performance. A model of proximal family learning environment was constructed that included measures of family human capital, parenting style, parents' aspirations, and parenting practices. Data were collected from 800 young adolescents and their parents from Anglo-Australian, English, Greek, and Southern Italian groups within Australia. The analysis revealed that (a) ethnicity was related to young adolescents' cognitive performance and to measures of their proximal family environment, (b) proximal family environment measures mediated the relations between ethnicity and cognitive performance, and (c) there were gender-related differences in the associations between ethnicity, proximal family environment, and young adolescents' cognitive performance.
Affiliation with Delinquent Friends
Authors: Brendgen Mara , Vitaro Frank , Bukowski William M.
Published: March 2007

Examined in this study was whether a perceived lack of closeness with parents (a) would be related indirectly to early adolescents' association with delinquent friends and (b)would be mediated by a lack of self-esteem. The mediated relation, however, was expected to hold only for (a) delinquent early adolescents who might be attracted to delinquent friends because of the similarity of behavioral characteristics or (b) early adolescents who are rejected by the majority of their peers. Using a sample of 267 boys and girls, the results showed that self-esteem mediated the relation between perceived closeness with parents at Time 1 and affiliation with delinquent friends at Time 2 but only for those who were rejected by the majority of their peers.
Teaching Marketing Law: A Business Law Perspective on Integrating Marketing and Law
Authors: Petty Ross D.
Published: March 2007

In today’s legal environment of large financial penalties against both firms and managers, criminal liability for some types of marketing conduct, and increasing government regulation of the marketing function, the future marketing manager needs more exposure to legal topics than is available from an introductory business law course. This article examines the likely education in law currently available to marketing students and the cross-disciplinary concept of marketing law before focusing on two interrelated topics: how to teach legal topics to marketing students and how to include additional legal coverage within the marketing curriculum.
The Effects of Class Size and Learning Style on Student Performance in a Multimedia-Based Marketing Course
Authors: Karakaya Fahri , Ainscough Thomas L. , Chopoorian John
Published: March 2007

Traditionally, students in large sections perform worse in terms of content knowledge than those in small sections. In addition, research has shown that students with different learning styles perform differently in the same classroom. This study shows that these effects may be minimized by the extensive use of multimedia technology in the classroom.