bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Stress-Related Mortality and Social Organization
Authors: Eyer Joseph , Sterling Peter
Published: March 2007

Modern capitalist social organization, through intensified, con flicted work and the destruction of cooperative, supportive forms of social com munity, causes a large excess mortality among adults in developed countries. This excess mortality is most strikingly evident in the comparison of vital rates for advanced capitalist societies whith those of undisrupted hunter-gatherers.
Monopoly, Inflation, and Economic Crisis
Authors: Kotz David M.
Published: March 2007

This paper presents a Marxian theory of inflation under conditions of stagnation in a monopoly capitalist economy. The inadequacy of monetarist and Keynesian explanations of the 1970s inflation is discussed briefly. A more extended critique is offered of two influential non-mainstream theories of inflation, the mark-up pricing theory of inflation and the conflict theory of inflation. Current versions of those theories are shown to rest on the implicit assumption that capital does not pursue the maximum possible profits.

A theory of monopoly pricing is developed which rests on the assumption that monopoly capital pursues the highest rate of profit that can be sustained over the long-run. On the basis of this theory of monopoly pricing, it is shown that in a period of prolonged stagnation (such as the 1970s) monopoly sector pricing will set off an inflation process, which is then perpetuated through the interaction of monopoly capital, competitive capital, and the working class. The theory of "crisis inflation" presented in the paper incorporates class conflict and mark-up pricing in a manner that is consistent with profit maximization by capital, thus overcoming a major problem with current inflation theories based on conflict or mark-up pricing.

The role played in the inflation process by state interventions, such as corporate bailouts, Keynesian demand management, and central bank monetary expansion, is considered. Possible methods of ending crisis inflation are discussed.
Solar Energy, Jobs, and Labor: Some Analytical Issues
Authors: Luria Dan , Price Lee
Published: March 2007

"Solar Employs, Nuclear Destroys" say the bumper stickers, and while public debate may find the opinions of technologists to be of interest with respect to the second half of the slogan, it is up to social and economic analysts to deal with the first half. Do "soft path" technologies such as conservation and solar energy create more jobs? If they do, is that good? A prima facie case could be made that projects which require relatively more labor are regressive, leadings us all to work harder just to maintain the same level of existance. In this essay, Dan Luria and Lee Price examine this question on a theoretical level, first establishing what is really meant by "capital intensive" and "labor intesive "projects andsho wing that this is largely a question of the time distribution of labor. They then examine the impact of various contingencies on the job-creation aspects of these two types of projects. Furthermore, they attempt to clarify the distinction which must be made between long term political solutions to problems as opposed to "technicalfixes" which can at best provide a transitory and insubstantial relief.
'The Sphinx in the Household': A New Look at the History of Household Workers
Authors: Berch Bettina
Published: March 2007

This paper focusses on household service work during the so-called "servant crisis," 1890 to 1920. Contemporaries, under the leadership of Professor Salmon, declared that the servant shortage was due to the "social stigma" attached to service. In this paper we find their basic service study, Domestic Service, to be (deliberately?) biased and false, and counterpose their findings with a servant's view. This is then tied into the general history of housework's development.
Capitalism, Socialism, Barbarism: Marxist Conceptions of the Soviet Union
Authors: Kelly Kevin D.
Published: March 2007

This paper examines the three original Marxist conceptions of the Soviet Union which correspond to the split of Marxism into its Kautskyist, Stalinist, and Trotskyist variants. The origin of the terminology used in each framework is examined. The background assumptions and way of thinking in each framework are explicated. It is argued that recent conceptions of the Soviet Union by Melotti (1977), Sweezy (1980), and Bahro (1978) tend to replicate the way of thinking of Kautsky, Stalin, and Trotsky.
Breaking the Myth of Harmony: Theoretical and Methodological Guidelines to the Study of Rural Third World Households
Authors: Katz Elizabeth
Published: March 2007

Conventional neoclassical models of the household fail to account for the conflict and negotiation inherent in these fundamental economic units. The recent incorporation of game-theoretic notions of "bargained" decision-making into these models neglects gender as a defining feature of household economics. This paper develops an alternative feminist model of the household in which gender-based differentials in the access to key economic and noneconomic resources condition the formation of household economic goals, the allocation of labor and income to competing uses, and the welfare outcomes of household economic activities for all household members.
Neoclassical Household Models and Modes of Household Production: Problems in the Analysis of African Agricultural Households
Authors: Koopman Jeanne
Published: March 2007

Neoclassical models characterize agricultural households as unified production/consumptionunits in which labor is allocated according to principles of comparative advantage, income is pooled, and preferences for consumption and leisure are shared. This paper demonstrates that the assumptions and structure of both recursive and simultaneous agricultural household models are strikingly inconsistent with evidence from agricultural households in southern Cameroon and elsewhere in Africa. Fundamental revisions in the modeling of economic choice structures within agricultural households are required if men's and women's economic behavior is to be appropriately understood and reliably predicted. A Marxian analysis of the social relations of production within households can contribute to this process and can also indicate important new directions for agricultural policy analysis.
Capitalists' Institutional Agenda, Class Conflict Spillover, and the Last Instance
Authors: Nilsson Eric A.
Published: March 2007

This paper constructs a model of the "institutional agenda" of capitalists in a closed domestic economy. The link between this agenda (i.e., the set of institutions capitalists desire) and the actual institutions regulating the economy is established. Some characteristics of this model are consistent with the claims of radical institutionalists; however, other characteristics are not. This model also permits, for the first time in a formal model, discussion of the link between the base and the superstructure, of the role of "the last instance" in historical development, and of the claim that there exists a "monopoly capital" stage of capitalism.
The Composition of Capital and the Rate of Profit: A Reply to Laibman
Authors: Thompson Frank
Published: March 2007

In response to a critique by Laibman (1996) of earlier work (Thompson 1995) exploring the effect of technical change and accumulation on the real wage rate and thus, via the Okishio Theorem, the rate of profit, it is demonstrated that in a wide range of one-sector models (including that of Laibman) of a capitalist economy, increases in the composition of capital do not cause a fall in the equilibrium rate of profit. On the contrary, if anything, increases in the composition of capital cause the rate of profit to be higher.
Early Treatment Effects of Long-Term Outpatient Group Therapies - First Preliminary Results
Authors: Tschuschke Volker , Anbeh Tamara
Published: March 2007

The article is based on the preliminary data derived from a larger German outpatient group therapy study. Under the auspices of the German Group Psychotherapy Association (DAGG) the PAGE (Projekt für ambulante Gruppentherapie-Evaluation) got under way in late 1996. It aims at the evaluation of group therapeutic treatments of physicians and psychologists in private practice.
The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes: The Economy of the Group
Authors: Brunori Luisa
Published: March 2007

The leader of the group, in the Foulkesian view, should be someone who is able to develop the group's high potential for means of exchange, by making independence out of dependence and richness out of the differences of the group and through the group. In this respect, the Biblical `miracle of the loaves and fishes' (Christ feeding five thousand people with five loaves and two fishes) can be seen as an expressive metaphor.
The Supervision Group as a Transitional Object
Authors: Schneider Stanley , Berman Marvin
Published: March 2007

The supervision group as a transitional object, allowing for the exploration and expression of feelings relating to the conflictual bind, enabling the intern to cope with the dual roles of university student and agency professional.
Group Dreams Revisited
Authors: Karterud Sigmund W.
Published: March 2007

Dream interpretation presents the group analyst with a theoretical as well as a practical (therapeutic) challenge. The classical Freudian interpretation that the manifest content disguises the latent content through symbolization, condensation and displacement, comprehended within a drive-discharge theoretical model, cannot be properly applied in groups since the very activity necessary for such an interpretation contradicts the role requirements of the group analyst. Emphasis on a technically complete and `correct' understanding of dreams tends to reinforce a dependency on the group conductor. This paper describes a study based upon investigation of all dreams reported in one of the author's own group-analytic groups over a period of four years. The quantitative data are illustrated by a case report from a period of the group that was particularly rich in group dreams.
The Long-termi Effects of Group Psychotherapy:A Thirteen-year Follow-up Study
Authors: Sigrell Bo
Published: March 2007

This paper describes a thirteen-year follow-up study of three separate psychoanalytic outpatient groups with a total of eighteen group participants. The study formed part of an outcome research project carried out over a period of sixteen years and based on a before-and-after survey and follow-ups after one-and-a-half and thirteen years. The purpose of the study was to evaluate and quantify the long-term effectiveness of the group therapy experience.
Group-Analytic Psychotherapy under Threat of War: The Gulf Crisis
Authors: Schneider Stanley
Published: March 2007

President Saddam Hussein's warning that he would unleash `weapons of destruction' upon Israel if Iraq were attacked by the Allied Forces became a reality 18 January 1991 when eight Scud missiles landed in central and northern Israel. Between then and 23 February 1991 thirty-seven Scud missiles landed. Two people died and 239 were injured, with millions of dollars of property damage. The civilian population had been taught civil defence precautions several weeks in advance of the ultimatum. When the siren sounded they raced to rooms sealed against gas attack, put on gas-masks and waited for the radio to give advice. Time spent in the sealed rooms ranged from minutes to several hours. As it happened the missiles were conventional in type, but there was always the fear they might carry biological, chemical or atomic warheads. This article explores the fears and anxieties of patients and staff in groups at the Summit Institute, Jerusalem, and the issue of intimacy and its relation to identity formation.
Direct and Indirect ('Reversed') Mirror Phenomena in Group Supervision
Authors: Kutter Peter
Published: March 2007

Mirror phenomena occur in supervision groups and Balint groups as much as in therapy groups (Behr et al., 1982; Brown, 1988; Zinkin, 1983). They help towards a better understanding of what is revealed verbally in groups and of what takes place on the various unconscious levels of the group process.

In addition to direct mirror phenomena, which reflect the unconscious relationship between patient and reporter, there are alienating processes of unresolved conflicts which may be called indirect or `reversed' mirror phenomena. It is necessary to distinguish between the two types of mirror phenomena, since indirect or `reversed' mirror phenomena often interfere with the main goal of the supervision group, namely the understanding of the relationship under supervision.
The Psychophysical Matrix and Group Analysis
Authors: Powell Andrew
Published: March 2007

This paper extends the author's earlier ideas on the matrix. Correlations are drawn between major strands of experimental physics and experiences common to the group. In non-technical language the paper touches on the essential features of Newtonian physics, Albert Einstein's theories of relativity, quantum mechanical theory and the concept of the arrow of time. Evolutionary implications of time are discussed with reference to entropy and chaos theory. The deterministic picture of reality which informs the Newtonian world view can be found in certain group phenomena reminiscent of Isaac Newton's Laws of Motion and Gravitation. In contrast, the `relativity' matrix highlights the generative function of mind which creates three-dimensional reality. The quantum effects of wave and particle find expression respectively in the experience of solitariness and states of fusion. The cosmological whole, which these various interpretations of reality each reflect in part, is represented by the integration of these themes within the mandala of the group.
Group Process in the Care of a Child with Kidney Transplant
Authors: Domingo-Perez Lisa , Bakrania Jayshree R.
Published: March 2007

The authors describe the impact on the staff of a children's inpatient psychiatric ward following admittance of a child with serious physical and psychological illness. They present clinical material from an interpretative psychodynamic group that the child attended, and discuss the psychological impact of kidney transplantation on the child and her family.
Group Therapy and Disorders of the Self
Authors: Meyers Sheldon J.
Published: March 2007

Self Psychology's contributions to group therapy are useful in understanding the group Self as well as the individual Self.
Sociotherapeutic Groups are Like Mushrooms...
Authors: Fasolo Franco
Published: March 2007

Chronic mental patients are best treated in sociotherapeutic groups. The author gives a general perspective on this `anamorphic' form of Group-analytic psychotherapy, with useful clues as to the construction of therapeutic groups, linking them with the phenomenological approach. Metaphors are useful in socio-therapeutic groups, and this is exemplified in humorous vein in the last part of the paper
Social Class Divisions in the Consulting Room: A Theory of Psychosocial Class and Depression
Authors: Storck Lauren E.
Published: March 2007

Social class, is one of the most confusing, complex and critical dynamics in modem life for individuals and groups. Overshadowed by ethnic and gender studies for the past twenty or thirty years, the subject deserves our renewed attention, especially as groups and societies struggle with rapidly changing economies and shifting resources. The topic, however, evokes various avoidant reactions such as `It has been thoroughly researched previously' or `Of course we understand how social class dynamics affect our patients', largely because we clinicians as a group (middle or upper-middle class, university-educated and equally dedicated to individual psychodynamics) are embedded within our own social class views, values, expectations and assumptions. This article redefines and renames social class for psychotherapy as psycho-social class; reviews the `social ranking' theory of depression for individuals; and proposes a new extension of social ranking theory to group behaviours in order to suggest new group therapy interventions that address social ranking dynamics of depression.
Oedipal and Sibling Dynamics in Organizations
Authors: Wilke Gerhard
Published: March 2007

In a context of rapid change, outbreaks of sibling rivalry in organizations act as a defence against the inability to mourn and feel remorse. When changes are imposed on work-teams, sibling preoccupations surface to prevent the working through of the breakdown of relations between the institutional parents and their dependants. Siblings also adopt envy-preventing strategies, engaging in collective self-idealization by forming sisterhoods or brotherhoods to protect themselves from disillusionment and individuation. Each succeeding generation has to face the fact that a primus inter pares will have to be chosen to inherit the mantle of power from the parental generation and restore the world to its `normal' state of inequality. In the context of recent structural changes in organizations the new managers have acted like borderline parents and fostered sibling rivalry. This dynamic has functioned to deny the guilt and the fear of retaliation associated with fratricide and matricide committed during the `re-engineering' process, when the youngsters sent their parents into early retirement. I want to explore the central importance of authority, disillusionment and mourning and show that the outbreak and suppression of sibling rivalry is connected with the problem of transition and succession in organizations.
Siblings in Ancient Greek Mythology
Authors: Maratos Jason
Published: March 2007

This article begins by comparing the influences of religion and mythology, then recounts the relationships within four families and sibling groups of Greek mythology — Zeus, Medea, Antigone and Agamemnon. The various motives, experiences and third party intervention which influenced the dynamics and emotional dimensions within each sibling group are examined, both in context and in metaphorical comparison to some aspects of the social framework of life today which, in turn, influence sibling relationships. The article concludes with the proposal of a fictional Greek genogram of `new gods' relevant to some aspects of therapy and the practice of group analysis.
The Organizational Mirror: A Group-Analytic Approach to Organizational Consultancy, Part II — Application
Authors: Nitsun Morris
Published: March 2007

This is the second of two papers presenting a Group-analytic perspective on organizational analysis and intervention. In Part I, the theoretical antecedents and principles of the model were established. Part HI considers the practical application of the approach. A diagram of the organizational mirror is used as a guide to the process. The consultation follows three broad stages: information-gathering, formulation and implementation. An extended example of consultation in a mental health setting illustrates the method. The further potential of the approach as a training/consultative tool is highlighted.
Political sluggishness and economic speed: a Latin American perspective
Authors: Santiso Javier
Published: March 2007

The current moment seems to be a hiatus. Not one of an empty throne, but more that of two masters of time who are fighting over the control of time - the state and the market. Beyond the transfer of sovereignty over a period of time, these reforms are above all testimony to the inexorable acceleration of contemporary temporalities. Making the transfer from the public to the private sphere, from the “master of the clocks” that is the state to the new “master of time” that is the market - instantaneous and short-term oriented, on duty 24 hours a day - also means wagering on an acceleration of the economy. The implicit or explicit hope of these reforms is above all to relaunch growth, to give a new élan. To encourage savings is to reinforce investments and therefore to contribute to more rapid growth.
Croatian workers in the period of transition: a five-year follow-up of job-related attitudes
Authors: Seršić Darja Maslić , Šverko Branimir
Published: March 2007

Every year since 1993 we have carried out a survey of job-related attitudes among Croatian employees. The purpose was (1) to learn about their occupational goals and job satisfaction in the period of transition and socio-economic crisis, and (2) to compare responses of employees from private firms, state-owned firms and government-financed institutions. Data were collected through a self-report questionnaire created to measure the respondents' general job satisfaction and attitudes towards specific job aspects (including job content, co-workers, management, pay, advancement possibilities, working conditions, participation in decision-making and job security). The questionnaire was administered individually under the guidance of trained interviewers. The sample comprised 1392 employees. The results generally reveal that pay was the most important job aspect during the period surveyed. High value was also placed upon good managers, pleasant co-workers and an interesting job. However, the perceived attainability of most job factors was extremely low, indicating a profound deficit in the need-satisfaction of the Croatian workforce. This deficit seemed to be less pronounced in the private sector: the respondents from private firms perceived job characteristics to be better and expressed more job satisfaction than the respondents from state-owned firms.
Speed and democracy: an uneasy dialogue
Authors: Chesneaux Jean
Published: March 2007

Speed has become one of the paramount values and requirements in our modern societies. Yet democracy needs time, as a major pre-condition for political debate and decision-making; it cannot surrender blindly to speed. Nor does speed favour the dialogue between present, past and future, which is fundamental for the proper exercise of democracy.
Nutritional and other natural medical treatments for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder - AD(H)D
Authors: Dommisse John V.
Published: March 2007

Documented evidence is given, as of October 1996, for the allergic, nutritional deficiency, other natural, sensitivity and toxic causes of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The suggested treatments in each case are the logically indicated natural measures that follow from such evidence.
Sexual Selection and Human Behaviour
Authors: Rommel Ward
Published: March 2007

This article reviews some recent evolutionary psychological theories about the interaction between environmental factors and sexual strategies. Evolutionary psychology explains sexual strategies in terms of innate information-processing mechanisms. The most important theoretical instrument relating to this topic is the theory of sexual selection and parental investment. Because of the unequal parental investment of the sexes, their sexual strategies differ. This is an important source of conflict between the sexes. Humans evolved in a complex social environment. As a consequence, human psychic mechanisms produce a wide variety of sexual strategies. Two dimensions along which human sexual strategies vary are considered here. First, people's mating strategies range from striving for a lifelong pair bond to aiming at a single act of copulation with someone. Second, strategies situated at the long-term end of the continuum can be polygynous, monogamous or polyandrous. The choices made by a concrete individual are influenced by several factors such as the personal life history, the general availability and predictability of resources, the distribution of political and economic power between men and women, the distribution of political and economic power between men themselves, the production mode of a society and finally the content of cultural representations in a society. It is shown that evolutionary psychology can be important for the explanation of contemporary behavioural differences. Some methodological problems of evolutionary psychology are reviewed and an evolutionary psychological perspective on the sex/gender distinction is considered.
Socio-demographic correlates of DK-responses in knowledge surveys: self-attributed ignorance of science
Authors: Bauer Martin
Published: March 2007

With the increasing specialization of the knowledge society, knowledge in some areas means ignorance in others, which amounts to the knowledge-ignorance paradox. In the debate on public understanding of science the status of “ignorance” is controversial. How is scientific ignorance distributed by age, education, religion, social category or gender? We attempt to answer this and other questions by analysing “Don't Know”-responses in a European-wide survey as a measure of self-attributed ignorance, using a regression model, and explore how different variables explain self-attributed ignorance in different countries. A pattern emerges which shows that various EU countries differ in their distribution of ignorance of science. The polysemy of ignorance of science across social settings remains a problem for future research.
Self-proclaimed ignorance about public affairs
Authors: Joffe Hélène , Farr Robert
Published: March 2007

This paper explores the consequences of the socio-historical exclusion of women, and of young people, from public life. It is based upon an empirical study in which depth-interviews were conducted with 96 Britons, male and female, and of a younger and an older generation, concerning their private and public lives. Self-proclaimed ignorance is significantly more likely to be found in the interviews of the women rather than the men, and in those of the younger rather than the older generation. Qualitative analysis reveals that self-proclaimed ignorance is associated with a sense of distance from public affairs. The various manifestations of distance are discussed in terms of exposure to knowledge, the individualistic society's expectations concerning the knowing “I”, the privatized market economy and the effects of modernity itself.
Luhmann's sociological theory: its operationalization and future perspectives
Authors: Leydesdorff Loet
Published: March 2007

Luhmann (1984) has proposed a second-order theory of social communications, but its formalization in terms of second-order systems theory has remained underdeveloped. Second-order systems theory is a formal option and, furthermore, Shannon's (1948) mathematical theory of communication is available. The operationalization of Luhmann-type (reflexive) communications in terms of Shannon-type (first-order) communications has theoretical consequences: one is able to distinguish, more clearly than Luhmann did, between not (yet) meaningful information (“uncertainty”) and its potential meaning after selection by an observing system. Structural coupling between co-evolving systems can be distinguished from operational coupling between subsystems. This operationalization provides us with means to clarify, among other things, the theoretical debate between Münch and Luhmann about Parsons' concept of “interpenetration”. Technological developments can be analysed in terms of operational and recursive coupling at the interfaces between sciences and markets. In a triple helix model of university-industry-government relations codes of functionally differentiated communication can be translated into each other. Interorganizational configurations support the emerging communication systems.
Religious conflict in the modern world
Authors: Kakar Sudhir
Published: March 2007

This paper begins with a discussion of various identity threats in the social-political arena that bring the group aspect of our personal identity to the forefront. It then goes on to describe the development of religious group identity and its relation to violence between religious groups, with the Hindu-Muslim violence in India as its main illustration.
Representation and integration of sociological knowledge using knowledge graphs
Authors: Popping Roel , Strijker Inge
Published: March 2007

The representation and integration of sociological knowledge using knowledge graphs, a specific kind of semantic network, is discussed. Knowledge is systematically searched; this reveals inconsistencies, reducing superfluous research and knowledge, and showing gaps in a theory. This representation is conceivable under certain conditions, which are discussed. A graph for sociological theories about labour markets is presented.
Comparison of dual orderings in time
Authors: Duquenne Vincent , Mohr John , Le Pape Annick
Published: March 2007

In the direction of recent researches on formalization in social sciences, several papers were devoted to analysing the dual interplay between cultural components (categories of words) and actual practices (welfare treatments, programs...). Hence, a first analysis of the description of relief treatments by words was already undertaken in a recent joint work to investigate their institutional logic, by making use of the abilities of Galois lattices to analyse the duality treatments × word categories. The aim of this note is to refine the analysis along three directions. First, to screen the source data with the basic tools of lattice analysis (orders on words, treatments, Galois lattice...). Then, to make use of extra tools for elaborating more synthetic views of the data source structures (basis of implications, canonical splits that express incompatibilities between words and treatments, and Galois lattice ungluing into regular intervals). The third direction completes these synchronic views by comparing the findings in 1888 and 1917, and addressing the question of what was either stable, or different between these two points in time.
Castoriadis: the Radical Imagination and the Post-Lacanian Unconscious
Authors: Urribarri Fernando
Published: March 2007

Castoriadis's interpretation of Freud centres on the idea of the radical imagination; the introduction of this concept into psychoanalysis has consequences which affect all levels of the Freudian project. As Castoriadis sees it, Freud's foundational insights are not in dispute, but the reference to the imagination makes it possible to articulate them in new ways and build new bridges between psychoanalysis and social theory. In its capacity as a source of representation and meaning, the radical imagination is - together with the drives - a `co-foundation of the psyche'; further reflection along those lines leads Castoriadis to radicalise the concept of the unconscious and introduce the notion of the primal monad, but at the same time, his revised concept of sublimation links the psyche to the social-historical world. In all these regards, there are significant affinities between Castoriadis's work and the post-Lacanian currents in French psychoanalysis.
A Utopian Dialectic of Needs? Heller's Theory of Radical Needs
Authors: Grumley John
Published: March 2007

The concept of `radical needs' has been a constant element in Heller's social philosophy over the last 25 years despite the fact that her own perspective moved progressively away from Marxian philosophical anthropology towards the position that she now characterizes as reflective post-modernism. This article charts this theoretical journey with a close examination of her articulation of the concept of radical needs in various phases of her work. Beginning with an attempt to rescue Marxism from the clutches of objectivism and voluntarism, Heller locates Marx's understanding of `radical needs' as those needs which cannot be satisfied in the bourgeois configuration of society. These needs provide the revolutionary motivation which leads the workers from economic struggle to politicisation. However, a critical distance is already evident in Heller's realization that in Marx these `radical needs' did not yet actually exist for the proletariat but were a construct of the theory, a product of revolutionary faith in their further development. It is this gap between theory and reality which provides both the concern and the avenue of Heller's later modifications of the concept. She moves from a shared faith in the existence of these needs in contemporary bourgeois society to an attempt to block the potential enlistment of this concept in the service of political substitutionalism and reconstruct it beyond the Marxist philosophy of history amidst the social setting of the welfare state. Finally, the article argues that this reconstruction has only been partially successful as the concept remains awkwardly straddled between normativity and weakened factuality.
Who's the Boss?
Authors: TROYER LISA , MUELLER CHARLES W. , OSINSKY PAVEL I.
Published: March 2007

Following a role-theoretic perspective, we conceptualize employees who work with customers as brokers between an organization and its customers. This unique organizational position increases the likelihood that its occupants will face conflicting demands from the two constituencies they serve, the organization and the customer. We propose, however, that the work conditions of resource adequacy, role clarity, and autonomy moderate the effect that working with customers has on role conflict. Survey data from 5,811 employees at a national telecommunications firm are used to test these role-theoretic hypotheses. Compared with those who do not work with customers, “customer work” does produce greater role conflict. Also, as hypothesized, when comparing customer work and noncustomer work, role clarity reduces role conflict more for noncustomer workers, whereas autonomy reduces it more for customer workers. Suggestions are offered for additional applications of role theory to the study of employees who work with customers.
The Sociology of Professions
Authors: Klegon Douglas
Published: March 2007

Sociological studies of professions have traditionally focused on definitional list-making in an attempt to differentiate professions from nonprofessions. Despite recent criticisms of that approach, it has persisted. After first discussing inconsistencies and difficulties associated with the traditional approach, this paper explores an alternative perspective for analyzing professions. It is argued that the ability to obtain and maintain professional status is closely related to concrete occupational strategies and to wider social forces and arrangements of power. Such a perspective leads to a consideration of the social meaning of occupational tasks, the resources behind the emergence and continuation of professionalism, and the social consequences of professionalism.
An Occupation in Transition
Authors: VAN MAANEN JOHN , MILLER MARC L. , JOHNSON JEFFREY C.
Published: March 2007

This study examines certain changes taking place within the occupational world of commercial fishermen in the United States. An ethnographic description of fishing in Bristol Bay, Alaska, is provided. This fishery is regarded as an exemplar of “modern” fishing and is shown to contrast sharply with “traditional” fishing. Some of the more critical social and economic features of fishing as an occupation are translated into analytic variables for comparative purposes. Finally, some consequences of observed variations within the occupation are discussed with attention directed to the prospective future faced by fishermen.
Work Satisfaction and Absenteeism among Social Workers
Authors: TZINER AHARON E. , VARDI YOAV
Published: March 2007

This study partially tests the argument that in occupations where internalized altruistic values dominate performance considerations, employee dissatisfaction at work may not necessarily lead to withdrawal behavior. The Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) was used to measure satisfaction with both intrinsic and extrinsic facets of work in a sample of 139 social workers. Data on duration and frequency of absence were obtained from personnel files. The absence of a relationship between satisfaction and absenteeism supported the research hypothesis. Avenues for further investigation on professional commitment are suggested.
The Effects of Unemployment on the Probability of Suffering a Disability
Authors: LEIGH J. PAUL
Published: March 2007

Existing studies on the association between unemployment and health indices suffer reciprocal causality bias. Existing studies do not demonstrate that unemployment results in poor health rather than vice versa. This study avoids the reciprocal causality bias by measuring disability as an incidence rate and using measures of unemployment prior to the onset of the disability. Evidence from a large national longitudinal data set is presented that suggests that an individual's unemployment is useful in predicting subsequent disability. Aggregate countywide measures of unemployment, on the other hand, do not help predict an individual's probability of becoming disabled.
Occupational Stress, Social Support, and the Buffer Hypothesis
Authors: HAINES VALERIE A. , HURLBERT JEANNE S. , ZIMMER CATHERINE
Published: March 2007

The relationship between occupational stress, social support, and strain was investigated in a series of influential studies in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This continues to provide the most consistent support for the buffer hypothesis in the stress-strain literature. The authors argue that this support is more tenuous than it appears because these studies have theoretical and methodological limitations. When they are corrected, there is, at best, weak support for the buffer hypothesis in this as in other role domains. However, promising developments in the stress-strain model in other role domains can be incorporated into the occupational context.
Experience, Attitudes, and Plans
Authors: FINLAY WILLIAM , MUTRAN ELIZABETH J. , ZEITLER RODNEY R. , RANDALL CHRISTINA S.
Published: March 2007

Data from 90 medical residents who had completed rotations in the primary care clinic of a VA hospital were analyzed to determine the causes of physician productivity. Productivity data were compiled from the daily logsheets maintained in the clinic. Three sets of factors were examined: the residents' experience and training, future-practice plans, and attitudes toward patients. Some support for the experience and practice variables was found, but none of the attitude variables was significant.
In the Backrooms of Science
Authors: BARLEY STEPHEN R. , BECHKY BETH A.
Published: March 2007

This article presents data from an ethnographic study of science technicians. The article proposes a model of the science technician's role as broker in a serially interdependent occupational division of labor and then contextualizes the model by examining how technicians conceptualize and manage troubles that arise in the course of scientific procedures. The data suggest that technicians possess most of a lab's contextual knowledge and skill and that technicians, therefore, play a critical role in the production of scientific knowledge. Because contextual knowledge carries less status than formal knowledge, however, technicians experience status inconsistencies. The implications of such status inconsistencies for the transition to an increasingly technical workforce are discussed.
Gender Differences in Work Values
Authors: ROWE REBA , SNIZEK WILLIAM E.
Published: March 2007

Using data obtained from 12 national samples contained in the General Social Survey over the period 1973 through 1990, this article analyzes the work value preferences of 7,436 full-time male and female workers, representing all major occupational classifications and all major industries. The data presented in the study provide no consistent support for general differences between men's and women's work values. Instead, the data suggest that regardless of gender, one's preference for a given work value depends, in large part, on one's age, education, and occupational prestige. The authors argue that alleged gender differences are minimal, at best, and continued emphasis on differences merely serves to reinforce traditional gender-role stereotypes and to perpetuate gender inequality in the workplace.
Work and Family in Women's Lives in the German Democratic Republic
Authors: TRAPPE HEIKE
Published: March 2007

This article examines the impact of changing social policies on strategies to balance family responsibilities and employment used by women who were living in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). New life-history data for 4 birth cohorts that cover the different periods of this socialist society's 40-year existence allow comprehensive analyses of women's life courses. In the context of changing levels of support to combine work and family, the article attempts to show what strategies women used and how their chances for upward mobility were influenced by these adjustments. Systematic differences regarding labor force participation, quality of work, and adaptations to family demands are revealed among women who entered the labor force and formed their families at different times. The considerable change in women's employment patterns can only be explained by taking into account the social policies that were embedded in women's opportunity structures.
Job Changes Following Childbirth
Authors: ESTES SARAH BETH , GLASS JENNIFER L.
Published: March 2007

As women increasingly maintain labor force participation following childbirth, job changing rather than labor force withdrawal is on the rise. This article presents a theoretical perspective that takes into account the increasing financial responsibilities of mothers and modifies human capital propositions concerning job changing. We investigate initial differences between women who change jobs following childbirth and those who stay with their prenatal employer, as well as the differences between changers' prenatal and postpartum jobs. Then we use regression analysis of change scores to assess whether women make trade-offs between compensation and family accommodations. Results reveal that women are not making job changes that maximize family accommodations at the expense of monetary compensation. Rather, they suggest that women are motivated by financial and family responsibilities to increase their share of both dimensions, although their improvement on both dimensions is stunted because of their weak market position.
The Social Organization of Physician-Managers in a Changing HMO
Authors: HOFF TIMOTHY J.
Published: March 2007

This study examines identity and solidarity among 22 physician-managers working in a changing health maintenance organization. It describes two distinct identities among these professionals and the social relations associated with them. The identities are labeled organization-compatible and profession-compatible. Social relations between physician-managers are characterized by conflict, distrust, and game-playing rather than collegiality. The findings support the existence of fragmented solidarity within the group as a whole. Understanding the social organization of physicians under managed care means moving beyond the collective solidarity ideal implied by the professionalism model toward more communal, grassroots notions of cohesion. On a practical level, these results question the long-term meaningfulness of a medical management specialty in health care.
Creep, Recovery and Relaxation of Shear-Loaded Adhesive Bondlines
Authors: Althof Walter
Published: March 2007

The time dependence of shear strains and shear stresses due to creep and relaxation in adhesive bondlines of specimens with thick metal adherends was investigated at ambient temperature. The interpretation of the creep com pliance curves indicates a nonlinear viscoelastic behavior of the adhesive bondlines. Hence, simple spring dashpot models cannot properly describe the creep and relaxation of adhesives. For design purposes isochronous shear stress-strain curves are preferable as demonstrated for a typical lap joint.
The Influence of Environmental Conditions on the Vibration Characteristics of Chopped- Fiber-Reinforced Composite Materials
Authors: Gibson R.F. , Yau A. , Mende E.W. , Osborn W.E. , Riegner D.A.
Published: March 2007

The effects of exposure to elevated temperatures and common auto motive fluids on the dynamic stiffness and internal damping of several E-glass/polyester automotive composite materials have been measured. A previously developed forced flexural vibration technique was modified to suit the requirements of the environmental conditions. Stiffness and damping of three chopped-fiber-reinforced composites and of two hybrid chopped/continuous-fiber-reinforced composites were measured over the temperature range 20° - 120°C and during 1000 hour soaking tests in distilled water, salt water, motor oil, gasoline, and anti-freeze solutions. Correlations between types (and amounts) of environmental exposure and corresponding changes in dynamic properties are discussed.
Transverse Shear Stiffness of T300/5208 Graphite-Epoxy in Simple Bending
Authors: Sandorff P.E.
Published: March 2007

Evaluation of the complete set of elastic constants of a graphite/epoxy laminate, including the transverse shear moduli, was achieved by conducting tension, compression, and bending tests on square-section specimens cut 0° and 90° to the fiber axis from 64-ply unidirectional T300/5208 laminate. Axial test specimens were instrumented with tee gages to obtain data on ex tensional moduli and Poisson's ratios. Bending deflections were analyzed using rigorous finite difference solutions for stress distribution to derive the shear moduli along with the extensional moduli acting in bending. A self- consistent set of properties was determined which established the material as being transversely isotropic and conforming to the linear theory of elasticity. The values obtained for the elastic constants were in good agreement with published data except for the in-plane shear modulus, which was somewhat lower than indicated by other test methods. Calculations of the Timoshenko shear coefficient indicated a large variation with fiber orientation and span.
A Nonlinear Energy Analysis for Cracked Lamina of Fibre-Reinforced Composite Material
Authors: Wei Shen  , Yong Yao-Pu
Published: March 2007

The general G-K relation has been obtained and the nonlinear energy method generalized to analyzing the mixed mode fracture problem by W. Shen and James D. Lee. For the special case in which the line crack is perpendicular to one of the major loading axes, it has been found that the linear energy release rate is independent of the biaxial load factor while the nonlinear energy rate depends on it. In this paper, based on the nonlinear energy method for mixed mode fracture, the calculations for the pro cess of the nonlinear rate of off-axis cracked lamina of composite material subjected to biaxial loading have been performed. In addition, several examples have been given to explain the influence of fiber-orientation, biaxial loading factor and how the nonlinear correction factors vary with changes of the applied load.
The Elastic Properties of Chopped Strand Mat and Woven Roving in G.R. Laminae
Authors: Naughton B.P. , Panhuizen F. , Vermeulen A.C.
Published: March 2007

The elastic properties of 450 gr/m2 chopped strand mat (CSM) and 800 gr/m2 woven roving (WR) reinforced polyester laminae were experimentally determined using the tensile and the rail shear tests. It was found that the CSM laminae did not comply with the (general) assumption of transverse isotropy; the Young's moduli (E) measured in two mutually perpendicular directions were found to differ by 18 percent. A difference of 27 percent in the E of the two (mutually perpendicular) principal material directions of the WR could be partially explained in terms of the volume fraction of fibres in these directions. The elastic properties of both types of laminae were predicted from the resin and fibre properties and the fibre volume fraction using equations suggested by Hull for the CSM and an analysis of Ishikawa for the WR. Agreement between the predicted and experimental values was reasonable to excellent.