bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Attachment Styles and Intimate Television Viewing: Insecurely Forming Relationships in a Parasocial Way
Authors: Cole Trim , Leets Laura
Published: March 2007

Attachment theory was investigated as an alternative inter-personal theory for understanding how audience members form parasocial relationships with television personalities. Attachment theory posits that people develop relationships in either a secure or insecure fashion. We explored whether attachment styles influenced the extent to which individuals engage in parasocial interaction. A total of 115 students completed the parasocial scale and two attachment style questionnaires. Results provided evidence that attachment styles are related to parasocial behavior: Anxious-ambivalents were the most likely to form parasocial bonds, Avoidants were the least likely to develop such relationships, and Secures were in the middle, with the more mistrusting Secures showing a tendency to engage in parasocial interaction. The discussion focuses on the implications of these findings for the attachment process.
The Interaction between Culture and Entrepreneurship in London's Immigrant Businesses
Authors: Basu Anuradha , Altinay Eser
Published: March 2007

This article examines the interaction between culture and immigrant entrepreneurship with reference to London's ethnic minorities. It compares the cultural attributes of different ethnic groups and how these affect their entrepreneurial behaviour. The article reports and analyses the results of 163 interviews with entrepreneurs from six different immigrant communities in London: Indian, East African Asian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Turkish Cypriot and Turkish. The findings indicate diversity in business entry motives, patterns of start-up finance and family involvement in business among the different ethnic groups. These may be explained by differences in several cultural attributes including family tradition, migration motives, religion, family links, business experience and educational attainment. The evidence suggests that the interaction between culture and entrepreneurship is stronger in the case of some ethnic groups than others.
Microforms: intermediate business information technology?
Authors: Foster Pamela
Published: March 2007

This article looks at the future of microforms in business information. It discusses the variety of microformats and assesses their future in business publishing and information management It concludes that, whilst in some areas of information management microforms are an intermediate technology, they have a healthy future as a publishing medium
Business Law: an introduction to information sources
Authors: Clinch Peter
Published: March 2007

The sources of business law, including statutes, statutory instruments, case law and extra-legal sources, are described and evaluated with, in addition, practical advice on their use in enquiry work.
The Rise of the PR Industry in Britain, 1979-98
Authors: Miller David , Dinan William
Published: March 2007

Public relations is politically and economically more important than ever. This article charts the growth of the PR industry in Britain since 1979. It sets out the major reasons for its growth and outlines some of the political and economic impacts of the expansion on the PR consultancy sector in Britain. In particular it focuses on the `tilt to the market' under Thatcher, the role of the PR industry in deregulation and privatization and the progressive abolition of controls on international movement of capital as exemplified in Britain by the `Big Bang'. In addition the article discusses the consequences of these developments in opening up new and expanded markets for PR consultancies.
Spin Doctoring in British and German Election Campaigns
Authors: Esser Frank , Reinemann Carsten , Fan David
Published: March 2007

The 1997 British and 1998 German general elections showed striking parallels and distinctive differences in the way Blair and Schroeder delivered their campaigns and defeated long-sitting conservative governments. Of vital importance was a new quality of political public relations called `spin doctoring'. In this, the British Labour Party served as a kind of role model for the German Social Democratic Party. This article traces the origins and different meanings of `spin doctoring' in both countries, distinguishes between media-related and non-media-related spin activities and analyses it against the background of the specific national contexts. The aims and methods of political spin doctors in modern election campaigns are described, particularly their half antagonistic, half symbiotic relationship with journalists. A comparative content analysis of the press coverage of the last general elections reveals that the two countries' journalists dealt with political spin doctors very differently. In Great Britain, `spin doctoring high gear' predominated, in Germany it was `spin doctoring low gear'. British journalists covered their efforts extensively and critically, mainly because some of them turned to unusually aggressive methods towards the media. German journalists were less likely to report extensively on spin doctoring. This can be explained by the fact that it is still in a stage of development in Germany and — for that very reason — that German journalists are still less interested in the strategic inner perspective of the electoral campaigning.
European Televised Women
Authors: Thoveron Gabriel
Published: March 2007

This study is based on the analysis of a week of programmes on European television channels. In the news programmes an under-representation of women among the journalists as well as in the news items themselves may be observed. If women are predominant in commercials, they appear there mainly as housewives, whose decisions to purchase a product need to be guided by men. When women are shown at work, they appear confined to lower positions and one of their principal roles consisted of being attractive. In serials/series, women speak less than men and in conflict situations women defend traditional positions. As television does not convey one image of women but several, these clichés should be corrected and I present some suggestions to amend the situation.
Conclusion: The Comparative Study of News Diffusion
Authors: Rosengren Karl Erik
Published: March 2007

By means of comparative studies, knowledge about news diffusion patterns may be generalized not only over events but also over different social and media systems. To that end, the diffusion of news about the assassination of Sweden's Prime Minister, Olof Palme, was comparatively studied in twelve countries in Europe, Asia and America. The results show that media structure - previously somewhat neglected in diffusion studies - plays an important role in determining the predominant medium of diffusion. Across the media systems, on the other hand, differential significance of the event strongly affects the rate of diffusion as well as the role of personal communication in the news diffusion process. The influence of sheer geographical distance is weak.
Bourdieu, the Sociology of Culture and Cultural Studies: A Critique
Authors: Mander Mary S.
Published: March 2007

This article explores both the contributions and the drawbacks of the work of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. Habitus and symbolic violence, terms central to Bourdieu's thought, are explicated, as well as his critical assessments of methodological and epistemological problems in current social scientific research. In particular the drawbacks of public opinion polls and survey research, and the problematics of the social scientist as social subject, are treated. Bourdieu's metaphorical preferences are highlighted to indicate the assumptions he makes regarding social scientific practices and the hidden pitfalls of adapting his work wholesale to the field of communications. Finally, the social paradigm underpinning Bourdieu's work is compared with that underpinning a cultural studies approach to the study of communications.
The Press The Papers Wanted? The Case of Post-War Newsprint Rationing in the Netherlands and Britain
Authors: Wieten Jan
Published: March 2007

In the beginning of 1947 Kingsley Martin published his vision of the press as it was and as it should be in The Press the Public Wants. Whoever wanted the tiny papers of the late 1940s? No one, it would seem, least of all the newspapers themselves who complained they could not function in the way they should, due to the inadequate supply of newsprint. Newsprint rationing seems to have been even more controversial in the Netherlands than in Britain. This article probes the similarities and differences between the situation of the daily press in Britain and the Netherlands, after World War II with particular reference to the scarcity of newsprint, in order to understand some of the dynamics of media structure. An important explanatory factor in the matter of a response to the newsprint restrictions may have been the degree of commercialization of the press as a whole, and of particular newspapers.
The Contagiousness of Mass-Mediated Terrorism
Authors: Brosius Hans-Bernd , Weimann Gabriel
Published: March 2007

This article examines the part played by the mass media in the diffusion of international terrorism. It applies time-series analysis to a database containing the Rand Corporation Chronology of International Terrorism, and measures of media coverage devoted to each terrorist incident on US television networks and nine newspapers from various countries. By means of multivariate analysis and applying different time lags and cross-correlations between media coverage and occurrence series, the contribution of the media to the reoccurrence of terrorism can be measured. The findings provide partial support for the `contagion hypothesis' when related to international terrorism and reveal the significant contribution of the media, especially US television networks, to the reoccurrence of terrorism.
Global Harmonies and Local Discords: Transnational Policies and Practices in the European Recording Industry
Authors: Negus Keith
Published: March 2007

This article focuses on processes of globalization in the music industry by examining the transnational practices of the major record companies in Europe. Outlining various pan-European repertoire policies and working arrangements, it describes how tensions arise between staff in different national divisions of record companies; over the unequal exchange of musical products and due to the way in which locally produced music is deprioritized in favour of material produced by artists from Britain and the USA. It also describes how various local state and community interests attempt to support musical activity, assuming a position explicitly in opposition to that of the major entertainment corporations. In general, this article argues that a complex series of nationstate, commercial market and civil society relationships concretely mediate processes of `globalization', intervening as the global strategies of corporations are actively translated into specific local cultural practices.
The Filmic Construction of Tolerance: Representations of Interethnic Relations in Educational Films
Authors: Glastra Folke , Kats Erik
Published: March 2007

As in other West European countries, both ethnic minorities and immigration have become permanent features of Dutch society. Although there are differences between nationalities, it can be said that, on the whole, these minorities are socially and economically disadvantaged (Schumacher, 1987: 124, 173). In dealing with the problems involved, much use is made of educational films. These films are employed to inform ethnic minorities about rules and regulations of the Dutch welfare state and to provide the indigenous population with information about the cultural backgrounds of the newcomers. In our research, we analyse representations of interethnic relations in such films. In this article, we discuss some of the results of this detailed analysis. Educational films vary particularly with respect to the kind of contradictions they thematize, in their assumptions about the social actors involved and in the lines of development they sketch. In conclusion, we discuss the results of the analysis against the background of the myth of tolerance.
The Television Audience:
Authors: Roscoe Jane , Marshall Harriette , Gleeson Kate
Published: March 2007

This paper addresses recent debates concerning the conceptualization of the television audience and the viewing context. It re-examines concepts that have acquired `commonsense' status within media studies, for example, `active', `social', `context' and `critical'. These concepts are discussed in relation to illustrative extracts from audience discussions of the drama-documentary, Who Bombed Birmingham? Twelve group discussions were carried out following presentation of the drama-documentary with the groups categorized as `interest' and `non-interest'. Attention is given first, to whether viewers actively negotiate meanings and how their readings are informed by their social group memberships and second, to the way in which viewers draw upon knowledge sources external to the text. Finally, consideration is given to the extent to which it can be said that viewers' reflexivity constitutes `critical' readings.
Television as Arsonist?
Authors: Esser Frank , Brosius Hans Bernd
Published: March 2007

This article deals with the role of television in the spread of violence against foreigners and asylum seekers in the united Germany. After each of the four most violent riots and arson attacks, the Federal Bureau of Criminal Investigation observed dramatic increases of xenophobic assaults. Using time series analysis, the results of this article show that television played a critical role in the spread of racial violence. The article provides an escalation model of how violence is diffused. The model links aspects of reality, public concern, motivational status of perpetrators and type of television coverage. A combination of suggestive-imitative theory and priming turns out to be the most appropriate theoretical concept to explain the results.
`Green' Corruption in the Italian Press
Authors: Triandafyllidou Anna
Published: March 2007

This article looks at the relationship between specific national attitudes and predispositions towards politics and the understanding of public issues by examining the environmental discourse in the Italian press. Two features of the Italian political culture: (1) the mistrust which characterizes the relations between citizens and their government and (2) the personalization of politics, are selected as factors determining a nationally specific `narrative structure' which organizes Italian press discourse on environmental issues. The issue of political corruption relating to environmental problems plays the role of intermediate variable, which highlights the use of the specific `narrative structure'. The analysis is based on texts taken from the Italian daily press in the period 1987-91. Reflections about the general validity of this `narrative structure' with regard to other policy domains are addressed briefly at the end of the article.
The War of the Words?
Authors: Maguire Joseph , Poulton Emma , Possamai Catherine
Published: March 2007

This article is broadly concerned with the role that the sports press plays in the construction and representation of national identity and of identity politics. More specifically, it highlights the nature and form of media reporting within the German and English press during the 1996 European Football Championships, EURO 96. This is examined through the use of a quantitative content analysis supported and illustrated by qualitative discourse examples. The comparison of English and German print media is particularly relevant given the historical and contemporary rivalry, both sporting and political, that exists between the two nations. Past and present identity politics issues between England and Germany can be illuminated through this analysis. Attention is paid to whether national stereotyping, I/we images, established/outsider identities/relations, national habitus codes and Europeanization processes and politics were evident in the media coverage of EURO 96. It would appear that, in some countries, global sports are being used to reassert an intense form of national identity discourse in opposition to further European integration.
A Clash of Civilizations or of Paradigms?
Authors: Chirot Daniel
Published: March 2007

What is perceived by Huntington and many who think like him as an inevitable clash of civilizations is actually produced by the uneven modernization that has caused some parts of the world to lag behind others. Despite the serious resentment and conflict this has produced, social evolutionary pressures will force all societies to modernize, so that the major technological and cultural gaps between various parts of the world will greatly diminish in the future. Anti-modernizing policies that are rooted in poor social theory, and that feed on the resentment of people in societies whose modernization has lagged can, however, greatly retard modernization and increase human suffering and conflict. It is therefore a useful task for social scientists to consider what theories best explain social change in order to guide policies in the most beneficial direction. Classical functionalist-evolutionary theories do this far better than more recent theories such as those proposed by Huntington, by world system theorists, or by postmodernists.
DECIVILISING PROCESSES: THEORETICAL SIGNIFICANCE AND SOME LINES OF RESEARCH
Authors: Mennell Stephen
Published: March 2007

Decivilising processes are what happens when civilising processes go into reverse; both terms are used here in a specific technical sense derived from the work of Norbert Elias ( The Civilising Process, 2 vols., 1978/1982, orig. 1939). The first part of the paper briefly sketches aspects of the theory of civilising processes necessary for identifying symptoms of their reversal. It is inferred that true decivilising processes would be marked by breaking links and shorter chains of social interdependence, associated with higher levels of danger and incalculability in everyday life, the re-emergence of violence into the public sphere and a decline in mutual identification, reduced pressures on individuals to restrain the expression of impulses (including the freer expression of aggressiveness), changes in socialisation and personality formation, and increasing fantasy-content of modes of knowledge.

The second part of the paper examines evidence relating to four candidates for the label `decivilising process'. The debate about the `permissive society' suggests that this was `decivilising' in a very limited sense: it involved a `highly controlled decontrolling of emotional controls'. Evidence of an upturn in violence in contemporary United States and British society is examined next; the data of Gurr, Stone and Dunning suggest the longterm trend was until recently downwards. The Holocaust and other instances of mass murder are discussed next. Finally, it is proposed that the clearest cases of decivilising processes would be those where trends could be observed over at least three generations; evidence should be sought in the collapse of complex societies (such as the Roman Empire) and episodes such as the Thirty Years War and its aftermath, and the so-called `Wild West'.
IBN KHALDUN: THE FOUNDING FATHER OF EASTERN SOCIOLOGY
Authors: Dhaouadi Mahmoud
Published: March 2007

Ibn Khaldun's social thought has largely been ignored by sociologists in the West, although Yves Lacoste and Arnold Toynbee considered it to be the greatest work of its kind. He lived at a time of crisis in Arab-Muslim civilisation, and a paradigm crisis in historiography. His ` Ilm Al `Umran, the New Science, was designed to provide a better understanding of the history of Arab-Muslim societies. Its introduction, the Muqaddimah, has been interpreted by Muhammed Al-Jabri as an evolutionary analysis of human phenomena including an objective account of the supernatural. It is an account of the dynamics of Arab society `explaining how and why things are as they are'.

The central concept of the New Science is Al `Assabiyya, which is a specifically Arab interpretation of what holds groups together. This was partially transformed by the `invasion economy' in Ibn Khaldun's time and we can extend this analysis to modern oil-dependent countries. Khaldun shares a dualist typological approach (bedouin/sedentary) with Western sociologists. In his case, both first-hand interaction with the social realities of his time and commitment to Arab-Muslim civilisation were combined with a demand for freedom of thought and rigorous science.
COLLECTIVE ASSERTION STRATEGIES OF IMMIGRANTS IN SWITZERLAND
Authors: Bolzman Claudio , Fibbi Rosita
Published: March 2007

In this paper we focus on an often neglected dimension of immigration, the collective one. We explore two main forms of collective assertion of immigrants: (1) political mobilisation, which is no longer as dominant as it has been in the past; and (2) cultural mobilisation, which has become increasingly important over the last ten years. After the failure of a number of political initiatives at the national level, these new forms of assertion aim at the recognition of immigrants' groups at the local community level, which in the Swiss political system is a significant operational level that also has a wide symbolic resonance.

We argue that these changes are due to the immigrants' experience of status inconsistency, which involves participation in the socio-economic field and exclusion from the political arena (expressed particularly in the lack of voting rights). This is a result of Swiss migration policy and the strucutre of political opportunities. Whenever a lack of socio-economic or political rights is increasingly unacceptable to the groups concerned, it seems likely that forms of social mobilisation appear. Two factors have produced this decreased legitimacy of the immigrants' status: (a) the prolonged residence in the host society, which should normally result in the progressive acquisition of a better socio-economic status and greater social rights; (b) the strengthening and expansion of the European Community - where most of the immigrants come from - reinforcing their symbolic and political resources in the negotiation of their status in the host country.
NEIGHBOURHOOD CULTURES: SOME ASPECTS OF DIFFICULT HISTORICAL NEIGHBOURHOODS
Authors: Kloskowska Antonina
Published: March 2007

According to the semiotic approach to culture adopted by the author, the nation should be distinguished not only from the state and society but from national culture as well, even though the nation is a community of shared values and symbols. The symbolic culture encoded in enduring means of communication can transgress political and national frontiers. Its elements may be evaluated in part irrespective of the relations and attitudes to the national source of their origin.

The neighbourhood of nations gives rise to numerous conflicts of interest. The history of Germany and Poland serves as an example of this. However, even violent practical conflicts do not preclude the transmission of the symbolic culture beyond national frontiers. This is illustrated by the example of the attitudes of Polish intellectuals toward German culture during the last war. Results of opinion polls are also discussed. The author concludes that a symbolic culture cannot resolve practical conflicts of interests nor remove fears originating in such conflicts, but its influence can prevent the totalisation of conflicts and open a way to mutual understanding.
THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF SOUTH KOREAN DEVELOPMENT
Authors: Lie John
Published: March 2007

The paper analyses South Korean development, which has been hailed as a `miracle' by many scholars. It identifies four factors as necessary to South Korea's economic growth: cheap labour, land reform, the developmentalist state, and the international political economy. The paper questions the facile celebration of the `miracle', and stresses some of the costs of South Korean development.
LONGING FOR COMMUNITY: PHENOMENOLOGICAL PHILOSOPHY OF POLITICS AND THE DILEMMAS OF EUROPEAN CULTURE
Authors: Krasnodebski Zdzisław
Published: March 2007

Phenomenology enjoys striking popularity in Eastern Europe. For those concerned with phenomenology before the collapse of communism it was an antidote to Marxism in its Soviet version. Its popularity was due to the perhaps naive striving for a true philosophy not manipulated by politics, in that its idealism was interpreted as a protest against the materialistic degradation of the human being. What would Husserl say if he was told about this role of phenomenology? Perhaps he would it consider it as self-evident. His allegedly completely apolitical philosophy had political ambitions, since the struggle for phenomenology was for him not merely a philosophical discussion, but a political struggle with pragmatists, advocates of Realpolitik, nationalists and traditionalists.

This paper analyses phenomenology as a radical social philosophy which aimed at the revolutionary renewal of European culture. Well-known for his inclination to work on details and for an arduous theoretical analysis, Husserl was not an advocate of small steps in politics. His political philosophy is then contrasted with that of Helmuth Plessner. From Plessner's point of view Husserl's programme can be seen as a manifestation of the striving for the abolition of society and its replacement by community. In his defence of society, Plessner developed a philosophy of the public sphere as a sphere of social roles, prestige ceremonial, tact and diplomacy, in which the absolute character of the Ego is negated in contact with others. The paper poses questions such as which of these philosophies is more adequate for our time and whether the way shown by Husserl in his programmatic writings is still open to us today.
THE ROLE OF TRADITIONAL RULERS IN THE REHABILITATION OF EX-CONVICTS IN NIGERIA
Authors: Tile Wilfred Shaapera
Published: March 2007

This paper explores the role of traditional rulers in the processes of reforming exconvicts in Nigeria. It does not seek to underplay the various roles of government institutions like prisons, social welfare services, religious leaders and the Churches, nor those of informal family and kinship groups. Each contributes to the reformation and reintegration of deviants or recalcitrant individuals and groups into their society. However, the study seeks to identify and add yet another dimension in the rehabilitation process. The emphasis on `traditional rulers' arises from their closeness to members of their communities, and from the fact that, as wise elders and custodians of their people's culture, they are trusted and respected by their subjects.
CONTESTED BOUNDARIES AND EMERGING PLURALISM
Authors: Oommen T. K.
Published: March 2007

The rise and fall, construction and deconstruction of different types of boundaries - biological, psychological, geographical, cultural, social, political, economic - make up the very story of human civilisation and of contemporary social transformation. Drawing from a wide variety of contexts, this paper shows how new boundaries do not replace the old ones but rather they tend to co-exist. This co-existence is sometimes harmonious but often tension-prone. Life in a society without boundaries will be nasty, brutish and short. On the other hand, societies with a proclivity to maintain boundaries that ignore the pulse of the times will be condemned to stagnation and decay. Thus, boundaries are constantly contested and hence the real challenge is to abolish obsolete boundaries and build desirable new ones which is the essence of pluralism.
Sociology's Great Leap Forward: the Challenge of Internationalisation
Authors: Tiryakian Edward A.
Published: March 2007

This paper advocates internationalising the sociology curriculum for both practical and theoretical reasons. Macro-sociology must drop the parochialism of implicitly confining itself to intra-state phenomena, based on Western historical experience, and develop a conceptual framework adequate to deal with the emergent transnational scene and transnational global structures and processes of change. Correspondingly, the sociology curriculum must be geared to increasing the international competency of students, both undergraduates and graduates. Doing so will attract better undergraduates seeking careers in the international field, and will for graduates provide training and research that will promote the number of sociologists actually engaged in international studies.
The Use of Chinese Rural Labour Resources and its Impact on the Rural Environment
Authors: Xueyi Lu
Published: March 2007

China is very rich in labour resources but for various reasons, outlined in this article, most of the labour power is still based in the rural areas. Before 1978 the employment of labour and distribution of production in the system of People's Communes was regulated from the centre, which led to peasants making inefficient use of their time and the results of their labour. This resulted in minimal peasant initiative, slow agricultural development, low peasant incomes and quality of life, and damage to the rural environment. The 1978 reforms of the rural economic system granted peasants' greater autonomy in making decisions in the sphere of agricultural and non-agricultural production. These reforms led to an enhancement of peasant initiative and agricultural production as well as the development of township enterprises. Improvements in peasants' income, their quality of life and the rural ecology were the result. While progress in the rural environment is acknowledged, the article argues that the issue of surplus labour in the countryside has yet to be tackled. It is estimated that, by the year 2000, job placements will have to be found for approximately 150 million agricultural labourers. This is seen to be one of the greatest challenges facing rural development in China.
Fragmented Community Action or New Social Movement?
Authors: Lundy Patricia
Published: March 2007

Environmentalism is usually regarded as a `First World' phenomenon associated with economic prosperity and rising living standards. This article examines environmentalism in the context of a `Third World' country, Jamaica. While the tourist industry successfully promotes Jamaica as an unspoiled tropical holiday destination, the country faces serious environmental threats from industry, agriculture and from tourism itself. Structural adjustment and stabilization programmes have cut deeply into government expenditure with a consequence that environmental protection has low priority. However, in Jamaica social action has emerged in response to environmental problems. Groups have begun to organize at national, parish and community level and have become vehicles for citizens to lobby, protest and campaign on a number of pressing ecological issues. This article seeks to establish if the emerging social action is most accurately categorized as fragmented community action or whether it amounts to a new social movement. The factors which have shaped and influenced the development of the `movement' are explored in the context of local, national and global processes which have given rise to the social action. The applicability of theories of new social movements in accounting for environmentalism in the `Third World' is discussed.
Turning Ideas into Products
Authors: Gomory Ralph E.
Published: March 2007

It is the speed of the development and manufacturing cycle that appears as technical innovation or leadership.
Building a New World
Authors: Brown Lester R.
Published: March 2007

The National Association for Science, Technology and Society and the Calvert Social Investment Fund created this lectureship to honor Robert D. Rodale, the late Chairman of Rodale Press and Rodale Institute, and a regular speaker at earlier TLC events. On February 7, 1992 the President of the Worldwatch Institute, Lester R. Brown, presented the first Robert Rodale Lecture.
Semiotics in Technology, Learning, and Culture
Authors: Cook Ruth Gannon
Published: March 2007

Lev Vygotsky's research presented individual men tal processes as being determined by one's historically developed activity, both on a physical level (through labor) and on a mental level (through the use of psychological tools). In this study, the author reviews the translated research of Vygotsky and compares his use of the term psychological tools with research in the areas of metaphors and semiotics. Could these semiotic psychological tools be included in media sound bites and computer software to facilitate and enhance learning? Because the author's research interests are in the area of instructional technology, the intention is to explore psychological theories, such as those of Vygotsky, to see how instructional technologists might use these theories. The ideal would be to incorporate theories into their design and create innovative technology programs that affect learning positively both in the United States and in other countries and cultures.
Eighth Grade Classrooms in Theory and Practice: The Gap Persists
Authors: Erb Thomas Owen
Published: March 2007

Recent research has demonstrated that a gap exists between the advocacy of educational innovations in the literature and the actual practice of these innovations in classrooms. The middle school movement has raised several questions concerning the implementation of recommended procedures in the middle grades. This study went beyond using paper and pencil instruments to gather data on classroom practice. Two lowinference observation instruments were used to compare core classrooms to departmental ones on the dimensions of climate, control, and teacherstudent verbal interaction. Except in the area of climate, where core classrooms showed superiority, more similarities than differences were found. Neither core nor departmentalized classrooms were dominated by the practices recommended in the literature to aid early adolescent growth and development.
Female Adolescents' Ego Development: Age Comparisons and Childrearing Perceptions
Authors: Adams Gerald R. , Jones Randy
Published: March 2007

This study was designed to examine the relationship between perceptions of parental socialization styles and ego development in female high school students. Inasmuch as previous research has provided evidence implying that age is a mediating variable related to ego development, a second goal of this investigation was to replicate these findings. A total of 137, 15 to 18 year old females responded to a child rearing perceptions scale and an ego development instrument. A discriminant analysis revealed that female ego development is facilitated when subjects perceive (1) maternal allowance of freedom and independence, (2) paternal approval and praise, and (3) minimal paternal control and regulation. The analysis which utilized ego development as a dependent measure and age as the independent variable revealed a nonsignificant increase in ego development with corresponding age increments. Collectively, these data suggest that ego development is mediated by age and perceived child rearing experience.
The Association between Early Adolescent Boys' Cognitive Development, Father Attitudes and Nonverbal Behavior
Authors: Tremblay Richard E. , Larivee Serge , Gregoire Jacques C.
Published: March 2007

Based on Piaget's equilibration theory, father dogmatism and empathy was hypothesized to influence sons' cognitive development through non-verbal behavior in father-son interactions. Subjects were 52 pairs of fathers and their sons drawn from first-year high school students of bi-parental families. Fathers' dogmatism and empathy was assessed by questionnaire, sons' cognitive development with Piaget's permutation task using the clinical procedure, and fathers' nonverbal behavior by videotaping father-son interactions while they worked on a computer terminal. A factor analysis of fathers' nonverbal behavior revealed two factors accounting for 59.3% of the variance. One factor is mainly loaded with fathers' visual behavior and body orientation toward their sons while keeping at a distance from them. The other factor is mainly loaded with fathers' smiling behavior. No relationship was found between fathers' dogmatism, empathy and sons' cognitive development, but the nonverbal factor "father smiles" was associated with both sons' cognitive development and fathers' dogmatism. A multiple regressions analysis revealed that together these traits account for 24% of the variance in the nonverbal factor "father smiles." This result is interpreted as not only showing once more children's effects on parents' behavior, but also as evidence that by using both some of the child's and some of the parents characteristics we can account for more of the variance in the parent's behavior with his child than if either are considered independently.
Discovery Versus Constructivist Interpretations of Identity Formation: Consideration of Additional Implications
Authors: Berzonsky Michael D.
Published: March 2007

The discovery and creation metaphors of identity formation respectively, are considered within the broader contexts of vitalistic and organismic philosophic assumptions about human development. Individual responsibility and accountability, it is argued, tends to be minimal according to the discovery view. Since one's true self or daimon is predetermined, the individual's role is limited to understanding and realizing that inner essence. From a constructivist view, however, individuals are more responsible for actively determining who they think they "really" are; one fixed answer does not preexist. The philosophic underpinnings of the discovery metaphor imply a dualistic conception of human nature that precludes the scientific investigation of potentially falsifiable hypotheses. The possibility is considered that individuals may have direct introspective access to their true selves, and that verbal reports can serve as the basis for operationalizing their identities.
A Comparison of Gifted and Nongifted Early Adolescents' Movement toward Abstract Thinking
Authors: Thornburg Hershel D. , Adey Kym L. , Finnis Ernest
Published: March 2007

This manuscript looks at factors that affect the early adolescent's progress toward abstract thinking. It is organized around theoretical ideas, research data, and strategies for learning abstract thinking. The authors analyze various theories, eventually concluding that there are no major barriers to the gradual evolution into dominant abstract thinking. This is substantiated in both nongifted and gifted populations although it was found that gifted early adolescents engage in abstract thinking earlier. The applied strategies demonstrate how early adolescents can be taught to do abstract thinking.
Values of Early Adolescents Compared by Type of School
Authors: McCartin Rosemarie , Freehill Maurice
Published: March 2007

Early adolescent values profiles were examined in five schools using a modified form of the Values Preference Survey Scale (Form D). The schools were differentiated on four bases: ethnic mix/Caucasian, religiously affiliated/public, urban/rural, and low SES/upper middle SES. Values ranking from 266 students, 10 to 12 years old, confirm the expectation that values profiles or orders of arrangement do differ from school to school and that the differences are significantly related to distinctions between schools on a composite dimension that includes ethnicity, SES, and rural/urban factors. Somewhat fewer significant distinctions were found for religiously affiliated schools compared with public schools. Groups of upper middle SES, Caucasian children in non-urban communities assigned high values to achievement and recognition and balanced their appraisal with lesser weights for family and personal values. The urban, low SES, and mixed ethnic group developed a very different profile, assigning personal satisfactions priority above the values of reputation, achievement, religious faith, and secure country. The groups identified as Catholic ranked religious faith and personal virtues significantly high and prosperity relatively low.
Implications of Certification and Teaching Longevity on Middle Level Teacher Preparation
Authors: Clark Sally N. , Jones Randall M.
Published: March 2007

The preparation of middle level school educators has been a topic of major concern for almost three decades. In this study, middle level educators were asked to rate the areas of field experiences, classroom management, student counseling, human development, curriculum design, educational technology, and philosophical foundations as to their importance in the preparation of prospective teachers. The data showed that longevity of experience was an influential factor in determining the importance of the areas to be included in middle level teacher preparation programs. Beginning (1 to 7 years) and highly experienced teachers (14 + years) rated six of the seven areas as being more important than did their colleagues with 8 to 13 years of experience. The level of certification (elementary, middle level, or high school) had little or no influence on educator preferences. Major implications of the study include the importance of providing quality field experiences for prospective middle level teachers and the necessity of revising current programs by incorporating the "social studies model."
Effects of Popularity and Friendship on Perceptions of the Personality and Social Behavior of Peers
Authors: Berndt Thomas J. , Das Rina
Published: March 2007

To examine the relations of popularity and friendship to children's and adolescents' perceptions of a classmate's personality, 90 fourth and eighth graders were asked in the fall of a school year to describe one of their friends. The students were asked to describe the same classmate again in the spring of the school year, whether or not they were still close friends. Changes in friendships between the fall and the spring were associated with changes in the frequency of positive and negative comments about the partner's personality and ratings of the partner's prosocial and aggressive behavior. These comments and ratings were not correlated with the partner's popularity. By contrast, ratings of the partner's academic ability were not related to changes in friendship but were related to the partner's popularity. Less popular and more rejected children and adolescents were judged to be less able academically.
Effects of Parent-Adolescent Interaction on the Continuity of Cognitive Development from Early Childhood to Early Adolescence
Authors: Dunham Richard M. , Kidwell Jeannie S. , Portes Pedro R.
Published: March 2007

The continuity of cognitive development from early childhood to early adolescence is examined in light of mother-adolescent interaction and demographic measures. The sample was comprised of fifty-four mother-adolescent dyads, from a follow-up of an early-age antipoverty intervention. Middle class and lower class control groups and an experimental group were balanced by social class, ethnicity and gender. Measures used were the Participatory Style of Interaction, (PSI), the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, the Stanford Binet, and the California Test of Basic Skills. There was a continuity of cognitive development within each social class, in the absence of intervention. Social class and ethnic differences were mitigated for the lower class treated group, but re-emerged over the decade following the intervention. For the middle class and treated lower class groups, a participatory style of mother-adolescent interaction was found to be related to cognitive development and to account for much of the power of demographic variables in the prediction of cognitive development.
Adolescents' Perceptions of Friends' and Parents' Influence on Aspects of their School Adjustment
Authors: Berndt Thomas J. , Miller Kristelle E. , Park Keunho
Published: March 2007

Junior high school students' perceptions of their friends' influence on their attitudes, behavior, and performance in school were examined in two studies. In the first study, adolescents' perceptions of friends' influence were also compared with their perceptions of parents 'influence. Only a minority of the students in each study perceived their friends as influencing the various aspects of their adjustment to school. The adolescents in Study 1 perceived parents as more influential than friends. Students' reports on their own adjustment to school were positively correlated, in both studies, with their perceptions of their friends' adjustment. There were no significant relations, however, between the measures of perceived influence and of students' own adjustment. That is, students who were better adjusted to school did not consistently report either more or less influence of friends. The reasons that students gave for an absence of friends' influence clarify potentially important constraints on the actual influence of friends.
Students' Stress, Distress, and Achievement in an Urban Intermediate School
Authors: Grannis Joseph C.
Published: March 2007

This study examined relationships between in-school stressor and support events, locus of control distress, and achievement for a sample of 90 eighth-grade students in an inner-city school Events classified as General School Disrupters were rated by students as occurring most frequently, but appraised as least upsetting, whereas assaults and academic troubles were experienced less frequently, but appraised as more upsetting. Frequency of stressor events was correlated with external locus of control self-reported distress, and lower grade point average. Stressor appraisal and locus of control, but not support, mediated the influence of stressor frequency on distress & Girls appraised stressor events as more upsetting than did boys and received higher grades than boys, despite having comparable reading scores and the same locus of control as boys. Further research is recommended particularly to explore gender differences further and to clarify the functions of student appraisal of stressor events in different school environments.
A Matched-Group Comparison of Drug Use and Problem Behavior among Canadian Indian and White Adolescents
Authors: Gfellner Barbara M.
Published: March 2007

This study examined drug use, involvement in problem behavior, and family and peer predictors of these behaviors among Indian and White adolescents in an urban community who were matched on grade, gender, family structure, and mother's education. With the exception of alcohol, Indian adolescents showed higher rates and more frequent use of cigarettes, marijuana, solvents, and greater involvement in problem behavior than their White contemporaries. There was some indication that young Indian girls may be at risk for drug use. Indian adolescents in mother-only and mother-stepfather families reported greater use of marijuana and more favorable peer attitudes toward drug use than those living with both natural parents or than White adolescents. Indian youth as compared to White youth perceived their family functioning as more cohesive. Family adaptability was lowest among young White adolescents in nonintact families. Although the predictors of alcohol use were similar for both groups, nearly twice the variance was accounted for by the predictors for use of cigarettes and marijuana among White in comparison with Indian adolescents. The findings suggest the need for more focused research on family processes as well as longitudinal study of developmental trajectories for drug use and the factors that influence them among Indian youth.