Showing papers in "American Sociological Review in 1952"

Toward a General Theory of Action.

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A Study of Interaction and Consensus in Different Sized Groups

Abstract: T HE small group has recently become the subject of an increasing amount of research among sociologists and psychologists, reflecting a rising interest in this area which, as Merton has noted,1 cannot accurately be called new; it is rather a renaissance. Cooley and Simmel are only the best remembered of the earlier sociologists who dealt with the small group. Part of the current interest is centered on the factor of group size as evidenced by two recent articles in the American Sociological Review by Bales2 and James.3 In addition to being an important theoretical question, group size is of concern to such on-going groups as the National Education Association, the League of Women Voters, and the Tavistock Clinic, which organizations have been forced to reach some conclusions about the optimum size for discussion groups in order to carry out their activities. The most extensive discussion of the importance of the size of the group in sociological literature is given by Simmel who provides numerous historical accounts of the importance of group size in social life. Although many of Simmel's remarks have to

The Development and Transformation of Monetary Meanings in the Child

Abstract: T HIS paper is organized in three parts, corresponding to three presentations. The first part considers a method (scale analysis) for studying concept development in the child when it is suspected that fairly regular patterns of advance occur. This method was presented in two earlier papers,' but is here discussed with the modifications necessary for application to more complex concepts. In the second part the cumulative development of a number of interrelated monetary meanings or concepts is traced in considerable detail. In the third part several summary points are made about the character of conceptual development.

A Social and Religious History of the Jews

Abstract: Designed to accompany the 18-volume reference work, this index contains the names, events and dates that appear in the last 9 volumes of the set. It includes a chronological table of principal events and personalities.

Interaction between Attitude and the Definition of the Situation in the Expression of Opinion

Abstract: T HE main purpose of the study is to explore the relationships between a person's private opinion and his definition of the situation and how they effect his expression of public opinion in a social situation. The pursuit of this objective is divided into two phases. The first is an experimental study in which the only aspect of the individual's definition of the situation under consideration is his estimate of the group opinion. This part of the study describes the extent to which each individual alters his private opinion to conform to his estimation of the group opinion when asked to express his opinion in that group. The second phase of the study uses case materials to gain insight into the reasons for the behavior of the extreme conformists and non-conformists. In this material other aspects of each person's definition of the situation are considered in addition to his estimate of the group opinion. In order to observe the dynamic interplay between each person's private opinion and his definition of the situation which interact to develop his expression of public opinion, it is necessary to study a group: (1) in which there is a wide range of private opinions, (2) where the members of the group are so intimately acquainted as to have a clear definition of the situation with respect to the particular subject upon which they are asked to express themselves, and (3) where there is variation in the definition of the situation from person to person resulting from differences in each person's background, the nature of his connection with the group, and his role and status in the group.

Social Psychological Correlates of Upward Social Mobility among Unmarried Career Women

Abstract: 16 Measures of significance derived in connection with phases of this study not reported here indicate that this relationship is not due to chance. status; social distance is greatest where both Negro and white have low socioeconomic status. (4) The extent to which the foregoing generalizations apply varies with the interaction areas in which distance is expressed. Respondents are most rigid in their responses in the areas of Interpersonal-Physical Distance and Residential Distance, and least rigid regarding Position Distance and Interpersonal-Social Distance.

Controlled Acculturation: A Survival Technique of the Hutterites

Abstract: of their experience, that most of the "hillbillies" would work with Negroes if confronted by a firm policy was borne out by the actions of the southern whites themselves. In fact, some of the most violently anti-Negro southerners were among those who had worked with Negroes, such as a man who later returned to Tennessee because "he couldn't stand to send his children to school with Negroes," and a former member of the Ku Klux Klan. To most of the "hillbillies," Chicago was not a place to live but merely a place to make a living. The South continued to be their principal reference group and they followed its practice of racial segregation and exclusion when it was conveniently possible. When confronted with situations in which these ways could not be adhered to without personal sacrifice, however, they tended to make the necessary behavioral adjustments even though changes in attitudes did not necessarily occur. CONCLUSIONS

An Attempt at More Refined Definition of the Cultural Dimensions of Syntality in Modern Nations

Abstract: D EVELOPING quantitative formulations of culture patterns has been left largely to the psychologist, equipped with statistically advanced methods, but as recognized in the constitution of the team conducting the present research, he needs to collaborate closely with the sociologist, historian, economist and cultural anthropologist. Preliminary reports on the radically new method of culture pattern analysis used here have been presented elsewhere (5) (7) .* The aim of the present article is to discuss further implications and to arrive at clearer, more stabilized definition of the cultural dimensions already discovered in the reported survey of 69 nations (7). "Culture pattern" is variously used but the present position is that a culture pattern can be described either in terms of the structure of the group or of the associated behavior patterns of individuals, and that each is in a different universe of dimensions and units. For this reason we have proposed the following three-fold classification of group phenomena:

Measuring Family Solidarity

Abstract: based on decennial Census data, the limitations of which are great. The Philadelphia data (Table 4) suggest that the foreign born may have been underrepresented in divorce actions. It is apparent, furthermore (Table 5), that relatively fewer foreign born appear in the desertion and non-support picture. Since the rate of divorce and desertion is highest in the early years of married life, diminishing thereafter, and since most foreign born were married long ago, their smaller contribution in recent years to desertion and divorce can be attributed to a large extent to their marriages being of longer duration. However, as the accompanying table shows, and as Patterson demonstrated for Philadelphia some 30 years ago33 (when marriage durations were probably nearly alike), compared to the native whites and the nonwhites the foreign born accounted for fewer cases of desertion relative to their married population. Hence, in

A Comparative Study of Deviations from Sexual Mores

Abstract: IN every society certain patterns of sexual behavior are accepted as proper and approved ways of expressing sexual urges, while alternative forms of behavior are rejected. Members who act in accordance with the mores are rewarded by social approval, but individuals who deviate from the mores receive social censure or other more specific punishments. In general, anthropologists interested in the mores have emphasized the conformity of behavior of members of simple societies and have been chiefly concerned with the manner in which the approved patterns are maintained and transmitted to later generations. The present study, however, stresses deviations from the mores and the means which societies employ to discourage and punish such nonconformity. In order to determine which forms of behavior are most generally forbidden, quantitative techniques are utilized to measure the frequency with which specific types of behavior are considered deviant by a sample of primitive societies, and to estimate the severity with which these forms of sexual behavior are punished. Specifically, the following problems are considered:

Negro-white status differentials and social distance

Abstract: A NUMBER of studies have sought to establish relationships between race prejudice and social class or socioeconomic status. Almost all of these studies have been concerned only with variations in respondent status as related to race attitudes. The present study differs from previous investigations in that concern is not simply with variations in respondent status but also with variation in the status of the person toward whom attitudes are expressed. Thus we are able to establish status differentials, defined as the difference in socioeconomic status between the respondent and the attitude-object, and to relate these as well to attitudes.' In this research the respondents are white, male adults of widely varying socioeconomic status. The attitude-objects are Negroes. Variation in the Negro's status is achieved by specifying his occupation in the items of the scales used in this study. For purposes of illustration let us visualize two status hierarchies. Whites occupy positions on one, Negroes are ranged along the other. The white looks across (or up or down) at the Negro and responds to him. We want to know just what effect the status of the white in relation to the status of the Negro has on response. In his survey of the relationship between social class and prejudice, Horowitz concludes, "With respect to the problem of the relation between variations in individual

Social Correlates of Psychological Types of Delinquency

Abstract: children, both female and male, whose MMPI profiles resemble those of patients neurotically depressed, hypochondriacal, or psychasthenic, seem less likely to run afoul of law enforcing agencies than are children whose profiles are similar to psychotic and psychopathic persons. These findings, it is believed, can be of utility to all agencies, public or private, whose task it is to prevent the outbreak of serious behavior and personality disorders. The early identification of children who are more prone than others to develop personality and behavior difficulties is a highly important phase of any program designed to prevent if possible, the full development of such difficulties. The findings reported suggest that the MMPI may be employed in the identification of such children.