Showing papers in "American Sociological Review in 1994"

Changes in the segregation of whites from blacks during the 1980s: small steps toward a more integrated society.

Abstract: This paper represents the first analysis of black-white residential segregation for 1980-1990. It evaluates patterns for all metropolitan areas with substantial black populations. The results show a continued reduction in residential segregation across metropolitan areas suggesting that the forces aimed at lowering institutionalized segregation have had some effect. The next section recounts the primary influences on black-white segregation historically through the mid-1960s. The subsequent section points up forces which evoked since the 1960s that have acted to reduce segregation. These introductory sections will be followed by an evaluation of 1980-1990 segregation patterns. An appendix presents 1980 and 1990 segregation scores for all metropolitan areas. (excerpt)

Housework in Marital and Nonmarital Households

Abstract: Although much recent research has explored the division of household labor between husbands and wives, few studies have examined housework patterns across marital statuses. This paper uses data from the National Survey of Families and Households to analyze differences in time spent on housework by men and women in six different living situations: never married and living with parents, never married and living independently, cohabiting, married, divorced, and widowed. In all situations, women spend more time than men doing housework, but the gender gap is widest among married persons. The time women spend doing housework is higher among cohabitants than among the never-married, is highest in marriage, and is lower among divorcees and widows. Men's housework time is very similar across both never-married living situations, in cohabitation, and in marriage. However, divorced and widowed men do substantially more housework than any other group of men, and they are especially more likely than their married counterparts to spend more time cooking and cleaning. In addition to gender and marital status, housework time is affected significantly by several indicators of workload (e.g., number of children, home ownership) and time devoted to nonhousehold activities (e.g., paid employment, school enrollment)-most of these variables have greater effects on women's housework time than on men's. An adult son living at home increases women's housework, whereas an adult daughter at home reduces housework for women and men. These housework patterns are generally consistent with an emerging perspective that views housework as a symbolic enactment of gender relations. We discuss the implications of these findings for perceptions of marital equity.

Employment schedules among dual-earner spouses and the division of household labor by gender.

Abstract: I extend the research on how employment schedules affect family life and which factors determine a husband's share in household labor I present a new specification of the concept of "available time" among dual-earner couples-the amount of overlap (in hours) in spouses' employment schedules and whether a spouse works day, evening, night, or rotating shifts. I show that variations in employment schedules are significant determinants of a husband's share in traditionally female household tasks. Also important are certain aspects of spouses' resources, gender role ideology, and stage in the life course. Interpretations of these findings take into account whether it is the husband's and/or wife's hours performing household tasks that are affected by these variables, since husband's share depends on both. The data come from the 1986-1987 National Survey of Families and Households, and my findings support the view that modest increases in husbands'participation in household labor may result from the growing diversity in employment schedules among American workers.

Migration segregation and the geographic concentration of poverty.

Abstract: We analyze patterns of African-American mobility and white mobility in U.S. cities to determine the causes of geographically concentrated poverty. Using a special tabulation of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics that appends U.S. Census tract data to individual records we analyze the movement of poor and nonpoor people into and out of five types of neighborhoods: white nonpoor black nonpoor black poor black very poor and racially and socioeconomically mixed neighborhoods. We find little support for the view that the geographic concentration of black poverty is caused by the out-migration of nonpoor blacks or that it stems from the net movement of blacks into poverty. Rather our results suggest that the geographic concentration of poor blacks is caused by the residential segregation of African-Americans in urban housing markets. (EXCERPT)

Race differences in sexual activity among adolescent women: The role of neighborhood characteristics.

Abstract: A sociologist applied individual and aggregate-level 1982 data on 11620 observations and 1180 first intercourse events to multivariate hazard models to examine the role of neighborhood characteristics in determining racial differences in nonmarital sexual activity of US adolescents. The hypothesis is that racially-differentiated community environments generate and maintain race differences in fertility-related behaviors. The dependent variable is risk of nonmarital first intercourse. Socioeconomic status of the neighborhood (p < 0.05) and labor market experiences of neighborhood women (p < 0.001) were very important determinants of the strong race difference in risk of first intercourse. Both white and black female adolescents were more likely to have nonmarital sexual intercourse when the potential consequences of this sexual activity (as evidenced by the economic characteristics of the neighborhood and the experiences and behaviors of neighborhood adults) appeared rather low. When these potential costs appeared high however they tended to delay first intercourse. There were no cross-level race interactions suggesting that black and white female teens respond alike to structural constraints and opportunities. These findings indicate that race differences in adolescent sexual activity and its negative consequences will continue as long as the US has segregated housing patterns.

The gender gap in math : its possible origins in neighborhood effects

Abstract: Les AA. montrent que les differences entre les deux sexes dans la plupart des disciplines scolaires tend a diminuer mais ils constatent, au niveau de l'enseignement primaire, une difference entre garcons et filles en faveur de ces derniers en ce qui concerne le niveau de connaissance en mathematiques. Ils s'efforcent de comprendre le phenomene et cela a partir d'une enquete menee aupres d'enfants du primaire a Baltimore. Ils montrent que les garcons sont plus impliques dans des activites extra-scolaires mobilisant leurs connaissances en mathematiques que les filles. Ceci explique que la difference de niveau dans ce domaine tend sans cesse a croitre entre les deux sexes

Two dimensions of self-esteem: Reciprocal effects of positive self-worth and self-deprecation on adolescent problems.

Abstract: The presumed relationship between adolescent's self-esteem and the occurrence of social problems is a recurring theme in academic and public discourse. Evidence for this relationship is limited by an overreliance on global measures of self-esteem that combine positive and negative self-evaluations in a single measure. My study uses this prior research on the relationship of global measures of self-esteem to adolescent social problems as a comparative reference point for an analysis of the link between negative and positive self-worth and youth problems. Using nonrecursive linear structural equation models and data from the Youth in Transition study, I compare the reciprocal interrelations of self-deprecation (negative self-evaluations), positive self-worth (positive selfevaluations), and global self-esteem (which includes both positive and negative evaluations) on high school grades, depression, and delinquency. Ifind that when self-deprecation and positive self-worth measures are employed, nuances are revealed that were previously overlooked in studies relying exclusively on global self-esteem. For example, I find a powerful reciprocal causal relationship between self-deprecation and depression and an effect of self-deprecation and positive self-worth on grades in school. These findings encourage theoretical developments of a bidimensional construct to measure selfesteem that includes, in particular, self-deprecation.

The origins of African-American family structure

Abstract: I use a new data source, the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, to trace race differences in family structure between 1880 and 1980. Analysis confirms recent findings that the high incidence among African-Americans of single parenthood and children residing without their parents is not a recent phenomenon. From 1880 through 1960, black children were two to three times more likely to reside without one or both parents than were white children. In recent years, however, the race differential in parental absence has grown. Also, blacks have had a consistently higher percentage of extended households than have whites, but until 1940 this was the result of single parenthood and parentlessness among children: Extended households were more common among whites once the effects of absent parents were controlled. T wo distinctive features of African-American family structure are well known: Blacks are far more likely than whites to become single parents and to reside in extended families. The theories offered to explain these differences are diverse and have generated heated debates. I attempt here to narrow the field of potential explanations for race differences in family structure by presenting a concise and detailed description of changes in black family structure from 1880 to 1980. Since the turn of the century, social theorists have argued that slavery resulted in disorganization and instability in black families (DuBois 1899, 1909; Elkins 1963; Frazier 1932, 1939; Myrdal 1944). This interpretation culminated with Moynihan's (1965) report, which concluded that the "pathological" nature of black communities could be traced to the deterioration of black family life. The numerous arguments against the Moynihan report can be divided into two broad cat

Role-Taking, Role Commitment, and Delinquency: A Theory of Differential Social Control

Abstract: This paper builds on a symbolic interactionist theory of delinquency that identifies the locus of social control in the process of taking the role of the other According to structural symbolic interactionism, role-taking is linked to the broader social organization through the concepts of generalized others, role commitments, and reference groups. We specify mechanisms affecting delinquency derivedfrom the classical theories of labeling and differential association as special cases of this symbolic interactionist perspective. In contrast, social disorganization and social control theories contradict the assumptions of interactionism and provide a competing set of hypotheses. We translate these hypotheses into a covariance structure model of individual delinquency, and estimate it using panel data from a national sample of males. Our results support the symbolic interactionist perspective: Delinquency is affected by the elements of role-taking-associating with delinquent peers, having delinquent reflected appraisals, and holding delinquent attitudes. Moreover, contrary to social disorganization and social control theories, variables representing social disorganization, attachment, and commitment affect delinquency only indirectly through the differential social control process of role-taking.

Job transitions in an immigrant metropolis : ethnic boundaries and the mixed economy

Abstract: Les AA. examinent l'evolution de la situation sociale des asiatiques aux Etats-Unis a Los Angeles. Dans cette ville multi-ethnique les situations sociales semblent moins figees. L'analyse multivariee permet de montrer qu'apres une succession de divers emplois et apres un certain laps de temps, les immigrants quittent l'economie ethnique informelle et s'engagent dans l'economie formelle, ce qui signifie, pour eux, des gains en matiere de revenu. L'economie informelle constitue donc une source d'«auto-emploi». Le marche du travail a Los Angeles est caracterise par une economie a caractere interethnique

Job training in u.s. organizations

Abstract: We draw hypotheses about the factors related to company provision offormal job training programs from diverse theoretical perspectives and research findings. Using data from the 1991 National Organizations Survey, we analyze a sample of 688 establishments to estimate multivariate models. The relationships between employer-provided job training and organizational size, unionization, and workforce composition are reduced or eliminated in most multivariate equations. Employer-provided training is most extensive in establishments with elaborate internal structures that operate in complex market environments. The job-training practices of U.S. employers affect employees from the executive suite to the loading dock, enhancing skills from basic literacy to interpersonal sensitivity. A new training ideology is rapidly eclipsing the traditional segmented pattern-a pattern in which universities educate the professionals and technicians, companies prime the executives, unions apprentice workers in the skilled trades, and government prepares the disadvantaged. Facing competitive world economic pressures that have eroded America's market positions, employers are now using job training as one means of coping with changes fostered by technological innovation, market competition, organizational restructuring, and demographic shifts. Although training is an integral part of the employer-employee relationship, direct evidence about company training practices based on representative samples of diverse employing organizations is almost nonexistent. Most previous research has drawn on either self-reported labor force surveys or highly restricted samples of organizations (typically skewed to very large firms). We examine hypotheses about employer-provided job-training practices in the early 1990s, using a national survey of U.S. work organizations.

Why Social Movement Sympathizers Don't Participate: Erosion and Nonconversion of Support

Abstract: Social movement organizations face the challenge of converting action preparedness into action participation, and accordingly, they must deal with factors that lead to nonparticipation. We identify two routes to nonparticipation"nonconversion" and "erosion." Nonconversion refers to a movement's failure to transform sympathizers into active participants. Erosion refers to the loss of sympathizers. We provide a theoretical framework for explaining nonconversion and erosion and apply it to a longitudinal study of a mobilization campaign of the Dutch Peace Movement: the People's Petition against cruise missiles. Data came from telephone interviews we conducted among random samples (N = 224) from the populations of four communities before and after the campaign (in May and November 1985). We use binomial logistic regression analyses to test several explanations of nonconversion and erosion. Factors that led to erosion were moderate action preparedness at the beginning of the campaign, declining preparedness during the campaign, and a social environment perceived by participants as becoming less and less supportive. Factors that led to nonconversion were moderate but stable action preparedness combined with the presence of barriers to action and an indifferent social environment. Results are discussed and related to social movement literature.

The gender poverty gap: what can we learn from other countries?

Abstract: In this study gender differences in poverty rates among the population 18-57 years are examined in 8 industrialized countries: Australia (1985-86) Canada (1987) Germany (1984) the Netherlands (1987) Sweden (1987) the UK (1986) and the US (1985). The aim was to assess the extent to which the gender poverty gap was due to differences in family characteristics and human capital. Data were obtained from the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) on age educational attainment marital status and employment. Poverty was determined as disposable household income that is less than 50% of the median disposable income for all households in that country. It was expected that within-country demographic differences would account for the same cross-country differences. The logistic regression results revealed that the US had the highest poverty rates for females (18% for women and 13% for men) and Sweden Germany and the Netherlands had the lowest rates. In all countries except Sweden women had lower poverty rates. The US again had the highest gender poverty ratio; women were 41% more likely to live in poverty than men. Australia followed with the next highest ratio and was followed by Germany and Canada and then Great Britain Italy the Netherlands and Sweden. Italy and the Netherlands had equal poverty rates for men and women. Gender differences in age education and marital status were not found to be responsible for the gender differences except for education in the US and Canada which reduced the poverty gap by 18% and 10% respectively. Differences in parenthood and single parenthood reduced the gender poverty gap in all countries. Gender differences in employment status were strongly related to differences in poverty rates. In the US and Great Britain the gap would have been reduced by 70%. Using Sweden as the standard substituting age marital status or parental status would not reduce the gap but employment did significantly reduce or eliminate the gap. The same substitutions were performed for Italy and the Netherlands; the exercise showed that countries differ in the relative importance of human capital vs. family marriage and for the Netherlands it was unclear. There appear to be multiple ways of achieving gender equality in poverty rates.

Stolen Thunder? Huey Long's "Share Our Wealth," Political Mediation, and the Second New Deal

Abstract: In 1934 Huey Long created "Share Our Wealth," a national challenger that sought economic redistribution. Our study explores the outcomes of this insurgency and the reasons for its successes and failures. We first review perspectives on success for social protest movements and provide a new definition of success, based on securing collective goods for a beneficiary group through movement organization efforts. Next we elaborate a "political mediation" theory of movement success. This theory holds that to be successful a movement organization must do more than just mobilize supporters and engage in collective action-political conditions must also be favorable to winning new advantages. We then examine historical information about national policymaking in Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal and quantitative data on spending by the Works Progress Administration. To assess the influence of Share Our Wealth, we analyze a secret poll undertaken by the Roosevelt Administration. The historical and quantitative analyses indicate that Share Our Wealth achieved partial success in ways that support the political mediation theory.

Who were the Yugoslavs? Failed sources of a common identity in the former Yugoslavia

Abstract: Yugoslavia's leaders believed that a policy of equality among the many nationalities in Yugoslavia, in tandem with Communist Party hegemony, would allow nationalism within Yugoslavia to exist, mature, andfinally diminish as a political force without jeopardizing the political stability and economic development of the country as a whole. Consequently the identification of people with their nationality was accepted to the neglect of an identity associated with the state as a whole. The expectation that a shared political agenda and the modernization of the society would weaken nationalism as a political force was not met. Instead, economic and political rivalries among the Yugoslav republics intensified nationalist feelings. In the early 1990s Yugoslavia's experiment in building a multinational state was replaced with open hostilities and warfare among the South Slavs. We identify four routes to Yugoslav self-identification and analyze the significance of these using survey data from 1985 and 1989, just prior to the break up of Yugoslavia. Urban residents, the young, those from nationally-mixed parentage, Communist Party members, and persons from minority nationalities in their republic were among those most likely to identify as Yugoslavs. None of these factors, however, proved sufficient to override the centrifugal forces of rising nationalism. Implications for political integration in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union are discussed.

Mother's Occupational Status and Children's Schooling

Abstract: After a long tradition of research on the intergenerational mobility of men, stratification studies in the late 1970s and 1980s began to include women in their analyses. Most studies, however, still rely primarily on characteristics offathers to measure family background status. Using a large national cross-sectional data set, this study describes the influence of mother's occupational status on children's educational attainment. I compare the strengths of maternal and paternal influences and use birth cohorts to examine whether the relative influence of mothers has changed. The main findings are: Maternal occupational status has a strong effect on schooling, this effect is independent offather's education and occupation, it persists through the schooling career, and it is as important for sons asfor daughters. Some evidence suggests that the influence of mother's occupation has increased while the influence offather's occupation has decreased. In contrast, mother's education has always been as important as father's education. In general, the findings underscore the positive effects of maternal labor force participation on child outcomes through the high-status jobs many married women now hold. At the same time, this study suggests that the independent influence of mother's socioeconomic status may lead to an accumulation of educational advantages and disadvantages in subsequent generations, possibly reducing the intergenerational mobility offamilies.

Economic Inequality: New Methods for New Trends

Abstract: Two positions dominate the debate over the recent increases in economic inequality in the United States. The "job-skill mismatch" thesis attributes rising inequality to growth in the number of high-skill, high-wage jobs that leaves less-skilled workers behind. The "polarization" thesis, in contrast, argues that the service shift generates growth in the number of both high-wage and low-wage jobs, and declines in the middle. Standard summary measures of distributional inequality cannot discriminate between these depictions of where job growth is occurring. We propose new methods for measurement that provide both summary and detailed information about the distributional shifts in earnings and aframework for statistical inference. Using data from the Curent Population Survey (CPS) on yearly earnings from 1967 to 1987, we show that the trends in distributional inequality vary considerably by race, gender, and time. While the evidence provides more support for the polarization argument, this thesis needs refinement if it is to account for the variations in changing inequality observed here.

How 4.5 Million Irish Immigrants Became 40 Million Irish Americans: Demographic and Subjective Aspects of the Ethnic Composition of White Americans.

Abstract: In 1980 for the first time the U.S. Census contained a subjective question about ethnic identity. Natural increase intermarriage and subjective identification contribute to the current size of each ethnic group. Simulations for the British- Irish- German- and Italian-origin populations show the interaction among time of arrival overall fertility and mortality trends and differential fertility in determining natural increase. The subjective identification with some ethnic groups notably the Irish and Germans exceeds what natural increase would imply while identification with other ethnic groups falls short of what demographic processes would imply. Loglinear models of ethno-religious intermarriage show that religious diversity is an important factor in the diffusion of Irish and German identities while the relative religious homogeneity of the British and Italians limits the diffusion of those identities. This paper was originally presented at the 1993 Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America. (EXCERPT)

Comparable worth in academia : the effects on faculty salaries of the sex composition and labor-market conditions of academic disciplines

Abstract: Certaines etudes ont montre une concentration de femmes dans des categories professionnelles devalorisees suggerant que cette devalorisation du statut des femmes a tendance a s'etendre aux professions qu'elles exercent. D'autres etudes ont montre que dans des categories professionnelles tres feminisees on constate une certaine discrimination a l'endroit des femmes en ce qui concerne les salaires, phenomene que l'on n'observe pas dans les categories a forte proportion masculine. L'A. s'efforce d'evaluer ce phenomene en ce qui concerne l'enseignement superieur et montre qu'on le constate dans les disciplines fortement feminisees

Gender, legitimate authority, and leader-subordinate conversations

Abstract: L'A. analyse les differences de comportement verbal et non verbal entre les hommes et les femmes. Il examine les effets du genre et du pouvoir sur le comportement verbal (conversation) entre les hommes et les femmes, en particulier dans le cadre de relations d'autorite formelle entre les chefs (hommes et femmes) et leurs subordonnes (hommes et femmes). Il montre que le genre et l'autorite ont des effets differents sur les comportements verbaux et non verbaux qui s'instaurent entre les hommes et les femmes

Winter Setback: The Racial Composition of Schools and Learning to Read

Abstract: This is a longitudinal study of the growth in reading comprehension over the first two years of school among a mixed-race random sample of children in Baltimore, Maryland. African-Americans in integrated schools made less progress in reading comprehension in winter when school was in session than did their counterparts in segregated schools. In summers, however, when they were not in school, the African-American children who attended integrated schools gained considerably more than their counterparts who attended segregated schools. White children made about the same progress in reading in integrated and segregated schools in winters and summers, even though the whites in integrated schools came from more educationally advantaged families. Thus, children of both races in integrated schools, who generally came from more educated families, did not make the expected gains in reading comprehension when school was open. In summers, however, students whose parents had more education forged ahead of those whose parents were high school dropouts. We consider several explanations for the relatively slow growth in reading comprehension we observedfor children in integrated schools. It is most likely that acquisition of reading skills is harder for youngsters of both races in integrated schools because their language backgrounds differ. Early reading development depends heavily on a child's knowledge of spoken language, which for Baltimore children reflects their experience in segregated neighborhoods. At the same time, schools seem to help the children from economically disadvantaged homes-the ones who need help the most.

Effects of a Parent's Death on Adult Children: Relationship Salience and Reaction to Loss

Abstract: In this study we assess the impact of a parent's death on adult children's physical and psychologicalfunctioning. Individuals from 24 to 96 years old were interviewed in 1986 (N = 3,617) and again in 1989 (N = 2,867). In the intervening three years, 207 respondents experienced the death of a biological parent. Our results indicate that when compared to adult children who are not bereaved, bereaved adult children experience a significant increase in psychological distress and alcohol consumption and a decline in physical health status. We also developed a theoretical framework to guide an analysis of group differences in adult children's reactions to a parent's death. Our analysis shows that some groups experience a substantially greater decline in functioning than others following a parent's death, whereas other groups actually experience improvedfunctioning following a parent's death. Depending on the type of outcome assessed, several factors are associated with children's reactions to a parent's death: age and marital status of the child, gender of the child and the deceased parent, the quality of previous adult interactions with the deceased parent, and childhood memories of the deceased parent.

Economic Crisis and the Centralization of Control Over the Managerial Process: Corporate Restructuring and Neo-Fordist Decision-Making

Abstract: I analyze the effects of the recent intensification of control over the managerial process in a large steel corporation in the United States. Corporate restructuring was an attempt to overcome constraints on capital accumulation and resolve the contradictions and inefficiencies embedded in the previous controls over the managerial process. Formal controls over the managerial process were intensified to standardize decisions, improve product quality, and reduce costs. Additionalfindings include: (1) discretion over many decisions was centralized in decision centers where conceptual activities were performed; (2) the new formal controls increased surveillance over production managers; (3) many decisions were eliminated, which reduced the need for some managers and eliminated four layers of the managerial hierarchy; and (4) the corporation became more tightly coupled and more flexible. These Neo-Fordist controls entailed a structure of capital accumulation that separated conception from execution while enhancing control over the managerial process.

Bureaucracy and Efficiency: An Analysis of Taxation in Early Modern Prussia

Abstract: We use agency theory to analyze the development of the tax collection system in Prussia between 1640 and 1806. The Prussian tax system was one of the most efficient in early modern Europe. Scholars have argued that (1) the Prussian tax administration was highly bureaucratic, and (2) its efficiency was due primarily to its bureaucratic characteristics. We challenge both propositions. We show that the Prussian tax system deviatedfrom the bureaucratic ideal type in important respects. We then develop general propositions about the conditions under which bureaucratic forms of recruitment, monitoring, and sanctioning are more efficient than alternative forms of agency. We conclude that the efficiency of the Prussian tax collection system was caused by specific deviations from the ideal-typical bureaucracy that increased the ability of rulers to control tax officials.

What is Deconstruction, and Where and When Does it Take Place? Making Facts in Science, Building Cases in Law

Abstract: There are two forms of deconstruction. Radical DECONSTRUCTION is rare. It is a sign of deep crisis and extraordinary skepticism among intellectual workers facing high uncertainty. Moderate deconstruction, however, occurs wherever conflicts over knowledge are built into the competitive and adversarial structure of social fields. We illustrate the social dynamics of moderate deconstruction for two specific cases: making facts in science and building cases in law. There are strategies of deconstruction common to both science and law which generalize untrustworthiness and thus economize on deconstruction costs. These strategies are rhetoric, ideology, procedure (or method), and reputation. Under certain conditions, moderate deconstruction turns into radical DECONSTRUCTION. This is most likely to happen in revolutionary science and in loosely coupled textual fields that have minimal hardware and social solidarity.