Showing papers in "British Journal of Sociology in 1984"

The Debate about Quantitative and Qualitative Research: A Question of Method or Epistemology?

Abstract: L'A. analyse le debat entre conceptions quantitative et qualitative de la recherche sociale en distinguant les deux types d'approches fondamentaux: epistemologique et technique.

The Genesis of the Registrar-General's Social Classification of Occupations

Abstract: Those empirical sociologists in Britain who are concerned with social classification have tended to avoid any detailed evaluation of the long-established and ubiquitous official system. Such a discussion is inhibited by our current state of ignorance regarding its historical origins. An investigation of the exact chronology of its development and elucidation of its author's intentions is, therefore, undertaken. This reveals a complex and protracted genesis, over the first three decades of this century. The final form of the official social classification was determined by the intellectual preoccupations of its progenitor, T.H.C. Stevenson, in seeking a comprehensive alternative explanation to that originally proposed by hereditarian 'sociologists ', to account for the phenomenon of fertility decline. Consequently, the now familiar five-graded hierarchy entails certain specific methodological assumptions and theoretical limitations, which, it is suggested, may constitute undesirable conceptual impedimenta for modern sociologists.

The Structure of Closure: A Critique and Development of the Theories of Weber, Collins, and Parkin

Abstract: The focus of the closure theories of Weber, Collins, and Parkin on the power relations contained in exclusionary codes which regulate society provides a promising framework for integrating the analysis of property, credentials, lineage, communal divisions between racial, ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups, the relations between the sexes, Communist Party domination, and resulting counterstruggle. This paper demonstrates, however, that the neglect of structural relationships among different sets of closure rules is a central weakness of their theories. It proposes a conceptual and methodological framework for strengthening closure theory by bringing such relationships, which constitute the deep structure of domination, into focus.

Professional formation: the case of Scottish accountants

Abstract: Studies of professional formation have employed the concepts of collective social mobility, closure and the process whereby knowledge is translated into social and economic rewards: in addition, there has been some attempt to show how this occurs. This paper builds on that work by examining the utility of the 'five class model' of stratification with its emphasis on the 'aspirant middle class' (Neale, 1972) and the 'unresolved dialectic' (Portwood and Fielding, 1 9 8 1 ) b etwe en traditional and modern values, for studying how Scottish accountants established their professional position -the first of that occupation to do so. The accountancy profession in Scotland was able to place the cachet of ascription on its members because its leaders were associated with the gentry, the legal profession and the more respectable (commercial, as opposed to manufacturing) part of the bourgoisie. The achieved status of members was thus endorsed by the respectability of ascription.

Police socialisation and police competence

Abstract: Defining competent practice is an exercise in 'squaring the circle'. Extrapolating the criteria of 'competent practice' in relation to any occupation runs the risk of placing the social scientist in the role of presgriptive evaluation. The object of this article is not to render another exhortatory 'analysis' of policing but to indicate how 'competence' is oriented to in the working practices of police officers.

Piety and Politics: Religion and the Rise of Absolutism in England, Wurttemberg and Prussia

Abstract: Preface 1. Introduction: cases and controversies 2. In pursuit of further reformation 3. State and society: the attempts at absolutism 4. The established church and toleration 5. From reform to revolution: Puritanism in England 6. From reform to retreat: Pietism in Wurttemberg 7. From reform to state religion: Pietism in Prussia 8. Conclusions and implications Bibliography Index.

Althusser and structuralism

Abstract: SUMMARY 'Structure ', social structure' and, recently, 'structuralism ' are terms that are frequently used in sociology. Louis Althusser 's work is often mentioned as being both structuralist and Marxist. In this article I first raise, and attempt to answer, the question: 'What is structuralism?', and then I go on to argue that Althusser is not both structuralist and Marxist simultaneously. I conclude, therefore, that, at least as far as Althusser's work is concernedand his writings are often taken to be paradigmatic of structuralist Marxism - it is misleading to lump together structuralism and Marxism. The terms 'structure' and 'social structure' are widely used in sociology and have been since Spencer introduced the term 'structure' into the field in the nineteenth century. Relatively recently, under the influence of French work in linguistics, a new term 'structuralism' has appeared in the writings of practitioners of the discipline. Indeed, Ernest Gellner wrote, in 1970: 'a spectre is haunting the intellectual scene - structuralism, or better "le structuralisme". ,l It may be fashionable to use the term, but its meaning is rarely explained. I should like to raise, in this paper, arsd attempt to answer, the question: 'What is this spectre, or what is structuralism?' One individual whose work is often cited, in texts on sociological theory, and elsewhere, as both structuralist and Marxist, is Louis Althusser.2 Indeed, the writings of Althusser are sometimes taken to be exemplary, indeed paradigmatic of 'structuralist' Marxism. This is despite Althusser's own refusal to apply the label 'structuralist' to his work: 'We believe that despite the terminological ambiguity, the profound tendency of our texts was not attached to the "structuralist" ideology.'3 I shall argue, here, that there are sometimes reasons for describing Althusser's work as structuralist. Undeniably, too, he is often dealing with Marxian themes. But, I shall claim, he is not both

'Mixed Race' Children in British Society: Some Theoretical Considerations

Abstract: A study of the racial identity of British 'mixed race' children raises a number of theoretical issues about the racial categorization system of Britain; in particular, the validity of the assumption that British racial thought is strictly dichotomous (perceived in terms of the two mutually exclusive categories of 'black' and 'white') is called into question. In British and American sociological literature, mixed race people have often been described as occupying a 'marginal' or an 'in-between' position, from which they can only escape by adopting full membership of either the black or the white group. None the less, some sociologists have suggested that it is possible for mixed race people to steer a successful course between the two groups or to alter their racial self-image according to circumstance: more generally, it has been argued that the process of ethnic identity is more fluid and dynamic than it is frequently depicted. The dichotomous 'black-or-white' model of racial identity stems from analysis of the American racial structure: the investigation of British racial identity would appear to require a more flexible view of the racial categorization system.

Beyond Functionalism: Towards a Nonequilibrium Analysis of Complex Social Systems

Abstract: The equilibrium model has long been used in sociology. It has been especially prominent in structural-functional theory, but has been heavily criticized, especially by conflict theorists. In this article the equilibrium model is evaluated both methodologically and from the standpoint of systems theory. It is found deficient as a measure of system state. The equilibrium concept is ambiguous, arbitrary, nonunique, and dichotomous. It should not be used in the analysis of open systems such as social systems (although the concept of homeostasis may be proper in some cases). While the equilibrium concept may be used for closed systems, it does not represent system integration for such systems, but rather the opposite, thus plunging its users into the Spencerian Dilemma. The article concludes with an illustration of nonequilibrium systems analysis which combines verbal explication and some statistical principles.

Women's occupational and family achievement in the U.S. class system: a critique of the dual-career family analysis

Abstract: The concept of the 'dual-career family' enjoys remarkable popularity in sociological discussions of the impact of continued growth in adult women's employment in the 1970s and 1980s. Robert and Rhona Rapoport coined the phrase in 1969, to signify their discovery among young, elite British couples of a new pattern of wife and husband aspiration to careers and domestic egalitarianism.l The Rapoports soon generalized their findings internationally: they projected the dual-career couples as the key social innovators of emerging 'post-industrial' societies.2 Their lead in dual-career family research has been pursued most enthusiastically by sociologists and social psychologists in the U.S A.3 Increasingly, the dual-career yardstick of achievement and innovation appears in discussions of sex roles, occupational advancement and the family not only in sociological literature, but also in popular media. This model of family success is emerging as an accepted cultural standard. It is used to evaluate the experience of all employed women (and often, housewives as well), male-female couples of all class positions, and all family-worklife arrangements. It is important to examine the adequacy of the theoretical framework established by Robert and Rhona Rapoport which has influenced subsequent research. Much of their conception of social change, family mobility, and class and gender relationships has shaped, and been elaborated by, the many U.S. dual-career case studies. Their conception can be summarized: first, the types of careers