Showing papers in "Journal of Social Issues in 2003"
TL;DR: The authors found that participants in most extracurricular activities achieved better educational outcomes than non-participants even after controlling for social class, gender, and intellectual aptitude, and that participation in service and religious activities predicted lower rates of drinking and drug use.
Abstract: In this article, we summarize: (a) the arguments linking participation in structured leisure activities to positive youth development, (b) our findings on the association of extracurricular activity involvement with both educational and risky behavior outcomes during adolescence and young adulthood, and (c) our findings regarding possible mediating mechanisms of these associations. Participants in most extracurricular activities achieved better educational outcomes than non-participants even after controlling for social class, gender, and intellectual aptitude. Participation in service and religious activities predicted lower rates of drinking and drug use. Participation on school sports teams predicted both better educational outcomes and higher rates of drinking. The mediating mechanisms we discuss relate to identity formation, peer group membership, and attachment to non-familial adults.
1,320 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a justice theory framework that illustrates how consumer privacy concerns are shaped by the perceived fairness of corporate information practices and discuss three alternatives for implementing fair information practices with particular attention to the Internet: government regulation, industry self-regulation and technological solutions.
Abstract: Consumer privacy is at the center of an ongoing debate among business leaders, privacy activists, and government officials. Although corporations face competitive pressures to collect and use personal information about their customers, many consumers find some methods of collection and use of their personal information unfair. We present a justice theory framework that illustrates how consumer privacy concerns are shaped by the perceived fairness of corporate information practices. We describe a set of global principles, fair information practices, which were developed to balance consumer privacy concerns with an organization's need to use personal information. We conclude by discussing three alternatives for implementing fair information practices with particular attention to the Internet: government regulation, industry self-regulation, and technological solutions.
667 citations
TL;DR: The authors reviewed existing research on housing and mental health, considering housing type (single-family detached versus multiple dwelling), floor level, and housing quality (e.g., structural damage).
Abstract: Despite the fact that people invest more financial, temporal, and psychological resources in their homes than in any other material entity, research on housing and mental health is remarkably underdeveloped. We critically review existing research on housing and mental health, considering housing type (e.g., single-family detached versus multiple dwelling), floor level, and housing quality (e.g., structural damage). We then discuss methodological and conceptual shortcomings of this literature and provide a theoretical framework for future research on housing quality and mental health.
605 citations
TL;DR: A framework for analyzing privacy in modern societies is provided, defining information privacy and describing three levels that structure the values assigned to privacy, which are applied to social and political privacy developments in three contemporary eras.
Abstract: This article provides a framework for analyzing privacy in modern societies, defining information privacy and describing three levels that structure the values assigned to privacy. After describing a contemporary privacy baseline (1945-1960), these concepts are applied to social and political privacy developments in three contemporary eras of steadily growing privacy concerns and societal responses across citizen-government, employee-employer, and consumer-business relationships in 1961-1979, 1980-1989, and 1990-2002. Each period is described in terms of new technology applications, changing social climates, and organizational and legal developments. Effects of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on privacy balances are analyzed and predictions for future privacy developments are presented. The relationship of articles in this issue to the author's framework is noted throughout.
560 citations
TL;DR: Privacy as a social issue and behavioral concept is discussed in this article, where the benefits of obtaining privacy and the costs of failing to achieve and of losing privacy are discussed. And behavioral aspects of privacy, including indicators of privacy's importance and the generally overlooked status of privacy in psychology, are explored.
Abstract: This introduction, to an issue on privacy as a social issue and behavioral concept, discusses what privacy is, by examining definitions and theories of privacy, and what privacy does, by reviewing the benefits of obtaining privacy and the costs of failing to achieve and of losing privacy. It provides a possible bridge between social psychological and social issues approaches to privacy and examines privacy as a social issue for Americans as citizens, health-care recipients, consumers, and employees. It then briefly explores behavioral aspects of privacy, including indicators of privacy's importance and the generally overlooked status of privacy in psychology.
280 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, eleven behavioral techniques of neutralization intended to subvert the collection of personal information are discussed: discovery moves, avoidance moves, piggybacking and switching moves, distorting moves, blocking moves, masking moves, breaking moves, refusal moves, cooperative moves and counter-surveillance moves.
Abstract: Eleven behavioral techniques of neutralization intended to subvert the collection of personal information are discussed: discovery moves, avoidance moves, piggybacking moves, switching moves, distorting moves, blocking moves, masking moves, breaking moves, refusal moves, cooperative moves and counter-surveillance moves. In Western liberal democracies the advantages of technological and other strategic surveillance developments are often short-lived and contain ironic vulnerabilities. The logistical and economic limits on total monitoring, the interpretive and contextual nature of many human situations, system complexity, and interconnectedness and the vulnerability of those engaged in surveillance to be compromised, provide ample room for resistance. Neutralization is a dynamic adversarial social dance involving strategic moves and counter-moves and should be studied as a conflict interaction process.
244 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored the psychological meaning of social class and upward mobility in the lives of African Americans and paid special attention to the context of education, a site which many Black Americans feel represents their best hope for upward mobility.
Abstract: We use the concept of intersectionality to explore the psychological meaning of social class and upward mobility in the lives African Americans. Throughout, we pay special attention to the context of education, a site which many Black Americans feel represents their best hope for upward mobility. Literature related to three themes is reviewed and discussed: (a) the history and significance of class divisions within the Black community, (b) experiences of educational institutions as entryways to upward mobility, and (c) the hidden costs of mobility. It is suggested that future research should address the intersection of gender with class and race, the relevance of class to racial identity, and the experience of downward mobility among Black Americans.
240 citations
TL;DR: A qualitative analysis of data from a study of masculinity in 11-14 year old boys attending twelve London schools was conducted by as mentioned in this paper, who found that boys were generally more serious and willing to reveal emotions in individual than in group interviews.
Abstract: This paper reports a qualitative analysis of data from a study of masculinity in 11–14 year old boys attending twelve London schools. Forty-five group discussions (N= 245) and two individual interviews (N= 78) were conducted. The findings indicate that boys’ experiences of school led them to assume that interviews would expose them to ridicule and so threaten their masculinity. Boys were generally more serious and willing to reveal emotions in individual than in group interviews. A key theme in boys’ accounts was the importance of being able to present themselves as properly masculine in order to avoid being bullied by other boys by being labeled “gay.” The ways in which boys were racialized affected their experiences of school.
235 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors review the status and contribution of Alan Westin's and Irwin Altman's theories of privacy and discuss the relationship between privacy and secrecy, an issue raised by Westin.
Abstract: This article reviews the status and contribution of Alan Westin's and Irwin Altman's theories of privacy. It summarizes, compares, contrasts, and critiques their theories of privacy and summarizes the theory and research that have been a consequence of their theories. It discusses the relationship between privacy and secrecy, an issue raised by Westin, and between privacy and the environment, an issue raised by Altman. Finally, the article considers possible contributions of social-psychological, cultural, and social-development factors to a more complete account of privacy.
210 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show the pattern of socioeconomic class differences in schooling outcomes and indicate some of the causes for those differences that lie within the public realm, including "nested inequalities" across boundaries of states, school districts, schools within a district, classes within a school, and sometimes separation within a class.
Abstract: This article shows the pattern of socioeconomic class differences in schooling outcomes and indicates some of the causes for those differences that lie within the public realm. Those causes include “nested inequalities” across boundaries of states, school districts, schools within a district, classes within a school, and sometimes separation within a class. In addition, urban public schools demonstrate a particular set of problems that generate differential schooling outcomes by economic class. The article also demonstrates ways in which class biases are closely entwined with racial and ethnic inequities. It concludes with the broad outlines of what would be necessary to reduce class (and racial) disparities in American public schools.
The American dream will succeed or fail in the 21st century in direct proportion to our commitment to educate every person in the United States of America.
—President Bill Clinton, 1995 (Clinton, 1995: 617)
There is no greater test of our national responsibility than the quality of the education we provide.
—Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore, 2000 (Gore, 2000)
Both parties have been talking about education for quite a while. It's time to come together to get it done, so that we can truthfully say in America: No child will be left behind.
—President George W. Bush, 2001 (Bush, 2001)
208 citations
TL;DR: Findings suggest that urban youth, overall, express a strong sense of betrayal by adults and report feeling mistrusted by adults, with young men of color most likely to report these perceptions.
Abstract: In order to document urban youth experiences of adults in positions of public authority, including police, educators, social workers and guards, a broad based street survey of 911 New York City-based urban youth was conducted in which youth, stratified by race, ethnicity, gender and borough, were asked about their experiences with, attitudes toward, and trust of adult surveillance in communities and in schools. In-depth telephone interviews were conducted with 36 youth who have experienced serious, adverse interactions with police, guards, or educators. Findings suggest that urban youth, overall, express a strong sense of betrayal by adults and report feeling mistrusted by adults, with young men of color most likely to report these perceptions.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that beliefs about social class are influenced by power and social location, and explore the asymmetries in the representations of social class among Brahmins (N= 99) and Dalits (former untouchables, N= 100) in India.
Abstract: This article argues that beliefs about social class are influenced by power and social location. Using an essentialist theory of power this study explores the asymmetries in the representations of social class among Brahmins (N= 99) and Dalits (former “Untouchables,”N= 100) in India. The results show that a significantly higher number of Brahmins believed that a poor man's brain transfer to a rich man would not affect his actions, whereas they believed the poor man's actions would be affected by the brain transplant from the rich man. Dalits did not selectively endorse essentialist notions of identity. The implications of the findings are discussed in conjunction with current empowerment and affirmative action programs for Dalits in India.
TL;DR: The authors explored how early adolescents' descriptions of their romantic relationships produce evidence of how precursors to violence are woven into the fabric of such relationships from the very beginning of their experiences of "heterosociality."
Abstract: In this paper, we explore how early adolescents' descriptions of their romantic relationships produce evidence of how precursors to violence are woven into the fabric of such relationships from the very beginning of their experiences of "heterosociality." We identified Rich's (1983) concept of compulsory heterosexuality as an interpretive framework for analyzing these relationship narratives, examining qualitative data from two samples (combined n= 100) diverse in ethnicity and income to form a dialogue between youth perspectives and theory. We offer adolescents' descriptions, and our interpretations, of several themes, including the conceptualization of boys as sexual predators which normalizes such behaviors, girls' behavior in response to assumed male aggression, and boys' narration of their participation in relational processes which reproduce these beliefs and behaviors.
TL;DR: The Journal of Social Issues as discussed by the authors explores psychological meanings of social class in the context of education, and discusses why education is a useful context for examining relations between class and individual psychology.
Abstract: This issue of the Journal of Social Issues explores psychological meanings of social class in the context of education. In this article we propose an outline for a critical psychology of social class and discuss why education is a useful context for examining relations between class and individual psychology. We consider how research and theory in the study of race and gender can and cannot inform a psychology of social class. We introduce three themes that organize the issue and the articles that illustrate them. The articles in this issue address all levels of education, include data from within and outside of the United States, and investigate perspectives of individuals from a range of social class groups.
“What I remember most about school was that if you were poor you got no respect and no encouragement. I mean if you didn't have cute ringlets, an ironed new uniform, starched shirts, and a mother and father who gave money to the church, you weren't a teacher's pet and that meant you weren't encouraged.”
—a working-class woman respondent interviewed in Luttrell, 1993
Class differences were boundaries no one wanted to face or talk about. It was easier to downplay them, to act as though we were all from privileged backgrounds, to work around them, to confront them privately in the solitude of one's room, or to pretend that just being chosen to study at such an institution meant that those of us who did not come from such privilege were already in transition toward privilege … . It was a kind of treason not to believe that it was better to be identified with the world of material privilege than with the world of the working class, the poor.
—hooks, 1989
TL;DR: In many urban public high schools today, students navigate their day by selectively cutting class leading to course failure and dropping out as discussed by the authors, and the results from disengagement and alienation that students label "boredom".
Abstract: In many urban public high schools today, students navigate their day by selectively cutting class leading to course failure and dropping out Collaborative, qualitative research conducted with urban high school students indicates that cutting results from disengagement and alienation that students label "boredom" Focus group data (N= 160 in 8 groups) indicate that class cutting has not only an individual component that schools address, but also a systemic, conflictual component that schools do not address These unaddressed, intransigent conflicts can foster moral exclusion and structural violence These data suggest that rather than relying on standard punitive approaches, schools can respond to class cutting more effectively by taking students' concerns seriously, working collaboratively with students, and engaging in institutional self-scrutiny
TL;DR: In this article, a housing niche model is developed that focuses on the effects of residential environments on health and access to human and social capital, and family dynamic effects on health, and the intergenerational consequences of particular housing niches.
Abstract: Drawing on psychological, health, and social science literature, a housing niche model is developed that focuses on (a) housing markets and other societal processes that constrain residential choice, (b) effects of residential environments on health and access to human and social capital, and (c) family dynamic effects on health and the intergenerational consequences of particular housing niches for future health and housing choices. The model requires the examination of cumulative risks, mediating and moderating processes, and the use of multilevel statistical models. The health consequences of existing housing policies are explored and future directions for research and policy suggested.
TL;DR: The model indicates how processes operating above the household level can affect health by modifying the quantity, quality, and distribution of demands, resources, and restoration opportunities within and across the settings of everyday life, including the residence.
Abstract: We relate residence to health within a social ecological model of stress and restoration. As an isolated setting and in relation to other everyday settings, we discuss the residence in terms of demands, coping resources and responses, and opportunities for restoration. Our model indicates how processes operating above the household level can affect health by modifying the quantity, quality, and distribution of demands, resources, and restoration opportunities within and across the settings of everyday life, including the residence. We illustrate some of these social ecological dynamics with the case of home-based telework. Concluding, we discuss the utility of the model for environmental interventions intended to alleviate health-threatening chronic stress.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined how low-income women enrolled in an educational training program perceived social class and upward mobility, and found that participants identified their social class during childhood, their current status, and their anticipated post graduate status.
Abstract: This study examined how 69 low-income women enrolled in an educational training program perceived social class and upward mobility. Participants identified their social class during childhood, their current status, and their anticipated post graduate status. Beliefs about income inequality and attributions for wealth and poverty were also assessed. Respondents expected to achieve middle class status and perceived higher education as a route to upward mobility, although the accessibility of post-secondary programs was questioned. Consistent with previous research involving low-income groups (Bullock, 1999; Kluegel & Smith, 1986), structural attributions for poverty and wealth were favored over individualistic causes. Also, respondents perceived income inequality as unjust. The construction of class identity and implications for class-based mobilization are discussed.
It [the American dream] means the opportunity to go as far in life as your abilities will take you. Anyone in America can aspire to be a doctor, a teacher, a police officer or even, as Oprah said, a President. But you can't get any of those important jobs if you don't have the opportunity to acquire the skills you need … . And that's why I believe that the key to the American Dream is education.
—————Former President George Herbert Walker Bush, 1997
TL;DR: TRIOS as discussed by the authors is a model for the dual processes of self-protective and self-enhancing motivations for targets who must live in a universal context of racism, as opposed to doing-in-the-world.
Abstract: TRIOS is comprised of attitudes, beliefs and values about time, rhythm, improvisation, orality and spirituality. It is proposed that TRIOS represents the cultural foundation of an African legacy for African Americans and provides a means of coping with slavery and various forms of racism over time. TRIOS is a model for the dual processes of self-protective and self-enhancing motivations for targets who must live in a universal context of racism. TRIOS is described as a context-dependent theory of being-in-the-world, as opposed to doing-in-the-world. Evidence for the origins of TRIOS elements in African and Caribbean culture is presented. A scale to measure TRIOS is described and evidence for racial/ethnic differences shows that African Americans score higher than other racial/ethnic groups. The implications of TRIOS for psychological well-being of African Americans and a wide array of future research questions are discussed.
TL;DR: The authors found that women from working-and middle-class families were more likely to experience social segregation and academic unpreparedness than women from upper-class backgrounds, while themes of a continuation of family tradition were evident among women from richer families.
Abstract: Data from 193 women who attended Smith College in the 1960s show that the women retrospectively represented college quite differently depending on their class background. Themes of both social segregation and academic unpreparedness were evident among the women from working- and middle-class families, while themes of a continuation of family tradition were evident among women from upper-class families. Interview data from seven women who graduated from Radcliffe in 1964 suggested that a sense of who belonged and who did not was keenly felt even by women from middle-class backgrounds, and was also noticed by women from upper-class backgrounds. It is noted that class plays a large role in constructing the markers that define "belongingness" on elite college campuses.
TL;DR: In this article, a theoretical mapping of notions that have emerged across the articles in this issue of the Journal of Social Issues specifically dedicated to questions of social class is offered, along with a research agenda for a critical psychology of class and schooling.
Abstract: In this epilogue, we offer a theoretical mapping of notions that have emerged across the articles in this issue of the Journal of Social Issues specifically dedicated to questions of social class. Social class is often included within the "race, class, gender, and sexual orientation" mantra of feminist and critical race work in psychology, but rarely scrutinized with rigor or serious scholarship. Thus, for the purposes of this epilogue, we theorize the relationship between the material, social, psychological, and the political. We identify four theoretical venues through which these researchers have opened a conversation about class and schooling: ideology, institutions, contradictions and consciousness, and method. We conclude by crafting a research agenda for a critical psychology of class and schooling.
TL;DR: This paper found that African American boys managed most effectively as they developed intra-group discourses of race and class enabling them to take up the school's offers of "hegemonic habitus" without "selling out."
Abstract: How do boys from diverse backgrounds manage in an elite boys' school? Interviewing a representative sample of 27 boys, blocked for race, class, and academic performance, we found that they navigated the school's academic geography by mastering "a drill" that included hard work, unwavering commitment, a will to win, a cool style, and self knowledge as learners. Some developed a transformative love of learning. But many marginalized boys struggled with the school's social geography. African American boys managed most effectively as they developed intra-group discourses of race and class enabling them to take up the school's offers of "hegemonic habitus" without "selling out." We discuss the liberating implications of helping students in both independent and public schools develop similar critiques.
TL;DR: The findings show why, from a health capital/health-resources-network perspective, a segment of the housing system (owner-occupation) that generally appears therapeutic can have the opposite effect for people whose resilience is low or whose health is in decline.
Abstract: This article explores the relationships between housing and health inequalities. It locates housing within a network, of health resources that can either promote well-being or increase susceptibility to disease. Housing thereby contributes to the accumulation, or depletion, of the health capital of individuals and communities. Qualitative interviews in three British regions help specify the links between health capital, on the one hand, and the network of resources, environments, events, institutions, and social relations comprising the housing system, on the other. The findings show why, from a health capital/health-resources-network perspective, a segment of the housing system (owner-occupation) that generally appears therapeutic can have the opposite effect for people whose resilience is low or whose health is in decline.
TL;DR: In this article, indirect scaling methods were used to examine the degree to which employed adults in the United States perceived such procedures to be invasive of privacy, and the results showed that application blank was the least invasive procedure and lie detector was the most invasive procedure.
Abstract: We conducted two studies on the perceived invasiveness of 12 personnel selection procedures. In Study 1, indirect scaling methods were used to examine the degree to which 84 employed adults in the United States perceived such procedures to be invasive of privacy. Results showed the application blank was the least invasive of privacy and the lie detector was the most invasive of privacy. In Study 2, data from 149 (mostly employed) adults in the Northeast were used to assess relationships between invasiveness and several hypothesized antecedents. Correlation analyses showed that invasiveness was predicted by several factors (e.g., the extent to which the procedures erroneously discredited job applicants). Implications for personnel selection practices in work organizations are considered.
TL;DR: Personal characteristics explained much of the difference between owners and social renters, but some dwelling and neighborhood characteristics also played a role.
Abstract: Numerous studies have found that owner-occupiers live longer and stay healthier than renters. Epidemiologists often view housing tenure as a proxy for economic circumstances rather than as having directly health-promoting or damaging effects. Housing researchers, on the other hand, have tended to study physical and psychosocial aspects of housing that might directly impact upon health. Linking these two literatures, we analyzed nearly 3,000 postal questionnaires from a stratified random sample of Scottish adults. In particular, we examined differences between owners and social renters that might explain observed tenure differences in health. Personal characteristics explained much of the difference between owners and social renters, but some dwelling and neighborhood characteristics also played a role.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present the theoretical, methodological, and practical rationale for "Youth perspectives on violence and injustice," a special issue of the Journal of Social Issues, which raises questions about what counts as normative youth behavior and broadens the nature of inquiry.
Abstract: This introduction presents the theoretical, methodological, and practical rationale for “Youth perspectives on violence and injustice,” a special issue of the Journal of Social Issues. Our approach to youth violence research raises questions about what counts as normative youth behavior and broadens the nature of inquiry so that understandings and goals of young people, especially those from discriminated groups, contribute to re-defining the problem and its analysis. We also underscore how the articles in this issue illuminate youth perspectives via novel theoretical and methodological tools. After presenting the organizing themes of social justice and development: youth perspectives through history, culture, and community, youth confronting public institutions, and youth transformations through relationships, we preview themes in the integrative summary. Questioning “Violence” and “Youth”
TL;DR: In the past 25 years, references to public opinion have been used to frame the public as concerned, differentiated and, most recently, as willing to negotiate their privacy demands as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The laws that condition the boundaries that separate the public from the private spheres shape our expectations of privacy. Public opinion helps to shape the development and implementation of those laws. Commercial firms in the information-intensive industries have been the primary sponsors of public opinion surveys introduced into testimony as assessments of the public's will. Representatives of business and consumer organizations have relied upon the same industry-sponsored surveys to frame their arguments in support of or in opposition to specific privacy policies. In the past 25 years, references to public opinion have been used to frame the public as concerned, differentiated and, most recently, as willing to negotiate their privacy demands.
TL;DR: The negative effects of slavery have been theoretically linked to contemporary problems faced by African Americans, such as family instability, low achievement motivation, and high rates of juvenile delinquency and youth violence as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The negative effects of slavery have been theoretically linked to contemporary problems faced by African Americans, such as family instability, low achievement motivation, and high rates of juvenile delinquency and youth violence. Combining historical, sociological, and psychological materials, the current analysis argues that Blacks exited slavery with the necessary social capital, inclusive of proactive family attitudes and patterns as well as high achievement motivation, for rapid acculturation into mainstream America. Shifting to the present, it is shown that the co-existence of high Black crime rates and Black cultural integrity are not contradictory, especially when systemic forces neutralize or undermine the ameliorative potential of Black culture.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the existing research in order to identify critical constructs and factors, and to craft research questions that can best guide future investigations of homesharing in a direction that points towards viable and healthy housing solutions, particularly for those in transitional life stages.
Abstract: With “doubling up” and shared housing increasing in the United States, it is time to revisit and reconsider the research literature on the physical, psychological, social, and economic health consequences of these living conditions; and to consider how specific social and physical environmental factors of shared housing may foster or deter healthy living situations for various household arrangements. In this light, this article examines the existing research in order to identify critical constructs and factors, and to craft research questions that can best guide future investigations of homesharing in a direction that points towards viable and healthy housing solutions, particularly for those in transitional life stages.
TL;DR: A theory of dialectical violence that integrates societal with personal enactments of violence through case illustrations of Mexican youth is proposed to illustrate how Mexican youth enter a cycle of violence as a result of their undocumented status, socioeconomic class, language and ethnic-racial memberships.
Abstract: Sociohistorical theory was used to examine illegality as a form of state violence that bears upon the formation of undocumented Mexican immigrants. This article proposes a theory of dialectical violence that integrates societal with personal enactments of violence through case illustrations of Mexican youth. In a grassroots association defending immigrants' rights, youth develop within conflicting discourses about undocumented immigrants proposed by society, family, and community. Methods included ethnographic analysis of the association's documents, a workshop in which five participants authored a booklet with texts and illustrations about their lives in the city, and an interview with their mothers. Findings illustrate how Mexican youth enter a cycle of violence as a result of their undocumented status, socioeconomic class, language and ethnic-racial memberships.