Showing papers in "Social Forces in 1988"
TL;DR: In this article, residential segregation is viewed as a multidimensional phenomenon varying along five distinct axes of measurement: evenness exposure concentration centralization and clustering, and 20 indices of segregation are surveyed and related conceptually to 1 of the five dimensions.
Abstract: This paper conceives of residential segregation as a multidimensional phenomenon varying along 5 distinct axes of measurement: evenness exposure concentration centralization and clustering. 20 indices of segregation are surveyed and related conceptually to 1 of the 5 dimensions. Using data from a large set of US metropolitan areas the indices are intercorrelated and factor analyzed. Orthogonal and oblique rotations produce pattern matrices consistent with the postulated dimensional structure. Based on the factor analyses and other information 1 index was chosen to represent each of the 5 dimensions and these selections were confirmed with a principal components analysis. The paper recommends adopting these indices as standard indicators in future studies of segregation. (authors)
2,833 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the Mystery in Broad Daylight: Gender Formation and Psychoanalysis is described as a "mystery in broad daylight": the body and social practice of women in the context of political theory.
Abstract: Preface. 1. Some Facts in the Case. Part I: Theorising Gender. 2. Historical Roots of Contemporary Theory. 3. Current Frameworks. Part II: The Structure of Gender Relations. 4. The Body and Social Practice. 5. Main Structures: Labour, Power and Cathexis. 6. Gender Regimes and the Gender Order. 7. Historical Dynamic. Part III: Femininity and Masculinity. 8. Sexual Character. 9. The Mystery in Broad Daylight: Gender Formation and Psychoanalysis. 10. Personality as Practice. Part IV Sexual Politics. 11. Sexual Ideology. 12. Political Practice. 13. Present and Future.
2,709 citations
TL;DR: Based on official Chinese sources as well as intensive interviews with Hong Kong residents formerly employed in mainland factories, Andrew Walder's neo-traditional image of communist society in China will be of interest not only to those concerned with China and other communist countries, but also to students of industrial relations and comparative social science.
Abstract: Based on official Chinese sources as well as intensive interviews with Hong Kong residents formerly employed in mainland factories, Andrew Walder's neo-traditional image of communist society in China will be of interest not only to those concerned with China and other communist countries, but also to students of industrial relations and comparative social science.
812 citations
533 citations
TL;DR: Liska et al. as discussed by the authors found that fear and constrained social behavior are part of a positive escalating loop (fear constrains social behavior which increases fear) and that the strength of the loop is contingent on age.
Abstract: To some extent fear of crime is thought to be a social problem because it is assumed to constrain social interaction. However, empirical support for the effects of fear on social behavior is mixed. This may reflect two problems. Extant research does not control for the negative effect of social behavior on fear while estimating the effect of fear on social behavior; and research assumes that the effect of fear on social behavior is the same for all people. Using the NCS dataset and simultaneous equation techniques, we address this issue. The analysis suggests that fear and constrained social behavior are part of a positive escalating loop (fear constrains social behavior which increases fear) and that the strength of the loop is contingent on age. Over the last 15 years fear of crime has emerged as an important research topic. Surveys (Harris, NORC, and NCS) report that a very high percentage of the U.S. population fear criminal victimization (Baumer 1978; Braungart, Braungart & Hoyer 1980; Clemente & Kleiman 1976; Garofalo 1979; Hartnagel 1979; Skogan & Maxfield 1981) and that this percentage has been increasing since the mid 1960s (Stinchcombe et al. 1980). In 1967 the Presidential Commission on Law and Enforcement decried the lack of research; and seven years later Brooks (1974) stated that the situation has not changed. Today we still know very little. Perhaps the most common and consistent findings are those on *This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging (5ROlAGO4067). Some of the data used in this paper were made available by the InterUniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research. Address correspondence to Allen E. Liska, Department of Sociology, SUNY/Albany, Albany, NY 19222. ? 1988 The University of North Carolina Press
354 citations
334 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a cross-national comparison involving West German, Dutch, and United States data was made on the use of social ties in the job-search process, showing that there is more use of informal sources in the U.S. than in West Germany and the Netherlands, and that informal sources do not generally lead to higher occupational prestige and income.
Abstract: This paper gives a cross-national comparison, involving West German, Dutch, and United States data, on the use of social ties in the job-search process. Data for West Germany and the Netherlands are compared with the Lin et al. research on Albany-Schenectady and Troy. The findings show that (1) there is more use of informal sources in the U.S. than in West Germany and the Netherlands; (2) informal sources do not generally lead to higher occupational prestige and income; (3) for the Dutch data (no West German data are available for this question) greater social resources, that is, a contact person with relatively high prestige, do lead to a job with a higher prestige, though effects are less pronounced than found by Lin et al.; and (4) an extension of the Lin et al. analysis shows that these social resources do not have a significant impact on income. This last finding is consistent with the recent results of Marsden and Hurlbert's analysis of Detroit Area Study data. Institutional differences that might be relevant to the explanation of crossnational differences are discussed.
333 citations
TL;DR: This article analyzed the extent of the trade-off between their time commitments to work and time with their children using detailed time diaries of a 1981 national sample of 226 married couples with children.
Abstract: Using detailed time diaries of a 1981 national sample of 226 married couples with children, we analyze the extent of the trade-off between their time commitments to work and time with their children. Parents in single-earner families spend substantially more time with children than their dual-earner counterparts; the overall difference is largely accounted for by the lesser time of employed mothers in activities that involve children only peripherally, not in directly child-oriented activities. Dual-earner couples have lesser parental time with children for the simple fact that they work more as a unit than single-earner couples. Although the widespread employment of women has not led to a more directly participative male parental role, work time affects fathers' time with children more than mothers'.
331 citations
248 citations
TL;DR: The Weberian theory of rationalization, especially the concepts of formal and substantive rationality and the conflict between them, is used to analyze contemporary changes affecting the medical profession as discussed by the authors. But, it is argued that these changes are impelling physicians away from substantive rationality in the direction of formal rationality, which is likely to lead to greater external control over physicians and to a decline in their ability to distinguish itself from bureaucrats and capitalists.
Abstract: The Weberian theory of rationalization, especially the concepts of formal and substantive rationality and the conflict between them, are used to analyze contemporary changes affecting the medical profession. Three major types of changes are discussed-changes in government policies, the changing nature of medical delivery systems, and changes within medical delivery systems. It is argued that these changes are impelling the medical profession away from substantive rationality and in the direction of formal rationality. Increasing formal rationality is likely to lead to greater external control over physicians and to a decline in the ability of the medical profession to distinguish itself from bureaucrats and capitalists. These changes, in turn, are likely to lead to some degree of deprofessionalization of physicians. Alternative future scenarios are also mentioned.
TL;DR: B Bridges et al. as discussed by the authors found that black individuals are more likely than whites to be imprisoned in states where the black population is a small percentage of the total population and predominantly urban.
Abstract: A central and recurring concern in the sociology of criminal law is racial disparity in imprisonment-blacks are much more likely than whites to be imprisoned for crimes. Sociological theories disagree over the sources of imprisonment disparity. Prior research has ignored the social, economic, and legal characteristics of states and regions of the country that may contribute to disparity. The present study finds differences in the social standing of blacks relative to whites that explain substantial and statistically significant variation in racial disparity in imprisonment across states after racial differences in involvement in crime are controlled. Blacks are more likely than whites to be imprisoned in states where the black population is a small percentage of the total population and predominantly urban. The implications of these findings for a structural theory of punishment are discussed. Over the past decade, racial and ethnic disparities in imprisonment have provoked national concern. While blacks and other racial minorities constitute a relatively small share of the general population, they make up a very large share of federal and state prison populations. In 1982, blacks made up 12 percent of the U.S. population and 48 percent of the prison population.' Such disparity continues to fuel debate about the treatment of minorities in the administration of criminal justice (Blumstein 1982; Hagan 1974a; Kieck 1981; Langan 1985). One writer described the debate as "one of the most distressing and troublesome aspects of the operation of the criminal justice system in the United States" (Blumstein 1982, p. 1259). *We thank Paul Burstein, Herbert Costner, Avery Guest, James Inverarity, Joe Weis, L. Wesley Wager, and two anonymous referees for their comments and suggestions. The project reported in this paper was sponsored by a grant from the Legislature of the State of Washington to the Institute for Public Policy, Graduate School of Public Affairs, University of Washington. Address correspondence to George S. Bridges, Department of Sociology-DK40, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195. ? 1988 The University of North Carolina Press
TL;DR: Tittle et al. as mentioned in this paper found that the relevant threats are not strictly political but are mostly of a symbolic, social-psychological nature wherein white adults react to resented youthful traits often stereotypically associated with nonwhites.
Abstract: Studies of juvenile court processing are reviewed and found generally to contradict a discrimination argument. Nevertheless, enough evidence of disparity exists to justify a search for contingencies under which discrimination is more or less likely to occur. The literature yields five contingent hypotheses which we test using data from 31 counties in Florida. The results suggest that differential sanctioning is not a pervasive phenomenon but rather that it is contingent on whether the individual is a member of an aggregate which poses a threat to elites. But it appears that the relevant threats are not strictly political but are mostly of a symbolic, social-psychological nature wherein white adults react to resented youthful traits often stereotypically associated with nonwhites. The results suggest that theoretical development about differential sanctioning will require deemphasis on the ability of individuals to resist power and a strengthened focus on the contingencies under which power is wielded. A strong interest in disparities in criminal justice processing among those with differential power or resources has been present in sociology for the past two decades (Hawkins 1987; Myers 1987). One manifestation of this interest is the extensive empirical literature concerning juvenile justice processing (Liska and Tausig 1979; Smith, Black & Weir 1980) which includes at least 35 studies since 1967 about juvenile court dispositions alone. Much of the research on criminal justice processing has been undertaken within the framework of either labeling or conflict theory (Myers 1987). Both approaches are concerned with the exercise of power and with *We acknowledge helpful comments by Elton E Jackson and Raymond Paternoster as well as the cooperation of the office of the Florida Attorney General headed by Mr. Jim Smith. Direct correspondence to Charles R. Tittle, Department of Sociology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-4020. ? 1988 The University of North Carolina Press
TL;DR: This article analyzed the effect of sending-country fertility levels on immigrant fertility patterns in the US and found that the most significant factor in the persistence of high fertility among the immigrants was the prevailing fertility level of the sending country although this effect was weakest among immigrants who had been positively selected.
Abstract: The assimilationist explanation for immigrant fertility patterns is that they reflect those of the home country and decline as the immigrants adapt to the new culture. This study analyzes the effect of sending-country fertility levels on immigrant fertility patterns in the US. Data for the analysis were drawn from the 1980 US Census 5% Public Use Microdata Sample and consisted of women aged 30-50 in 1980 who were born in China (including Taiwan and Hong Kong) India Korea the Philippines Colombia Mexico Cuba the Dominican Republic and Jamaica. They were divided into 2 cohorts: thoses who came to the US before age 23 and those who were older than 23 at time of emigration. In the 1st part of the analysis differentials in children ever born were used as the measure of fertility and demographic and social controls were age at 1st marriage duration of marriage and education. Measures of assimilation were years since immigrating marriage to a US-born spouse and degree of English spoken. In the 2nd part of the analysis 2 further controls were added 1 representing the net reproduction rate from the UN Demographic Yearbook 1981 and another representing a factor for positive selectivity of immigrants based on education. The study showed that the most significant factor in the persistence of high fertility among the immigrants was the prevailing fertility level of the sending country although this effect was weakest among immigrants who had been positively selected. Moreover the fertility effect of the sending countrys fertility levels was found to be strongest among the cohort that had been in the US longer thus contradicting the assimilationist theory that fertility necessarily declines as the immigrants adapt to US culture.
TL;DR: This paper examined the effects of various household configurations on children's cognitive performance and found that the presence of a second adult, not just the father, has beneficial effects on reading marks for black first graders.
Abstract: This paper employs a large representative sample of Baltimore first graders to examine the effects of various household configurations on children's cognitive performance. Separate analyses are presented for blacks and whites. Using a school process model that is similar to those employed at the secondary level, the analyses shozv that household composition has an important influence on teachers' marks, particularly reading. These effects are pronounced and most consistent for blacks. The presence of a second adult, not just the father, has beneficial effects on reading marks. Households exert their effects on end-of-first grade achievement primarily by way of parent expectations for reading marks. There is also evidence that household configurations exercise some influence on spring achievement test scores for blacks in both the verbal and the quantitative domains, but stronger in the verbal domain. These effects, in general, are smaller than those for teachers marks.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors tried to look at several temporal correlations as examples of the same underlying dynamics and to offer a theory which helps to organize a traditionally enigmatic body of research.
Abstract: Numerous studies have reported that suicide rates tend to be affected by temporal variables (month day of the week day of the month holidays). Few authors have provided convincing explanations of these relations and no one except Durkheim has suspected that they display similarities which indicate that they might have some causal origins in common. This article attempts to look at several temporal correlations as examples of the same underlying dynamics and to offer a theory which helps to organize a traditionally enigmatic body of research. (EXCERPT)
TL;DR: The relation between sociodemographic factors and racial group identification in the United States is explored in this paper, where it is found that older black and the least-educated black live in urban areas.
Abstract: The relation between sociodemographic factors and racial group identification [in the United States] is explored in this paper....The findings of this research indicate that racial group identification is strongest among older blacks and the least-educated blacks who live in urban areas. Additionally significant interactions between education and region are found; highly educated blacks living outside the West have strong levels of racial group identification. Income and sex are not found to be related to racial group identification. (EXCERPT)
TL;DR: Hechter as discussed by the authors argued that it is possible to build a theory of solidarity based on the action of rational individuals and in doing so he went beyond the timeworn disciplinary boundaries separating the various social sciences.
Abstract: Social scientists have long recognized that solidarity is essential for such phenomena as social order, class, and ethnic consciousness, and the provision of collective goods. In presenting a new general theory of group solidarity, Michael Hechter here contends that it is indeed possible to build a theory of solidarity based on the action of rational individuals and in doing so he goes beyond the timeworn disciplinary boundaries separating the various social sciences.
TL;DR: This article examined interrelationships among attitudes toward a wide range of political and social topics and found that social and political attitudes are organized along at least two uncorrelated dimensions: economic welfare policy and individual liberty.
Abstract: T7his paper examines interrelationships among attitudes toward a wide range of political and social topics. The issue under investigation is whether, and howv, social attitudes are organized or structured among the general public. While many assume that attitudes are organized in terms of a single underlying ideology of liberalism/conservatism, others argue that attitudes show little organization, or that attitude structure is bidimensional. To address this issue, this study analyzes data from two separate national surveys, each containing information about a large number of attitude topics. In both data sets, confirmatory factor analyses support a bidimensional model. Social and political attitudes are organized along at least two uncorrelated dimensions: economic welfare policy, on the one hand, and individual liberty, on the other. Results point to qualifications in Kerlinger's (1984) criterial referents theory of attitude structure.
TL;DR: Stahura et al. as mentioned in this paper evaluated Cohen and Felson's (1979) theory of "routine activities" using 1972 and 1980 crime rate data for 676 American suburbs and found that criminal motivation, opportunities, and guardianship have direct and indirect additive effects on violent andlor property crime rates.
Abstract: Cohen and Felson's (1979) theory of "routine activities" is evaluated using 1972 and 1980 crime rate data for 676 American suburbs. Cross-sectional and change influences of criminal motivation (percent poor, percent unemployed, percent black, and percent youth), criminal opportunities (employment concentration and percent multiple housing) and guardianship (police employment, police expenditure, and female labor force nonparticipation) on suburban crime rates, 1980 and change in crime rates, 1972-80 are estimated using maximum likelihood (LISREL) techniques. Consistent with the routine activities model, a multiplicative effect of the preconditions for crime on crime rates is also estimated. Motivation, opportunities, and guardianship are found to have direct andlor indirect additive effects on violent andlor property crime rates-supporting the "routine activities" model. A multiplicative effect of the preconditions of crime is found for property crime but not for violent crime rates. Suburbs have historically been immune from many of the urban problems that plague central cities. However, urban problems have begun to invade the suburbs-traffic congestion and air pollution; rising crime and delinquency rates; deteriorating housing; poverty and unemployment (Gold 1982). Of particular interest has been the recent rapid increase in suburban crime rates. Uniform Crime Report (UCR) data indicate that suburban violent crime rates increased by 130.7 percent from 1970 to 1980 compared to a 47.4 percent increase for central cities. The UCR shows increases for property crime rates of 146.0 percent for suburbs and 93.5 percent for central cities. Empirical questions arising are what types of suburbs have begun to experience increases in crime rates? And why? To answer these questions, a model of suburban property and violent crime rates is expli*We thank the anonymous referees, and especially David F. Greenberg, for their helpful comments and criticisms on earlier versions of this paper. Address correspondence to John M. Stahura, Department of Sociology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907. ?D 1988 The University of North Carolina Press
TL;DR: In this paper, age differences in work commitment and work values are examined, as well as their work and non-work determinants, using data from 4,567 American and 3,735 Japanese employees.
Abstract: This paper joins central concerns in the sociology of work and the sociology of aging. Age differences in work commitment and work values are examined, as well as their work and nonwork determinants, using data from 4,567 American and 3,735 Japanese employees. Our results show that older men are more committed to work than younger men in both Japan and the United States. This pattern also holds for American women, but there are no age differences in work commitment among Japanese zwmen. Moreover, there are greater age differences among the Japanese in the importance placed on good pay. This is consistent with the view that there has been greater cultural change in recent years in Japan than in the United States. The study of age differences in the meaning of work joins two important strands of sociological inquiry. People's work commitment and work values are important barometers of the quality of their work roles, a central concern in the sociology of work, while age is increasingly becoming recognized as one of the major bases of social stratification. Despite the complementarity of these concerns, most discussions of the meaning of work do not address the ways in which work attitudes differ at various points in the life course. Nor has research on aging and social change
TL;DR: This paper explored the variety of ways that people experience their thoughts and feelings and showed that individuals can suspend reflexivity, and they begin to bridge the gap between the positivist and interactionist conceptions of emotion.
Abstract: Data from a variety of sources are used to explore the relation between emotions and cognitions. Instead of positing the relation between cognitions and emotions, we explore the variety of ways that people experience their thoughts and feelings. A typology demonstrates four ways an individual may respond to a situation: reflexive and emotional, unreflexive and emotional, reflexive and without feeling, and neither reflexive nor emotional. In addition to describing these experiences, we examine the circumstances that give rise to them. By recognizing that individuals can suspend reflexivity, we begin to bridge the gap between the positivist and interactionist conceptions of emotion.
TL;DR: Gilderbloom and Appelbaum as discussed by the authors argue that the most effective approach to affordable housing is to provide non-market alternatives fashioned after European housing programs, particularly the Swedish model.
Abstract: In recent years, almost daily media attention has been focused on the plight of the homeless in cities across the United States. Drawing upon experiences in the U.S. and Europe, John Gilderbloom and Richard Appelbaum challenge conventional assumptions concerning the operation of housing markets and provide policy alternatives directed at the needs of low- and moderate-income families. Rethinking Rental Housing is a ground-breaking analysis that shows the value of applying a broad sociological approach to urban problems, one that takes into account the basic economic, social, and political dimensions of the urban housing crisis. Gilderbloom and Appelbaum predict that this crisis will worsen in the 1990s and argue that a "supply and demand" approach will not work in this case because housing markets are not competitive. They propose that the most effective approach to affordable housing is to provide non-market alternatives fashioned after European housing programs, particularly the Swedish model. An important feature of this book is the discussion of tenant movements that have tried to implement community values in opposition to values of development and landlord capital. One of the very few publications on rental housing, it is unique in applying a sociological framework to the study of this topic. Author note: John I. Gilderbloom is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Research Associate at the Center for Public Policy, University of Houston. Richard P. Appelbaum is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.