Showing papers on "Social system published in 1980"

What Should Be Done with Equity Theory

Abstract: The distribution of rewards and resources is a universal phenomenon that occurs in social systems of all sizes, from small groups to whole societies (Parsons, 1951; Parsons, Shils, & Olds, 1951). All groups, organizations, and societies deal with the question of allocating rewards, punishments, and resources. The manner in which a social system deals with these issues has great impact on its effectiveness and on the satisfaction of its members. For these reasons, it is not surprising that social scientists from many disciplines—political scientists, economists, sociologists, and psychologists—have been concerned with the problem of allocation (e.g., Jones & Kaufman, 1974; Leventhal, 1976a; Pondy, 1970).

Towards a definition of action research: a note and bibliography

Abstract: Action research simultaneously assists in practical problem-solving and expands scientific knowledge, as well as enhances the competencies of the respective actors, being performed collaboratively in an immediate situation using data feedback in a cyclical process aiming at an increased understanding of a given social situation, primarily applicable for the understanding of change processes in social systems and undertaken within a mutually acceptable ethical framework.

On the social control of human reproduction

Abstract: Most societies control fertility and population growth to some degree through basic institutional arrangements that support the functioning of the social system as a whole. This article tries to specify these arrangements to establish their raison detre and to document the ways in which the nature of the fertility transition is contingent upon changes in the normative code and the system of social control. Drawing on the record for historical Western Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa it considers first the linkages between appropriation of resources patterns of social control risk-sharing devolution and demographic checks in pretransitional setting and then proceeds to examine these variables in the context of demographic transition. (Authors) (Summaries in ENG FRE SPA)

Diffusion of Innovation and Opinion Leadership

Abstract: Declares that diffusion (a term employed to describe the process whereby an innovation or a new idea or practice spreads through a social system over time) is a summary term used to embrace studies which trace the process of diffusion, the process of adoption and the patterns of influence involved. Acknowledges that even allowing for low involvement of marketing research in diffusion, marketing management's interest in this area can be guided and controlled. States that information is diffused through some form of communication channel – these may be one of two types: vertical channels, which exist if ‘there is a meaningful difference in the interests, social status, demographic or economic characteristics of the communication units’; and horizontal channels, which occur where communications flows among members of groups with similar interests and characteristics – these groups may be work groups, social groups, etc. Investigates sources of information and influence – in particular the two basic ones of: ...

Empathy Skill and Critical Consciousness

Abstract: Linking social work practice with individuals, families, and groups and larger social systems is most often theoretical in attempt. The focus here, however, is on a natural, concrete linkage at the...

Implications of socio-economic differentials in mortality for the health system.

Abstract: The premise of this discussion is that a systematic and continuous monitoring system is required to assemble data on the social indicator "socio-economic differences in mortality." Attention is directed to 5 particular types of data: secular trends; class differentials and age; linearity versus dichotomy; cross-cutting variables; and downward mobility and biological selection. The following 2 basic questions are examined and answered with a qualified "yes:" 1) does the health care system have any relevance to mortality differentials; and 2) can a health care system have any degree of meaninful autonomy from the overall social system. The policy implications of this analysis are reviewed in terms of the value content of medical education the organization of the health care system the emphasis on health and the focus on the community. The concepts of control and power are analyzed as the key to socioeconomic differentials. Emphasis on differential exposures to "stressors" is rejected for what is termed "a sense of coherence" -- a global orientation which emerges or fails to emerge among the lower classes against the background of a high level of generalized resistance resources. Essentially the problem is that the constricted emergency powerless and unpredictable character of lower social class existence prevents individuals of lower class and groups from being able to cope with stressors. Ways that the health care system can strengthen the sense of coherence of the lower classes include the following: a formal monitoring system in each society; caution in assuming that technological advances environmental control and health education are egalitarian in their consequences; and the need to identify high-risk groups within the lower classes.

Schutz and Parsons: Debate or dialogue?

Abstract: In 1941, Talcott Parsons and Alfred Schutz had a short-lived but intense intellectual exchange. Richard Grathoff s edition of their correspondence serves as an invitation to continue the debate. Unfortunately, Parsons* death in May of 1979 (two decades after that of Schutz) means that neither of the initial participants can clarify nor defend their original statements. Yet, in light of the importance of the issues dealt with by both writers their debate should continue. The following comments are offered not only as a review of Grathoffs edition and a synopsis of the issues debated, but also as a prospectus which, it is hoped, will encourage a continuation of the dialogue between Schutz and the "early Parsons" (one concerned with 'social action' rather than 'social system').2 With care and great respect for precision, Grathoff has effectively edited, commented on, and translated some of the Schutz-Parsons correspondence. And he has succeeded in offering something to both specialist and beginner. For the specialist, the book rejuvenates interest in the earlier work of Parsons, and serves to enrich one's understanding of Parsons and Schutz as thinkers and people. For the beginner, the book helps one draw key concepts and central issues out of the broad penumbra of ideas related to the notion of "social action." I suggest a purposive reading sequence for the d?butant. Experience the depth and complexity ofthe originals by first reading Parsons' The Structure of Social Action, and then Schutz' The Phenomenology ofthe Social World. Lastly, read Grathoffs text. Such an approach should help one

Strategies for the Management of Stigma through Social Work

Abstract: SUMMARY Stigma management should be part of social work practice, in addition to attempts to combat stigma by social policy initiatives. The objectives of stigma management are to reduce awareness and length of dependence on social services, to demonstrate clients' contribution to society, and to reduce social and spatial distance between clients and others. Strategies are identified, which include the selection of various combinations of targets for intervention from three aspects of stigma (the attribute, the stereotype and the relationship between them) and from the possibilities of work with the audience, both public and professional and the stigmatised person, or both. Factors to evaluate in assessment; methods of intervention, including help in passing, group identification, social exchanges, public reviews, the use of agents, benefactor relationships and elevation ceremonies; and reducing stigma at the end of social work intervention are considered. Stigma is an issue of major concern to social workers in two ways. First, their agencies are part of a social system in which stigma acts as a way of

Varieties of human brain organization and the human social system

Abstract: The core of any social structure, from ant to man, is the differentiation of social roles such that each member of the group contributes his special skills and abilities while receiving from others the benefits of theirs. It is this role differentiation and mutual interdependence that constitute the definition of social organization and that provide for its maintenance, stability, and quality. In the case of the social insects we have a pretty fair understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the critical diversity of roles, but in the case of our own species there has been litde attempt to acquire evidence since, for the most part, the answer has been assumed. Typically man has been viewed as an infinitely plastic clay to be molded at will by social forces, and the diversity of human social roles has been seen as a direct consequence of the social system. Even from the perspective of sociobiology, although the social structure itself is attributed to evolutionary factors, the human infant born into that structure is perceived as having an invariant set of characteristics that define his species identity and that make it possible for him to be conditioned by the extant social forces into any role demanded by the culture. In this view the etiology of human social differentiation is assumed to differ little from that of the social insects. Indeed what we call moral or ethical behavior, or more narrowly "altruistic" behavior, is, as for the insect, a result of kin selection: There is no real altruism, only the selfish gene's attempt to preserve itself.

The seasonality of pathology: a sociological analysis

Abstract: This study looks at the seasonal periodicity of a number of different social pathologies, including suicide, mortality resulting from disease, the onset of physical illness, and criminal behavior. Using time-series data from the United States, for 132 consecutive months between 1965-1975, it is found that virtually all of the behaviors investigated do demonstrate some consistent pattern of seasonal incidence. A sociological theory, based upon the macro-level concept, "the pace of social life," is suggested as the cause of these seasonal variations in pathology. This theory contends that, for reasons which are cultural, economic and/or climatological in nature, certain periods of the year are especially likely to be characterized by concentrations of various changes in and disruptions of people's routine, day-to-day lives. Because of the need for personal and social readjustment which they entail, such periods are experienced as being potentially stressful for the members of society, resulting in an increase in the incidence of social pathology during, or immediately following, these periods of change. To operationalize the independent variable in this theory – the occurrence of important social events, and changes in the nature, frequency, and intensity of social activities and relationships – macro-level measurement device, termed the Index of the Pace of Social Life, is created. This index translates a number of the "life events" contained in Thomas Holmes' Social Readjustment Rating Scale from the individual level of analysis to the macroscopic level, and its purpose is to provide a means of determining the relative amount of change inherent in the social events and activities characterizing a social system at any particular point in time. This theory is tested empirically, using Box-Jenkins procedures of time-series analysis and cross-correlational techniques. The results obtained provide support for the hypothesis that changes in the pace of social life within a social system act as an influence upon the temporal distribution of social pathologies within that social system, as (a) mortality resulting from disease, (b) persons missing work due to illness, (c) suicide, and (d) homicide are all found to increase simultaneous with and/or in the six months directly following increases in the Index of the Pace of Social Life.

Capital and the Firm in Neo-Classical Theory

Abstract: How does a social system maintain and reproduce itself? How are capitalist social relationships maintained and reproduced? Many neo-Classical models are inconsistent at various points with the requirements for the maintenance and reproduction of capitalist relationships.

Area Handbook Series: South Africa, A Country Study,

Abstract: : The study focuses on historical antecedents and on the cultural, political, and socioeconomic characteristics that contribute to cohesion and cleavage within the society Particular attention is given to the origins and traditions of the people who make up the society, their dominant beliefs and values, their community of interests and the issues on which they are divided, the nature and extent of their involvement with the national institutions, and their attitudes toward each other and toward the social system and political order within which they live

Social work with groups in the generic base of social work practice

Abstract: Social work with groups in generic practice requires more integration of group process theory and group work methodology in relation to two questions: What is important for all social workers to know about groups and group work and when is the group the most appropriate method-of-choice in generic practice? Important premises and knowledge for this practice are the relationship of the individual to the group; the small group as a microcostic social system; and especially, the stages of group development. This knowledge base and the understanding of the "curative factors" or "change mechanisms" in groups is suggestive of the selective use of groups for providing services in generic social work practice.

Social organization, incest, and fertility in a Kosraen village

Abstract: General fertility data from the village of Yewan, Kosrae Island, could be used to argue that a decrease in fertility among younger women is a functional adaptation to population growth and/or modernization. However, an examination of Yewan social organization in light of past historical and demographic events shows that the fertility reduction can be better understood as resulting from (1) the bilateral extension of the incest taboo during a past period of depopulation and [2] the rapid growth of the current population from a few individuals. This case illustrates the complex interrelationships between population and social organization and demonstrates the need to interpret aggregate demographic data in the context of the history and social system of the people involved. [population, kinship and social organization, incest, Oceania]

Deviant and Normal Social Development

Abstract: The child’s adaptation and development of various aspects of his personality are dependent upon the availability of a group of well-tested coping mechanisms and viable strategies provided in the social network. Their need for social survival makes it necessary for parents to help induct the child into the social milieu through encouragement, direct teaching, and even coercion. The innate impetus for socialization compels the child to accept what is offered, learn what is exhibited, and actively select from what is present. Gradually the child’s unique personality is shaped, and a complex psychological being is created. On the other hand, incorporating each new individual into the social network confronts the system with a new challenge. As the social system shapes the child’s personality, it is in turn modified by him. This reciprocal interaction prevents the fossilization of the social network, and assures the guided development of each individual’s psychology.

Talking ethics: the uses of moral rhetoric

Abstract: The contribution of social anthropology may be to explore the structure of conversational interaction more directly and thoroughly, as part of ethnography, and to insist on understanding discourse structures as situated, that is, as pertaining to cultural and personal occasions which invest discourse with part of their meaning and structure. (Hymes, 1974:100) Definitions of ethics are seldom framed in sociological terms that include the function of ethical discourse in social systems, the uses of ethical discourse as a method of strategic interaction in competition for power and rewards, and its relationship to distributive justice. Without such a definition of ethics, ethical discourse can be used in a variety of contexts with the expectation that a halo effect will accrue from its core meaning of moral principles. Thus, ethical discourse has been unnecessarily used as a means to sanctify and sanction entrepreneurial behavior. The new forms of social inquiry, such as action anthropology and sociology, do not need to be phrased in terms of moral imperatives. They can stand on their own feet as they are vitally innovative and important in their own right (see Schensul and Schensul, 1978, and in this volume; Hessler and New, 1972a, b; Hessler et al., in this volume). In other instances ethical discourse has been used as a means of disguising the real motives for social action by displacing attention from someone's actual behavior. When ethical discourse is used to veil a political position, it can weaken the thrust for greater ethical concern in social science inquiry. These various uses of "ethics" should not, however, be surprising to practitioners of social science. We have all learned, or should have learned, that humans have an infinite capacity for justifying their own actions by moral discourse, whether moral concerns form the basic motives for action or not. Further, we must realize that the increasing calls for reflexivity in social science inquiry also requires a reflexivity on the part of the reflexive. In other words, social scientists must constantly scrutinize their own motives so that personal bias, personal interest and cultural contamination do not interfere with their search for an end to bias. As a move toward such reflexivity I shall discuss three contexts in which ethical discourse is being used and attempt to illustrate the consequences.