When Prejudice Is Popular: Implications for Discriminatory Behavior

Prejudice and popularity represent two major areas of research. Yet studies have not considered whether prejudiced adolescents actually can be popular. Among 572 high school students (M_age = 15.80 years), the current study tested the association between popularity (based on sociometric peer nominations) and sexual prejudice against gay and lesbian individuals, moderated by gender and perspective taking. As hypothesized, the association was significant for males but not females, and it was significant for adolescents lower on perspective taking but not those higher on perspective taking. Moreover, adolescents who were popular and expressed strong sexual prejudice were more likely to engage in homophobic behavior than prejudiced adolescents who were less popular. Popular adolescents with strong sexual prejudice beliefs may be more prone to use homophobic behavior as a way to maintain their dominant position. Similarly, prejudiced adolescents who are popular may face less pushback for their engagement in homophobic behavior. Continued attention to the connection between sexual prejudice and popularity is important because of the high status, influence, and visibility of popular adolescents.     

Children's Social Constructions of Popularity

Children's social constructions of popularity were assessed with perceived popularity nominations (i.e., ‘Who are the most [least] popular students?’) in a sample of 487 fourth, fifth, and sixth grade elementary school students. Correlational and group‐difference analyses demonstrated that perceived popularity is moderately and positively related to sociometric popularity and social dominance. Perceived popular girls were viewed as prosocial, bright, and in possession of the expressive equipment of popularity (i.e., attractiveness and spending power); perceived popular girls who were not well‐liked (i.e., sociometrically popular) had these characteristics as well but also were above‐average (>.5 SD) on social aggression and social visibility (i.e., cool and athletic). Perceived popular boys were reported to be socially visible (i.e., cool and athletic) and with low levels of social withdrawal; perceived popular boys who were not well‐liked had these characteristics but also were reported to be socially aggressive, attractive, and to possess spending power. Finally, group comparisons revealed that perceived popularity, either alone or in combination with sociometric popularity, is accompanied by more social prerogatives (i.e., admiration, leadership, social control) than sociometric popularity alone. It was argued that being perceived as popular is a key determinant of social power in peer groups of older elementary school students.     

Does the desire to conform to peers moderate links between popularity and indirect victimization in early adolescence?

This study of 426 Canadian early adolescents (M_age = 12.52; 53% girls) investigated whether associations between popularity and indirect victimization (i.e., reputational victimization, exclusion) varied as a function of gender and the desire to conform to characteristics and competencies that are valued within the peer group (i.e., peer conformity goals). Regression analyses revealed popularity was uniquely and positively associated with reputational victimization, but was not significantly related to exclusion after accounting for the effects of meanness and likeability. The associations between popularity and indirect victimization were moderated by peer conformity goals and gender. The results indicated that popular girls with high peer conformity goals experienced more reputational victimization and exclusion than popular girls with low peer conformity goals. However, popular boys with high peer conformity goals experienced less exclusion than popular boys with low peer conformity goals. The findings suggest that peer conformity goals carry with them some risks for popular girls, but may serve a protective function for popular boys.     

Substance use and decision‐making in adolescent best friendship dyads: The role of popularity

In adolescent best friendship dyads, we examined: (a) similarity in substance use and decision‐making; (b) associations between participants' decision‐making and their own and best friend's substance use, (c) the influence of relative popularity within the dyad on these associations. Participants (n = 172; 12–18 years) named their best friend, completed popularity ratings, and a substance use questionnaire. Computer tasks were administered to assess risk‐taking and immediate reward preferences. Reciprocated same‐sex best friendship dyads (n = 49) were distinguished on their popularity, and we controlled for age differences between dyads in the analyses. Best friends were similar in substance use and risk‐taking preferences. More popular friends' risk‐taking preferences were positively associated with alcohol use of less popular friends. These findings underscore best friendship similarity in risky behaviors, and the influence of popular friends.     

社会工作研究的人文精神——对以实证主义为导向的美国社会工作研究的批判

长期以来,国际社会工作研究常常倾向于以实证主义和经验主义为基础的研究导向,特别是在美国,基于证据的研究方法在社会工作领域十分流行。随着全球化的推进和人们生活方式的现代化,社会工作研究所面临的问题更为复杂,其解决方法单纯依靠各种技术处理的手段来展开是远远不够的,我们在讨论这些问题时,要强化其价值导向。这要求我们在讨论社会工作研究的问题上,把我们的关注点从证据、技术手段和职业标准扩展到价值观、人文精神和对全球化问题的关注等方面,以此来推进国际社会工作的发展。     

社会工作研究的人文精神——对以实证主义为导向的美国社会工作研究的批判

长期以来,国际社会工作研究常常倾向于以实证主义和经验主义为基础的研究导向,特别是在美国,"基于证据"的研究方法在社会工作领域十分流行。随着全球化的推进和人们生活方式的现代化,社会工作研究所面临的问题更为复杂,其解决方法单纯依靠各种技术处理的手段来展开是远远不够的,我们在讨论这些问题时,要强化其价值导向。这要求我们在讨论社会工作研究的问题上,把我们的关注点从证据、技术手段和职业标准扩展到价值观、人文精神和对全球化问题的关注等方面,以此来推进国际社会工作的发展。     

The establishment of a system for the vocationalization and professionalization of social workers in mainland China

After years of effort, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Personnel, in July 2006, published the Provisional Regulations on the Assessment of the Vocational Standards of Social Workers (Provisional Regulations) and the Measures for the Implementation of the Examination Regarding Professional Qualifications of Social Workers (Measures for Examination), with a view to establishing at the national level a professional system in regard to social workers. These regulations and measures also aim to absorb social workers into the scope of professional practice by carrying out assessments on their professional standards and vocational qualifications. The publication of the Provisional Regulations and the Measures of Examination is hugely significant in terms of the professionalization as well as the vocationalization of social work in mainland China. This paper seeks to introduce the key contents of the two documents.     

Testing a “Push–Pull” theory of work commitment among organizational professionals

Writers have suggested that the current trend toward decreased job security requires employees to commit more strongly to newly “professionalized” occupations to compensate for social and resource support no longer received from their employers. And it has sometimes been implied that such a shift toward increased professional commitment will arise naturally as organizational commitment is whittled away by perceived job insecurity. We propose that job insecurity does not automatically push the employee toward professional commitment, but rather that such commitment stems from the pull of perceived occupational professionalization. We construct a nonrecursive model proposing relationships between job insecurity, perceived professionalization, and both organizational and professional commitment. This model is supported (using structural equation modeling) in a study of 622 employees in 3 occupations: corporate law, human resource management, and computer programming, all of which can be considered professions or semiprofessions. Finally, we suggest how occupations can be fashioned better to support employees when faced with job insecurity and job loss.     

The Effects of South Korean Social Workers' Professional Resources on their Understanding of a Patient's Right to End‐of‐Life Care Decisions in Long‐term Care Facilities

The aims of this study were to examine South Korean social workers' understanding of a patient's right to end‐of‐life care decisions (EOLCD) in long‐term care facilities and to explore the effectiveness of their professional resources in their understanding of this issue. A survey was conducted of 297 social workers from multiple long‐term care facilities in South Korea using structured questionnaires and face‐to‐face interviews. A multiple regression model was used, controlling for gender and religion. The participants' professional resources were measured by years of work, license type, number of beds, knowledge of advanced directives, experience in the EOLCD process, and training. The results demonstrated that South Korean social workers' understanding of a patient's right to EOLCD was moderate (mean 3.46), and their general (β = 0.576, P < 0.001) and medical knowledge (β = 0.117, P < 0.001) of advance directives, experience in the EOLCD process (β = 0.222, P < 0.001), and training (β = 0.028, P < 0.001) positively and significantly increased their understanding of patient rights (R² = 0.449, P < 0.001). The findings suggested that the development of academically supported and legally enforced standards and regulations for an EOLCD practice manual for long‐term‐care social workers would be beneficial.     

Literature and the Arts

A writer and critic takes a look at trends and fashions in popular Soviet fiction and makes some sharp comments on its quality and depth. Znamya (The Banner), 1961, No. 3; abridged.     

The Role of Respect in the Relation of Aggression to Popularity

Can aggressive children be popular with peers? Generally, sociometric popularity (liking nominations) has been shown to be negatively associated with aggression, and perceived popularity (popularity nominations) has been shown to be positively associated with aggression. The thesis of the present research was that being respected by peers moderates the relation between aggression and popularity. For both third‐ through sixth‐grade boys (N = 107) and girls (N = 117), perceived popularity by peers was positively associated with nominations for aggression (both overt and relational) only for children high in respect. Aggression was negatively associated with sociometric popularity for girls who were low in respect; sociometric popularity for girls high in respect was not related to aggression nominations. In sum, aggressive children were considered to be popular only if they were respected; aggressive girls were not disliked if they were respected.     

It's Not Just Being Popular,it's Knowing it,too: The Role of Self‐perceptions of Status in the Associations between Peer Status and Aggression

Moderators of the well‐established association between status and overt and relational aggression were tested in a four‐year longitudinal sample (N = 358) of high school students. Self‐perceptions of popularity were found to moderate the link between actual peer‐perceived popularity and aggression, with adolescents who were both popular and aware of their popular status, scoring highest on peer‐nominated aggression and showing the greatest increases in aggression over time. Self‐perceptions of liking moderated the associations between social preference and aggression as well. Adolescents who saw themselves as disliked were particularly likely to show increases in aggression over time. The moderating effect of self‐perceptions was further moderated by gender in several cases. Findings are discussed in light of Coie's theory of the development of peer status theory. The social‐cognitive elements of high peer status, particularly of perceived popularity, are also highlighted.     

社会工作人才队伍建设的对策分析——以青岛开发区为例

党在十六届六中全会提出了“造就一支结构合理、素质优良的社会工作人才队伍,是构建社会主义和谐社会的迫切需要”,明确了社会工作人才对于和谐社会建设的重要作用。党的十七大以来,和谐社会的观念更加深入人心。青岛经济开发区早在1984年就被列为首批国家级开发区。但由于社会工作人才缺乏,社会服务的专业化水平不高,制约着开发区经济建设和社会服务的协调发展。为了响应党的号召以及适应本地区和谐社会建设的需要,笔者对开发区社会工作的实际情况展开调查,并在深入分析问题的基础上提出了解决问题的对策。     

Baseball in Cuba

While futbol (soccer) has long been the favorite sport in most of Latin America, baseball holds sway in the circum-Caribbean region in countries such as Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Cuba. It is perhaps surprising that revolutionary Cuba, with its strong anti-American foreign policy, should continue to hold dear this sport that was born and nurtured in the United States. Yet Fidel Castro himself, who regularly issues anti-Yankee attacks, is also proud of demonstrating his skill with the bat andglove. Eric Wagner gives us a valuable overview of the development of baseball on the island, Cuba's singular success in international competition and the game's role in contemporary Cuba. With this background and analysis, it is easy to see why the revolutionary government has not tampered with a sport that is so firmly rooted as a popular national pastime. Regarding baseball in Cuba after 1959, Wagner discusses how it has become an integral part of the new social system in factories, villages, towns, urban neighborhoods and schools. Competition is fierce on both the local and national levels because of its wide appeal among the popular classes, who brought baseball with them when they assumed power in 1959. It is likely to continue to play an essential role in the country's socioeconomic integration.     

The Third Way and Social Welfare: The Myth of Post-emotionalism

The “passive” welfare state was accused of promoting a dependency culture. “Active” welfare and the “what works?” approach of Britain's New Labour government is allegedly implicated in an age of post‐emotionalism, in which people are largely indifferent to the needs of others and committed primarily to their personal well‐being. This article, first, seeks to extend recent debates about agency and motivation in social policy and relate them to the notion of post‐emotionalism. Second, it draws on a recent empirical study of popular and welfare provider discourses, which suggests that popular opinion can accommodate an appreciation of human interdependency, while welfare providers remain committed to a public service ethos. None the less, Third Way thinking is associated with a narrowing of solidaristic responsibilities. The problem for the future of health, social care and state welfare policies lies not with the imagined consequences of post‐emotionalism, so much as with an ideological context that perpetuates a distorted ethic of responsibility.     

高校社会工作专业师资培养方式分析

随着经济发展、社会进步以及社会主义和谐社会理念的深入人心,社会工作越来越受到人们重视。高质量的社会工作需要高质量的社会工作专业人才支撑,而这种人才能否培养得出来的关键就是高校社会工作专业师资队伍建设水平。当前各高校社会工作专业多比较年轻,其师资队伍建设存在若干问题,其中比较突出的就是他们跨专业的转型背景,其容易产生负面影响。为此我们需要探索必要方式,提升其师资水平,加强其队伍建设,从而满足社会需要。     

Let's not get tied into knots: a response to Newman, (2018)—Vygotsky,Wittgenstein and sociocultural theory

The September 2018 issue of this journal included an article by Newman, (2018) that challenges research carried out on second language acquisition (henceforth, SCT‐L2) informed by the psychological theory proposed by L. S. Vygotsky. We would like to respond to Newman's critique, which he problematizes as three “knots” that he then undertakes to untie through analysis of Vygotsky's writings contained in Vygotsky's two most popular works, Thought and Language and Mind in Society. We first summarize Newman's knots and his approach to untying them. We then present our response to each of these in turn.