What we know about social structure and homicide: a review of the theoretical and empirical literature

This article reviews what we have learned about social structure and homicide during the last 30 years, paying close attention to empirical tests of subculture, strain (both absolute and relative deprivation), and social disorganization theories. First, this review reveals that researchers have difficulty operationalizing culture in terms of values and instead often rely on regional location or group membership as a proxy for subculture. Though the findings relating subculture to homicide are inconsistent, however, culture should not be ignored. Second, the positive relationship between poverty and the spatial distribution of homicide rates is the most consistent finding in this literature, while empirical evidence of the effects of inequality on homicide is neither as strong nor as consistent. Finally, social disorganization is more consistent in explaining the variation of homicide rates than the subcultural and relative deprivation models, with elements of disorganization such as city size, family disruption, and heterogeneity all showing relatively consistent effects.     

The Culture of White Space,the Racialized Production of Meaning,and the Jamband Scene

This study critically examines the subculture of the jamband scene, particularly that of the band Phish, through the notion of “white space.” We demonstrate the existence of colorblind racism and denial of white privilege in the white space of Phish subculture, which is also emblematic of the jamband subculture at large. This study utilizes content analysis drawing from social media comments that react to an article written by Headcount, a political organization in the jamband subculture, titled “Phish Scene is So White: Let's Talk.” The most salient themes we found were colorblind racism and particular online forms of colorblind racetalk through emotional deflection and sarcasm—that we term NIMBY. Our findings add to our understanding of how colorblind racism operates in online versions of subcultural white spaces. We conclude by considering the importance of sociologists to urgently map the social and cultural contours by which white spaces are (re)produced, particularly through cultural processes of meaning-making.     

Sparrows in urban complexity: macro and micro-scale habitat use of sympatric sparrows in Guwahati City,India

In recent decades the House Sparrow and Tree Sparrow have suffered considerable declines. To date, little is known about the fine scale habitat selection of sparrows where they occur together. We investigated how sympatric sparrows used macro and microhabitats in the urban environment of Guwahati city. Survey of sparrows was carried out in 572 locations of different urban settings to find out the city scale distribution. We classified urban habitats and collected micro-habitat variables at 45 point count stations during 2013–2015. Urbanization gradient was found to be influential in limiting the abundance of sparrows. House Sparrow was more common within the urbanized areas compared to low settlement densities located far from the urban core. In contrast, Tree Sparrows were more scattered and seldom found in crowded areas. Spatial overlap was comparatively high in the residential areas adjacent to hillocks. At micro scale, House Sparrow had quadratic response to the degree of urbanization. Both the species avoided areas where urbanization reached the peak; specifically, the areas which were completely devoid of natural vegetation and top soil was paved, and in shopping centers with glass facades. Habitat requirements of both the species at local landscape scale seemed to be similar, although, with some overlaps, they occupied different gradients of the urban environment. Since urban landscapes are highly managed, the fundamental tool for enhancing urban sparrow populations would be the protection of mosaic habitat prioritizing suitable design and management of private gardens and allotments.

     

Are invasive House Sparrows a nuisance for native avifauna when scarce?

Biological invasions are the second most important cause of species extinction. Aided by processes such as transportation and urbanization, exotic species can establish and spread to new locations, causing changes in the function and structure of ecosystems. The House Sparrow is a widespread and highly abundant landbird associated to human presence. Previous studies performed in urban landscapes have suggested that this species could be acting, in synergy with urbanization, as a potential threat to native urban avian assemblages. In this study we assessed the relationship between House Sparrow density and native bird species richness in a region where the sparrows are scarce and sparsely distributed. We surveyed bird assemblages in and around four small-sized human settlements, considering three conditions in relation to House Sparrow presence: urban invaded, urban non-invaded, and non-urban non-invaded. To assess the potential detrimental role of House Sparrows on native bird species richness, we measured, additionally to sparrow densities, 20 predictor variables that describe vegetation structure and complexity, as well as urban infrastructure and human activities across four seasons of 1 year. Our results show that maximum shrub height was positively related to bird species richness, built cover was negatively associated with it, and House Sparrow invaded sites were related to a significant decrease of bird species richness, with increasing richness loss when more sparrows were present. Thus, we here provide evidence that urban areas can act in synergy with the presence of House Sparrows (even in low densities) in the urban-related species richness decline pattern.

     

Gavel-to-Gavel Congressional Television Coverage as Political Advertising: The Impact of C-Span on Legislative Sessions

This article examines the effect of television on the length of legislative sessions at the federal level in the United States. Data from the U.S. Congress during the period 1972–96 are employed, during part of which time each house of Congress received significant television coverage by C-SPAN and C-SPAN2. Evidence from a Parks regression suggests that the presence of C-SPAN has increased House sessions by 88–250 hours and the presence of C-SPAN2 has increased Senate sessions by a striking 252–431 hours, other things constant. Additional estimates suggest that House sessions are about two minutes longer per bill introduced under the eye of C-SPAN, and Senate sessions are about four minutes longer per bill introduced in the presence of C-SPAN2. Longer sessions, which represent low-cost forms of advertising for incumbents, are not without costs to taxpayers. We estimate that these costs lie somewhere between $16 million and $392 million in real terms per session of Congress.     

On participant-observation as a component of evaluation. Strategies, constraints and issues

Described here is a participant-observation strategy employed as one portion of the evaluation research at Family House, a residential treatment program for alcoholic mothers and their children. Major objectives of this leg of a two-legged research design combining this approach with a more standard pre- and post-test strategy were to document and analyze the processes of social development in the new "small society." The ethnographer acted as consultant, with "raw data" generated in the form of daily observations dictated on the rotating basis by staff members over a two-year period. The resulting narrative was coded and analyzed by the anthropologist, utilizing a phenomenological or interpretationist perspective which allowed the "native categories" of significance to emerge and guide the analysis. This novel research strategy is compared with standard ethnographic fieldwork, as well as with pre- and post-test design, in terms of its strengths and weaknesses. Strengths include access to an authentic "inside view" of Family House reality, as well as an unusually rich longitudinal record of daily life in the facility. Problems include danger of contaminating the data by means of the "feedback" provided to reward staff for their cooperation in the research effort. The author concludes, however, that since reactive effects are present in all designs, and since "feedback" is a normal feature of therapeutic milieux, validity is not unusually threatened. Finally, the purposes of evaluation research are scrutinized.     

“How Edge Are You?” Constructing Authentic Identities and Subcultural Boundaries in a Straightedge Internet Forum

We analyze how participants in an internet forum dedicated to the straightedge subculture articulate and express subcultural identities and boundaries, with particular attention to how they accomplish these tasks in a computer‐mediated context. Through participant observation, “focused discussions,” and interviews, we explore the complexity of identity‐making processes in terms of cyberspace and subculture, conceptualizing identification as occurring at the intersection of biography, subculture, and technology. We find that the internet influences how individuals participate in subcultural communities by analyzing their claims for authenticity and how they position themselves in relation to subcultural boundaries. This article provides insight into the dialectic relationship between participation in a subculture and in an internet community.     

Habitat-wise distribution of the House Sparrow (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Passer domesticus</Emphasis>) in Delhi,India

Recently, there have been several reports from different parts of the World on the declining populations of the House Sparrow (Passer domesticus). In order to assess the population of this species in the National Capital Territory of Delhi-India, this study was conducted during June– August in 2007. Twenty-eight Fixed-Radius Point Count stations were established in five habitat types viz. High-density Urban Area, Medium-density Urban Area, Low-density Urban Area, Agriculture Area, and Forested Area, within the study area. The results show that the House Sparrow is still a dominant species in the agriculture area. However, its density is very low in the urban areas as compared to the other co-occurring common bird species viz. Rock Pigeon (Columba livia domestica), House Crow (Corvus splendens) and Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis). As, this study was conducted only over one season, the data is not sufficient to provide a clear picture of the population trend of the House Sparrow. Further studies are therefore required to investigate the relationship of the House Sparrow with other co-occurring common species, and to analyse the data on the type and quality of greenspaces and their relation with the House Sparrow in the study area. A long-term monitoring and conservation programme involving local people may be a good approach for maintaining the population of House Sparrow in the study area.     

Unions,PAC contributions,and the NAFTA vote

Political action committees (PACs), especially those controlled by organized labor and business, have been shown to affect Congressional voting. We explore how PACs influenced the House of Representatives’ vote on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The NAFTA vote is analyzed because organized labor strongly opposed the treaty while business generally supported it and because of the straight-forward voting generated by its fast-track status. Probit analysis of a unique, unpublished data set containing information about PAC and non-PAC contributions to the 1992 House election campaigns demonstrates that Representatives who depended largely on labor PACs tended to oppose NAFTA, while Representatives who derived a large proportion of their campaign contributions from business PACs tended to favor its passage.     

Perceived Family Structure as an Explanation of Jewish Intellectuality*

This paper focuses on the perceived structure of parent-adolescent relations for its effect on intellectuality in young adulthood. In addition, position in the wider societal structure and integration into a supposed intellectually oriented subculture are considered for their effects on this personality characteristic. The data reported are based on a questionnaire survey of 181 Jewish men age 22–29 residing in metropolitan St. Paul. There is a clear association between the perception structure of parent-child relations and later intellectuality. On the other hand, integration into the Jewish subculture neither leads directly to intellectuality nor is associated with the relationship between perceived family structure, and intellectuality. Position in the wider social structure, however, is important in the development of intellectuality both directly and in terms of its effect on perceived family structure.     

Tomorrow's Family Reforms: Marriage Course,Marriage Test,Incorporated Families,and Sex Selection Mandate*

Ideas abound for specific new laws and programs to strengthen family life, as evident in the 34 detailed reform proposals hammered out and endorsed by 2000 delegates to the 1980 White House Conference on Families. Looking beyond even these 34 items, however, to valuable reform possibilities still too controversial for the likes of a White House Conference, four in particular stand out. This article discusses these possible reforms.     

Special Elections and the Growth of Women's Representation in the U.S. House of Representatives

High incumbency return rates slow the pace at which underrepresented groups can increase their ratio of membership in the U.S. House of Representatives. We document the fact that the special election process provides an important source of congressional turnover which is particularly advantageous to women seeking to win election to the House. In fact, we document that over one-third of all women entering the House during the decade studied entered through special elections. If women are to increase their proportion in the House of Representatives, either the size of the House needs to be increased or seates held by men must be replaced with seats held by women. As there is little chance that the size of the House will increase, women will have to replace men. This is, of course, happening, but at a very slow rate. Though many factors affect women's recruitment into the House, part of the problem is that incumbents, currently 89.2% men, seem to turn over at a very slow rate. In the 1988 election (a high point for incumbent return rates), only 7.6% of the Congress was new. Retention, it is argued, creates few opportunities for women, and other underrepresented groups, to enter Congress. However, conclusions about the relationship between turnover and the election of women based on biannual elections alone are incomplete because such explanations do not account for the influence of special elections.     

The Political Glass Ceiling

Abstract

Why has the integration of women into elective office, particularly Congress, been so slow? We argue that incumbency and the general lack of competition in American elections serve as a “political glass ceiling,” having a dampening effect on the number of women running in both primary and general U.S. House elections. With data from House elections from 1978-1998, we find that although there have been general upward trends in the number of women running in primaries, winning primaries, and winning election to Congress, there is a distinct gender gap between the parties. The growth in the presence of women since 1988 is largely a Democratic phenomenon. In addition, women are strategic in their decisions regarding whether or not they will run; the likelihood of success influences the decision to become a candidate. Women are far more likely to run in districts with an open seat than they are in districts where they would face a safe incumbent. This implies that the number of women entering the House depends upon the political cycle of redistricting or unanticipated events and “crises” that create large numbers of open seats.     

作为亚文化的五月风暴:勾连实践与感觉结构

在法国1968年五月风暴事件中,亚文化作为美国当时的文化现象,通过媒介等介质传到法国,间接影响了法国的五月风暴事件。当以风格抵抗的亚文化在五月风暴中转换为切实的对抗行动的那一刻,意识形态的断裂处就缝合起来了,此时亚文化与五月风暴形成了独特的勾连,在一定程度上推动了法国青年学生群体的行动与抵抗。而两者勾连后的同一性又形成了这一代青年反抗群体独有的感觉结构,即嬉皮精神。嬉皮精神作为五月风暴中青年群体的感觉结构,内化为五月风暴参与者的抵抗行为,以及亚文化再生产的精神驱力。     

Three profiles of heavy metal fans: A taste for sensation and a subculture of alienation

Profiles of three fans of heavy metal music are presented, in order to examine the definition and boundaries of the heavy metal subculture. It is suggested on the basis of these profiles that a high level of sensation seeking can lead to a liking for heavy metal music, because the music provides such high-intensity sensation. However, fans become part of thesubculture of heavy metal music only to the extent that their high sensation seeking is combined with alienation. Although all three people profiled enjoyed the high sensation qualities of the music, their involvement in the subculture varied according to the depth of their alienation. Jack, deeply alienated, was deeply committed to the subculture. Brian's alienation was moderate, and his involvement in the subculture was moderate as well. Marvin was not alienated in the least, and was essentially outside the subculture.     

Towards a neo-Birminghamian conception of subculture? History,challenges, and future potentials

This article discusses the theoretical development of subcultural theory. It first provides a brief history of subcultural theory. It then attempts to outline the central requirements which should be fulfilled by a neo-Birminghamian conception of subculture that takes valid critiques of the CCCS into account, while maintaining the theoretical richness and analytical qualities of the concept. This includes putting social structures, including class in intersection with gender and ethnicity, back into subcultural theory, in a way that allows for grasping complexity. The article moves on to argue that the development of such a conception of subculture could potentially be realized by entering a theoretical dialogue with Bourdieu’s sociology and feminist accounts of intersectionality. Furthermore, it suggests that such a theoretical conception may be highly relevant to current research areas such as gangs/street culture and Jihadism.     

Barbie Zelizer,Ed., Visual Culture and the Holocaust/Matthew Baigell and Milly Heyd,Eds., Complex Identities: Jewish Consciousness and Modern Art

Mass media and the culture it carries have been identified as a key site of conflict in the so-called culture wars, pitting evangelical Christians against mainstream American society. Paradoxically, Evangelicals historically have appropriated the spectrum of forms of popular culture in America and secular commercial practices for evangelizing vehicles and, at the same time, contributed an evangelical voice to that culture. The author argues that Evangelicals' use of media has moved into a new level of sophistication enabling effective entry into the national discourse, partly through dramatic growth of contemporary Christian music. Given this phenomenon, the author examines issues of identity and social forces driving the subculture; he also explores potential influences or effects on the broader secular culture. Using a range of cultural theory, the author argues that the movement toward religious messages in the form of popular music enables the subculture of evangelical Christians to resist against a dominant secular society by taking possession of a cultural form and redefining it as their own, empowering them to effect an influential voice in the cultural discourse of American society.     

抵抗与收编：电视节目低俗化对青少年亚文化影响

时下的电视节目日益被低俗化浪潮所淹没，社会主流文化往往直接干涉青少年媒介接触或担忧负面影响，却较少关注青少年群体理解的低俗化。通过采取焦点小组访谈法，从青少年亚文化角度解读电视节目低俗化，重点探究青少年媒介接触亚文化及电视节目低俗化的影响，发现在初级影响、次级影响、深层影响三个层次的基础上就亚文化而言，两者之间存在着包括收编与妥协的双向作用。     

Publicizing our product: Sociologists, the press and defining the discipline at the local level

While sociologists at the national level are often called upon to present opinions about social issues, the crucial work of clarifying the image of the discipline is probably best done in local settings. The difficulty, however, is that practicing sociologists at the state and local levels are often unsure about how to deal with the press and as a consequence are reluctant to present themselves to the local media arena. Several state associations are aware of this problem and have incorporated media training into their annual programs (notably, Georgia and North Carolina). This paper suggests some strategies for talking with the local media, based on personal experience of the author both as a sociologist and as a member of a state legislature. Paul Luebke, has also served since 1991 as a Democrat from Durham county in the North Carolina House of Representatives. His revised study of political change in North Carolina, Tar Heel Politics 2000, was recently published by UNC Press.     

Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, and the 1998 House Elections

The outcome of the 1998 congressional elections was an exceptionto the rule that the president's party loses seats in midtermHouse elections. This article reviews and draws together theoreticallythe distinctive characteristics of the political context in1998 and assesses the effects of the public's evaluations ofBill Clinton (as president and as a person) and Speaker of theHouse Newt Gingrich. The findings suggest that voters' viewsof Bill Clinton as president exerted a sizable effect on theelections. A substantial influence of public opinion towardNewt Gingrich is also revealed. The estimated effects of voters'opinions of Bill Clinton as a person were much smaller. Twoestimates of the combined effects indicate that if public opiniontoward Clinton and Gingrich had been evenly balanced, the Democraticparty would have lost seats in the 1998 House elections as thepresident's party traditionally has. In addition to providinginsight into the 1998 elections, the findings answer broaderquestions about congressional elections. They also bear on importantquestions regarding the extent to which the determinants ofpolitical judgments are subject to influence ("priming") bythe political environment.