Neighborhood Organizations and Resident Assistance to Police1

Police and scholars note that successful crime fighting requires police and residents to “co‐produce” public safety. However, residents are often reluctant to get involved in policing initiatives or even report crimes they witness. One possible means of stimulating resident involvement in crime‐control activities is through neighborhood organizations. This research, conducted on 1,313 residents of 42 neighborhoods in western South Carolina, investigates whether neighborhood organization participation increases the likelihood of assisting police in crime‐control efforts. Results indicate that organization participants are more likely to assist police than are nonparticipants, even after controlling for social cohesion, perceptions of police legitimacy, various policing strategies, fear of crime, and demographic factors.     

Gendered Congregations,Gendered Service: The Impact of Clergy Gender on Congregational Social Service Participation

Using data from the 1998 National Congregations Study, I present empirical evidence that shows that the gender of a congregation's leadership makes a difference in the likelihood that a congregation will participate in a social service programme. The results from binary logistic regression indicate that the odds of congregations with women head clergy participating in a social service programme are four times greater than those with men head clergy. In addition, as the percentage of women on a congregation's governing board increases the probability that a congregation will participate in a service project also increases. The specific types of social service programmes a congregation pursues also differ by gender of leadership, with women‐led congregations significantly more likely to pursue service projects that could be labelled feminine while avoiding programmes that are clearly feminist. To explain this gendered behaviour I incorporate Acker's (1990 ) theory of gendered organizations.     

From a Bird's Eye View? A Comparative Analysis of Governance and Network Integration Among Human Service Organizations

ABSTRACT

It is widely recognized by social workers and human service administrators that interorganizational networks are an important aspect of the everyday reality of human service organizations. A well-integrated network is defined as a network in which all organizations are connected and the resource exchange among all network actors is guaranteed. To analyze the integration of service networks, this study conducts a social network analysis of four networks among service organizations governed by a shared-participant type of governance. The results indicate that in networks in which the governance is more developed and mature, the structure shows a high level of integration. The analysis and results show that governance leads to an integration of the efforts of diverse service organizations, ultimately increasing the responsiveness of the entire network toward the complex problems of the target group. Future recommendations include discussing further qualitative and quantitative research efforts and the role of shared-participant governance.     

Performance Evaluations as Gender Barriers in Professional Organizations: A Study of Auditing Firms

Gendering processes often take the form of organizational subtexts, that is, seemingly gender‐neutral practices that have gender implications. The purpose of this article is to study performance evaluations, which, based on management by objectives systems, may appear neutral, but tend to be based on male norms of what is regarded as good performance. We analysed the careers and performance evaluations of 391 newly licenced Swedish auditors, using an open‐ended question survey. In this industry 50 per cent of new employees and 92 per cent of partners are men. Even in the early stages of their careers, there are notable differences between women and men. The women achieved less and show lower career ambitions and expectations as well as greater intentions to leave the auditing industry. Performance evaluations are also perceived differently, men focusing on what is evaluated (reflecting the perceptions of those at higher hierarchical levels) and women focusing on who does the evaluating and how.     

Exploring the Ebbs and Flows of Community Engagement: The Pyramid of Engagement and Water Activism in Two Canadian Communities

In this article, we share results from a comparative study exploring the dynamics of community engagement surrounding local water advocacy organizations in two Canadian communities. Although emergent local issues and the perception of crisis triggered some short-term community engagement, social factors such as collective identity, a sense of community, and sense of efficacy appear to be more important for sustaining and deepening engagement. Drawing on the results, we show how the pyramid of engagement, by depicting activist engagement as a multilevel, developmental process, can serve as a useful tool for community engagement scholars and practitioners alike.     

Old Structures,New Relations: How Community Development Credit Unions Define Organizational Boundaries

Studies of organizational dynamics examine the manner in which an organization's immediate environment defines the rules and requirements to which individual organizations must conform in order to receive legitimacy and support (Scott, 1992:132). In this paper we consider the question of how an organization can achieve legitimacy and support without necessarily compromising its organizational forms or practices to isomorphic pressures. We frame the question in terms of the boundaries between organizations and their environments. Where the population ecology studies show the survival value of adopting known organizational forms and practices, and neoinstitutionalism addresses the need to display compliance with accepted forms, our case study demonstrates the possibility of removing an organization or set of organizations from the familiar interaction by naming it as a subfield of the organizational field, sharing the environment, but out of the way of predefined norms and practices.     

网络社会组织的特质

网络社会的浮现是以网络社会组织的形成为标志的,研究它的具体特质是网络社会学不可回避的重大课题.本文主要是探讨网络信息革命冲击下的社会组织的嬗变,分析网络化社会组织和网络式社会组织的特质.     

非营利组织参与危机管理的途径和影响分析

非营利组织是全面整合的危机管理系统的一个重要组成部分。非营利组织和政府在危机管理中的参与目标和内容、利益相关性、活动区域、资源渠道、参与效力、参与方式等方面都有所不同。非营利组织参与危机管理可以弥补政府现阶段危机管理的能力不足和缺陷,加强国际危机管理合作;保障受灾人群的利益,维护社会稳定;提升非营利组织的影响力和能力,促进公民社会发展;弘扬社会公德,促进政治文明建设。     

对公有制及其实现形式关系的再认识--兼论社会主义经济改革的三大任务

对于所有制与它的实现形式 ,马克思主义的所有制理论与西方的产权经济学都做了严格的区分。应当深入、准确地了解和确定二者的关系。只有这样 ,才能认识经济改革的根本原因 ,并且正确地确定经济改革的对象和目标。据此 ,社会主义经济体制改革的根本目标是建立与市场经济内在制度要求相适应的“市场型公有制”及新的所有制结构 ,不能把经济改革停留在实现形式这个层面上。     

Mission Impossible? Defining Nongovernmental Organizations

This paper provides a synopsis of current interpretations of the term nongovernmental organization (NGO). Although NGOs have become recognized actors in international affairs, particularly over the last decade, it has not yet been clearly defined what the term NGO encompasses. It is argued that two major tracks of NGO interpretations can be distinguished: the juridical approach, and the sociological perspective. In juridical studies, the emphasis is placed on the legal status of NGOs in the national context and their implications for international law. Sociological works, instead, are based on studies of societal actors, and try to capture the term while examining more specifically the composition and functions of NGOs in the transnational arena. Acknowledging both tracks, the paper concludes with a comprehensive definition of the term NGO.