The production of leisure: understanding the social function of football development in China

ABSTRACT

In this article, we utilize the social theories of Antonio Gramsci and Henri Lefebvre to explore the role that leisure activities such as football play within contemporary China in relation to issues of class. We argue that the recent promotion of football in China can be viewed as a continuation of broader top-down processes of ‘modernization from above' that serves as a microcosm of the wider class contradictions inherent in Chinese approaches to development since the 1980s. The issue of class has been strangely absent from the literature dealing with the development of football in China. We explore the major role of the middle classes as the target for the promotion of leisure activities and consumerist lifestyles patterns as part of the Party-State’s effort to integrate them into a transformed historical bloc.     

The understanding of internal control principles by pastors

Although the concept of internal control is as relevant to churches as it is to profit‐seeking organizations, many authors have indicated that churches typically have weak systems of internal control. Pastors usually serve in the position of chief professional officer of their churches, and the implementation and maintenance of an adequate system of internal control is ultimately the responsibility of management. This study is a preliminary effort to determine whether pastors understand general principles of internal control and are able to recognize strengths and weaknesses in systems of internal control. The results show that pastors have a reasonable ability to recognize strengths and weaknesses in internal control systems in churches.     

The use of risk in understanding financial decisions and institutional uncertainty

The idea that rationality and emotional factors are involved in financial decisions is well accepted in many economic approaches and in organisation theory. This paper compares specific relevant arguments in behavioural finance and sociology. The aim is to show the implications of these different analyses for the financial sector. The question is whether behavioural finance emphasises the concept of risk more than uncertainty. The paper suggests that cognitive and emotional factors are usefully examined in light of approaches from both behavioural finance and sociology. The first looks at individuals primarily, the second at structural (policy and market) factors. I argue that the latter influence organisational choices of different time orientations towards the future. In exploring the potential of this approach, the paper poses three organisational decision models, that take uncertainty and its relevant social institutions into account, while acknowledging that time preferences and discounting by individuals are well-explored in behavioural economic frameworks.     

The applicability of social control theory in understanding adolescent alcohol use

Utilizing panel data on 345 high school students, this study investigates the efficacy of social control theory in accounting for adolescent orientations toward alcohol use. The findings suggest that the differing informal control mechanisms under consideration place varying constraining influences upon adolescent alcohol use, and upon problems which arise in the lives of adolescents as a consequence of their drinking, throughout the three high, school years. Similarly, alcohol use and its attendant problems are generally found to be associated with a decrease in the strength of adolescents’ bonds to conventionality, though these influences differ in degree from year to year as well.     

The production of criminological experiments

This article examines the production of crime and justice field experiments during the 1990s. Data were collected on the characteristics of criminological experiments funded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the principal research agency of the U.S. Department of Justice, during the 10-year period from 1991 through 2000. The analyses find that, whereas the funds available for research and evaluation at the NIJ increased during this period, the number of projects and the amount of funds awarded supporting field experiments declined. The article describes the characteristics of the experiments funded and assesses the extent to which the reduced support can be attributed to the characteristics of NIJ research funding, research topics, researchers, or criminal justice operational agencies.     

The contribution of functional brain imaging to our understanding of cognitive aging

The study of cognitive aging seeks to determine the psychological and neural mechanisms underlying age-related decline in cognitive performance. New methods in functional brain imaging are beginning to provide possible answers to questions regarding age-related cognitive decline.     

The use of diaries for understanding the experience of health and illness

While diaries as a method have a long tradition in sociological research, few studies to date have demonstrated its value for studying health and illness. This article intends to illustrate the importance of this method for health research. The implications of the use of solicited diaries to conduct research within the field of health and illness are discussed. The contributions that the method can make to sociological research on health and illness are explored, namely the potential to capture the everyday of ill people and their family members. Indeed, this method offers an opportunity to access the experience of illness in a multidimensional approach which is not easy for researchers to catch using other methods. The article aims to present an overview of the significance of the use of diaries in health research and will make a novel contribution to the sociology of health and illness.     

The contribution of a cultural perspective in understanding and evaluating client satisfaction

Increasing attention is being given to including measures of client satisfaction as a component in the evaluation of health care services. An understanding of cultural factors that may influence attitudes and behaviors in the health care situation can contribute to the theory and measurement of client satisfaction. Through an examination of some of the cross-cultural literature, this paper delineates dimensions of the health care situation in which clients have been shown to have distinctive preferences, behavioral patterns, attitudes, and treatment expectations. A knowledge of the beliefs and attitudes concerning health and illness that are espoused by a particular cultural group can be a valuable asset in understanding how members of that group will evaluate the delivery of health care services. The examination of how cultural and ethnic differences may affect client satisfaction outcomes points to the necessity of avoiding a global measure of client satisfaction without first examining those particular aspects of health care delivery and of the measurement context that may have a predictable influence on client satisfaction ratings.     

Bildung and intercultural understanding

The concept of Bildung, sometimes translated as self-cultivation, is located at the core of an influential tradition of educational thought. A key question concerns the relationship between Bildung and interculturality. Drawing on Wilhelm von Humboldt and Hans-Georg Gadamer, and on the so-called transformative learning theory, Bildung can be interpreted as a process of transforming one’s meaning perspective in encounters with others. A meaning perspective is a set of largely implicit presuppositions underlying one’s habitual ways of thinking, feeling and acting. Confrontation with alternative perspectives can be an opportunity to become aware of one’s own perspective, to critically assess it and to transform it. Thus conceived, Bildung is closely related to interculturality.     

The fear of understanding schizophrenia and the avoidance of the acutely disturbed student

Although it is generally believed that a treatment that is more effective than its alternatives will be used, psychological treatments for schizophrenic and other psychotic reactions have been avoided despite the evidence of their effectiveness from the time of "moral treatment" to the present. Less effective (or even destructive) treatments have been seized upon, in part because they do not require understanding patients. Understanding them means facing facts about ourselves, our families, and our society that we do not want to know, or, in the case of repressed feelings and experiences, do not want to know again. This reluctance to understand is particularly tragic in the case of the acutely disturbed college student, whose crisis may lead either to reorganization at a higher level of functioning and growth or to a wasted life. The central role of terror in producing symptoms and the genesis and handling of symptoms, including delusions and hallucinations, are briefly discussed.     

Toward a better understanding of Klotho

klotho mutant mice were originally described as a short-lived mouse model with premature aging-like disorders. The klotho gene responsible for these phenotypes encodes a type I membrane protein with a considerable similarity to beta-glycosidase. klotho is predominantly expressed in tissues functioning in the regulation of calcium homeostasis. Suggested functions of Klotho are (i) a fundamental regulator of calcium homeostasis, namely, a cofactor for the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptor 1c in FGF23 signaling and a regulator of parathyroid hormone secretion; (ii) a hormone that interferes with the intracellular signaling of insulin and insulin-like growth factor-1; and (iii) a beta-glucuronidase that activates the transient receptor potential ion channel TRPV5 by trimming its sugar moiety. How can we reconcile these pleiotropic functions of Klotho? Is there any common mechanism? Further in vivo studies, and biochemical as well as physiological analyses, are required for a better understanding of the molecular aspects of Klotho.     

The model of human occupation: understanding the worker who is injured or disabled

This paper discusses application of the model of human occupation to the worker with an injury or disability. Concepts from the model of human occupation (MOHO) are used to frame potential work-related strengths and weaknesses. Using MOHO as a framework to understand the worker with an injury or disability provides a more complete and holistic understanding of the many factors which can affect a worker. In particular, the model illuminates how factors of capacity, motivation, lifestyle, and environment inter-relate in determining a worker's success or failure. Implications for using the model to achieve a more effective work-related practice are discussed.     

Expanding our understanding of military social work: The concept of military- and veteran-connected populations

Abstract

Cultural competence is the cornerstone of engagement in the helping professions. This article is intended to introduce and describe the concept of military- and veteran-connected populations with the intent of promoting awareness of the many individuals in our society whose lives are impacted by military service.     

Towards a postmodern understanding of crisis communication

From a postmodernist perspective, it is possible to see crisis as a disruption in the dominant narrative that members of an organization's power elite wish to perpetuate. The crisis itself often evolves into a multiplicity of competing narratives. Much standard advice given by crisis communication experts—such as to tell the truth, choose a single spokesperson, and establish a crisis command center to regain control of the crisis—sounds suspiciously like the self-protecting actions favored by the power elite within the organization. A postmodernist approach might instead favor mitigation of suffering, attention to dissent, and a polyvocal organizational response.     

The disability bias: understanding the context of hate in comparison with other minority populations

During recent years ‘disability hate crime’ has become a major political and criminal justice concern due to a number of high-profile murders in the United Kingdom. The aim of this article is to compare disability-motivated hate crimes with other hate crimes motivated by homophobic or racist bias. This study employs a quantitative methodology utilising data collected by the ARCH hate crime recording system over a 10-year period (2005–2015). The data findings illustrate a number of variations concerning incidents reported by disabled people regarding violence and threatening behaviour, when compared with incidents motivated by race/faith or homophobic bias.     

The production of pictures: An institutional approach

The production of visual images is approached as a socially instituted process with four dimensions: material and social infrastructures, and thematic and stylistic norms and codes. Each dimension is illustrated with references to an array of visual materials.     

The production of social capital in US counties

A growing belief exists that social capital contributes to economic growth of communities. In this paper, we identify inputs into the production of social capital at the level of US counties, using an array of individual and community factors that are theoretically important determinants of social capital. We use data from the Bureau of the Census, County Business Patterns, USA Counties on CD, National Center for Charitable Statistics, and the Regional Economic Information System for two time periods. Ethnic homogeneity, income inequality, attachment to place, education, age, and female labor force participation are strongly associated with levels of social capital across US counties.     

Autism: understanding conceptual processing deficits

Autism is a behavioral diagnosis characterized by a triad of impairment, which includes impaired communication, impaired social skills, and impaired spontaneity. The outward behavior exhibited by people with autism represents a different cognitive processing style than that seen in typical development. Understanding the way people with autism process and store information is important for intervention. The majority of people diagnosed with autism do not have symptoms of mental retardation and need access to mainstream services to work on the problems presented by daily life.