Adapting to failure: The case of horse race gamblers

Exemplifying Goffman's concern with adaptation to failure (cooling the mark), the researcher delineates the strategies used by horse race gamblers to deal with the consequences of monetary losses. Although racing attracts a large number of regular participants, little is known of their adaptations to the stark reality that ninety-five percent of horse players lose money from gambling. Analysis of participant observation data, drawn from several horse betting groups, revealed that the implementation of appropriate strategies largely determines whether gamblers can maintain participation. While these strategies are specialized, they are similar in principle to those used by non-horse players. The research can facilitate understanding of behavior patterns that persist despite frequent failure.     

The race relations problematic in American sociology: A case study and critique

This article reports the results of an analysis of all racial and ethnic relations articles published in the American Journal of Sociology, the American Sociological Review, Social Forces, and Social Problems, from January 1969 through December 1995. The analysis identifies by journal: 1) major methodological orientation(s); 2) how the concepts of “race,” “ethnicity,” and racial and ethnic relations are operationalized, which is useful for examining tendencies toward, or against, reification; 3) substantive content—that is, what a sociology of racial and ethnic relations is; and 4) primary context—that is, are racial and ethnic relations treated as a substantive subdiscipline in their own right, or are they merely a topic of interest for other subdisciplines such as social psychology? In brief, although some differences exist between the journals, all four journals publish disproportionately racial and ethnic relations research that: 1) is highly quantitative as opposed to theoretical, conceptual, or sociohistorical; 2) reifies U.S. Census definitions of race and ethnicity as opposed to critically evaluating such definitions; 3) social psychologizes racial and ethnic relations, or subsumes such relations under stratification processes; and 4) subsumes the racial and ethnic relations problematic under subdiscipline rubrics other than a sociology of racial and ethnic relations. The conclusion discusses the implications of these findings; for example, by virtue of what they publish, these journals construct a paradigmatic frame that gives precedence to, or legitimizes, some views and excludes, or de-legitimizes others.     

Habitual failure: A childhood adaptation to the threat of abandonment

This paper attributes habitual failure to an early childhood adaptation: The immature, dependent child, making repeated unsuccessful attempts to satisfy unrealistic or pathological parental demands, fears that its inadequacies will result in abandonment by the parents. Repeated cycles of attempted compliance and failure are internalized and become a life pattern. A case history illustrates these dynamics and their treatment.     

The race relations “Problematic” in American sociology: Revisiting Niemonen’s case study and critique

Using articles drawn from the years 1996-1999, this paper updates and expands Jack Niemonen’s 1997 TAS analysis of the articles dealing with race and ethnicity in the four core sociology journals. We found a greater rate of publication and several new substantive areas incorporating race and ethnicity, but many of the patterns Niemonen identified remain in place. These articles are highly quantitative, rely heavily on U.S. Census categories, tend to explain racial and ethnic phenomenon as by-products of broader social forces (such as class-based stratification), and subsume these analyses under the headings of alternative subfields. Niemonen used these findings to offer a powerful critique of the status of race and ethnicity in sociology, the under-development of the racial and ethnic relations “problematic,” and its marginalization within the discipline as a whole. To reassess these interpretations and conclusions, we examined the relationships between methodology and substance, and compared the main sample with a subset of more specialized articles focused on race and ethnicity. We found a close connection between quantitative methods and the use of Census definitions of race and ethnicity, but surprisingly few differences between the race and ethnic subset and the more inclusive main sample appeared. These findings allow us to offer support and some important qualifications to Niemonen’s original conclusions. We would like to thank Jordan Bartlett for serving as our research assistant on this project, and the members of the Fall 2000 Race Theory Seminar at the University of Minnesota (Sociology 8211) who participated in and gave commentary on a preliminary version of this study. Thanks also to Professor Jack Niemonen who communicated at length with us about his coding procedures and even consented to code a number of articles for us.     

Locus of control and race track betting behaviors: A preliminary investigation

Principal components factor analysis of a fifteen-item betting behavior question-naire and the internal-external locus of control scale administered to 175 male racegoers at two different race tracks yielded four interpretable behavior patterns approximating four personality dimensions found in the gambling literature.     

The lie of race: the politics of evil

Abstract

This is a paper about a world without racism; it addresses the tenacity of racism as equivalence to privilege. The biology of love as a conversation is explored. Organization theory is juxtaposed as a system of Others. Some language of quantum theory is used to present a hypothesis about why systems of privilege are created and conserved through self-reference. The God metaphor is posed as the penultimate organization enabling privilege. This is offset by seeing that love is not a choice, thus freeing both gods and humans to the universe of possibilities. Threads for further research in organization theory are suggested.     

Shared spaces,shared structures: Latino social formation and African American English in the U.S. south

This study examines the appropriation of grammatical structures of African American English (AAE) by adolescent Latinos attending a multi‐ethnic middle school in North Carolina. The study couples quantitative variationist analysis of four ‘core’ grammatical features of AAE (invariant be, copula deletion, past‐tense copula leveling, and third‐person singular –s absence) with the findings of an ethnographic study of Latino adolescent identity in order to better understand the social processes leading to the incorporation of AAE grammar into English varieties spoken by Latinos. Results show that Latino students from across social formations make use of AAE grammatical features, but differ significantly from African American students in terms of sociolinguistic patterning. Ethnographic data shed light on linguistic data in three domains: (1) differences in use of AAE structures between male and female Latino/a students; (2) the prolific use of AAE by one gang‐affiliated student; and (3) the racial complexities within the ethnic category ‘Latino.’     

The mouths of others: The linguistic performance of race in Bermuda

This paper examines the behaviour of one linguistic feature among one black and one white group of Bermudian men over the age of 50. The acoustic analysis of the mouth vowel, one of the most heavily stereotyped sounds of Bermudian English, is used as a window onto linguistic parody observed in the white group, a community of practice known locally for theatrical dialect performance. In combination with contextual analysis, and in light of social conditions in Bermuda, phonetic findings suggest that this linguistic practice is not only a performance of “Bermudian‐ness,” but also a performance of a racialized stereotype which reflects and reinforces the raciolinguistic hierarchies of contemporary Bermudian society. The paper introduces this under‐researched and unusual sociolinguistic setting to the literature on racialized mock language, as well as attesting further to the usefulness of methods that examine highly self‐conscious speech.     

The use of detailed statistical data in customs reforms: The case of Madagascar

To carry out their various missions—collecting revenue, facilitating trade and ensuring security— many customs administrations have established a risk management unit. In developing countries, however, because of the lack of dedicated human and material resources, intelligence and risk analysis remain insufficiently developed. In view of the lack of resources, this article proposes a simple methodology aiming at detecting risky import operations. The mirror analysis first helps to identify and target products or sectors with the greatest risk. Based on the examination of customs declarations patterns (data mining), it is then possible to identify and target higher risk economic operators (importers and customs brokers). When implemented in Madagascar, this method has helped to reveal probable fraud cases in the context of current customs reforms.     

The effects of interviewer race and child race on sexual abuse disclosures in forensic interviews

This study examined the impact of interviewer race and child race on disclosures by alleged child sexual abuse victims during forensic interviews. Despite findings that supportiveness of caretaker, gender of interviewer, gender of child, and age of child affect disclosure, previous studies have failed to examine race as a variable impacting disclosure in a real-world setting. The study examined 220 cases from an archive of reports generated from forensic interviews in an urban setting. The reports were reviewed and coded for degree of disclosure, focusing on African American and Caucasian children and interviewers. The results indicate that child race and the interaction of child race and interviewer race reliably distinguished between no disclosure, tentative disclosure, and disclosure with detailed account of activity, while interviewer race alone failed to serve as a significant predictor. The interaction between child race and interviewer race was not in the predicted direction, with cross-race dyads disclosing more than same-race dyads. Results are discussed in the context of real-world applications versus the previous analogue child sexual abuse literature.     

Functional change and the settlement structure in Israel: a study of political control,response and adaptation

The changing nature of settlement structures in Israel are described in the context of the response offered by the highly centralised and bureaucratised planning establishment. The study notes the tension that exists between the establishment with its strong rural ideological bias on the one hand, and the need to adapt to the reality of an ever-increasing urbanised rural landscape. The system of managerial and manipulated development of the landscape is discussed, these processes giving rise to a specific form of socio-political space. The political and ideological interests of the institutional authorities also result in a sectoral system of inter-settlement relationships rather than the theorised regional interaction patterns.     

Some kids are left behind: The failure of a perspective,using critical race theory to expand the coverage in the sociology of youth sports

Sports are no longer simply extracurricular activities. For many children, sports are curricular, central to their identity, development, and peer and familial relationships. However, sport scholars and sociologists spend little time trying to learn and understand the huge growth in youth sports participation and even less attention to the role of race in youth sports. Sociology could offer much more, but suffers from what James McKee calls ( 1993 ) “the failure of a perspective” with regard to studying and understanding race, racism, and race relations. Critical Race Theory can help to extend the coverage of youth sports to include more input from Youth and of Scholars of Color. In this article, we review a current debate in the sociology of youth sports, which illustrates the gap in understanding the experiences of youth of color and Black athletes in particular. And, we provide solutions and ideas for future research.     

The dynamics of race,ethnicity and economic development: the Brazilian experience

Since the 1970s scholars have questioned the myth of a racial democracy in Brazil. Their critique is rooted in the prolonged socioeconomic inequalities that continue along racial/color lines to prevail within the Brazilian society, reinforced by regional inequalities in the economic development of the five regions that comprise the country. Additionally, these regions have an ethno-racial dimension that further supports the claim of a racial hegemonic democracy. Through cross-sectional analyses this paper shows that race/color and educational attainment determine earnings potential in Brazil. The paper also demonstrates the existence of a weak correlation among race/color, region and earnings potential in Brazil.     

Three worlds of relief: race, immigration, and public and private social welfare spending in American cities, 1929

Using a data set of public and private relief spending for 295 cities, this article examines the racial and ethnic patterning of social welfare provision in the United States in 1929. On the eve of the Depression, cities with more blacks or Mexicans spent the least on social assistance and relied more heavily on private money to fund their programs. Cities with more European immigrants spent the most on relief and relied more heavily on public funding. Distinct political systems, labor market relations, and racial ideologies about each group's proclivity to use relief best explain relief spending differences across cities.     

Talking about race using critical race theory: recent trends in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy

This study uses critical race theory as an interpretive lens to critique recent race related articles in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy (JMFT). Our primary goal is to contribute to and inspire dialogue about the perspectives marriage and family therapists (MFTs) are taking in relationship to race. We situate our exploration within the broader context of continuing professional education. We describe the main themes of critical race theory and use them as the conceptual framework. Analyzing 127 articles, we found that only topics related to couples and divorce occurred more frequently than race and social justice. Within the articles on race, evidence suggests that issues of race and racism are emerging as key informants of MFT practice. We point to areas for consideration in future MFT research and practice.