The Poverty of Deductivism: A Constructive Realist Model of Sociological Explanation

Despite the lip service which many sociologists pay to Popper's hypothetico‐deductive model (HDM) of theory testing, few if any major social theories have been definitively falsified. The reason is that sociological explanations do not fit the deductivist model of explanation: They do not contain universal or statistical "covering laws" from which falsifiable hypotheses could be deduced. Sociological explanations are better conceived in realist terms as causal models of the social processes that produce certain outcomes. While few models are completely false, some are nonetheless more empirically adequate than others. This essay argues that (1) the CLM is inadequate to sociology and that (2) attempts to reformulate the HDM are therefore destined to fail. It then outlines (3) a constructive realist model (CRM) of sociological explanation and uses it to develop (4) explanatory realist (ER) criteria for evaluating explanations. Deductivist and realist approaches to methodology are then compared through an examination of Skocpol's States and Social Revolutions .     

Omniscience at the Edge of Chaos: complexity,defences and change in a Children and Families Social Work department

ABSTRACT

This paper will explore a period of organisational change in a Children and Families Social Work team, applying ideas from complexity theory and psychoanalysis to explore the changes that occurred. In doing so it will critique the Newtonian concept of cause-and-effect linear causality, instead positing a nonlinear model of an organisation as a complex adaptive system in flux as it interacts with its environment. The paper will go on to posit that Bion’s psychoanalytic concepts of Omniscience and K Activity are self-organising forces in social care organisations, and when anxiety is not managed effectively, reductionist technical-rationale approaches to Children and Families Social Work dominate practice. It will conclude by outlining how the organisation’s effective management of anxiety through the creation of containment, created a series of organisational changes. These changes better supported the management of the complexity and uncertainty inherent in the social work task, raising possibilities of improvements in social work practice beyond the organisation.     

Social Protection in the ‘Real World’: Issues,Models and Challenges

Social protection has evolved rapidly both conceptually and in practice, and is now a key policy issue in humanitarian and development debates. However, debates have sometimes been misled by approaches that pay inadequate attention to context‐specific factors, do not fully consider the sequence of interventions, and are too instrument‐centred. This article presents a conceptual framework to tailor social‐protection policy and implementation more closely to country contexts. Four stylised models of social protection are identified, corresponding to scenarios where social‐protection systems are absent, where elements of such systems exist, and where systems are emerging or have been consolidated. Each model is shown to lead to different challenges, implications and areas for further research.     

The Theory Circle: A Tool for Learning and for Practice

Social workers have grappled for many years now with the tension between theory and practice. The struggle may be to bridge a perceived gap between the academic knowledge base of social work and the complex realities of practice. Equally, it may be to move from common‐sense interpretations of human need and professional responses, towards a more informed and accountable approach to practice. In recognition of the challenges faced by social work academics, practitioners and students, in relation to applying theory to practice, two of the authors of this paper developed a model, which aimed to facilitate productive discussions between practice teachers and students about the nature of theory and its link to practice. In addition, the model was designed to promote partnership approaches where service users participate fully in identifying their own issues and in shaping the services they receive. This paper describes the model—The Theory Circle—and reflects upon its effectiveness, based on the views of 19 practice teachers from central Scotland. The findings suggest that the pictorial model is one that practice teachers and students find accessible and valuable; it helps them to build a theoretical understanding of service users' situations and to work alongside service users to agree the most appropriate methods of intervention.     

Social interaction distance and stratification

There have been calls from several sources recently for a renewal of class analysis that would encompass social and cultural, as well as economic elements. This paper explores a tradition in stratification that is founded on this idea: relational or social distance approaches to mapping hierarchy and inequality which theorize stratification as a social space. The idea of 'social space' is not treated as a metaphor of hierarchy nor is the nature of the structure determined a priori. Rather, the space is identified by mapping social interactions. Exploring the nature of social space involves mapping the network of social interaction--patterns of friendship, partnership and cultural similarity--which gives rise to relations of social closeness and distance. Differential association has long been seen as the basis of hierarchy, but the usual approach is first to define a structure composed of a set of groups and then to investigate social interaction between them. Social distance approaches reverse this, using patterns of interaction to determine the nature of the structure. Differential association can be seen as a way of defining proximity within a social space, from the distances between social groups, or between social groups and social objects (such as lifestyle items). The paper demonstrates how the very different starting point of social distance approaches also leads to strikingly different theoretical conclusions about the nature of stratification and inequality.     

An Empirical Test of Crisis,Social Selection,and Role Explanations of the Relationship Between Marital Disruption and Psychological Distress: A Pooled Time‐Series Analysis of Four‐Wave Panel Data

Although a higher level of psychological distress has been found in many studies of divorced compared with married individuals, explanations for this difference remain elusive. Three basic theoretical explanations have been proposed. Social role theory maintains that the role of being divorced is inherently more stressful than that of being married; crisis theory attributes the higher stress to role transitions and transient stressors of the disruption process, and social selection theory claims that the higher stress levels among the divorced result from the selection of people with poor mental health into divorce. Some empirical support is available for each of these approaches, but all three have not been tested simultaneously in a longitudinal study. This research empirically evaluates the efficacy of these theories in a pooled time‐series analysis of a four‐wave panel of married persons followed over 12 years. The pooled‐time series random effects model was used to estimate the effects of social roles, crisis, and social selection. The results provide evidence that the higher stress levels of the divorced primarily reflect the effect of social role with selection and crisis effects making small contributions only.     

STRATEGY AND INTERVENTION VERSUS NONINTERVENTION: A MATTER OF THEORY?*

The question of whether or not intervention and strategy are necessary components of competent therapy is described and related to the metaphorical assumptions of underlying theory. Passive listening and expert interpretations are consequences of psychodynamic theory. Active manipulation of social structure and strategic intervention into feedback are described as consequences of the mechanical assumptions of structural and cybernetic theory. Conversational participation and non intervention are described as necessary consequences of hermeneutic and linguistic approaches to therapy. It is concluded that different theoretical assumptions yield different conclusions regarding the nature of therapy and human problems. From this perspective the question of Intervention Versus Non-Intervention is more a matter of the theory held than a question to be answered in terms of the “right” or “adequate” thing to do or not do.     

Social theory and the de-escalation of international conflict*

Are we like the mothers and fathers at Jonestown, with the cyanide in place, rehearsing for suicide-murder? Daniel Ellsberg (1981) observes that the marchers protesting nuclear weapons are doing what the mothers and fathers in Jonestown waited too long to say ‘No! Not our children! This is craziness; we won't be part of it.’ He writes that ‘It is none too soon to be saying this to the President/Prime Minister/Chairman Jim Jones's of the world; nor is it, yet, too late.’ How did we get into a place that even resembles Jonestown: And more importantly, how do we get out of it? Social theory should help provide answers to such questions, but does not obviously do so. In the first part of this paper I discuss an emerging theoretical paradigm that has particular relevance for understanding how international conflicts increase and decrease in intensity. Then I apply that paradigm to instances of international conflict de-escalation, focusing on declines in tension and hostility between the Soviet and American governments and the Israeli and Egyptian governments. Finally, I will point to some implications of the discussion for social theory and for international policy.     

The demand for social interaction

In this paper social interaction is modeled as a consumer good. A model of household production is employed to derive the demand for social interaction. The model shows that the demand for social interaction is a function of its price, the price of other goods and income. The theory is tested with data from the General Social Survey and the results show that social interaction can be explained as the consequence of utility maximizing behavior by individuals. These results are in contrast to social capital theorists who have attributed these changes to factors such as increased community heterogeneity.     

Social Capital and Neighborhood Poverty

ABSTRACT

Research indicates that concentrated neighborhood poverty has numerous detrimental effects on the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities. The term “neighborhood effects” has been used to describe the interaction between socioeconomic disadvantage and social problems at the neighborhood level. Social capital theory, defined broadly as social networks characterized by trust and reciprocity represents one prominent explanation for the phenomenon of neighborhood effects. Within poor neighborhoods, it is theorized that socioeconomic characteristics of the neighborhood foster inadequate social capital and it is this low level of social capital that leads to the phenomenon of neighborhood effects. In order to explore the utility of social capital theory in explaining neighborhood effects, this paper argues for an ecologically-grounded model of social capital that allows for the different ways in which social capital operates within different types of neighborhoods. Implications for social work practice, policy and education are discussed.     

Feminist social theory needs time. Reflections on the relation between feminist thought,social theory and time as an important parameter in social analysis1

This paper explores the relation between feminist concerns, social theory and the multiple time aspects of social life. It is suggested that while feminist approaches have been located in classical political philosophy, the same imposed classification has not occurred with respect to social theory perspectives. Rather than seeing this as an academic gap that needs filling, it was taken as an opportunity to take note of the wide variety of feminist approaches to methodological and theoretical issues and to relate these to concerns arising from a focus on the time, temporality, and timing of social life. It is argued that a feminist social theory, as an understanding of the social world through the eyes of women, is not only complemented by such a focus on time but dependent on it for an opportunity to transcend the pervasive vision of the ‘founding fathers’.     

Women and Social Security:

This article explores some major assumptions underlying the Social Security system and alternative approaches to rendering the system more economically viable, meeting the income needs of the elderly and/or providing greater equity under its benefit and taxation provisions. It attempts to show that the current structure of Social Security not only reinforces but also exacerbates the underlying economic inequalities in our nation's political economy under the guise of a social insurance program. In addressing selected benefit and taxation issues, the article focuses on how working and older women are faring in the 1990s under the Social Security system. It argues that although the program theoretically is gender neutral, its impact is not. Women, particularly those who are single, are poorly served. The article concludes that a progressive restructuring of the Social Security system itself is imperative if we are to meet the needs of a large percentage of workers, older people, and the economic and social demands of the 1990s and beyond. It also offers some suggestions for such change.     

Accounting for Social Value in Nonprofits and For‐Profits

The authors argue that social value can serve as a bridge between the nonprofit and for‐profit sectors. They further propose that social value is not simply an abstract concept but can be measured by applying social accounting methods. The authors argue that nonprofits are founded on a social mission but that traditional accounting approaches do not properly assess their social products. They illustrate the centrality of social value, both to nonprofits and for‐profits, in two ways: (1) a discussion of for‐profit firms that behave much like nonprofits and (2) an application of the social accounting model. The authors discuss two types of firms: (1) for‐profits whose shares are held in a trust and therefore operate much like corporations without shareholdersor like nonprofits and (2) for‐profits whose owners do not exercise the rights associated with their property. They then apply a social accounting model to nonprofit employment training programs to illustrate how the inclusion of social variables changes the assessment of an organization's value. They conclude with a discussion of a social accountability framework that embraces both nonprofits and for‐profits.     

Women and social security: a progressive approach

This article explores some major assumptions underlying the Social Security system and alternative approaches to rendering the system more economically viable, meeting the income needs of the elderly and/or providing greater equity under its benefit and taxation provisions. It attempts to show that the current structure of Social Security not only reinforces but also exacerbates the underlying economic inequalities in our nation's political economy under the guise of a social insurance program. In addressing selected benefit and taxation issues, the article focuses on how working and older women are faring in the 1990s under the Social Security system. It argues that although the program theoretically is gender neutral, its impact is not. Women, particularly those who are single, are poorly served. The article concludes that a progressive restructuring of the Social Security system itself is imperative if we are to meet the needs of a large percentage of workers, older people, and the economic and social demands of the 1990s and beyond. It also offers some suggestions for such change.     

Vorking mothers and the family

Social work tends to develop interest in law and legal development, particularly in family law, juvenile crime and social welfare fields. Social workers are often the closest observers of such laws in action, and naturally wish to help administer and amend them. My impression is that they are often inadequately prepared to do so—but not in the way they may think. Some sociology of lawyers may be more important than a mastery of technical law.     

The missing link: Social network analysis in migration and transnationalism

The focus on social networks in migration studies marked a significant departure of understanding. Social networks are not only a mechanism through which the migration process is patterned, but they also have broader implications for migrants and non-migrants alike. Despite the fact that the network character of migration processes has long been recognized in migration studies, for a long time, Social Network Analysis has not been applied. Taking this scholarly omission as a starting point, we seek in this special issue to discuss recent research into social networks and migration that use SNA approaches.     

Time use surveys,social practice theory,and activity connections

Social practice theory (SPT) represents a growing body of research that takes the ‘doings and sayings’ (social practices) of everyday life as its core unit of enquiry. Time use surveys (TUS) represent a substantial source of micro-data regarding how activities are performed across the 24-h day. Given their apparent complementarities, we ask why TUS have not been utilised more extensively within SPT-inspired research. We advance two contentions: (1) ontological tensions obscure the relevance of TUS data in addressing core SPT research questions, and (2) SPT concepts do not readily translate for application in TUS analysis. In response, we operationalise Schatzki's (2019) concepts of activity events and chains to explore types and forms of temporal activity connection. Using TUS data we examine three activity events: sleeping, reading, and eating. Two types of temporal activity connection (sequence and synchronisation) are identified, together with four forms of connectivity (degrees of uniformity/diversity, sequential directionality, time-varying connections, and symmetrical/asymmetrical relationships). While practices cannot be reduced to activity connections, we argue that this analytical approach offers a systematic basis for examining the ways in which activities combine to underpin the organisation of social practices. Further analysis to compare activity connections across practices, between different groups of practitioners, and over time would offer a valuable resource to empirically examine claims regarding core processes of societal change. We further contend that SPT approaches offer insights for time use research by providing a framework capable of recognising that activities are dynamic and variable rather than homogeneous and stable categories.