A Simmelian theory of structural loneliness

Whilst loneliness may be receiving greater media and political attention, the tendency to present the issue as a discrete individual problem separable from wider social concerns has led to some frustration amongst the sociologically minded. The purpose of this paper is to provide a sociological account of loneliness which is not as susceptible to individualist interpretations as other works in the genre have been. As such the paper focuses on how the structure of a society, rather than its culture, might lead to loneliness. To this end, the paper makes original use of the works of Georg Simmel (1858–1918). Specifically, Simmel's account of how we come to know other people through synthetic construction is applied to his better‐known theory of intersecting social circles. The author claims that when taken together these two aspects of Simmel's thought suggest that social structure can create a form of social isolation in which people find it very difficult to get to know one another, due to a lack of multiple‐context interactions with the same people during their day‐to‐day behavioural patterns. This clustering of interactions within narrow interlocuter‐contexts is hypothesised to account for a portion of the variability in loneliness across individuals, societies and historical time, and is provisionally named as structural loneliness.     

论马克思的政治经济学批判与阶级斗争的革命观念的统一

在历史唯物主义理论的建构中,人们的物质生产活动和社会形态的变革,尤其是通过阶级斗争实现革命是两个重要的研究向度。这两个研究向度的紧密相联,揭示了历史唯物主义理论研究是经济学层面的历史理论研究的逻辑前提,而经济学层面的历史理论研究则是历史唯物主义理论研究的应用。马克思以阶级斗争革命观为政治经济学批判的枢纽,其旨趣是批判和根除资本主义制度。但马克思主义由于逻辑的要求而随同自己的对手资产阶级进入经济领域,这决不是在它所批评的意识形态的意义上依旧是意识形态的:资产阶级的意识形态的。虽然资本主义时代所创造的生产机制合乎理性主义的规律性,但马克思对于生产的批判性和历史性理解,摧毁了抽象的生产存在,凸现无产阶级革命对于改变生产力的作用和意义。从否定后现代理论意义上说,马克思看重经济却不会因为生产机制的优势而接受理性主义和机械的历史观。     

人类解放的进程与社会形态的嬗变(英文)

“历史的终结”是对现实的社会历史依照资本的固有逻辑和文化逻辑做出的主观设定,超越资本主义的历史限度,迫切需要从马克思人类解放理论中获取灵感。马克思通过对市民社会的研究,得出了市民社会必然被克服的逻辑结论。而克服市民社会的过程也就是超越政治解放走向人类解放的过程。作为发展过程的“两次飞跃”,政治解放与人类解放在典型意义上使得全部历史被合乎逻辑地分成“三个阶段”：前资本主义、资本主义和共产主义。这三个阶段与马克思提出的社会发展的“三大形态”——人的依赖性社会、物的依赖性社会以及个人全面发展的社会具有内在关联。三大形态理论着眼于人的发展状况与解放程度,决定了人类解放理论同时还兼有社会形态的意义,人类解放的进程与社会形态的嬗变实际是同一个过程。在社会主义自我完善的历史定位中,中华民族在实践与理论的双重探索中寻求人类解放的一种方式,将为人类社会形态的巨大变迁创造一种具有世界历史意义的经验。     

思想、风俗与制度：陈寅恪史学研究的社会学意涵

陈寅恪的史学研究在中国人文社会科学研究领域有重要的学术地位。一直以来，围绕陈寅恪史学研究传统展开的学术史讨论大多局限于历史学乃至中古史研究的范畴。社会学、政治学等学科对其关注较少。在本文中，笔者尝试从陈寅恪史学研究的问题意识、研究路径与关键概念等角度，在重新整理陈寅恪著述史与细读文本的基础上，揭示他诸多研究著述之间的内在联系，并由此讨论陈寅恪史学研究传统对“文明发生学”这一问题的内在关切。笔者进而尝试从思想、风俗与制度三个关键词入手，理解这一“西学东渐”背景下的经典研究传统所具有的社会学理论意涵，并以此为基础，讨论其对我们当下开展面向中国本土历史与社会的社会学研究所具有的理论意义。     

Eight myths on motivating social services workers: theory-based perspectives

A combination of factors has made formal motivational and reward systems rare in human service organizations generally and virtually non-existent in social service agencies. The author reviews eight of these myths by reference to eight motivational theories which refute them: need theory, expectancy theory, feedback theory, equity theory, reinforcement theory, cognitive evaluation theory, goal setting theory, and social influence theory. Although most of these theories have been developed and applied in the private sector, relevant research has also been conducted in social service agencies. The author concludes with a summary of guidelines suggested by the eight theories for motivating human service workers.     

The role of culture in theories of the intergenerational transmission of violence

The intergenerational transmission of violence has been one of the most rigorously researched hypotheses in violence research in recent decades. A number of previous studies have provided evidence supporting this hypothesis, and there has been a growing body of literature investigating its mechanism. However, the role of culture in the intergenerational transmission of violence has not received much research attention, and thus, it remains largely unknown. To suggest a better theoretical basis for understanding the role of culture in the transmission mechanism, the present paper examines three critical theories that address the intergenerational phenomenon: Dodge's social information processing theory, Nisbett's cultural cognitive theory and Turiel's social‐cognitive domain theory. The paper provides a review of the basic assumptions and core concepts of each theory and identifies the potential contributions and gaps of each theory. The three theories present different accounts of the ontogenetic origins of ideas about violence and convey different portraits of the intergenerational mechanism. However, these theories also show that they are highly likely to be related to one another and that they can help close one another's gaps. This paper suggests that a unified framework that can merge the personal and cultural factors of causation is necessary to better capture the dynamic interplay among culture, experiences with violence and the actual enactment of violent behaviours.     

寻求对“社会”的理解:圣西门的社会生理学

法国大革命遭遇的挫折促成了19世纪初法国思想界对自然权利学说的反思。这一反思的重要成果是社会范畴受到关注和社会学说的兴盛。圣西门接续了孔多塞和观念学派创立“社会科学”的努力，探索“社会生理学”。他摒弃了启蒙时代盛行的抽象个体观，揭示了人的社会属性。他把社会视为有机体，认为社会的各个部分应相互协作，构成和谐的统一体。他还强调了欧洲社会历史演进的动力机制。在此基础上，圣西门提出了“组织”社会的初步设想。圣西门的社会学说融合了社会科学和社会主义的萌芽，促进了法国从革命向社会重建的重要转变。它给后世留下了双重的精神遗产：既唤起人们同情社会苦难的博爱情感，又提醒人们要科学地观察和研究社会事实，尤其在行动时要保持清明的理性。     

A Model for the Comprehensive Assessment of Older People and Their Carers

Correspondence to Beverley Hughes, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL. Summary Although local authorities and social service departments arein the process of developing systems of assessment in relationto care management, there has been little debate about the principleswhich ought to underpin assessment processes, nor about thepurpose, scope, and content of comprehensive assessment witholder people. This article discusses these issues and proposesa framework for comprehensive assessment with older people andtheir carers, derived from development work with social workersin a number of local authorities. Of particular importance isthe need for comprehensive assessment to embody meaningful mechanismsfor user and carer participation and empowerment; to acknowledgenot only need and risk but strengths and resources; to regardthe older person as the centre of a network of personal, familial,and social factors which together determine her or his qualityof life and level of risk. The implications for practitionersare examined.     

历史个体与普遍历史:历史主义脉络中的社会变迁

发端于18世纪的德国历史主义思想脉络中,包含着一种从历史个体到历史个体的普遍历史解释模式。这种独特的社会变迁思想是在同启蒙思想的对话中确立起来的。起先包裹在天意历史论的目的论外衣中,后来历史主义的发展逐步脱去了这层外衣,在解释社会学传统中演变成了一种经验科学意义上的独特社会变迁思想。随着社会理论对韦伯的去历史化,蕴含在解释社会学中的这种社会变迁思想逐渐被淹没了。有鉴于此,本文将在赫尔德以来的历史主义脉络节点中梳理这种社会变迁思想的形成。     

Bereavement Research: An Historical Introduction

Early research in the field of bereavement and widowhood was often problem generated and focused on intrapersonal issues such as health consequences. More recent research has emphasized that, to understand the grieving individual, we must also understand the social context in which the bereavement occurred and in which recovery must progress. This introduction traces the historical development of theory, empirical research, and methodology in the field, and places current developments in perspective. The papers in this issue underline the complexity of the bereavement phenomenon, and the need for conceptual perspectives with which to understand the cultural, socioeconomic, interpersonal, and physiological determinants of grief, mourning, and recovery.     

The relevance of contemporary psychodynamic theories to teaching social work

Teaching and learning social work occurs within the context of relationships whereby instructors and students mutually learn with and from one another. This paper explores the relevance of contemporary psychoanalytic theories, specifically self psychology, intersubjectivity theory and relational theory, to teaching social work. The application of these theories reveals the need for instructors to attend to context, mutual and reciprocal interactions, multiple perspectives on reality, and disjunctions in the learning process.     

Service Delivery for the Community Elderly:

Effective service delivery should be based on the interpretation of social research theory into an operational plan. This paper reports on the demonstration and study of an innovative service model which integrates the theories of social roles, life space, and organizational participarion. Through the development of informal support systems on a neighborhood basis, linkages between the elderly person and his environmenr have been effectively strengthened or re-established. It is suggesred that the model be replaced in more rural and urban areas.     

The social construction of character

There has been increased interest in character strengths or virtues in recent years in social research and in various policy domains. However, while the notion of virtue has gained credibility in the fields of positive psychology and moral philosophy, it has yet to be satisfactorily considered from the perspective of social theory – in spite of the ongoing calls of researchers who have identified the need for further investigation into the role of culture and social context in the development of individuals' characters. In order to consider how good character and excellence in specific virtues are formed and sustained in social context, this article gives a theoretical account of character and virtue using well‐known microsociological concepts. It is argued that whereas virtues are often understood as psychological ‘traits’ or ‘dispositions’, they are also socially practiced and represented. Analyses of their related social processes are therefore appropriate and empirically promising, particularly in institutional settings, and can complement other theoretical and methodological approaches.     

人际关系资本与关系资本借贷

本文试图从互动论的研究视角,通过对一个关系资本借贷案例的分析,来说明人们是采取怎样的行动策略使社会资本的功能得以呈现的,并对功能主义和结构主义两种研究视角提出质疑。本文认为,人们只有通过其自身所拥有的动员能力,动用其社会关系网络中已存关系资本,或建构新的关系链条以借用顶端优势资本,才能最终使社会资本有效地发挥作用。     

Modeling Contextual Effects in Developmental Research: Linking Theory and Method in the Study of Social Development

This special section was inspired by the recent increased interest and methodological advances in the assessment of context‐specificity in child and adolescent social development. While the effects of groups, situations, and social relationships on cognitive, affective and behavioral development have long been acknowledged in theoretical discussions of social development, empirical research has largely relied on the assessment of individual differences rather than contextual differences in these processes—perhaps due to the fact that advanced data analytic techniques are required to access contextual dependencies in such data. While still developing, best practice data analytic techniques enable us to access the ‘social’ of social development in more precision today than ever before. In this special section we examine three of these techniques through the work of our invited authors.     

Social Psychological Factors in Lifestyle Change and Their Relevance to Policy

Crises in obesity and changes in the environment illustrate the need to change problematic behaviors and lifestyles in large segments of the population. This article uses social psychological theory and research to understand methods for facilitating lifestyle change. A basic assumption in the social psychological perspective is that the environment and the person interact to determine behavior. Both factors are important for understanding "upstream" and "downstream" approaches to lifestyle change ( McKinlay, 1993 ; Verplanken & Wood, 2006 ) and consideration of one factor without the other may be disastrous. We review evidence from within and outside of the health context to illustrate the upstream and downstream approaches and then describe implications for public policy and intervention. The evidence and recommendations encompass a wide range of behaviors, ranging from speeding and intoxicated driving to eating an unhealthy diet and energy conservation. When armed with the relevant social psychological theory and evidence, lifestyle change campaigns are likely to be successful.     

HUGH STRETTON AND THE WISE ADMINISTRATOR

His massive textbook, Economics: A New Introduction, is in many ways the culmination of Hugh Stretton's work as a theoretician of the social sciences. From his first major publication in 1969, The Political Sciences, Stretton has wrestled with two major issues. One has been the nature of the social sciences, particularly the role of moral ideas in shaping the theory and practice of social inquiry. The second has been the relationship between social theory and social practice, particularly in terms of policy development. His first book was the most ‘academic’. Since then he has written more in response to the problems of the age than out of a desire to solve merely academic questions. Hence his involvement in issues of housing, the environment and, during the last decade and a half, economic policy. One of his favourite techniques has been to use ‘speculative history’, providing alternative futures to illustrate what he believes to be the consequences of particular policy choices.     

共和理想与公共意见的限制:休谟的国家理论考察

休谟的国家理论包含两个维度：一个是规范意义上的，即认为政治制度有野蛮与文明之分，只有文明的政府才能维护社会的稳定、自由与繁荣，其理想形式是经过科学设计的共和制政府；另一个是经验意义上的，即认为政府权威建立在人们公共意见的基础之上，其形成有着自然的历史过程，并随着经济社会条件的变化而变化。在这两个维度的基础之上，休谟一方面探讨了商业、风俗及理性的发展如何影响人们公共信念的变化，进而推动人类政治从野蛮走向文明的变化过程；另一方面，休谟指出，鉴于社会大众易受迷信的影响，社会的明智之士应当采取“审慎的社会变革观”，在尊重传统和保持权威的条件下推动正义和自由的实现，并要防范可能出现的风险。