Church Attendance,Social Capital,and Black Voting Participation*

Objectives. We test the traditional studies of political participation that suggest enhanced education and income will help reduce the racial gap in voting. Methods. We adopt a Bayesian model to test the impact of education and income on both black and white racial groups. We also link the explanation of black voting participation to social capital. Results. We find that bonding and bridging social capital as well as human capital are all important in explaining white voting participation, but only bonding social capital, measured by church attendance, explained African‐American voting participation. Conclusions. We conclude that the utility of social capital theory and continuing significance of human capital theory must be considered in a racial context. In addition, our findings offer important implications about the continuing role of black churches for increasing social capital and political participation.     

Sports in School: Source of Amity or Antipathy?

Objectives . Previous research looks at the impact of school sports on participants' delinquency, but not at the impact on delinquency in schools; further, it does not control for school size or for unobserved school-level variables. This research fills that gap. It uses social capital theory to frame the impact of sports programs on both participants and nonparticipants. Social capital theory predicts that group cohesion will increase cooperative, pro-social behavior among those in the group; however, it can also increase uncooperative, antisocial behavior among those not in the group—particularly when in-group membership is seen as desirable. Social capital theory also predicts that larger schools will have more disturbances, but subgroups in large schools will reduce these adverse effects. Methods . The hypotheses were tested by looking at the relation between disturbances and interscholastic sports programs in Montgomery County, Maryland high schools. Using three years of data on each high school in the county, the study regresses disturbances on sports participation, holding constant demographic variables, school size, and a dummy variable for each school. Results . Larger schools have more disturbances, but bigger interscholastic sports programs mitigate these effects. Conclusions . The policy implications suggest that to foster cooperative behavior in high schools, it might be wise to limit school size, or to foster participation in varsity sports as school size increases.     

The Interaction of Race and Gender: Changing Gender‐Role Attitudes, 1974–2006*

Objective. The purpose of this article is to assess over‐time trends in the interactive effects of gender and race on attitudes toward the changing roles of women in U.S. society. Methods. This article uses data from the 1974–2006 General Social Survey. Gender‐role attitudes are measured using two composite indices of traditionalism. Results. We find black females tend to hold less traditional gender‐role attitudes than their black male, white male, and white female counterparts. Black and white males tend to hold similar attitudes toward women entering politics, but differ significantly in their attitudes toward women working outside the home and its impact on children. Assessing over‐time trends, we find the difference between black females and the other social groups to be generally diminishing. This convergence is more pronounced for white and black females. The difference in attitudes toward women entering politics between black females and white males, on the other hand, appears to be maintaining over time. Conclusions. These findings support the idea that the labor force participation for women may have provided the groundwork for the evolution of attitudes for men and women. As white women in particular increase participation in the workforce, ideologies regarding the place of women in U.S. society have shifted.     

Predicting the Comparative Strengths of National Football Teams*

Objectives. The aim of this study was to identify the chief social and economic factors predicting the strength of national Association Football (soccer) teams. Methods. A theoretical model was developed to establish an appropriate functional form for the relationship between team strength and the number of individuals available for selection. OLS regression was used to predict the performance ratings of 201 national teams. Results. The results showed that the strength of a nation's football team depends on the number of men who regularly play football, the length of its football tradition, the wealth of its population, the percentage of expatriate players in the national team, and climatic conditions. These factors explain 70 percent of the variance in international team ratings. Conclusions. Many of the factors that determine team strength are structural and cannot be manipulated by policymakers. Nations could, however, strengthen their teams by encouraging wider participation in the sport. Poorer nations could develop stronger teams by encouraging their best players to play professional club football abroad, although this might have negative consequences for domestic football.     

The Role of Race in Football Card Prices*

Objective. Several studies have examined the impact of race and the value of baseball cards, but few have investigated the role of race on football card values. Methods. Data were derived from 1,279 black and white football players who were selected to participate in at least one Pro Bowl and who started their careers between 1946, the year professional football in the United States became racially integrated when Kenny Washington played in a game for the Los Angeles Rams, and 1988, the last year of Topps' monopoly in the football card market. Data for each player's race, value of their rookie card, card availability, card vintage, performance, Hall of Fame status, and position were obtained. Results. When controlling for other factors, race has no effect on the value of players' rookie cards, whereas card vintage exerted the most influence on the value of players' cards. Conclusions. Football card values are largely driven by objective markers, supporting the conclusion that the market performs pretty much as expected for a collector market. Speculations on the absence of race effect, limitations related to the study, and suggestions for future research are offered.     

Teacher‐Student Racial Congruence,Teacher Perceptions,and Test Performance*

Objective. This research explores the seldom‐addressed question of whether teacher‐student racial congruence conditions the impact of teacher perceptions on performance. Methods. Multipopulation LISREL models (utilizing data from the NELS) compare the effect of white teachers' perceptions on African‐American standardized test performance to the corresponding effect among white students. Parallel models compare the impact of African‐American teacher perceptions across races. Preliminary models gauge whether the match/mismatch of teacher's and student's race shapes teacher perceptions of African‐American and white students. Results. The impact of teachers' perceptions on test performance shows signs of being especially pronounced in the racially dissonant white teacher‐black student context—the very context where teacher perceptions seem especially likely to be unfavorable. Conclusions. This research provides new insight on the relevance of teacher perceptions to the black‐white performance gap. Racial congruence seems primarily consequential to African‐American test performance—shaping both teacher perceptions and (somewhat less so) the impact of such perceptions on performance.     

Labour market integration of unemployed youth from a life course perspective: the case of Norway

The aim of this article is to analyse the labour market integration of previously unemployed youth in a life course perspective. 'Work, Lifestyle and Health' is a longitudinal panel survey following a sample of nearly 2,000 individuals who are representative of the Norwegian cohorts born between 1965 and 1968. The survey was first conducted in 1985 with follow-ups in 1987, 1989, 1993 and again in 2003. Unemployment among young people does not necessarily lead to marginalisation and social exclusion. Long-term effects will be dependent upon how the youths cope with unemployment, the duration of the unemployment period, their mental health status and educational qualifications. Many young unemployed people are not entitled to unemployment benefits because they lack work experience. Consequently, they are dependent on support from their family and/or social assistance. However, there is still much to learn about the long-term consequences of youth unemployment, e.g. whether or not the youths have received social assistance and what are the long-term consequences for their future labour market career and labour market integration.     

Academics versus athletics: An examination of the effects of background and socialization on African American male student athletes

It has been stated that popular culture's deluging society with images of African American males as athletes and entertainers is detrimental to the academic and social growth of this group. African American males are over-represented in the sports world, which has recently been attributed to the intentional and intensive socialization of African American into sports. The consequences that have emerged from this phenomena include an over identification with athletic achievement to the detriment of academic achievement. This study addresses the socialization process as an indicator of the overall success or failure of student athletes. This research is a case study of an entire football team at a major Division I University. The research questions were addressed by data collected through a questionnaire designed by the researchers. Several scales, tested for reliability and validity, were utilized to tap the relevant dimensions of the socialization process. Several interesting findings were yielded concerning the parental emphasis on athletics and the effects that emphasis has on academics.     

Social Capital and the Growth of the Nonprofit Sector*

Objectives. This article examines the extent to which nonprofit organizational foundings are determined by various forms of social capital. Our hypothesis is that, controlling for other relevant social, political, and economic factors, communities with higher levels of social capital should experience more extensive growth in their nonprofit sectors. Methods. Using data derived from the Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey and the IRS “charitable organization” Business Master Files, we test our hypothesis using a negative binomial event count regression on nonprofit organization foundings in 284 U.S. counties in the year 2001. Results. We find that two core dimensions of social capital—political engagement and “bridging” social ties—have a significant impact on county‐level nonprofit foundings. Surprisingly, a key element of social capital in the literature, the level of interpersonal trust, does not lead to an increase in foundings of new not‐for‐profit organizations. Conclusions. This study provides further evidence of the strength of political engagement and bridging ties for the vitality of the community. It also shows that the different dimensions of social capital do not manifest a uniform effect on nonprofit sector growth. These results further demonstrate that the growth of a community's not‐for‐profit sector is dependent on a mix of ecological and environmental factors, especially preexisting organizational density, median household income, unemployment, and levels of governmental spending. Overall, social capital can usefully be seen as another key “environmental” factor in explanations of organizational foundings.     

Race, Gender, and Educational Advantage in the Inner City

Objective . In this study we examine race differences in the effect of childhood in an urban inner–city community on educational attainment in adulthood. Methods . We examine a cohort of African American and white individuals born in the late 1950s and early 1960s in the same hospital. Our analysis examines a set of individual, family, and community characteristics for the respondents at three time points in their life course, birth, childhood, and adulthood. Results . We find that black men and women are substantially more likely than their white counterparts to graduate from high school, and that black women are more likely than white men, black men, and white women to graduate from high school and college. Conclusions . We conclude that social policy to eradicate urban disadvantage must not shift its focus to the plight of poor whites to the neglect of African Americans. Rather, we urge that inner–city white children be "drawn out of the shadows" of social research and that the uniqueness of race, class, and gender intersections realized in the inner city be brought to bear.     

Did Retail Enterprise Among White Immigrants Benefit from the Residential Segregation of Blacks? A Study of Large Northern Cities in the Early 20th Century*

Objective. This study tests the proposition, suggested by the middleman minority theory of entrepreneurship, that retail enterprise among white immigrants in the urban North was aided by the emergence of segregated black communities during the Great Migration of 1915–1930. Methods. Census data on major Northern cities in 1910, 1920, and 1930 are analyzed in several multivariate regressions. Results. The merchant participation rate of foreign‐born white men was unrelated to the index of black spatial isolation but was positively associated with the relative size of the black population, implying that the existence of large black consumer markets did promote the entry of the immigrants into the retail trade. Conclusions. White immigrants in the early 20th century North had a retailing niche based partly on serving blacks. Yet, there was no evidence that the immigrants benefited from a “captive market” that arose because of residential segregation by race.     

Pathways to the All-Volunteer Military

OBJECTIVES: The present study investigates the role of a disadvantaged background, the lack of social connectedness, and behavioral problems in channeling young men to the opportunities of the all-volunteer military instead of to college and the labor market. METHODS: Data from three waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health in the United States. The analytic sample consists of 6,938 white, black, and other males. RESULTS: The greatest likelihood of military service versus college and the labor force occurs when young men of at least modest ability come from disadvantaged circumstances, experience minimal connectedness to others, and report a history of adolescent fighting. DISCUSSION: Findings suggest the importance of access to post-high school education and worklife opportunities as a military service incentive for less advantaged young men in the all volunteer era.     

Toward an inclusive system for informal workers? Diverging impacts of labor informality on Chinese workers’ pension enrollment

The Chinese pension reform of 2011 allowed informal workers to enroll either in the employment-based pension program or in the residency-based pension program. Despite this historic pension reform, the question of how labor informality influences one's pension participation under the reformed pension regime has been insufficiently discussed. This article fills this gap by analyzing two waves of a national-level survey—the China Labor Dynamic Survey of 2012 and 2014. This article makes the following two points. First, the impact of labor informality differs across the two pension programs. Second, local citizenship filters the negative impact of labor informality, but only for the residency-based pension program. Having “local” citizenship does not offset the negative impact of labor informality on workers’ enrollment in the employment-based pension program. These findings show how the recent reform is ironically reinforcing the existing social cleavages between different types of Chinese workers.     

Western black soldiers since The Buffalo Soldiers: a review of the literature

As recently freed black Americans moved westward in the decades after the Civil War, they sought employment opportunities and escape from an oppressive racial environment. Some men became United States soldiers, named the Buffalo Soldiers by plains Indians, serving in the West. Neglected by the white public and scholars for years, in 1967 William H. Leckie published his classic book, The Buffalo Soldiers. Since then, a flood of scholarly and more general works investigating the life, careers, and roles of these black western soldiers have been produced. This study serves as an interpretive review of that literature. Even so, more research and writing is left to be accomplished. What is important to remember is that these soldiers served with distinction and valor, offered a source of pride to black Americans, and both faced and fought racial injustice in the West—even though the discrimination was not usually as virulent as that on the other side of the Mississippi River.     

Race,Roll‐Off,and Racial Transition: The Influence of Political Change on Racial Group Voter Roll‐Off in Urban Elections*

Objectives. Many cities in the United States have undergone or are undergoing racial transition from a majority white to a majority black population. Accompanying this is a change in the racial makeup of elections and officeholders. This article seeks to explain racial patterns in voter roll‐off as a city undergoes racial transition. Methods. Using a fixed‐effects regression model, we analyze the level of voter roll‐off (from the top‐of‐the‐ballot mayoral contest) among black and white voters across Memphis City Council elections, from 1967 through 2003. Results. The level of voter roll‐off among racial groups is sensitive to the racial aspect of political change. Black voters are most likely to continue to vote in council contests when there is a racial choice among candidates, when blacks have previously been elected, and when blacks occupy the mayoralty and a majority of council seats. Whites are most likely to vote in racially competitive council contests, as well as when there are a large number of white candidates, and when whites hold a majority of the council seats. Conclusions. In settings such as Memphis, where race has played a pronounced historic role, the racial context of political empowerment has a strong influence on electoral participation. Elections below the top‐of‐the‐ballot become more salient, and political efficacy grows among racial group members when that cohort occupies institutional positions, particularly the majority of positions in a governing institution.     

THE BOYS IN BLUE AND THE BAD BLUE BOYS: A CASE STUDY OF INTERACTIVE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE POLICE AND ETHNIC YOUTH IN WESTERN SYDNEY

The paper draws on ethnographic fieldwork undertaken with a group of young men known collectively as the Bad Blue Boys (BBB)¹. These young men use the supporting of a soccer team (Sydney United in the national league) as a means of parading nationalistic allegiance to their parent's homeland, Croatia. Given the history of crowd conflict at Australian soccer matches and the current trends within soccer officialdom to move the sport away from its traditional affiliation with ethnic communities, it is inevitable that the BBB have come into confrontation with agents of social authority, such as the police, during an afternoon at the football. The participant observation aspect of the research is used to discuss the interaction between the police and the BBB at soccer matches, while interviews with members of the BBB are recounted to reveal group attitudes held about the police. The paper is written to articulate with other academic contributions which have investigated the relationship between youth from non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB) and the police in contemporary Australian urban contexts. A leading contributor to such studies, Janet Chan, has commented, ‘Australian research specifically on police-ethnic youth relations [paints] a negative portrait’ (Chan 1994, p. 176). The portrait painted by the present study is intended for comparison with such research. At the outset it must be stressed that the findings are peculiar to the study and that no great claim is made for extrapolation. However, this is not to say that the study does not reflect trends in relations between NESB youth and police in Australian cities. On the contrary, a conclusion will be drawn which argues that ethnographic studies of particular ethnic youth groupings and subcultures facilitate a social mapping of police youth relations.     

Sex, Age, and the Implementation of the Motor Voter Act: The 1996 Presidential Election

Objective . Among the existing studies of political participation, few discuss differences between men and women. Of those published, most have focused upon substantive policy preferences, perhaps noting women's newly dominant electoral presence but not probing its characteristics or limits. In this analysis we build on the work of Schlozman, Burns, and Verba (1994) by examining the compound effects of closing dates, state National Voter Registration Act implementation delay, and age upon women and men. Methods . Using the 1996 Current Population Survey Voter Supplement we compare the impact of legal obstacles among different age groups of men and women in the 1996 presidential election. Results . We find that legal restrictions do have a different impact on men and women, especially the youngest and oldest members of the latter group. Conclusions . The most significant implication of our work is that policy efforts aimed at further reducing legal barriers to political participation may facilitate women's growing electoral dominance.     

College Attendance and Choice of College Majors Among Asian‐American Students*

Objective. This study explores how various measures, ranging from assimilation, to human capital, to family capital, and Holland's career‐development theories, affect Asian‐American students' choice of college majors. To test our hypotheses, we examine choice of college major using a unique measure based on the early earning potential of a large number of specific majors. Methods. Our data come from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS88). We use the Heckman selection approach to adjust for the nonrandom selection of college attendance and choice of college majors. Results. The findings of the study show little difference between Asian men and white men. On the other hand, there are significant differences among women. Conclusions. Chinese, Filipino, and Southeast Asian women are all more likely to choose more lucrative college majors than white women, controlling for all the other factors. Interestingly, effects of our assimilation, psychological, and some of the family capital measures are quite different for men than for women.     

A home of her own: an analysis of asset ownership for non-married black and white women

Race and gender are strong predictors of asset ownership including home ownership, self-employment and interest, dividends and rental income. Yet, seldom have the two concepts been linked in the sociological literature on wealth and wealth inequality. Additionally, potentially important determinants such as business income have often times been excluded from the analyses despite findings suggesting that business income may be an important indicator for racial and minority groups who would otherwise be relegated to employment in low status jobs in the secondary labor market. Using data from the Census 2000 Supplementary Survey (C2SS), this study examines the following research questions: (1) Are their racial differences in the relative odds of home ownership for non-married black and white females? (2) What roles do business income and interest, dividends and rental income have on predicting the likelihood of home ownership for non-married black and white females? (3) Are the determinants of home ownership different for non-married black and white females? Significant racial differences in the likelihood of home ownership exists with regards to education and labor force participation, and business income and interest, dividends and rental income are significant indicators of home ownership for both non-married black and white females.