Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Does Aid Work in India? A Country Study of the Impact of Official Development Assistance. By Michael Lipton and John Toye The Lords of Poverty: the Freewheeling Lifestyles, Power, Prestige and Corruption of the Multi-billion Dollar Aid Business. By Graham Hancock Real Aid: What Europe Can Do. By the Independent Group on British Aid Soviet Regional Economic Policy: The East-West Debate Over Pacific Siberian Development. By Jonathan R. Schiffer Debt, Stabilization and Development: Essays in Memory of Carlos Diaz-Alejandro. Edited by Guillermo Calvo, Ronald Findlay, Pentti Kouri and Jorge Braga de Macedo Debt, Adjustment and Recovery: Latin America's Prospects for Growth and Development. Edited by Sebastian Edwards and Felipe Larrain The Political Economy of Namibia: An Annotated Critical Bibliography. By Tore Linne Eriksen with Richard Moorsom Economic Theories of Development: An Analysis of Competing Paradigms. By Diana Hunt Democracy and Development in Latin America: Economics, Politics and Religion in the Postwar Period. By David Lehmann The Competitive Advantage of Nations. By Michael Porter Labeur et Rareté. By Fabio R. Fiallo     

Sociocognitive factors and perceived consequences associated with alternative forms of alcohol use

Objective: Popular media have highly publicized alternative forms of alcohol use (eg, eyeballing, inhaling alcohol vapor) among college students as a growing concern, possibly associated with severe health risks. Formative research indicates rarity of use. Participants and Methods: College students (Study 1: n = 411; Study 2: n = 687) completed an online survey. Results: Findings confirmed infrequent use of alternative methods of alcohol use and low likelihood of trying them in the future (Study 1). Participants indicated varied reasons for possibly trying each alternative form of alcohol use, but consistently perceived consequences for all forms (ie, health concerns), as well as very low perceived approval from close friends (Study 2). Social and environmental contextual factors associated with possible use were also explored. Conclusions: College students in the current sample have low prevalence and future likelihood of alternative forms of alcohol use. This information can be used by campus health practitioners to promote accurate normative data for alternative forms of alcohol use. However, with increased perceptions of approval and media presence, future trends could change. Findings revealed important risk factors for these potentially hazardous forms of alcohol use.     

Book reviews

Homo Academicus Pierre Bourdieu (translated by Peter Collier) Feminism as Critique Seyla Benhabib and Drucilla Cornell (eds). Erving Goffman: Exploring the Interaction Order Paul Drew and Anthony Wootton, (eds). On Durkheim’s Rules of Sociological Method Mike Gane The Shaking of the Foundations Ronald Fletcher Rethinking the Life Cycle Alan Bryman, Bill Bytheway, Patricia Allatt and Teresa Keil The World We Created at Hamilton High Gerald Grant From School to Unemployment: The Labour Market for Young People P. N. Junankar (ed.) Political Parties: Organization and Power Angelo Panebianco Intercorporate Relations: The Structural Analysis of Business Mark S. Mizruchi and Michael Schwartz (eds) A Divided Working Class: Ethnic Segmentation and Industrial Conflict in Australia Constance Lever-Tracy and Michael Ouinlan John Bull’s Island: Immigration and British Society, 1871-1971 Colin Holmes The Burden of Representation: Essays on Photographies and Histories John Tagg Black Culture, White Youth: the Reggae tradition from JA to UK Simon Jones Constructive Drinking: Perspectives on Drink from Anthropology M. Douglas (ed.) Quantity and Quality in Social Research Alan Bryman, Unwin Hyman Exploring Data: An Introduction to Data Analysis for Social Scientists Catherine Marsh     

Discourse variation,grammaticalisation and stuff like that1

General extenders (such as and stuff) are analysed here in the speech of adolescents from three English towns. There were no consistent patterns of gender or social class variation in their use, but a clear social class difference in the use of certain forms, with and that favoured by the working‐class speakers and and stuff and and things preferred by the middle‐class adolescents. The most frequent forms were analysed in terms of phonetic reduction, decategorisation, semantic change and pragmatic shift, changes that together make up the process of grammaticalisation. And that and and everything were the most grammaticalised, followed by or something, with and stuff and and things lagging behind. The multifunctionality of the general extenders caused problems for a rigorous analysis of their pragmatic functions. The paper argues that we must consider their functions within the local contexts in which they occur, to take account of their interaction with other linguistic forms. It is also important to avoid generalising about their functions and, instead, to prioritise the fact that as pragmatic particles they are multifunctional. In this data the general extenders had functions in every communicative domain, often simultaneously. The implications for the quantitative analysis of discourse forms are also considered.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book Reviewed in this article The Wedding Complex: The Social Organization of a Rite of Passage by Trudy Knicely Henson in collaboration with Wayne Wheeler The Sociology of Developing Societies by Ankie M. M. Hoogvelt The Dialectic of Ideology and Technology: The Origins, Grammar and Future of Ideology by Alvin W. Gouldner Communism in Italy and France by Donald L. M. Blackmer and Sidney Tarrow (eds.) Economics and Demography by Ian Bowen Manpower Planning by D. J. Bartholomew (ed.) The Business of Crime: Italians and Syndicate Crime in the United States by Humbert S. Nelli Sociology's Models of Man by W. L. Skidmore Social Issues in Business by Fred Luthans and Richard M. Hodgetts (eds.) A Social History of Engineering by W. H. G. Armytage Theorizing by Alan Blum British Syndicalism 1900–1914 by Bob Holton Crimes of the Powerful by Frank Pearce The Sociology of Organisations by Angela M. Bowey Social Anthropology in Perspective: The Relevance of Social Anthropology by I. M. Lewis The Dual Vision: Alfred Schutz and the Myth of Phenomenological Social Science by Robert A. Gorman Critical Sociology: Selected Readings by Paul Connerton (ed.) Urban Sociology: Critical Essays by C. G. Pickvance (ed.) Origin and Significance of the Frankfurt School: A Marxist Perspective by Phil Slater     

Blurring Boundaries? Linking Technology Use,Spillover, Individual Distress,and Family Satisfaction

Information technology is entrenched in everyday life; yet, scholars have not firmly established whether this use blesses or vexes individuals and their families. This study analyzes longitudinal data (N =1,367) from the Cornell Couples and Careers Study to assess whether increases in spillover explain changes in distress and family satisfaction associated with technology use. Structural equation models indicate that cell phone use over time (but not computer use) is associated with increases in negative forms of spillover (positive spillover is not significant) and is linked to increased distress and lower family satisfaction. Overall, the evidence suggests that technology use may be blurring work/family boundaries with negative consequences for working people.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: People, Plants and Patents. The Impact of Intellectual Property on Biodiversity, Conservation, Trade, and Rural Society. By the Crucible Group Biodiversity and Landscapes: A Paradox of Humanity. Edited by K. E. Chung Kim and R. Weaver The Flexible Economy: Causes and Consequences of the Adaptability of National Economies. Edited by Tony Killick Inducing Food Insecurity: Perspectives on Food Policies in Eastern and Southern Africa. Edited by M. A. Mohammed Salih How Developing Countries Trade: The Institutional Constraints. By Sheila Page Research with a View to Implementation. By D. J. Gouws Case Studies in Research with a View to Implementation. Edited by D. J. Gouws Energy Taxation and Economic Growth. By Adam Seymour and Robert Mabro Africa: The Challenge of Transformation. By Stephen McCarthy Privatisation Experiences in African and Asian Countries. Edited by Miene Pieter van Dijk and Nico G. Schulte Nordholt The Nile: Sharing a Scarce Resource. A Historical and Technical Review of Water Management and of Economic and Legal Issues. Edited by P. P. Howell and J. A. Allan Sharing the Ganges: the Politics and Technology of River Development. By Ben Crow, with Alan Lindquist and David Wilson Sociology, Anthropology and Development: An Annotated Bibliography of World Bank Publications 1975–1993. By Michael Cernea Third World Democratization? A Partly Annotated Bibliography of Recent Literature. By Svend Erik Lindberg-Hansen Finance for the Poor Man's Business. Edited by Maria Otero and Elizabeth Rhyne The Reality of Aid 1995. Edited by Judith Randel and Tony German GATT Uruguay Round, Developing Countries and Trade in Services. By Neela Mukherjee The Experience of Poverty: Fighting for Respect and Resources in Village India. By Tony Beck Introduction to Development Economics, 3rd edition. By Subrata Ghatak Privatisation Policy and Performance: International Perspectives. Edited by P. Cook and C. Kirkpatrick Countrysides at Risk, The Political Geography of Sustainable Agriculture. By R. L. Paarlberg Environment, Development, Agriculture: Integrated Policy through Human Ecology. By Bernhard Glaeser     

Calling for accounts: numbers, monsters and membership1

This article questions how accounts are marked. In asking why some accounts ‘pass muster’ and others fail, the analysis brings into focus the extent to which membership work helps hold the social and the technical apart. The analysis contrasts a long insistence on narrative forms of interaction as defining conditions of co‐presence with numerical regimes in which there is an implicit deletion of social contact under fashionable slogans like ‘action at a distance’. Taking numbers to act as ‘bearers of culture’, the paper contests the idea that numerical forms of accountability delete the membership work traditionally associated with narrative forms of account. Attending closely to ‘occasions’ in which it is appropriate for members to deploy numerical accounts rather than verbal accounts, the argument challenges the idea that a face to face negotiation of social order has been superceded by a pervasive use of perfonnance targets. The article begins by exploring how ‘calls to account’ are created by a reporting of adverse budget variatices within organizations. Using an extended example to consider how such ‘gaps’ affect a manager's conduct towards a spouse who is sick, the analysis shows how the use of numbers becomes crucial to sustaining one's affiliation across a range of memberships. As illustrated, the rehabilitation of numerical artefacts into conceptions of the social greatly expands possibilities for interaction beyond that anticipated by the sociological ideal of ‘co‐presence’.     

Books Reviews

Books reviewed in this article: The Social Science Encyclopedia Adam Kuper and Jessica Kuper (eds), Routledge & Kegan Paul The Principle of Hope Ernst Bloch, 3 volumes, translated by Neville Plaice, Stephen Plaice and Paul Knight Fragments of Modernity David Frisby Habermas and the Foundations of Critical Theory Rick Roderick, Macmillan Subordination: Feminism and Social Theory C. Burton, Allen and Unwin Marxism and International Relations Vendulka Kubálková and Albert Cruickshank Powers of Theory: Capitalism, the State, and Democracy Robert R. Alford and Roger Fdedland The Ideology of the New Right Ruth Levitas (ed.) Ideology David McLellan Explanation in Social History Christopher Lloyd, Basil Blackwell Writing Marxist History, British Society, Economy and Culture Since 1700 R.S. Neale Capitalism and Leisure Theory Chris Rojek, Tavistock The Devil Makes Work: Leisure in Capitalist Britain John Clarke and Chas All Manners of Food, Eating and Taste in England and France from the Middle Ages to the Present Stephen Mennell, Basil Blackweil Social Mobility in the 19th and 20th Centuries Networks of Corporate Power: A Comparative Analysis of Ten Countries Frans N. Stokman, Rolf Ziegler and John Scott (eds) The Power Structure of American Business Beth Mintz and Michael Schwartz Just Managing: Authority and Democracy in Industry Peter Cressey, John Eldridge and John McInnes Men In Families Robert A. Lewis and Robert E. Salt (eds) Private Schools and Public Issues. The Parents’View Irene Fox Life in public Schools Geoffrey Walford Growing Up at the Margins: Young Adults in the North East Frank Coffield, Coral Borrill and Sarah Marshall The Dynamics of Aggression in Women's Prisons in England Alexandra Madaraka-Sheppard War and Peace News New Communications Technologies and the Public Interest Marjorie Ferguson (ed.) Computers and Qualitative Data Peter Conrad and Shulamit Reinharz (eds)     

Experienced harms from substance use among college students: A latent class analysis

ABSTRACT

Many college students experience personal consequences from their own substance use as well as secondhand effects resulting from other students’ substance use. Our study identifies meaningful subgroup response patterns representing the construct of experienced harms, that is, the combined harms resulting from personal substance use and the substance use of others. In this sample six latent classes of harms experienced by participants were identified. The classes ranged from a No Harms group to a group of eleven harms – Severe Harms. We demonstrated that harms class membership was directly related to the level of involvement with substances. As the level of substance use increased – demonstrated by membership in latent classes of progressive involvement with substances – the odds of membership in a more serious experienced harms class increased. Participants reporting early onset of any substance were more likely to be members in any of the experienced harms latent classes than members of the No Harms class. Elucidating the exposure to harm associated with college student substance use behavior through an expanded focus on the patterns of experienced effects (i.e., personal consequences and secondhand effects) advances current research on a nationally-recognized problem.     

Making a Spectacle of Herself

Abstract

The now-famous photograph of singer k.d. lang and model Cindy Crawford on the cover of the August 1993 Vanity Fair magazine was notable for being one of the first images in popular culture to feature a self-identified lesbian in an image with lesbian thematic content. This paper explores Vanity Fair's cover in terms of lesbian visibility issues, different interpretive strategies for constructing meaning, and the use of lesbian/gay symbology and aesthetics. The appropriational relationship of the image to other representational forms in popular culture and the significance of lesbian sexual imagery are discussed. Examination of the use of inversion, hyperbole, and irony reveals the image's polysemic references to both lesbian re/presentations and mainstream society's stereotypes.     

Laowai as a discourse of Othering: unnoticed stereotyping of American expatriates in Mainland China

ABSTRACT

Homogeneous ethnic labels, deriving from migrants’ phenotypic and cultural distinctness, are frequently utilised to single them out as the Other during intercultural encounters. Nonetheless, the Othering enacted by ethnic labelling has not attracted enough attention from host-nationals who use these labels. In-depth interviews with 35 American expatriates revealed that laowai was perceived as a discourse of Othering, which first categorised Westerners under this label as the Other in mainland China for their noticeable non-Chinese physical appearance, and then exposed them to its Chinese users’ diversely motivated stereotyping in such forms as exclusion, alienation and discrimination. However, Chinese people had not noticed laowai’s nature of being a stereotype-laden discourse of Othering and conversely considered this label as a neutral and even friendly expression. Ultimately, these Americans experienced Chinese people’s habitual use of laowai as a way to separate them as permanent outsiders who were subject to Occidentalism in mainland China.     

English‐Learning Infants' Representations of Word Forms With Iambic Stress

Retaining detailed representations of unstressed syllables is a logical prerequisite for infants' use of probabilistic phonotactics to segment iambic words from fluent speech. The head‐turn preference study was used to investigate the nature of English‐learners' representations of iambic word onsets. Fifty‐four 10.5‐month‐olds were familiarized to passages containing the nonsense iambic word forms ginome and tupong. Following familiarization, infants were either tested on familiar (ginome and tupong) or near‐familiar (pinome and bupong) versus unfamiliar (kidar and mafoos) words. Infants in the familiar test group (familiar vs. unfamiliar) oriented significantly longer to familiar than unfamiliar test items, whereas infants in the near‐familiar test group (near‐familiar vs. unfamiliar) oriented equally long to near‐familiar and unfamiliar test items. Our results provide evidence that infants retain fairly detailed representations of unstressed syllables and therefore support the hypothesis that infants use phonotactic cues to find words in fluent speech.     

Book review

Book review in this article Liberalism and the Origins of European Social Theory Steven Seidman, Basil Blackwell. Not in our Genes: Biology, Ideology and Human Nature S. Rose, L.J. Kamin and R.C. Lewontin, Pelican, Harmondsworh. Marxism and Totality: The Adventures of a Concept from Lukcés to Habermas Martin Jay. Adorno Martin Jay, Fontana, London. Humanist Marxism and Wittgensteinian Social Philosophy Susan M. Easton. Daia Construction in Social Surveys Nicholas Bateson, George Allen and Unwin, Hemel Hempstead. The Three Worlds Peter Worsley, Weidenfeld and Nieolson. Lenin and the End of Politics A.J. Polan, Methuen. Great Revolutions Compared: The Search for a Theory Jarosalv Krej?í assisted by Anna Krej?ová. The Nature of Work: An Introduction to Debates on the Labour Process Paul Thompson, Macmillan. Ethnic Communities in Business Robin Ward and Richard Jenkins (eds). Industrial Relations in the Future: Trends and Possibilities in Britain over the Next Decade M. Poole, W. Brown, J. Rubery, K. Sisson, R. Tarling and F. Wilkinson, Routledge & Kegan Paul. Education Versus Qualifications? A Study of Relationships Between Education, Selection for Employment and the Productivity of Labour John Oxenham (ed.), George Allen and Unwin. The End of Law? Timothy O'Hagan, Basil Blackwell Contradictions of the Welfare State Claus Offe, edited by John Keane, Hutchinson Scotland: The Real Divide, Poverty and Deprivation in Scotland Gordon Brown and Robin Cook (eds). Against Equality: Readings on Economic and Social Policy William Letwin (ed.), Macmillan. The Idea of Natural Inequality and Other Essays André Béteille. Divisions of Labour R. E. Pahl, Basil Blaekwell. Households Richard McC. Netting, Robert R Wilk and Erie J. Arnould (eds). Identity and Stability in Marriage Janet Askham. Berger, P. and Kellner, H, (1964)‘Marriage and the construction of reality’, Diogenes. Dominian, J. (1968), Marital Breakdown, Penguin, Harmondsworth The Bungalow: The Production of a Global Culture Anthony D. King, Routledge & Kegan Paul. Opening Pandora's Box G. Nigel Gilbert and Michael Mulkay Our Masters’Voices Max Atkinson, Methuen Life is like a Chicken Coop Ladder: A Portrait of German Culture Through Folklore Alan Dundes.     

Associations Between Adolescents' Antisocial Behavior,Conflict Management Styles,and Romantic Relationship Breakup: An Observational Study

Adolescents' antisocial behavior and negative conflict management styles are each associated with adverse romantic relationship outcomes, yet little research exists on their associations. We investigated whether adolescents' antisocial behavior was associated with conflict management styles, and whether it predicted breakup 3 months later. In total, 91 adolescent couples (M_age = 16.43, SD = 0.99; 41.2% Hispanic/Latinx) participated in videotaped conflict discussions coded for negotiation, coercion, and avoidance. Actor–partner interdependence models suggest adolescents' antisocial behavior is associated with decreased use of negotiation (couple pattern) and increased use of coercion (actor pattern). No significant associations were found for avoidance. Neither antisocial behavior nor conflict management styles predicted breakup. Findings are discussed in light of the unique developmental importance of adolescents' romantic relationships.     

From feedbacks to coproduction: toward an integrated conceptual framework for urban ecosystems

Research in urban ecology depends on frameworks that meaningfully integrate our understanding of biophysical and social change. Although the coupled nature of urban ecosystems is widely accepted, the core mechanisms we use to integrate the social and biophysical aspects of urban ecosystems – their social-ecological feedbacks – are poorly understood. This paper considers how feedbacks are used to conceptualize social-ecological change, noting their utility and their limitations. In so doing, we suggest that coproduction provides a meaningful alternative to feedbacks, one that captures not only the structure-function relationships usually assumed in studies of biophysical landscape change, but also the structure-agency relationships that facilitate our most comprehensive understanding of social change. By addressing both the stepwise forms of transformation that a feedback approach captures and the simultaneous forms of transformation captured by a coproduction approach, a more comprehensive assessment of the ways that social and ecological change take place is afforded. We contend that thinking in terms of coproduction is essential for moving beyond the interdisciplinary approach that usually guides urban ecology models, toward a more integrated, trans-disciplinary approach.

     

Social influences on use of cigarettes,e-cigarettes,and hookah by college students

ABSTRACT

Objectives: (1) Compare social norms and perceived peer use between college student cigarette, e-cigarette, and/or hookah users and nonusers; and (2) determine variables associated with social influences. Participants: Undergraduate students attending a large university in the Southeast United States (N = 511). Methods: An April 2013 online survey assessed use of 3 types of tobacco, social norms, perception of peer use, number of smokers in life, exposure to secondhand smoke, and demographic characteristics. Results: Participants indicated greater acceptance of emerging tobacco products than for cigarettes and consistently overestimated the percent of peers who use various tobacco products. Males and current users had higher social norm scores for all 3 forms of tobacco. Conclusion: To counter marketing of alternative tobacco products, education about the dangers of their use needs to be implemented across college campuses as part of a comprehensive tobacco control strategy that also includes tobacco-free campus policies.     

Orgasm Range and Variability in Humans: A Content Analysis

Abstract

Orgasm frequently occurs from sexual and/or genital stimulation but has been documented outside these contexts and may be better conceptualized as a set of neuropsychological processes. Objective: To document a range of orgasm experiences. Methods: A content analysis of 687 anonymously posted online comments related to nonsexual orgasms. Results: Orgasm types include those related to exercise, sleep, drug use, riding in vehicles, breastfeeding, eating, auditory stimulation, and childbirth, among others. Conclusions: Orgasm is experienced in association with varied forms of sensory stimulation. This study provides information about the diversity of human orgasm, informing sex education, therapy, and practice.