Success and Anomie: A Study of the Effect of Goals on Anomie*

Most studies of subjective anomie assume that all individuals have the same goals, and they explain anomie in terms of differences in the means to achieve goals. This paper examines the effect of variations in the goal of success on anomie. Data are from a Harris survey of 3,001 adults in the continental United States. A multiple regression of anomie on success orientation, plus six social status variables, revealed that success orientation has a significant positive effect on anomie and that, next to education, it is the best predictor of anomie. This finding helps explain both intra-class variations in anomie and the increase in anomie from the 1950s to 1971 found by Fischer(1974). The social status variables did not explain much of the variation in success orientation, and the effect of success orientation on anomie was not mediated by education and income. The relevance of these findings to Durkheim's theory of anomie is discussed.     

Durkheim's Concept of Anomie: Some Observations*

Most interpretations of anornie emphasize the normative aspect. However, Durkheim viewed anomie as involving more than a lack of norms or a conflict of norms. Discussions in The Division of Labor in Society and Suicide show that according to Durkheim the primary threats to social solidarity in modern societies are weak or ineffective structural constraints on individualistic needs and desires. In modern industrialized societies the primary mode of social control is not a set of rules or norms, although they do have a cohesive function, but the development of solidary, interdependent social relationships among diverse individuals. Crucial in the development of solidary social relationships is the rate and nature of social change. For modern or modernizing societies the most important form of social change is industrialization. If industrialization is too rapid then the likelihood of social inequality, economic crises, and family disruption is greater. New and solidary forms of social relationships are not allowed to develop properly. This results in weak constraints on individualistic needs and desires that have been “excited” by the industrialization.     

Labor Market Structure and Career Occupational Status Mobility: A Theoretical Model*

Sociological explanations of career or intragenerational occupational status mobility generally have not taken into explicit account the effects of labor market structure. Rooted in structural-functionalist sociological theory or neoclassical economic theories of the labor market, models typically misrepresent the process of individual occupational status mobility, primarily by including only individual characteristics. Dual labor market theory is introduced, direct as well as indirect effects of labor market structure on career occupational status mobility are outlined, and a theoretical model is presented. It is hypothesized that labor market structure will have direct effects on opportunities for career occupational status mobility that are independent of the effects of individual characteristics. Additional indirect effects are suggested: through their effects on social network structures, labor markets operate as job opportunity information filters.     

Status and Career Decision: An Analysis of the Time Dimension*

This paper reports on a study which examined the input parental status has on the timing of career decision. Data for this study were collected by means of questionnaire from graduating seniors from 24 colleges and universities. It was hypothesized that students from upper-status parents would choose their future career later in their life than would students with lower-status parents. Although the data tend to support the hypothesis, it seems to hold more true for females than for males. This difference was attributed to the varying emphasis placed upon the responsibility for the achievement of success.     

Career Counseling and Possible Selves: A Case Study

Process-oriented case analyses, which are the natural next step in understanding career interventions, are beginning to reveal subtle process changes across sessions. In this case, a 37-year-old physical therapist, who expressed dissatisfaction with her current position, participated in 8 sessions of individual career counseling with an experienced doctoral-level career psychologist. The Possible Selves Questionnaire (PSQ; Markus, 1987), the Symptom 90-R Checklist (Derogatis, 1983), and the Career Decision Scale (Osipow, 1987) were administered at pretesting, after 4 sessions, and at posttesting. Four client- and 2 counselor-process measures were also administered following each session. Results revealed expected changes in traditional outcome measures, and an increase followed by a decrease in future possible selves. Anxiety and vocational information seeking followed a sine-shaped pattern, and sleep disturbance increased at midcounseling and posttesting. Session depth and smoothness were highest when anxiety and information seeking were lowest. These findings, which coincide with other case study results, were integrated using an activation theory model of career intervention in which moderate anxiety serves as a motivator for constructive behavior change.     

Constructivist and Social Constructionist Career Counseling: A Delphi Study

Constructivist and social constructionist (SC) career counseling approaches direct attention to individuals as authors who construct their identities and careers in relation with others. Often contrasted with positivist or modern approaches, distinguishing features of these relatively new approaches have not yet been explicitly identified. Panel members in this Delphi study comprised the 9 most‐cited authors on the topics of constructivist and SC career counseling, 8 of whom completed all 3 rounds of questionnaires. They offered views about definitions of constructivist and SC career counseling and identified distinguishing and essential features of these approaches in terms of theoretical underpinnings, counseling processes, client–counselor relationships, and range of applicability. The defining features and the range of applicability identified in this study may serve to guide practice, training, and supervision. A research agenda including development of fidelity measures and evaluation of the efficacy of these approaches is proposed. Controversial issues are discussed.     

Gender, Educational Credentials, Contributions and Career Advancement: Results of a Follow-up Study in Hospital Pharmacy*

La présente étude sur les pharmaciens en milieu hospitalier démon-tre que, depuis 20 ans, ce que l'on qualifie de «perspectives d'avenir>> présentées par ce secteur en pleine expansion attire un nombre disproportionné de femmes, dont la plupart sont tenues à l'écart lorsqu'il s'agit d'avancement professionnel. Même si les détentrices de qualifications postbaccalauréats ont accédéà de meilleurs postes de premier échelon, elles ont néanmoins perdu l'avantage pendant la première décennie de leur carrière, ce qui correspond aux résultats de recherches préalables réalisées sur les professions non féminisées. Cette situation semble indiquer que ce sont des facteurs liés au sexe, et non à la productivité, qui influent de façon négative sur les per-sonnes qui sont en mesure d'accorder les avancements; de la même manière, au moment de l'embauche pour des postes de premier échelon, ce sont les qualifications plutôt que la productivité qui influent sur leurs décisions.
This study of hospital pharmacists shows that the "opportunity" presented by this rapidly-expanding field over the past 20 years differentially attracted women, most of whom became ghettoized in terms of career advancement. Those women who acquired post-baccalaureate educational credentials obtained better entry-level positions, but, consistent with previous research on less-feminized professions, lost this advantage over the first decade of their careers. The pattern of advancement suggests that gender-related factors serve as a "negative signal" to gatekeepers, irrespective of productivity, just as credentials serve as a signal or proxy for productivity in hiring for entry-level positions.     

The Stages of the High-steel Ironworker Apprentice Career*

This paper describes the contingencies and stages of the ironworker apprentice career. The analysis of nine months of participant observation data, most of which was collected by observing ironworkers throughout the construction of a twenty-one story office building, indicates four critical career stages that ironworker apprentices must successfully negotiate in their movement towards acceptance as trusted co-workers. Each of the career stages: sponsorship, “punking,” initiative taking, and “getting scale” involves the work group or its representatives testing and assessing apprentices. These evaluations are communicated to the apprentice and other ironworkers and provide the apprentice a basis for assessing his progress and gauging his suitability for more responsible and often times more risky demonstrations of competence. Ironworkers perceive their work as extremely perilous and their danger increases while working with inexperienced neophytes. The workers must rely on the coordinated and trustworthy actions of co-workers and the ever-present threats to their safety lead them to develop and enforce processes of continuous surveillance, testing, and evaluation of all workers. These processes are most stringently applied to apprentices but apply through-out the ironworker career.     

Gender and Clinical Pharmacy: The Career of an Occupational Ideology*

Cet article étudie le concept selon lequel, dans une profession en mutation, la pharmacie en l'occurrence, les femmes sont les principales personnes à transmettre les valeurs liées à la pharmacie clinique - une idéologic professionnelle prétendument instaurée afin de redonner sa place à la pharmacie dans la hiérarchie des professions. Si on constate la force des convictions des membres de la profession à l'endroit de la pharmacie clinique, on observe également que les femmes ne sont pas les premières à les dèfendre. Ni la socialisation des rapports entre les sexes ni une formation particulière en pharmacie n'ont rendu les femmes mieux disposées que les hommes à l'egard de la pharmacie clinique. Les divergences - et elles sont très importantes - au sein de la profession au sujet de la pharmacie clinique se font sentir selon les différents cadres de travail des pharmaciens et selon l'année d'obtention de leur permis d'exercice. Ce sont plus les lieux de travail que les rapports entre les sexes qui permettent de prévoir les attitudes à l'égard de la pharmacie clinique. Il semble done peu probable que le fait d'équilibrer le nombre d'hommes et de femmes dans un milieu de travail soit de nature à le faire évoluer. Quelle que soit, au départ, la conception des pharmaciennes à l'égard de leur profession, elle influe peu sur leur rapport à la pharmacie clinique. This paper explores the idea that in a changing profession, women are the principal value carriers of clinical pharmacy—an occupational ideology professedly developed to restore pharmacy's precarious standing in the occupational hierarchy. While the investigation uncovers considerable evidence for the vitality of clinical pharmacy beliefs among practitioners, women were not at the forefront of this trend. Neither general gender socialization nor specific pharmacy training has rendered females more sympathetic to clinical pharmacy than males. Differences within the pharmacy community regarding clinical pharmacy—and they are quite considerable— emanate from the varied work settings that practitioners occupy and their year of licensure. Attitudes to clinical pharmacy are better predicted by workplace than by gender. On the basis of our findings, it seems unlikely that balancing the number of men and women in an occupation or work organization will, in and of itself, change it. Whatever distinctive prior orientations to work that female pharmacists may hold, they have little impact upon how they think about clinical pharmacy.     

Displayed Art and Performed Music: Selective Innovation and the Structure of Artistic Media*

Aesthetic innovation in symphony orchestras and art museums is strongly influenced by the fundamental structure of the art forms with which each institution is associated. Music depends on time, visual art on space; while music is ephemeral, painting and sculpture consist of concrete objects. These structural differences have implications for the organizations: costs, expectations of growth and patronage sources. Most important, just as museums are constrained to feature innovative works, performed music institutions are constrained to avoid them. Examining orchestras and art museums reveals the connections among specific art forms, organizational structures and aesthetic outcomes.