Durkheim as a Functionalist*

Functionalism is basic to Durkheim's sociology. Like other functionalists, he focused on the problem of order and the positive effects of social institutions, explaining their existence in terms of their functionally necessary contributions. As a pioneer he grappled with many of the basic problems posed by this perspective. He derived more than one explanation linking existence and necessity. The most distinctive, and yet widely ignored, aspect of his approach is the implicit argument that as a powerful, self-conscious entity controlling the behavior of its individual members, society can perpetuate the social conditions of its own existence. Many of the characteristic strengths and weaknesses of Durkheim's sociological theory may be traced to his functionalism.     

The Effect of Nonviolent Action on Social Attitudes*

Nonviolent action will produce attitude change to the exlent that it satisfies either or both of two prerequisites. It must either interfere with the functions served by the attitudes or it must produce some inconsistency between the attitudes and other orientations of the persons affected by the action. The three major functions served by attitudes are object orientation, ego-support, and ego-defense. For many social attitudes the ego-support provided by attitudes which help define a person's relation to a reference group is especially powerful, Functions may be blocked by a particular set of conditions, which may have little in common with one another. Inconsistencies may occur among different attitudes or among the components of a single attitude. One class of inconsistencies that is of particular importance occurs when people are persuaded or mildly pressured into action contrary to their attitudes. Each of the sources of attitude change pressure carries its own requirements for producing change and its own mechanisms for protecting attitudes against change pressures. Nonviolent action does not necessarily meet these requirements or overcome the defenses. However, with knowledge of the functional bases and conceptual contexts of the attitudes being challenged it may be possible to utilize the resources present in nonviolent action to increase the likelihood of a desirable impact.     

In Search of Social Structure*

Frederick L. Bates' career has been characterized by a single quest, the creation of an internally consistent theoretical model through which sociologists can conceptualize and analyze social structure from the simplest group structures to complex networks of groups and organizations. The basic elements of this model of social structure are examined and the model's theoretical foundations, assumptions and applications are discussed. Included are perspectives on structural modeling, self- referential systems theory and the concepts of social structure, social organization, culture, norms, and society as a non-system.     

Durkheim on Religion and Moral Community in Modernity*

Durkheim's theory of religion is approached from the perspective of his lifelong concern with the question of meaning and moral order in modern society. This emphasis naturally leads to a consideration of wider themes informing Durkheim's sociology of religion than are usually found in analyses focusing exclusively on his treatment of primitive religion in The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1964). Durkheim sees as the distinguishing feature of modernity the progressive emancipation of the individual from traditional sources of influence. The evolution toward greater individuation, culminating in the “cult of the individual” or “religion of humanity,” is set by Durkheim within the context of the role of collective ideals in promoting social change and in the maintenance of moral order. Religion, the major symbolic expression of societal wide ideals, is identified as the key variable which enables Durkheim to reconcile the competing demands of individuals for freedom with the interests of society in collective welfare.     

The American Educational Structure and the Reproduction of Social Class*

While considerable attention has been drawn to “reproduction” theories of education, little empirical research has been conducted within this framework. This paper uses the reproduction perspective to examine how various mechanisms of the American educational structure contribute to the maintenance of the mental-manual division of labor within class structure. Using a national, longitudinal sample of high school seniors, we look at the reproduction effects of public versus private schooling, the composition of school communities and curriculum tracking. We find that reproduction results from the schooling experiences of a majority of students and that tracking is the most important mechanism in this process. However, nonreproduction is apparent as well which points to some issues that reproduction theories must address to provide viable explanations of the role of education in society.     

Barriers to Individual Environmental Action: The Influence of Attitudes and Social Experiences*

À partir de données tirées d'un sondage effectué en 1990 sur un échantillon aléatoire de résidents d'Edmonton et à l'aide des métho-des du LISREL, nous examinons certaines influences perceptuelles, situationnelles et structurelles sur les choix d'habitudes de vie sur le plan de l'environnement. Pour cela, nous utilisons des modèles déquations structurelles dans lesquels les attitudes à l'égard de l'environnement interviennent comme variables. Nous complétons notre analyse par une étude des facteurs qui influent sur la cohérence des attitudes et des comportements environnementaux. Les données obtenues suggèrent que les degrés de comportements environnementaux individuels étudies demeurent faibles, sauf lorsqu'un problème environnemental rejoint une préoccupation de manière immédiate ou lorsque le contexte contribue à réduire les coûts entraînés par l'acceptation des conditions et facilite l'action coopérative. Using data from a 1990 random sample of Edmonton residents and applying LISREL techniques, selected perceptual, situational and structural influences on environmental lifestyle choices are examined using structural equation models that feature environmental attitudes as a mediating variable. An exploration of the factors that influence environmental attitude-behaviour consistency in this case supplements the analysis. The findings suggest that levels of the individual environmental behaviours examined here will remain low, regardless of concern, unless an environmental issue is linked to immediate personal concerns, or societal arrangements exist that help to reduce the costs of compliance and facilitate cooperative action.     

The Intersection of Neglected Ideas: Durkheim,Mead, and the Postmodernists*

In this article, the author examines pragmatic philosophy as a tool to open a richer dialogue between modern and postmodern depictions of reality. Exploring the pragmatic influences in the thoughts of G. H. Mead and Emile Durkheim (as well as C. Wright Mills and others), the author argues that ideas found in these theorist's writings, as they are informed by American Pragmatism, can act as a metaphorical bridge in linking modern and postmodern thought. In this context, the author shows that the functionalists and structuralists wrongly depict Durkheim and Mead as disciples of and inheritors of the Enlightenment project. Conversely, the postmodernists simply ignore them because they are wrongly perceived to be part of the totalizing, “enemy” camp of the Enlightenment tradition. The author asserts that a more accurate read of Durkheim and Mead finds a nuanced, middle ground in regards to opposition to versus submission to the Enlightenment project, and hence Durkheim and Mead (due in large part to American Pragmatism's influence in their writings) offer a way for modern and postmodern theory to enter into more fruitful dialogue with each other.     

Durkheim,Schopenhauer and the Relationship Between Goals and Means: Reversing the Assumptions in the Parsonian Theory of Rational Action*

Scholars have approached Durkheim's thought primarily from the starting point that he was a positivist. Although Schopenhauer's philosophy is not generally invoked in Durkheim's work, it appears that Schopenhauer's philosophy supplanted Comte's positivism at the turn of the century and that Durkheim was enamored with Schopenhauer's philosophy. In this essay Schopenhauer's influence upon Durkheim is traced, and the implications of this influence are discussed in terms of their effect upon sociology. By applying this starting point to Durkheim's thought and the Parsonian-Mertonian goals-means schema, it is demonstrated that Durkheim, like Schopenhauer, assumed the opposite of the Enlightenment belief that human reason could dominate passion. Implications for interpreting Durkheim's work are also discussed.     

Social Structure,Social Solidarity and Involvement in Neighborhood Improvement Associations*

This paper examines membership and participation in neighborhood improvement associations. Individual-level and contextual-level structural variables associated with the community of limited liability model are important for the decision to join associations but not to participate in them. Also, social ties in the community are more important than psychological attachment for both membership and participation. However, neither social ties nor attachment serve as intervening variables in the relationship between structural variables and membership.     

Durkheim and individualism

Durkheim endorses moral and rejects methodological individualism. But he arrives at this ‘general position’via a particular development of it that runs into serious sociological, apart from any philosophical, trouble. It depends on an ethical relativism that in turn depends on an idea of society qua harmonious system, generating more or less practical aspirations, and a single appropriate, ‘normal’ morality. Yet modern society generates ideals quite unrealisable in it, and continuing, fundamental conflicts between moral doctrines and beliefs. To uphold central humanist, individualist ideals, we cannot rely on Durkheim's particular sociology or on his ethical relativism, and to defend his general position must unhook it from both.     

The Social Nature of Demeanor*

Goffman argues that individuals offer themselves to the group through well demeanored appearance for which they are granted deference. In this paper, I try to expand Goffman's insights by focusing directly on demeanor itself. From observations in Intensive Care Units, I find that demeanor is an achievement, a cooperative social accomplishment, and a form of deference. It is normatively a working ideal by which individuals gain acceptance as competent group members. A well de-meanored appearance makes interaction more pleasant; it permits others to antici pate that one will try to conform to interactional norms; it facilitates whatever task is at hand; it validates the deference that an individual grants; and it is itself a form of deference. It does not remain the responsibility of the individual, and we must therefore examine how groups constitute individuals. From the analysis, I derive explanations of the level of demeanor in a given setting, and propositions predicting the behavior of individuals within a setting.     

The Structure of Motives*

It is argued that decisions are processes that occur in the ordinary course of a human life and that actions taken in life, when they are not habitual, follow such decisions. Decisions are undertaken in the framework of socially validated identities and are accompanied by vocabularies of motive which serve to guide action as well as to justify them. How then are these decisions reached? These decisions are reached, it is argued, by using various objective structures and three cases—Astrology in Ceylon, the Cuban Missile crisis and the Azande Oracles are used to support this claim and to propose a dialectical and interactionist theory of the relationship between actor and motives. The availability of such objective structures allows an actor to use them to legitimize his lines of action as well as to justify them in any future challenges.     

Burnout and Social Action

Abstract

Burnout is frequently looked upon as a private trouble with individual and self-healing solutions. This paper emphasizes burnout as a public issue, and provides a framework for assessment of the human service workplace as it contributes to burnout. It proposes an agenda of social action strategies for changing the conditions that contribute to burnout.