BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
power and democracy in america . Edited by William V. D' Antonio and Howard J. Ehrlich.
family growth in metropolitan america . By Charles F. Westoff, Robert G. Porter, Jr., Philip C. Sagi, and Elliot G. Mishler.
marriage and the american ideal . By Floyd M. Martinson.
the child and society: the process of socialization . By Frederick Elkin.
tradition, values, and socio-economic development . Edited by Ralph Braibanti and Joseph J. Spengler.
the modernization of iran, 1921–1941 . By Amin Banani.
race and reason: a yankee view . By Charles Putnam.
the negro in american civilization . By Nathaniel Weyl.
the negro in france . By Shelby T. McCloy.
fifty-eight lonely men: southern federal judges and school desegregation . By J. W. Peltason.
american society: a sociological interpretation . By Robin M. Williams, Jr. Revised edition.
the politics of mass society . By William Kornhauser.
autocracy and democracy . By Ralph K. White and Ronald O. Lippitt.
crime in america: controversial issues in twentieth-century criminology . Edited by Herbert A. Bloch.
the mandarins: the circulation of elites in china, 1600–1900 . By Robert M. Marsh.
social work research . Edited by Norman A. Polansky.
contemporary political ideologies . Edited by Joseph S. Roucek.
mathematical thinking in the measurement of behavior . Edited by Herbert Solomon.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
funeral customs the world over . By Robert W. Habenstein and William M. Lamers.
der begabungsschwund in europa . By Ludwig Winter.
residence and race . By Davis McEntire.
finnish immigrants in america, 1880–1920 . By A. William Hoglund.
retirement villages . By Ernest W. Burgess.
developments in mathematical psychology . Edited by R. Duncan Luce.
montesquieu and rousseau: forerunners of sociology . By Emile Durkheim. Foreword by Henri Peyre, and Notes by Georges Davy and A. Cuvillier.
families in the church: a protestant survey . By Roy W. Fairchild and John Charles Wynn.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Poverty, Ethnicity, and Violent Crime , by James F. Short Jr.
Regression Models for Categorical and Limited Dependent Variables , by J. Scott Long.
Performing Rites: On the Value of Popular Music , by Simon Frith.
The Place of Music , edited by Andrew Leyshon, David Matless, and George Revill.
The Black Culture Industry , by Ellis Cashmore.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
the religious factor: a sociological study of religion's impact on politics, economics, and family life . By Gerhard Lenski.
religion in contemporary culture: a study of religion through social science . By Purnell Handy Benson.
the population explosion and christian responsibility . By Richard M. Fagley.
negro and white in connecticut town . By Frank F. Lee.
studies in human ecology . Edited by George A. Theodorson.
labor commitment and social change in developing areas . Edited by Wilbert E. Moore and Arnold S. Feldman.
sociology of crime . Edited by Joseph S. Roucek.
television in the lives of our children . By Wilbur Schramm, Jack Lyle, and Edwin B. Parker.     

Professional standards in public relations: A survey of educators

A survey instrument operationalizing twenty-four elements of professional performance was administered to 291 public relations educators across the nation, yielding a 43.6 percent response rate. Respondents assessed the extent to which a standard of professionalism currently exists for each of the twenty-four items. Educators tended to view writing/editing and graphics/production skills, ethical guidelines, accreditation, and “public relations as advocacy” as enjoying well-established standards. Licensing, location of public relations on the organizational chart and inclusion of public relations in the dominant coalition were viewed as most lacking in a standard of professional performance.The twenty-four items factored into six dimensions. Assessments of professionalism along these six factors differed significantly as a function of sex, region, tenure of teaching, size of institution, and whether the educator was accredited by PRSA. Comparing educators' assessments with practitioners' views expressed in an earlier national survey, it is clear that professional standards in public relations have yet to have coalesced among educators or practitioners. Given the influence that educators have on the future of the field, it is imperative that educators work to elevate the profession by promulgating professional standards among their students.This study, conducted under the auspices of the Yarbrough Public Relations Laboratory, is a followup to results of a survey of practitioners reported in the article titled “Developing Standards of Professional Performance in Public Relations” published in Public Relations Review in 1996.All three authors are with the Department of Advertising/ Public Relations, Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Georgia, Athens. Dr. Lynne M. Sallot, APR, is Assistant Professor. Dr. Glen T. Cameron is Associate Professor and Director of Research, James M. Cox, Jr. Institute for Newspaper Management Studies. Dr. Ruth Ann Weaver Lariscy is Associate Professor.     

Isn’t Every Crime a Hate Crime?: The Case for Hate Crime Laws

The process to create hate crime laws in the United States has wrestled with the core issues of freedom of speech and greater harm. This article looks at the evolution of bias crime laws, culminating with President Obama’s signing of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009. The constitutionality of the laws is ‘discussed and suggestions for sociological research are made. Four elements of hate crime laws are discussed; criminality, intent, perception, and protected statuses. The logic of hate crime laws is based on the argument that hate crimes are a form of terrorism, designed to intimidate large groups of people. Readers should be familiar with the basic case for the existence of such laws.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
social behavior: its elementary forms . By George Caspar Homans.
growing old: the process of disengagement . By Elaine Cumming and William E. Henry.
aging in the state of washington . Edited by William S. Hopkins
parental attitudes and child behavior . Edited by John C. Glidewell, with a Foreword by Raymond Feldman.
juvenile delinquency in american society . By Harry Manuel Shulman.
juvenile delinquency in modern society , third edition. By Martin H. Neumeyer.
language and the discovery of reality: a developmental psychology of cognition . By Joseph Church.
automatic data-processing systems . By Robert H. Gregory and Richard L. Van Horn.     

Robin Williams, Race, and American Sociology

In this essay, I discuss Robin M. Williams Jr.'s unique sociological approach to the study of race and the ways his background and the historical moment in which he wrote contributed to his sociological vision.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
scandinavian students on an american campus . By William H. Sewell and Oluf M. Davidsen.
the two-way mirror: national status in foreign students' adjustment . By Richard T. Morris, with the assistance of Oluf M. Davidsen.
the servants of power: a history of the use of social science in american industry . By Loren Baritz.
passive resistance in south africa . By Leo Kuper.
becoming more civilized: a psychological exploration . By Leonard W. Doob.
w. e. b. dubois. negro leader in a time of crisis . By Francis L. Broderick.
little rock, u.s.a . Edited by Wilson Record and Jane Cassels Record.
studies on the population of china , 1368–1953 . By Ping-ti Ho.
community political systems . Edited by Morris Janowitz.
studying personality cross-culturally . Edited by Bert Kaplan.
the sociology of social problems . By Paul B. Horton and Gerald R. Leslie.
archaeology and society . By Grahame Clark.
working with groups . By Walter M. Lifton.
a comparative study of delinquents and non-delinquents . By Clara Chassell Cooper.
education in the forming of american society . By Bernard Bailyn.
the crime problem . By Walter C. Reckless.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Adorned in Dreams: Fashion and Modernity . Elizabeth Wilson.
Social Knowledge: An Essay on the Nature and Limits of social Science . Paul Mattick, Jr.
Peasants and Peasant Societies: Selected Readings . 2nd Ed. Edited by Teodor Shanin.
Beyond Monopoly: Lawyers, Crises, and Professional Empowerment . Terence C. Halliday
Values, Neo-Kantianism and the Development of Weberian Sociology . Thomas W. Segady     

Sexual double standards: a review and methodological critique of two decades of research

A review of 30 studies published since 1980 found evidence for the continued existence of sexual double standards: different standards of sexual permissiveness for women and men. Experimental studies have included predominantly White North American college students; ethnographies, focus group and interview studies, and linguistic analyses have included more diverse samples. Studies show that sexual double standards are influenced by situational and interpersonal factors (e.g., the target's age, level of relationship commitment, and number of partners), and that double standards are local constructions, differing across ethnic and cultural groups. This review discusses methodological issues, including the strengths and limitations of quantitative and qualitative approaches. It also discusses implications for women s high-risk sexual behavior and sexual identity, and suggests directions for future research.     

The Jamesian theory of action

By emphasizing the emotional basis of action and the orientation of action to the future, the theory of action in William James challenges and provides an alternative to accounts of action which emphasize cognition and norms. This paper provides a statement of the Jamesian theory of action, which has been neglected in sociology. The Jamesian critique of the approach to social action in symbolic interactionism and in Parsons's voluntaristic theory of action is also indicated in the paper. Other aspects of the Jamesian theory of action of interest to sociological concern treated in the paper are the non-constructionist account of emotion developed by James, and his reconceptualization of rationality as continuous with rather than opposed to emotion.     

Button‐pressers versus picture‐makers: The social reconstruction of amateur photography in the late 19th century U.S.

Visual Anthropology: Photography as a Research Method, New Mexico University Press, 1986, By John, Collier, Jr. and Malcom Collier

Snapshot Versions of Life, Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1987, By Richard Chalfen

Six‐Guns and Society: A Structural Study of the Western, University of California Press, 1975, By Will Wright, St. Lawrence University

Bitter Melon: Stories from the Last Rural Chinese Town in America, University of Washington Press, 1987, By Jeff Gillenkirk and James Motlow

Committing Photography ‐ Yes and No, But Mostly Yes. A Review Essay of Committing Photography, by Su Braden, Pluto Press, 1983

Sociology in a Changing World, by William Kornblum, Holt, Reinehart, and Winston, 1987     

Reviews

Visual Anthropology: Photography as a Research Method, New Mexico University Press, 1986, By John, Collier, Jr. and Malcom Collier

Snapshot Versions of Life, Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1987, By Richard Chalfen

Six‐Guns and Society: A Structural Study of the Western, University of California Press, 1975, By Will Wright, St. Lawrence University

Bitter Melon: Stories from the Last Rural Chinese Town in America, University of Washington Press, 1987, By Jeff Gillenkirk and James Motlow

Committing Photography ‐ Yes and No, But Mostly Yes. A Review Essay of Committing Photography, by Su Braden, Pluto Press, 1983

Sociology in a Changing World, by William Kornblum, Holt, Reinehart, and Winston, 1987     

Book reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Inventing Our Selves: Psychology, Power and Personhood Nikolas Rose,
Constructing Identities: The Social, The Nonhuman and Change Mike Michael,
The State Nobility: Elite Schools in the Field of Power Pierre Bourdieu,
Cultures of Internet: Virtual Spaces, Real Histories, Living Bodies Rob Shields, (ed.),
Cyberspace/Cyberbodies/Cyberpunk: Cultures of Technological Embodiment Mike Featherstone and Roger Burrows, (eds),
Feminism and Criminology Ngaire Naffine,
Crimes of Style: Urban Graffiti and the Politics of Criminality Jeff Ferrell,
Imagining Cities Sallie Westwood and John Williams (eds),
Consumer Culture and Modernity Don Slater,
Popular Music in Theory: An Introduction Keith Negus,
Football, Nationality and the State Vic Duke and Liz Crolley,
Changing Forms of Employment: Organisations, Skills and Gender Rosemary
Varieties of Transition: The East European and East German Experience Claus Offe,
The Rise and Fall of State Socialism: Industrial Society and the Socialist State David Lane,
Jean Baudrillard: A Study in Cultural Metaphysics Charles Levin,     

Pluralistic ignorance and professional standards: underestimating professionalism of our peers in public relations

Two-hundred-fifty-one responses to a battery of 45 professional standard items indicate that public relations professionals randomly surveyed from across the nation tend to underestimate the current state of professional standards in the field. This state of affairs, described in coorientation theory as pluralistic ignorance, suggests that our field may actually hold higher standards and greater confidence in standards than we commonly attribute to our peers.Following the third-person effect, respondents tended to view themselves as better able to withstand pressures and outdated thinking than their peers. In fact, practitioners held their peers in comparatively low esteem, viewing others collectively as somewhat naive, unprofessional and unenlightened in comparison to their own personal self-images. While female practitioners are generally less sanguine about gender and racial equity in public relations, women tend to be more optimistic about standards for ethics and professional functions such as planning and research. Women also tended to be less harsh in their ratings of peer professionalism, while also attributing lower values to others.This study, conducted under the auspices of the Yarbrough Public Relations Laboratory, is a followup to preliminary results of the survey of practitioners reported in the article titled “Developing Standards of Professional Performance in Public Relations” published in Public Relations Review in 1996. Preliminary results of a followup survey of educators was reported in the article “Professional Standards in Public Relations: A Survey of Educators” published in Public Relations Review in 1997.All three authors are with the Department of Advertising/Public Relations, Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Georgia, Athens. Lynne M. Sallot, APR, Fellow PRSA, is Assistant Professor. Glen T. Cameron is Associate Professor and Director of Research, James M. Cox, Jr. Institute for Newspaper Management Studies. Ruth Ann Weaver Lariscy is Associate Professor.     

The Sociological Study of Values

Fifty years ago, Robin M. Williams Jr. described eight notable changes in U.S. sociology, one of which was the “widespread diffusion of a relatively clear and sophisticated conception of the place of values in sociological study, as an object of research, as a factor in behavior, and as an element to be controlled in the prosecution of research” (Williams, 1958:621). In this essay, I ask what has become of that rising interest in the sociological study of values? I follow three distinct trajectories of sociological research on values, briefly describing the contributions of each, and identifying several lines of inquiry that strike me as particularly important and promising for the future.     

Women's relationships with women at work: Barriers to solidarity

Voluminous scholarship documents the wage gap, occupational segregation, sexual harassment, and other forms of gender inequality at work. Few sociological studies explore women's work relationships with other women. Our article summarizes existing research from several disciplines on women's working relationships with other women. Specifically, three themes about the conditions of work emerge that discourage women's support for other women: (a) negative stereotypes about women, (b) lack of recognition of gender inequality, and (c) the devaluation of women's relationships, groups, and networks. We assert that these conditions reinforce essentialized notions of women, ignore larger structural inequalities at work, and cast women as the primary culprit in perpetuating gender inequality at work. We conclude with promising areas for future research on women's working relationships with other women.     

Book Reviews

Book Reviewed in this article:
Arnold L. Eugene (Ed). Helping parents help their children
Bugental, James F. T. The search for existential identity
Chapman, Jane Roberts and Gates, Margaret
Jewett, Claudia L. Adopting the older child
Justice, Blair and Rita, The abusing family
Stahman, Robert F. and Hiebert, William J. (Eds), Klemer's counseling in marital and sexual problems, A clinician's handbook
Stinnett, Nick & Birdsong, Craig W., The family and alternate life styles
Webster, Elizabeth J., Counseling with parents of handicapped childeren:guidelines for improving communication     

Undoing Sexual Objectification in the Japanese Socio-Juridical Context: The Human-Rights-Oriented Transmutation of the Conception of "Obscene" Material

Abstract: This article argues that in the socio-psychic phenomenon of the sexual objectification of girls and women manufactured by certain media and the majority of conventionally so-called pornography, woman is represented, perceived, and treated as a sexually materialized object ready to be exploited exclusively as a means to produce sexual gratification, but not at all as an end in herself, i.e. a human subject with her own sexual will and human dignity. The article exposes the social role of sexually objectifying merchandise in rendering the viewer's sexuality compulsive and addictive, and in producing the viewer's psychic desire for sexual violence especially against those who are most vulnerable (such as children, women who were sexually abused as children, women with intellectual disabilities, etc.) by referring to a number of sociological data and actual evidences collected in Japan and North America. As an alternative modality of sexuality, the article proposes sexual intersubjectivity. In light of sexual objectification, this article qualitatively analyzes and criticizes the conventional definition of "obscene" material, which revolve around discipline and order, and that of "pornography", and proposes the human-rights/equality-oriented transmutation of the conception of obscene material. The article argues that merchandise which produces the desire for sexual violence is disqualified as a concretion of the freedom of expression. This article then attempts to examine the constitutionality (referring specifically to the freedom of expression) of Japanese Obscenity Law by delineating the precise criteria of judgment for obscenity itself and the very method of its enforcement.