Breast‐Feeding Advocacy,Risk Society and Health Moralism: A Decade’s Scholarship

This article reviews research published this century that engages critically with the mantra ‘Breast is Best’ and the associated expansion of official breast‐feeding promotion programmes. In recent years there has been a marked increase in the number of such studies published. They mostly explore experience in English speaking, industrialised countries (the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Great Britain) which are in some social and cultural respects dissimilar, yet where very similar developments and problems are detected in regards to breast‐feeding promotion. We highlight how this exploration of breast‐feeding promotion internationally has developed understanding of wider sociological themes. This scholarship, we suggest, has provided a powerful illustration of the relation between risk society (more particularly a heightened consciousness of risk) and the evolution of a code of conduct that regulates behaviour, that has been termed ‘health moralizm’. The article covers three themes: ‘Science, risk society, authority and choice’; ‘Public health policy and infant feeding’; and ‘Moralization and women’s identity work’. We conclude that the research discussed shows how the sociological imagination continues to shed light on the relation between private troubles and public issues. We also suggest one conclusion that can be drawn from this research is that official discourse and everyday maternal experience appear increasingly distant from each other.     

Cultural Context of Career Choice: Meta‐Analysis of Race/Ethnicity Differences

The authors focus on career counseling from a cultural perspective, using the proxy construct of race/ethnicity. They briefly describe traditional career counseling and critique the degree to which the myriad cultural contexts that shape clients' career development are incorporated into vocational theories and practice. They conducted a meta‐analysis of research that has investigated the relationship between culture and vocational choice variables and concluded (a) that race/ethnicity differences do not greatly affect career aspirations but (b) that there are differences among racial/ethnic groups in perceptions of career‐related opportunities and barriers.     

Parent‐to‐Child Aggression Among Asian American Parents: Culture,Context, and Vulnerability

We examined correlates of lifetime parent‐to‐child aggression in a representative sample of 1,293 Asian American parents. Correlates examined included nativity, indicators of acculturation, socioeconomic status, family climate, and stressors associated with minority status. Results revealed that Asian Americans of Chinese descent and those who immigrated as youth were more likely to report minor parental aggression; ethnicity and nativity were not associated with severe aggression. Indices of acculturation did not predict risk, but minority status stressors (perceived discrimination, low social standing) predicted risk of both minor and severe aggression. Affective climate differed markedly in families with minor versus severe aggression. Parental aggression in Asian American families may not be cultural per se, but stress associated with immigrant family context may heighten vulnerability.     

Situation,Structure, and the Context of Meaning*

Two of the approaches at the forefront of contemporary sociological interest in meaning, symbolic interactionism and structuralism, share an interest in the role of signs and symbols in social life, yet take radically different standpoints concerning the nature of signs and the locus of meaning. Symbolic interactionists stress the ongoing process of the “situation” as the determinant of meaning, whereas structuralists claim that meaning must be sought at the deeper level of “system” or “structure” rather than at the surface. By comparing some foundational concepts underlying these traditions, such as the nature of the sign in Peirce and Saussure and Durkheim and Mead, and then exploring recent developments in structuralism and symbolic interactionism, a critical appraisal of their theories of meaning is made in the context of an emerging semiotic sociology.     

Childrearing,Self‐Control,and Crime: Additional Evidence*

Gottfredson and Hirschi's model of caregiving to produce high self‐control is examined using survey data from a city population of adults. The data permit assessment of the predictive ability of all three elements of the regimen, separately and in com‐bination. While a combination of the elements of the specified model and some of the individual components prove to be statistically significant predictors of self‐control, the coefficients are only modest ones. In addition, the sequential model of crime production set forth by the theorists proves to be questionable. These findings add to an emerging body of research suggesting that self‐control may be dependent on things other than the childhood caregiving regimen identified in self‐control theory.     

Post‐Marxist Trajectories: Diagnosis,Criticism, Utopia*

In this article, I examine the troublesome notion of “post‐Marxism.” First, I read post‐Marxism as an expression of the transformations entailed by our post‐1968 entry into what world‐systems thinkers call “an age of transition.” Second, drawing on Tormey and Townshend's work, I explore the thematic unity of post‐Marxism in terms of six problems posed to Marxism—the problems of history, revolutionary subjectivity, ethics, positivism, vanguardism, and democracy. Third, I suggest that, given the many questions raised by post‐Marxist efforts to go beyond these problems, and given the passing of the phase of what Holmes has called “happy globalization,” serious doubts are raised about the theoretical and utopian gains achieved by post‐Marxism and the distance we might want to travel from the suggestions offered by the Marxian tradition.     

Home Care Workers’ Skills in the Context of Task Shifting: Complexities in Care Work

Task shifting, which involves the transfer of care work from regulated health‐care professionals to home care workers (HCWs), is a strategy to ensure the efficient delivery of home care services in Canada and internationally. Using a feminist political economy approach, this paper explores the effects of task shifting on HCWs’ skills. Task shifting may be understood as a form of downward substitution—and an effort to increase control over workers while minimizing costs—as some of health‐care professionals’ responsibilities are divided into simpler tasks and transferred to HCWs. Our interviews with 46 home health‐care providers in Ontario, which focused explicitly on HCWs’ role in care provision, problematize the belief that “low skilled” care workers have little control over their work. HCWs’ skills become more complex when they do transferred tasks, and HCWs sometimes gain greater control over their work. This results in increased autonomy and mastery for many HCWs. In turn, this serves to reinforce the intrinsic rewards of care work, despite the fact that it is low paid and undervalued work. Le transfert des tâches consiste à transférer certaines activités des professionnels de la santé aux travailleurs de soutien à domicile, et s'avère être une stratégie visant à assurer la prestation efficace des services de soutien à domicile au Canada et à l'étranger. En utilisant la théorie de l'économie politique féministe, cet article explore l'impact du transfert des tâches sur les compétences des travailleurs de soutien à domicile. Le transfert des tâches peut être interprété comme une forme de substitution à la baisse avec un contrôle accru des travailleurs et une minimisation des coûts des services. Ceci se produit lorsque certaines des responsabilités des professionnels de la santé sont fragmentées en tâches plus simples pour être ensuite transférées aux travailleurs de soutien à domicile. Pourtant, le contenu de 46 entrevues avec des travailleurs de soutien à domicile et professionnels de la santé vient ébranler l'hypothèse selon laquelle les travailleurs de soutien à domicile «peu qualifiés» auraient peu de contrôle sur leurs tâches de travail. Les résultats de cette étude suggèrent que les compétences des travailleurs de soutien à domicile se complexifient lorsqu'il s'agit de tâches transférées, et que ces travailleurs obtiennent parfois plus d'autonomie à l'emploi. Donc, les travailleurs de soutien à domicile acquièrent une plus grande autonomie et un contrôle plus significatif à l'emploi. Par conséquent, le transfert des tâches renforce les gratifications intrinsèques du travail en relation d'aide et ce, en dépit d'une piètre rémunération et de la sous‐valorisation du métier.     

Nation,Migration, Identity: Learning from the Cross‐Strait Context

It has been argued that globalization, with its flexible landscapes of production, consumption and mobility, has favoured the emergence of new forms of belonging that are not necessarily built on such principles of the nation state. In this article, we argue that this process is more likely to happen when movements occur between states that are not in conflictual relations with each other. When the relations between two nations are shaped by conflicts, for instance due to disputes about sovereignty over a territory, nationalism may remain a crucial factor shaping the identification and belonging of those who move between the two territories. In this article, by looking at the case of migrants moving between China and Taiwan, we will shed light on how the issue of “unresolved sovereignty” may eventually lead these actors to reinforce nationalist ideals and identities in their daily narratives, instead of favouring the generation of hybrid identities.     

CROSS‐NATIONAL MORAL BELIEFS: The Influence of National Religious Context

International surveys have documented wide variation in religious beliefs and practices across nations, but does this variation in the national religious context make a difference? Building on existing theory, we explain why religion should have both micro‐ and macro‐level effects on morality not sanctioned by the state and why the effects of religion differ from other forms of culture. Using two international surveys and hierarchical linear modeling techniques we sort out the effects of national context and personal beliefs on morality with and without legal underpinnings. We find that national religious context, the respondent's age, and religious beliefs and practices are the most consistent predictors of the sexual morality index. For morality sanctioned by the state, however, the effects for personal beliefs and practices are attenuated, and the effects of the national religious context are no longer significant.     

Dementia Caregiving in the Context of Late‐Life Remarriage: Support Networks,Relationship Quality,and Well‐being

Caregiving research has not accounted for increasingly diverse and complex marital and family histories of older Americans. The authors examined social relations and care‐specific positive and negative support networks among late‐life remarried wife dementia caregivers (N = 61) to determine associations among network structure, relationship quality with and support received from network members, and global assessments of family and stepfamily disagreement on caregiver well‐being. Own family and friends predominated in the social relations and positive networks. Although over half (54%) of respondents included a stepfamily member in their positive networks, stepchildren comprised the largest group (35%) in the negative networks. Larger negative networks and actively negative interactions were related to greater caregiver burden, and more global disagreement with stepfamily was associated with greater depression and burden. The findings illustrate the complex nature of support and the value of targeted examinations of caregiving support dynamics among late‐life remarried older adults and stepfamilies facing health demands.     

The Boom‐Bust‐Recovery Cycle: Dynamics of Change in Community Satisfaction and Social Integration in Delta,Utah*

Abstract To better understand the long‐term effects of rapid boom growth, we reexamine four subjective indicators of community satisfaction and social integration in Delta, Utah, that were originally analyzed by Brown, Geertsen, and Krannich in 1989. With 24 years of longitudinal data, we find that within approximately a decade of the boom period three of the four indicators returned to or exceeded pre‐boom levels. We argue that we need to modify our theories and vocabulary regarding boomtowns to account for a “boom‐bust‐recovery cycle” that better takes into consideration the dynamic nature of communities and their residents and how they subjectively adjust to shifts in objective conditions.     

Widowhood and Well‐being in Europe: The Role of National and Regional Context

Researchers have documented that widows have lower levels of subjective well‐being than married individuals, but we still know little about how the regional and national contexts affect the impact of widowhood on well‐being. Building on social capital theory and using data from 5 rounds of the European Social Survey (N= 119,292 people, 206 regions, 23 countries), the authors tested how marital status composition at the national and regional levels affects the well‐being of widows. Widows fare worse in countries with high proportions of married people and in regions and countries with high proportions of widowed persons. The proportion of married individuals at the regional level does not affect their well‐being. These results are in line with the greedy marriage hypothesis, but varying effects at regional and national levels suggest that the standard explanation for this phenomenon, lack of individual social support, is not valid. This study demonstrates the importance of multiple contextual embeddedness.     

Patterns of Informal Job Matching across the Life Course: Entry‐Level,Reentry‐Level,and Elite Non‐Searching*

The character and outcomes of informal job matching vary at different stages during people's lives. This is illustrated through an examination of non‐searchers—people who get their jobs without searching thanks to receiving unsolicited information about job openings. Examining data from the 1979 cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, I identify three distinct patterns of non‐searching. Early in the work career, “entry‐level” non‐searchers acquire their first few jobs often while still in school. During the mid‐career, “reentry‐level” non‐searchers tend to be women with little work experience who have been out of the labor market taking care of family responsibilities. Finally, “elite” non‐searchers tend to be male, highly experienced in their field, with very short gaps between employment. All three lack an economic urgency to get a job, but only the elite non‐searchers match prevailing assumptions of non‐searchers as the best connected and most advantaged workers. These findings highlight the importance of incorporating a life course perspective into the study of informal job matching.     

Collective and State Violence in the Palestinian‐Israeli Conflict: The Limits of Classical Rational‐Choice Theory

Many analysts continue to invoke narrow, market‐based forms of rational‐choice theory despite the call for a historically specific and culturally sensitive version of the theory. This paper demonstrates the limits of classical rational‐choice theory empirically by summarizing some results of a recently completed research project on the Palestinian insurgency and Israeli state response over the period 1987 to 2007. After first establishing the existence of several important patterns of collective and state violence that are anomalous from the viewpoint of classical rational‐choice theory, it proposes a model of situationally defined rational action that increases explained variation in the frequency of suicide attacks and state‐directed assassinations. The analysis leads to the conclusion that, while insurgents and state actors behave rationally, their rationality is culturally and historically contingent, which is to say that it takes different forms in different contexts.     

Helping Hands: Race,Neighborhood Context,and Reluctance in Providing Job‐Finding Assistance

In order to explain persistent racial inequality, researchers have posited that black Americans receive fewer job benefits from their social networks because of their reluctance to provide assistance to others who are looking for work. We test this idea on a national scale using geo‐coded data from the General Social Survey. Our results show that, on average, blacks offer more frequent job‐finding assistance to their friends than do whites. However, additional analyses reveal that race‐based job‐finding assistance is context dependent, as blacks living in areas characterized by concentrated black poverty have lower odds of helping others search for jobs than members of other races and in other community contexts.     

The Socioeconomic Attainments of Second‐Generation Cambodian,Hmong, Laotian,and Vietnamese Americans*

We investigate the socioeconomic attainments of second‐generation Cambodian, Hmong, Laotian, and Vietnamese Americans. Using 2000 Census data, we focus on education, wages, and managerial/professional employment relative to African Americans and whites. The second‐generation Vietnamese stand out as having extraordinarily high average values on these indicators. By contrast, the socioeconomic attainments of second‐generation Cambodians, Hmong, and Laotians tend to be closer to those of African Americans except among those second‐generation Southeast Asians who are clearly part of the earlier (i.e., Wave 1) immigration stream that tended to have somewhat higher socioeconomic origins. The most disadvantaged groups are non‐Wave 1 second‐generation Laotians and Cambodian women, particularly in terms of the process of educational attainment. The results are interpreted as indicating the importance of class origins and immigrant selectivity.     

Anti‐Americanism,Political Cartoons,and a Socio‐Geographic Imagination: An Invitation to Further Work*

This research note synopsizes previous studies to present future directions for the measurement of anti‐Americanism within the United States and comparatively. We explain new vectors in our research design and posit new hypotheses for future research. The note highlights the importance of cross‐national investigation of anti‐Americanism, and suggests some methodological considerations in that endeavor.