Zur Gleichstellung von Frauen und Männern: Ansprüche und Realitäten bei der Umsetzung eines bildungspolitischen Auftrags

The equality of women and men is a social and political challenge for all of society, not least for teacher training establishments. The EU-strategy “Gender Mainstreaming” is the expression of the political will to translate equality into social practice. Therefore all European governments are obliged to initiate appropriate projects. In Austria the Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Culture chose the teacher training colleges as a target group for a pilot scheme. The implementation process of gender mainstreaming was documented and evaluated by external evaluators. This essay emphasises the conditions and presumptions under which the pilot scheme took place and analyses critically the organisations and their structure as a framework for equality activities as well as assessing the chances for further development in the future.     

Die Transformation der Jugendhilfe in Ostdeutschland im Kontext von Tradition, Diskontinuität und Strukturbildung

Changes in the child care legislation in 1990 led to the development of a new helping culture both in West and East Germany at the same time. Paternalistic relations to the clients had to be replaced by autonomy focused and thus professional interaction patterns. So clients were involved in the process of choosing adequate educational support. By comparing two East German youth welfare agencies we show the factors that impede the process of restructuring an appropriate professional-client relationship. The most important factor is the fallacy of mistaking educational support for education itself.     

Zur Gestaltung des Verhältnisses von Erwerbsarbeit und Privatleben in den ‚Creative Industries‘

The “creative industries” are considered to be a model of the future world of work and “pioneers” of new forms of earning and new forms of “work and life”. On the basis of an empirical study of the creative industries sub-sector (architecture, advertising, design, film, IT services and multimedia etc.), the contribution is concerned with the effects of changed demands of employment on the relationship between work and life. The focus is on the temporal de-limitation of employment conditions in the form of flexibilisation of the place and length of working hours as well as on the spatial de-limitation in the form of changing places of work and increasing demands for mobility. We raise the question of whether workers in this field are just coping with the changes in work or whether they are developing their own, active strategies to redefine the boundaries of work and to find a new work-life balance.     

Organisationsformen sozialer Hilfstätigkeit im Spiegel der wechselseitigen Wahrnehmung von hauptamtlichen und ehrenamtlichen Bewährungshelfern

The current development of the social sector is marked by a transformation of basic conditions, which is expressed in terms of an increasing cost pressure and an enhancement of status and a structural change of voluntary work. This paper addresses the question which patterns of mutual perception professional and voluntary social workers develop under such circumstances. Considering the Austrian probation service as example the social climate between professional and voluntary social workers is analysed. The main finding is that the mentioned transformations do not necessarily generate a conflict between vocational and non-vocational staff. Although the tasks of professional and voluntary probation officers are partially overlapping they view themselves mutually as enrichment and supplement and not as rivals. The extent of individual experiences of acceptance and appreciation may be identified as a background factor for the cooperative climate. Self-experienced acceptance and appreciation inhibits negative attitudes towards the other group.     

Der Faktor Hautfarbe in der quantitativen Analyse von Gerichtsurteilen gegen weiße und schwarze Straftäter in Wien

The common perception that a young black man must be a drug-dealer means that male Africans have become the stereotype of unwanted immigrants in Vienna. In reference to the courts, the especially negative image of people with black skin can also have an influence on verdicts and sentencing. In fact, an analysis of 83 verdicts in drug-related cases, tried before the Straflandesgericht Wien (Municipal Criminal Court of Vienna), showed significant differences in sentencing between white and black defendants. Statistically, in the segment comprised of mild sentences the longer jail terms meted out to black dealers cannot be completely explained by the slightly higher average quantity of drugs they possessed at the time of arrest. As to those in the segment with harsher sentencing, the difference in sentencing can be attributed to significantly higher quantities of drugs at the time of arrest, a greater degree of criminal organization among African immigrants, and the increased vigilance of the authorities vis-à-vis this community. Since the design of this study is somewhat limited in respect to time and the ability to examine all contributing factors pertinent to each case, it is impossible to conclude with certainty that this difference in sentencing is a result of ?racist tendencies“ on the part of local officials. However, the results do bolster claims of a tendency towards discrimination.     

Sylvia Taraba: Das Spiel, das nur zu zweit geht. Die seltsame Schleife von Sex und Logik. Band 1: Logik. Eine Logologik der „,Gesetze der Form” von George Spencer Brown

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Kunstkonsum und Kunstsozialisation

The dependence of art consumption on the social stratum is one of the basic findings of the sociology of art. During the last decades, both the discussion of social inequality as well as differentiations within the various art fields have undergone considerable changes. These processes should effect the consumption of art. The empirical analysis of data on the profiles of visitors to art galleries and art museums shows various effects: as before the educational background determines the consumption of art, however there is also a certain hierarchy of the locations in which art is consumed. Cluster analysis results in a typology of visitors that shows that the importance of education varies within the different clusters.     

Ungleichheit und Vorurteil

The authors take a look at how established sociological research in Germany deals with two distinct subjects: migrants in the German school system and New Fascists. The article highlights surprising, contrary feeling rules social scientists active in these two research areas develop regarding their objects of investigation. As it turns out in both cases social disintegration serves as an explanatory research frame. But feeling rules derived from this frame point in opposite directions. New Fascists are cast in the roles of victims of social change and institutional failure, thus calling for empathy and/or sympathy as the feeling to be directed towards them. Migrants, in contrast, are blamed for their situation, which invokes indifference and antipathy as a feeling rule. Comparing both research areas reveals how they connect to each other. Together they establish a dichotomous emotional regime which traces the lines of simultaneous inclusion in and exclusion from the German society.     

Wandlungen des Sterbens im Krankenhaus und die Konflikte zwischen Krankenrolle und Sterberolle

Dying in hospital has long been considered as inevitable but talking about it should be avoided, if possible. For some time now, new ideals of dying demand higher social expectations and requirements for the care of dying people (e.g. psycho-social and spiritual care). This trend can also be found in hospitals. On the basis of a running micro-sociological observational study carried out so far in four hospitals and two hospices the social organisation of dying in the hospital is being investigated and results are presented with an example of a case study. Observed dying trajectories show that the staff refers to two competing metaphors as an interpretative frame for performing its work that we call the ideal of the “short and good” dying and the ideal of the “long and laborious” dying. These idealisation correspond with the practice of “discrete” dying (that have been found in hospitals until the 1970s and that are still dominant in the medical world) and with the practice of “intimating” dying (which are drawn from the demands of the hospice-movement). Within this interpretative frame the staff is able to cope with uncertainties of the dying process. The idealisa-tions help to reformulate cumulative mess trajectories as successful and good work and thus tensions between the sick role and the dying role are minimised.     

Jugendliche Lebensstile und Nachhaltigkeit

?My Life ?? My Style ?? My Future?? was a project in which pupils of two Viennese schools analysed their own lifestyles and those of other teenagers by using social research methods. The article presents quantitative results regarding consumption patterns, communication styles, values and attitudes in order to explore the potentials for sustainability-related communication strategies for young people.     

Soziologie und soziale Ontologie

Recent philosophical work attempts to describe social phenomena in general categories, an approach also interesting for sociologists. The questions as of what constitutes social objects or facts and whether there is a common structure of social phenomena are mostly neglected in sociology. This neglect is problematic because basic questions about conceptualisation and explanation in sociology cannot be pursued without a clear understanding of social phenomena. The philosophical discussions take place vis-à-vis the doctrine of ontological individualism which means that social phenomena are shadow phenomena without reality. Only the actions of individuals and the mental processes being constitutive elements of the actions are real. In opposition to this dogma, Gilbert, Searle and Ruben argue that social phenomena cannot be reduced to actions. Quite the contrary, actions can only be understood if the existence of the phenomena is presupposed. From a sociological point of view there are three remarkable aspects: First, all three authors offer good arguments against ontological individualism. Second, their arguments are based on the reconstruction of the use of everyday concepts referring to social phenomena and are therefore comprehensible. Third, the understanding of social phenomena merely as collective subjects, intentions or systems of interlocking beliefs is too restrictive. Despite this failure these theories show a way to gain a more realistic understanding of social phenomena.     

„Asyle“ — Über Goffmans Analyse und Kritik sozialer Ausgrenzung und Kontrolle

Goffman’s “Asylum” still belongs to the most important works treating “total institutions”. Reviewed after nearly fifty years, the enormous impact of this book is still evident. On the other hand, it is evident, too, that it relied to a certain degree on the conditions of its time. In addition, the way the topics were treated appears in different ways insufficient. The article tries to advance Goffman’s concepts by confronting them with the historical development of the way heavy psychic disorders are treated nowadays. As a result, it is proposed to step further ahead by taking Goffman’s proposals on a more abstract level (dealing with specific functions and the way they are treated instead of a fixed type of “institution”). In addition, those dimensions excluded by Goffman’s socio-phenomenological approach — history and psychodynamics — should be reintegrated on a higher level.