Towards a Sociological Critique of the Normalisation Principle

The normalisation principle is the dominant paradigm in the field of learning difficulty research and service development. This paper attempts a sociological examination of the normalisation principle. It argues that the location of learning difficulty as a practice-oriented issue and its absence from a sociological agenda have rendered normalisation theoretically weak. The critique discusses the following points. The concerns of the normalisation principle reflect those of professionals rather than of people with learning difficulties. Normalisation lacks an exploration of the power relationship between (able-bodied) professionals and (disabled) service users. Finally, it encompasses no analysis of the material and ideological factors which socially construct learning difficulty and disempower and (literally) impoverish people with learning difficulties.     

On the Non-Negotiable in Sociological Life

Qualitative Sociology -     

Sociological Research and the American Working Class*

Postwar literature reveals that sociologists disagree on the composition of the working class and neglect to specify relationships among its manual, clerical, and service workers. Contrary to Marxist thought, evidence on the deskilling of working-class occupations is inconclusive. Marxist and non-Marxists agree that management has not succeeded in dictating the control of work. The literature foils to locate connections between technology, work alienation, job dissatisfaction, and the societal alienation of workers. Weakest theory and research deal with the political mobilization of the working class, which is hampered by its internal stratification and cleavages. Paradoxically, labor unions are more effective in promoting consumer interests than those of their members or other workers.     

A Brief History of the Pacific Sociological Association

Founded in 1929 by Emory S. Bogardus, the PSA is the oldest regional sociological association. During its 85-year history, the association has steadily increased in membership, participation, registration and size of its annual meeting, complexity of organizational structure, and has moved from a gemeinshaft to a gesellshaft culture and to a more inclusive and democratic association. Much of this change has mirrored the growth of sociology in general and of higher educational institutions in U.S. and has been made possible essentially through the work and effort of volunteers.     

The American Sociological Association dues structure

In this article, we report on the extent of voluntary compliance by ASA members with the Association dues structure. Comparing our findings from a random survey of ASA members with the distribution of member payments by incomebased dues category, we find a fairly high degree of noncompliance in the highest dues category. This implies, and we observe, that higher fractions of ASA members pay dues in the lower income categories than is consistent with their self-reported income. David N. Laband, author of five books and many journal articles. Richard O. Beil, author of numerous articles in management and economics journals.     

You Must Be Joking: The Sociological Critique of Humour and Comic Media

Recent work in the sociological critique of humour and comic media has challenged the notion that humour is an absolute good. In this article, we review some of the most interesting work that takes humour seriously and addresses the difficult topic of whether there are ethical limits to humour and media comedy. We outline three main reasons for taking humour seriously and review some of the ways in which humour has been studied sociologically through a consideration of how British 'alternative' comedy directed the work of those interested in the limits of humour in relation to gender, race and ethnicity. We also summarise some of the most controversial examples of contemporary media comedy – the comedic performances and personae of Sacha Baron Cohen (Ali G and Borat) and the Danish cartoons of the Holy Prophet Muhammad – in order to illustrate the importance of the critical analysis of humour and how the ethics of humour can be applied to comic media.     

The Life Course: A Sociological Introduction

Abstract

Recognition of the deleterious effects of domestic violence on women's mental health has highlighted the potential benefits for women of collaboration between mental health and domestic violence services. Yet the different histories, knowledge bases, and organisational cultures of the mental health and domestic violence sectors present formidable challenges to the development of effective collaborative work. This article draws on a large research enquiry, involving four separate but related studies, which explored aspects of collaboration between these two service sectors. It focuses particularly on data collected in interviews with practitioners from mental health and domestic violence services who were participants in an action research study (one of the four studies), which was aimed at discovering the factors that contributed to enhanced collaboration and the benefits of this for women who experience both domestic violence and mental health issues.     

Textbooks, the History of Sociology, and the Sociological Stock of Knowledge

Textbooks increasingly reflect changes in our sociological stock of knowledge about the founders of the discipline. Richard Hamilton is unaware of this research and its documentation of the flaws in earlier accounts of the history of the profession. In an effort to expand his disciplinary understanding, I briefly review the extensive scholarship on the sociology of Harriet Martineau which has been published over the last quarter of a century.     

Editor's Introduction: Contemporary Theory and Sociological Practice

Sociological Practice -