The comfort of strangers: social work,modernity and late Victorian England—Part I

In these two related articles the history of social work in late Victorian England is understood by aligning it not with self-consciously held ideologies of, say, bourgeois capitalism, patriarchy, evangelical Protestantism, or liberal humanism, but with the complex cultural system of modernity. It is hoped to problematize both the genealogy and the substance of early social work that now so decisively shapes our interpretations of the influences of late Victorian philanthropy. The history of social work has to be treated seriously if we are to properly understand the present day situation in terms of modernity and investigate its orientation more thoroughly. This first paper offers a history of social work which draws attention to the imbrications of a secular modernity and how its governing ideas, texts and discourses of the time influence philanthropy. It examines dominant modernist themes that had a significant impact on the emergence of social work and the important role of the Charity Organization Society. It is suggested that these themes form part of a shared European heritage. Whilst the influences of modernity on social work are likely to have been uneven, there were common conditions faced by people in Europe and shared developments that gave way to the rise of social work in the nineteenth century.     

Is it really worse to have public health insurance than to have no insurance at all? Health insurance and adult health in the United States

Using prospective cohort data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, this study examines the extent to which health insurance coverage and the source of that coverage affect adult health. While previous research has shown that privately insured nonelderly individuals enjoy better health outcomes than their uninsured counterparts, the same relationship does not hold for those publicly insured through programs such as Medicaid. Because it is unclear whether this finding reflects a true causal relationship or is in fact due to selection bias on socioeconomic status and health, previous estimates of the contribution of health insurance to inequities in health may have been biased. This study attempts to disentangle these competing hypotheses of causation or selection bias by using fixed effects models with sibling clusters to corroborate--or contradict--the results of a conventional OLS regression. By controlling for unobserved factors shared by siblings, such as parental genetic influences, sibling models estimate health insurance effects that are less affected by selection bias. Findings suggest that, among the US. birth cohorts of 1957 to 1961, the negative relationship between public health insurance and health is not causal, but rather due to prior health and socioeconomic status. Conversely, the lack of health insurance coverage has a strong cumulative negative impact on adult health.     

Health selection and the process of social stratification: the effect of childhood health on socioeconomic attainment

This study investigates whether childhood health acts as a mechanism through which socioeconomic status is transferred across generations. The study uses data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to track siblings and to estimate fixed-effects models that account for unobserved heterogeneity at the family level. The results demonstrate that disadvantaged social background is associated with poor childhood health. Subsequently, poor health in childhood has significant, direct, and large adverse effects on educational attainment and wealth accumulation. In addition, childhood health appears to have indirect effects on occupational standing, earnings, and wealth via educational attainment and adult health status. The results further show that socioeconomic health gradients are best understood as being embedded within larger processes of social stratification.     

Ethnic ingroup friendships in schools: Testing the by-product hypothesis in England,Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden

This study set out to examine to what extent ethnic ingroup friendship in secondary school classes are a by-product of cultural and socioeconomic ingroup friendship. Based on homophily theory, we expected similar opinions, leisure activities, religion, risk behaviour and socioeconomic factors to (partly) explain ethnic ingroup preferences. Multilevel p₂ models on 13,272 pupils in 625 secondary school classes in England, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden showed that adolescents tend to have friends similar in ethnicity, cultural and socioeconomic characteristics. We find no evidence, however, that ethnic homophily is explained by cultural and socioeconomic homophily.     

Does demolition improve biodiversity? Linking urban green space and socioeconomic characteristics to avian richness in a shrinking city

Anthropogenic change, specifically urbanization, has lasting impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Past work has linked green space variables and socioeconomic characteristics with biodiversity in urban areas. Shrinking cities present an interesting case for studying biodiversity because many of these places have implemented demolition policies to remove vacant buildings from the landscape, which returns previously urbanized land back into a “natural” state. The objective of this study is to investigate the multifaceted relationship among urban green space, socioeconomic characteristics, demolition activities, and avian species richness in the shrinking city of Buffalo, NY. We first establish a baseline understanding of how social and ecological factors are related to avian species richness through generalized linear models (GLM) and then incorporate a variable characterizing demolition to understand how the process of demolition may be impacting species richness relative to other factors. Second, since our analysis relies on “citizen science” data from eBird, we aim to better understand the factors driving eBird participation in Buffalo through zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) regression models to test how social and ecological characteristics and demolition affect checklists submission across the city. Our findings suggested that demolition activities do not increase species richness in Buffalo, indicating these sites may not be returning to a natural state that is usable by birds. We also found that areas that have undergone considerable demolition may be a potential deterrent to eBird participation, and eBird users may create bias by sampling areas with greater green space connectivity, and thus higher richness.     

Japanese Modernity and Media Studies of Screens

This article aims to construct a new perspective for analyzing the recent omnipresence of screens, the diversity of images, and their impact on our daily lives. Because of the diversification of digitalized images today, research based on film and television studies is unable to grasp the fluid relationships among screen images, spaces, and the bodies of their audience, and important task for recent scholarship is to determine how to include these screen images in media and cultural studies. In response to this issue, this article seeks to reconstruct the concept of screen practice, guided by the perspectives of Jonathan Crary and Friedrich Kittler on media and practices; Koji Taki and Ai Maeda's historical research on Japanese modernity; and Erkki Huhtamo and Yussi Parikka's media archaeological perspectives for screen and visual culture. Although the notion of screen practice was originally proposed in the field of film history, it should be expanded for broader screen cultures as the sites at which scientific discourses and technologies act on the bodies of viewers. Taking the experiences of Japanese modernity as its subject, this is a critical issue, because at these sites we can find traces of dynamic negotiations between the circulation of science and media derived from Western modernity, and existing physical and cultural vernacular practices. Moreover, going back to the screen cultures at the end of the 19th century will make clear how the process of our contemporary media environment was formed.     

Kick It Like Özil? Decomposing the Native‐Migrant Education Gap

We investigate second‐generation migrants and native children at several stages in the German education system to analyze the determinants of the persistent native–migrant gap. In particular, if migrant and native children shared the same socioeconomic family background, would we still observe differences in education outcomes? Applying linear and matching decomposition methods to carefully account for differences in background characteristics, we find no disparities in recommendations for and actual enrollment at secondary school types between migrant children and comparable native peers. Also, the native–migrant education gap at the age of 17 years can be entirely explained by differences in socioeconomic family background. We thus conclude that comparable natives face similar difficulties as migrant children in the German education system. There are more general inequalities in secondary schooling that are not migrant specific, but related to socioeconomic family background.     

Science and social work: a sketch

While recognizing that understanding of ‘science’ varies across time and countries, there are strands of a shared albeit diverse inheritance. Failures to see where we are located within this inheritance make the social work community vulnerable to simplistic claims regarding what, for example, ‘doing science’ is like. This in turn makes it difficult to deal adequately with questions such as in what ways can or should we distinguish social work science from other kinds of knowledge? Is science in some recognizable way a unified form of knowledge? How ought we to deal with disputes and disagreements in social work science? What kinds of consequences might we envisage from social work science? I deal in turn with each of these questions.     

Sociology and the virtual: interactive mirrors,representational thinking and intensive power

This article explores the role of images in the workings of contemporary power. It examines one of the central ways in which sociology has approached images as representations and proposes an alternative understanding of images through the concepts of interactivity, intensity and the virtual. Focusing on the examples of three interactive mirrors, one a piece of artwork, another designed to be located in a designer shop and the other a medical mirror for tracking ‘vital signs’, it suggests that the mirrors emphasize the screen and, in so doing, disrupt a notion of images of representations. Images are instead brought to life; intensively experienced rather than extensively read. The article engages, first, with the increasing prevalence of screens and, second, with the moves in sociology towards theorizing the value of the concept of the virtual. Arguing that images are felt and lived out, the article seeks to contribute to how sociology has dealt with, and might further develop, the concept of the virtual as a productive way of understanding the relationships between images, screens, power and life.     

Childhood parental loss and adult depression

Previous research demonstrates convincingly that childhood parental deaths and parental divorces have implications for adult well-being as defined by levels of depression, educational attainment, early age at marriage, and risk of divorce. What this research has failed to examine are the interconnections among these outcomes. Specifically, are the socioeconomic and marital outcomes of parental loss implicated in the observed higher levels of depression? This analysis takes a first step in answering this question. Using data from a sample of 1,755 married men and women, I estimated regression models which examine the extent to which adult socioeconomic status and current marital quality mediate and/or modify the loss-depression relationship. Parental divorce was strongly related to socioeconomic and marital outcomes. Furthermore, current marital quality contributed importantly to understanding the higher levels of depressed mood observed among persons from divorced homes. Parental death was much more weakly related to socioeconomic and marital outcomes, and these outcomes played little role in explaining its relationship to depression. Finally, all of these relationships were stronger among women than men. These findings support the utility of life-course approaches to understanding adult mental health.     

The dual role of R&D expenditures in European Union’s member states: short- and long-term prospects

The objective of this article is to assess a potential dual role of public expenditures in R&D upon economic growth and employment, using these dimensions as partial representations of the socioeconomic state of affairs in European Union’s Member States. First, we look into direct, short-term impacts arising from R&D expenditures, much in the sense of a multiplier effect. Second, we analyse impacts from the stage of development of National Innovation Systems (NIS) upon the macroeconomic conditions of interest, assuming that current stages of development are products of previous commitment to innovation, that is, a structural, long-term outcome of innovation-oriented investments. In order to empirically test our propositions, we have analysed 28 EU Member States (1990–2013) through three sets of econometric (static and dynamic panel data) models. Results highlight that EU countries’ governmental commitment to their respective innovation systems catalyses current and prospective economic growth and employment levels, suggesting a complementarity between Neo-Schumpeterian and Neo-Keynesian perceptions over governmental R&D involvement. This can bring innovation efforts closer to the macroeconomic debate on monetary and fiscal policies and function as a criticism to austerity measures, as this may not only affect the present socioeconomic situation, but also generate the cornerstone for a perennial state of divergence among EU Member States.     

Early-life origins of the race gap in men's mortality

Using a life course framework, we examine the early life origins of the race gap in men's all-cause mortality. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Older Men (1966-1990), we evaluate major social pathways by which early life conditions differentiate the mortality experiences of blacks and whites. Our findings indicate that early life socioeconomic conditions, particularly parental occupation and family structure, explain part of the race gap in mortality. Black men's higher rates of death are associated with lower socioeconomic standing in early life and living in homes lacking both biological parents. However these effects operate indirectly through adult socioeconomic achievement processes, as education, family income, wealth, and occupational complexity statistically account for the race gap in men's mortality. Our findings suggest that policy interventions to eliminate race disparities in mortality and health should address both childhood and adult socioeconomic conditions.     

Mitigating the political participation gap from the school: the roles of civic knowledge and classroom climate

Empirical evidence has consistently shown that political participation is positively related with socioeconomic background. Furthermore, recent research suggests that children who come from low status families are already less willing to get politically involved. The present paper aims to analyze the possible impact that schools can have in mitigating the effect of parents' socioeconomic status on students' expected electoral participation, focusing on two variables: civic knowledge and classroom climate. The analyses are based on a series of multilevel models using Chilean data of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2009. The results support the influence of students' socioeconomic background on expected electoral participation. Furthermore, civic knowledge and classroom climate show a positive and similar influence on students' expected participation. However, classroom climate appears less affected by students' background than civic knowledge, opening the discussion about which strategy should be emphasized when aiming to mitigate the political participation gap.     

Socioeconomic Indexes for Occupations: A Review, Update, and Critique

Following a review of the history and sources of socioeconomic indexes for occupations, we estimate a new set of indexes for 1990 Census occupation lines, based on relationships between the prestige ratings obtained by Nakao and Treas in the 1989 General Social Survey and characteristics of occupational incumbents in the 1990 Census. We also investigate theoretical and empirical relationships among socioeconomic and prestige indexes, using data from the 1994 General Social Survey. Many common occupations, especially those held by women, do not fit the typical relationships among prestige, education, and earnings. The fit between prestige and socioeconomic characteristics of occupations can be improved by statistical transformation of the variables. However, in rudimentary models of occupational stratification, prestige-validated socioeconomic indexes are of limited value. They give too much weight to occupational earnings, and they ignore intergenerational relationships between occupational education and occupational earnings. Levels of occupational education appear to define the main dimension of occupational persistence across and within generations. We conclude that composite indexes of occupational socioeconomic status are scientifically obsolete.     

War Painters and Western Science

This essay focuses on one epoch in one culture, the "war painter" system in Nazi Germany, and considers its social trappings (professional, political) as characteristics shared by another epoch and culture, evaluation systems in contemporary Western science. The parallels are instructive not only for a self-critical sociology of knowledge such as that envisioned by Karl Mannheim and Alvin Gouldner, but moreover as an anthropological test of cultural relativism as explanation.
If society with its fixed hierarchies can no longer give us a safe orientation and a basis for self evaluation, we must for that very reason meet the challenge of developing a new pattern of orientation based upon a deeper and more genuine human truth…. This is the real task of the democratized age, and it is a task yet to be done.     

New sign language new(S): the globalization of sign language in the smartphone era

Languages are dynamic and change over the years. Changes in sign languages have been usually initiated to accommodate the needs of the local Deaf community. With the increase in smartphone use, sign languages are influenced not only by the local Deaf community, but also by foreign Deaf people on the other side of the screen, regardless of their location. Smartphones influence the sign language itself and the Deaf community by connecting different communities of Deaf people through messages, shared information and experiences, and news delivery. The popularity of this technology among Deaf communities is a social phenomenon emerging from Deaf people themselves. Smartphones may promote the globalization of sign language, shortening distances between Deaf communities around the world.     

On the same page: The value of paid and volunteer leaders sharing mental models in churches

We examine the idea that mental models shared among paid and volunteer leaders are associated with improved financial performance in nonprofit organizations. Our empirical analysis of thirty‐seven churches yields evidence that organizations are more effective if paid and volunteer leaders have a shared task mental model—that is, if they report similar conceptualizations of organizational goals and decision‐making processes. These findings suggest that the extent of leaders' agreement on organizational goals and the processes of how decisions are made matter for organizational performance. We argue that it is as important to ensure that everyone is on the same page with regard to goals and how decisions are made as it is to have the “right” goals or right decision processes in place. Implications for practice and future research on shared mental models are discussed.     

Rural Black Women and Depression: A Contextual Analysis

We use ecological systems theory to guide our investigation of depression among a sample of 102 married Black mothers residing in the rural South. Using self‐report data collected via computerized interviews during home visits, we conduct multivariate regression analyses, exploring the associations between depression and (a) spousal support and conflict, (b) cocaregiver support and conflict, (c) child conduct difficulties, and (d) socioeconomic risk. We hypothesize that each of these variables are associated with mothers' depression scores and that the extent to which these familial variables and depression are associated will vary across socioeconomic contexts. Socioeconomic risk, child conduct difficulties, and conflict with a cocaregiver were associated with women's depression in the full model. The moderational hypotheses were upheld for the variables of spousal support and child conduct difficulty. Spousal support and depression have a strong negative association under conditions of high socioeconomic risk and a nonsignificant relationship when socioeconomic risk is low. The association between child conduct difficulty and depression was exacerbated under high socioeconomic risk.     

Neighborhood influences on adolescent cigarette and alcohol use: mediating effects through parent and peer behaviors

The influence of neighborhoods on adolescent behaviors has received increasing research attention. In the present study, we use structural equation models to specify pathways from neighborhoods to adolescent cigarette and alcohol use through parental closeness, parental monitoring, parent substance use, and peer substance use. We use a national sample with 959 adolescents 12 to 14 years of age whose residential addresses were matched with 1990 Census tracts to provide neighborhood characteristics. We found that for adolescent cigarette use low socioeconomic status (SES) neighborhoods were associated with increased parental monitoring, which was further associated with decreased adolescent cigarette use. For adolescent alcohol use, high SES neighborhoods were associated with increased parent drinking, which was further associated with increased adolescent alcohol use. Low SES neighborhoods were associated with increased parental monitoring and increased peer drinking, which were in turn associated with decreased and increased adolescent alcohol use, respectively.     

Communicating Coffee Culture through the Big Screen: Starbucks in American Movies

Abstract

This paper examines Starbucks product placement in American movies. The portrait of Starbucks images in movies not only serves a promotional purpose, but also as a way of communicating coffee culture through the big screen. Content analysis and semiotic approaches are employed to examine the coffee culture that is communicated through American movies. Seven American movies from 1998 to 2008 which include Starbucks product placement are included in the content analysis while semiotic theories are applied to the 1998 movie You've Got Mail. The findings suggest that, through the movies, Starbucks attempts to establish the image of an upscale cosmopolitan coffee chain and a coffee culture that represents a vigorous American middle-class lifestyle.