Polling and the Press: The Clash of Institutional Imperatives

With the dramatic growth of public opinion research which hasoccurred over the past two decades has come a greatly expandedrelationship between polling and the news media. This press-pollingconnection has been a problematic one as the requirements andperspectives of the two institutions have clashed. This articledescribes the role of each of these institutions in our democraticsociety and their relationship with each other, and discussesthe problems—their causes, consequences, prognoses, andpossible remedies.     

Social Mobility and Participation: The Dissociative and Socialization Hypotheses*

Information on participation with kin, with friends, and in voluntary associations was used to test two competing hypothescs of the effects of social mobility on social relations. The dissociative hypothesis maintains that mobility leads to social isolation, while the socialization hypothesis predicts an adptive outcome to mobility. The relationship is more complex than either position would suggest. Social mobility is associated with isolation from kin and friends, but only for the upwardly mobile. The findings obtained with voluntary associations support the socialization hypothesis in that the level of membership of the socially mobile is intermediate between the two stable groups. Social mobility has maladaptive consequences for more intimate and personal social relations, but it is integrative as far as participation in voluntary associations is concerned.     

Crafting the Collective Identity: The Origin and Transformation of Taiwanese Nationalism*

Abstract This essay starts with the observation that the common perspective on third world nationalism, which emphasizes the centrality of West/non-West tensions, is inadequate in explaining the development of specific nationalist discourses in the third world. As an attempt to come closer to a good understanding of the specific situations of third world nationalism, it engages in a case study of post-war Taiwan, whose nationalist discourse had gone through three phases: Political Nationalism, Rational Nationalism, and Identity Nationalism. How and why these different phases developed constitutes my overarching question. Noting the importance of social relationships and the specificity of contextual constraints in the life of a nationalist movement, I develop a perspective which stresses relationality and contingency. This newperspective leads to the recognition of the centrality of the relationships among the ruling party (the KMT), Taiwanese nationalists, social groups in Taiwan, and the dominant regimes in the world system in understanding the transformation of the Taiwanese nationalist discourse. This study points to the multiplicity of domination and contention, the reflection upon which reveals that particular groups, such as the bourgeoisie, are likely to occupy contradictory positions in the nationalist struggle, and that such contradictions may amount to transformative forces.     

Play,Games and Interaction: the Contexts of Childhood Socialization*

Classical and contemporary theories of childhood play are reviewed and evaluated. A symbolic interactionist conception of play, games, work, and socialization is offered. Naturalistic data drawn from the observation of children ages three to eight years are presented to support a processual model of socialization and interaction in early childhood.     

Marginal Man: The Identity Dilemma of the Academic General Practitioner*

The study of the relationship between group membership and identity has been central to symbolic interaction. This paper describes one instance of problematic identity, that experienced by members of the newly established academic discipline of general practice. ¹By outlining their dilemma as ‘marginal men’ to both service doctors and other academics within the medical faculty,² attention is focussed upon the strained intraprofessional relationships when core tasks—in this case teaching and service work—are allocated very different values.     

Institutional Bases of Identity Construction and Reproduction: The Case of Underground Coal Mining

In this article I use institutional theory to illustrate the process of identity formation and reproduction in the context of a male‐dominated work environment. Based on a case study of an underground colliery in Nova Scotia, Canada, I will illustrate the functioning of powerful institutions in two distinct senses. First, social obligations rooted in a ‘logic of appropriateness’ (March and Olsen, 1989) dictated appropriate behaviours for miners in their roles as underground miners and patriarchs. Second, internalized understandings of reality rooted in a ‘logic of orthodoxy’ (Scott, 1995) formed a set of constitutive rules to which miners adhered because it was inconceivable to do otherwise. I use a microinstitutional perspective (Zucker, 1991) that highlights the constraints embedded in many work contexts that serve to tacitly yet powerfully regularize behaviours in problematic ways. Social and historical conditions are therefore incorporated into this analysis as constitutive forces that are a product of human action. This manner of theorizing gender is consistent with Connell’s (1987) ‘theory of practice’ that seeks to understand social structure by focusing on what people actually do, the way human agency shapes history, and how practice itself is necessary for institutions to maintain their hegemony and resist change.     

Student and Institutional Characteristics as Determinants of the Prompt and Subsequent Four-Year College Graduation of Race and Sex Groups*

Recent national data were used to examine the impact of individual and institutional level variables on the ability of race and sex groups to complete a four-year college promptly (i.e., within three to four consecutive years) versus six to seven years after having entered college in 1972 or 1973. The results showed that black students were less successful than whites in prompt and in subsequent four-year college completion. In addition, males were far less successful than females in completing college on schedule. Initial race and sex differences favoring whites and females remained when examining subsequent college graduation rates. The magnitude of the race and sex disparities was reduced, however, when taking these rates into consideration. In addition, the proportion of blacks and males completing their B.A. degree increased substantially when college re-entry rates were examined. This finding indicates the importance of including college re-entry rates when describing the educational attainment of students. College grade performance was a major determinant of prompt and subsequent college completion for all race and sex groups. In addition, high school rank was an important determinant of prompt graduation for white males and prompt and subsequent graduation for black females. Attending a private college had a significant positive effect on prompt college graduation for white and black males but no significant effect for females; however, attending a selective college did not have a significant effect on prompt or subsequent graduation for any of the four race/sex groups examined.     

Informal Socialization Agencies and Role Development*

The article hypothesizes that informal youth organizations influence processes of transition to adulthood by facilitating role development, that is, the conversion of child-oriented roles into adult-oriented ones. In an attempt to test the hypothesis, two variables were specified. Informality was defined in terms of seven organizational components: moratorium, symmetry, dualism, multiplexity, expressive instrumentalism, voluntarism, and pragmatical symbolism. The impact of these components on role development was measured by three indicators: Role Scope, Role Types and Role Aspects. Residential summer camps served as a quasi-experimental laboratory for the research. A positive significant relationship was found between the level of informality and level of role development, especially in the long run. Findings are explained by the particular experiences youth undergo in informal socialization contexts, in which trial and error behavior, balanced reciprocity, and normative ambivalencies are institutionalized.     

Adult Voluntary Associations and Adolescent Socialization*

The effect of participation in extracurricular activities in high school on membership in adult voluntary associations is examined using longitudinal data from a national sample of adolescents who were followed up in 1970 at about age 30. Independent of social origins, ability, and academic performance, participation in extracurricular school activities has a relatively strong direct effect on participation in adult secondary associations, plus positive indirect effects mediated through educational attainment, occupation and income. Membership in adult voluntary associations, in turn, increases voting behavior and decreases political alienation, thus demonstrating the very broad and long term effects of adolescent socialization in ultimately linking the individual to the political order. The results were similar for men and women.     

The CB Handle: An Announcement Of Adult Identity*

The CB handle is used as a means of exploring voluntary identity-making among adult CBers. While only an exploratory study, gender appeared to be the most deeply embedded adult identification. Other, apparently less deeply embedded, identities were found in occupation (white- versus blue-collar workers and truckers versus non-truckers). Sexual identifications seemed to have increased in importance with time, with ethnic identifications decreasing in importance. Finally, Turner's (1976) distinction between impulse and institutional anchoring of the real self was used to suggest that white-collar workers and new CBers had significantly more impulse-based handles than blue-collar workers and “old-timer” CBers.     

Race Identity and Race Socialization in African American Families

Abstract

In recent decades, theoretical and empirical efforts have enhanced our understanding of race identity and race socialization in African American families. This review of that literature identifies ways in which this growing knowledge base might assist social workers who work with African Americans. Prominent theories of race identity are outlined with a brief summary of research that has found linkages between race identity and well-being. Race socialization is defined and research investigating age, gender, and social class differences in socialization are discussed. Finally, research that examines the consequences of race socialization for psychological adjustment, academic achievement, and identity development is summarized, along with recommendations for social workers.     

Family Cultural Socialization,Ethnic Identity,and Self-Esteem

Abstract

Using a Web-based survey, this study of 82 adult international adoptees examined the relationship between parental support for cultural socialization and its effect on adoptees' selfesteem. Feelings of belongingness and ethnic identity were predicted to serve as mediators between the central variables. The results showed a positive relationship between cultural socialization and selfesteem, which was mediated by a feeling of belongingness and one aspect of ethnic identification (marginality) among Asianborn international adoptees. These data suggest that counselors should raise awareness and knowledge of adoptive parents about the importance of cultural continuity in the child's upbringing.