The Structure of Scientific Fields and the Allocation of Editorships on Scientific Journals: Some Observations on the Politics of Knowledge*

This study examines editorial appointment patterns in journals representing seven scientific disciplines: physics, chemistry, biology, economics, psychology, political science, sociology. Social science editors-in-chief are more likely than physical and natural science editors-in-chief to employ “particularistic” criteria in the selection of editorial appointees. In the social sciences, Columbia and Harvard editors-in-chief are significantly more likely than editors-in-chief with other doctorates to select graduates from Columbia or Harvard when making editorial appointments. In the physical and natural sciences, editors-in-chief with doctorates from schools other than Columbia and Harvard are just as likely as Columbia and Harvard editors-in-chief to select editorial appointees with Columbia or Harvard doctorates. The findings suggest that since consensus on basic paradigms does not exist in the social sciences, positions of influence are awarded and achieved on much more “particularistic” criteria than those for the physical and natural sciences.     

Sanctuary Cities: Policies and Practices in International Perspective

Sanctuary cities in the USA, UK, and Canada aim to accommodate illegalized migrants and refugees in their communities. The concept of the “sanctuary city,” however, is highly ambiguous: it refers to a variety of different policies and practices, and focuses on variable populations in different national contexts. In this article, I examine the international literature to show how urban sanctuary policies and practices differ between national contexts and assess whether there are common features of sanctuary cities. I uncover legal, discursive, identity‐formative, and scalar aspects of urban sanctuary policies and practices. These aspects assemble in ways that differ between countries. The article concludes by raising important practical and theoretical questions about urban sanctuary.     

Practices and Policies for Doctoral Education and Leadership

ABSTRACT

This study explored bachelor’s-level social work students’ readiness to practice with individuals with intellectual disability (ID) and their attitudes toward individuals with ID. Fifty-eight students completed a Web-based survey that assessed their knowledge of four etiological conditions and their willingness to maintain social contact with individuals with various etiological conditions. Students also participated in focus groups that further explored their understanding of ID and readiness to practice in the ID field. The survey results indicated scientific understanding of causes and effective interventions as well as openness to interact with individuals with ID. Thematic analyses of focus group interviews highlighted four themes underlying students’ readiness to practice in the ID field. Discussion includes implications of findings for social work education.     

Local Gatekeeping Practices and Residential Segregation*

This article links the statistical data on residential segregation with the informal practices of individuals. Local gatekeeping practices contribute to the perpetuation of segregation and further explain the patterns of macro-level analyses. This research focuses on the community of Greenpoint, a predominantly white, working-class neighborhood in Brooklyn. The study describes the strategies used by residents of Greenpoint to accomplish residential segregation and to maintain a predominantly white non-Hispanic neighborhood. The process of informal housing networking is supported by the arrangements of local institutions.     

Disabling Environments and the Geography of Access Policies and Practices

Writings about disabled people are usually aspatial or lack geographical frames of reference. This is curious because geography is fundamental to an understanding of the social, economic, and political opportunities and/or constraints underpinning the lives of disabled people. This paper develops the contention that geographical and/or spatial terms of reference are important in understanding disabled people's lives. In developing this point, the paper seeks to describe and account for geographical variations in local authority policies and practices in addressing disabled people's access needs in the built environment. The paper adopts and develops, after Mark-Lawson & Warde (1987), the concept of 'local political environment' as a basis for understanding spatial variations in local authority policies and practices. Such ideas, in turn, are deployed with reference to postal survey and case study data, where I describe and explain aspects of the geography of access policies and practices in the United Kingdom. I conclude by noting that geographical frameworks and/or perspectives ought to be incorporated, where appropriate, into studies of disabled people and public policy processes.     

Relations Among Religiousness,Spirituality, and Sexual Practices

Although religiousness is commonly associated with limited sexual activity, little is known about spirituality's unique effect. Study aims involved measuring spirituality's unique affect on young adults' sexual practices (frequency of sex, number of sexual partners, and condom use) and determining whether spirituality adds significant increment over well-established predictors. Three hundred fifty-three (61% female) heterosexual young adults aged 17 to 29 completed this cross-sectional, self-report questionnaire study. Hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated spirituality is positively associated with participants' number of sexual partners and frequency of sex without a condom. Spirituality contributed to the prediction of participants' number of partners and condom use above and beyond the variance accounted for by religiousness, alcohol use, and impulsivity. A moderating effect for gender was found. Spirituality appears to have a unique and strong association with the sexual practices of young adults, particularly women, and should be assessed in future studies of young adults' sexual practices.     

Exile to Poverty: Policies and Poverty Among Refugees in Poland

Poverty is a well‐known short‐term outcome of migration in general and a long‐term outcome of forced migration in a global context. Surprisingly, this outcome appears among refugees in welfare states which provide various asylum and social policies facilitating integration. The article aims to explore the relationship between asylum and social policies and poverty among refugees. The research results are drawn from two studies conducted among refugees, NGOs, national and local administration representatives, and case workers in Poland between 2006 and 2014. The results show that asylum policy contributes to the material and symbolic hardship experienced by refugees, and social policy is ineffective in its prevention. If refugees are settled in regions with high levels of poverty, unemployment and ethnic‐based prejudices, then they experience and continue to live in poverty. In such a context, and due to its weaknesses in addressing discrimination, social policy cannot successfully integrate refugees.     

Institutionalization and Well-Being Among the Elderly*

Iatrogenic, prosthetic, and other perspectives are used to derive hypotheses concerning the roles of perceived health and residence satisfaction in mediating the effects of nursing home institutionalization on subjective well-being. The findings show that perceived health and residence satisfaction are important intervening variables. Institutionalization has a positive effect on well-being, mediated by perceived health, but institutionalization has a stronger negative effect on well-being, mediated by residence satisfaction. Thus, institutionalization's total effect on well-being is negative. Theoretical and policy implications of these findings are discussed.     

Modernization Among Town and Bush Cree in Quebec*

L'article est base sur des donnees recueillies aupres des Indiens Cris des regions de Mistassini et de Waswanipi dans le Quebec. La these principale qui y est elaboree peut s'exprimer ainsi: la structure de role d'individus vivant dans des milieux en voie de developpement evoluera a partir d'un nombre restreint de roles traditionnels vers une structure plus complexe oil on observe une meilleure tenue de role. L'auteur elabore une echelle de modernisation: les individus les plus modernes se reconnaissent a leur scolarite, a leur milieu de residence, a leurs fonctions professionnelles et aux changements dans leurs attitudes et conceptions de l'avenir. En consequence, si on veut moderniser ces reserves, il faut susciter des changements a chacun de ces cinq niveaux de la realite sociale. This article takes data gathered on the Cree Indians in the Mistassini and Waswanipi areas of Quebec and analyses it in terms of their role structure. The principal thesis is that the role structure of people who are developing will change from a traditionally limited number of roles to a more complex structure with a higher degree of role performance. A scale of modernization is developed and is found to be associated with education, location of residence, occupational roles, and with changes in attitudes and orientation. Therefore, to bring about modernization would require changes in at least these five areas.     

Interviewer Effect in a Survey of Drinking Practices*

This study investigates the relationship of interviewer characteristics to the responses of their interviewees in a survey in a relatively sensitive area—drinking practices. Generally, respondents seem to have reacted to easily ascertainable characteristics of the interviewers, such as sex, status (as measured by education, occupation, and clothing), and religion. The attitudes of the interviewer toward his interviewing were also related to respondents' reported drinking. It is concluded that interviewing is a social relationship of brief duration in which the respondent's performance reflects norms that tend to emerge based on the information each of the participants is able to learn about the other.     

Alienation and Social Awareness Among College Students*

The generality of feelings of alienation among college students was tested by employing two sets of alienation scales. The obtained intercorrelations indicated a close correspondence between feelings of alienation from the university and from the surrounding society. The social learning hypothesis was investigated by relating these forms of alienation to two information tests. Inverse relationships were found between degrees of alienation and awareness concerning both the immediate university situation and larger political events. The influence of social background characteristics on the major variables was generally negligible.     

Gendered Policies and Practices that Increase Older Men's Risk of Elder Mistreatment

SUMMARY

We aim to detail some of the ways that social policy and gendered practices put older men at risk of elder mistreatment. Research on the abuse and neglect that older adults experience has often focused on the characteristics of the victims and the dynamics within families, emphasizing factors such as the likelihood of an intergenerational cycle of violence, substance abuse and dependency, and older men's financial status as key risks in elder abuse. The effect on men from this type of analysis is that elder mistreatment remains an individual or family problem rather than being viewed as a larger societal concern. This article challenges the individualistic focus by outlining the importance of societal forces affecting older men's risk of mistreatment.     

Weight Loss Practices and Body Weight Perceptions Among US College Students

Objective: The authors assessed associations between body weight perception and weight loss strategies. Participants: They randomly selected male and female college students (N = 38,204). Methods: The authors conducted a secondary data analysis of the rates of weight loss strategies and body weight perception among students who completed the National College Health Assessment survey. Results: Half of respondents (50%) were trying to lose weight, although only 28% of students were overweight or obese. Also, 12% of respondents had inaccurate body weight perception. Women and men with inaccurate body weight perception were significantly more likely to engage in inappropriate weight loss strategies than were those with accurate body weight perception. Of all students attempting to lose weight, 38% used both diet and exercise. Conclusions: These data show that college students are interested in weight loss and that body weight perception plays an important role in the desire to lose weight.     

Pragmatism and the Scientific Validation of Professional Practices in American Special Education

A number of American special educators have recently stated that new professional practices should undergo a process of 'scientific validation' whereby researchers decide the effectiveness or value of the practice. This essay critiques this position by way of the philosophical framework of pragmatism, an American philosophy spanning from the works of Peirce, James and Dewey to the current writings of neo-pragmatists Richard Rorty and Cornel West. Rorty's critique of the representational use of language is explained. Emphasis is placed on the importance of an equal, democratic dialogue in decision-making processes involving professionals, served individuals and families. The essay concludes with a brief illustration of a pragmatist's approach to inclusive education.     

Community Literacy Resources and Home Literacy Practices Among Immigrant Latino Families

ABSTRACT

This paper reports relationships among communities, families, and Spanish-speaking children's language and literacy development in kindergarten and grade 1. Findings from a study of 35 communities show that communities with greater concentrations of Latinos are less likely to have printed materials, and available materials are more likely to be in Spanish. Communities with higher income and education levels have more literacy materials in English. Contrary to predictions, there are few associations among community literacy resources, frequency of children's home reading activities, and children's literacy achievement. This lack of association is due to within-community variation in home literacy practices and to schools' impact on home literacy. However, there are associations among community and family language characteristics and child literacy outcomes in Spanish and English, suggesting that at least in the early stages of literacy development, communities' influence on Spanish-speaking children's literacy development is through language-learning opportunities rather than literacy-learning opportunities per se.     

Identity,Campus Climate,and Burnout Among Undergraduate Women in STEM Fields

Women remain underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and these male‐dominated fields are often described as “chilly” and unwelcoming to women. This study examined the potential moderating effect of chilly climate on woman–scientist identity interference and academic burnout among 363 female undergraduate STEM students. Results indicated that identity interference related to greater emotional exhaustion, greater cynicism, and lower academic efficacy. A chillier climate related to more emotional exhaustion and cynicism. Furthermore, a positive relation was found between woman–scientist interference and cynicism when chilly climate was low or moderate. When interference was high, chilly climate did not have a relation with cynicism. When women experienced many threats (i.e., high chilly climate, high interference), they reached a threshold where additional emotional cost did not matter. Results highlight the importance of improving the campus climate for female scientists, as well as the need to assist female scientists in identity development.     

Career Development and Guidance Programs Across Cultures: The Gap Between Policies and Practices

The authors summarize the presentations and discussions contributed to the symposium International Perspectives on Career Development by members of Group 5, who considered the topic of the structure and organization of career development programs in different nations. A capsule picture of the national setting, primary goals, components, objectives, and implementation strategies is presented. Papers fell largely into 4 categories: national programs with several components; large, but more specific programs, serving a national population; smaller programs serving diverse populations; and focused programs. One theme emerged strongly from virtually every presentation: There is a gap, often profound, between policy or vision and reality. Although every nation about which participants heard had laudable policies and had made genuine attempts to assist its people with life career development, many individuals do not have access to quality, or even any, services.     

Occupational Achievement and Kinship Assistance Among Chinese Immigrants in Chicago*

Building on the basic model of Blau and Duncan, this paper explores the process of stratification among Chinese immigrants in Chicago, and examines the effects of kinship assistance on the career cycle. It was found that while kinship assistance is an important resource to some immigrants during and after migration, it frequently obligates the immigrants to remain in the ethnic business, and thereby hinders their upward mobility. This study suggests the usefulness as well as the limitations of kinship assistance in the stratification process of ethnic minorities.