Participation in Voluntary Youth‐Serving Associations and Early Adult Voting Behavior*

Objective. We investigate adolescent membership in voluntary associations and whether participation in these activities influences voting behavior during early adulthood. Methods. Weighted logistic regression models predicting membership in voluntary associations and voting behavior were estimated using data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988–1994 (NELS). Results. Our findings suggest that membership in voluntary associations varies by race and socioeconomic status (SES). In addition, membership in organizations historically rooted in moral development and civic socialization positively predict voter‐registration status and whether or not young adults participated in the first national election that they were eligible to vote in, but this relationship is moderated by both race and SES. Conclusions. Our findings suggest that a large proportion of U.S. teenagers still participate in community‐based programs, many of which foster later civic participation, but that all youth do not equally benefit from participation.     

Email Effects on the Structure of Local Associations: A Social Network Analysis*

Objectives. This article explores the impact of email on the network structure of small, voluntary associations. By focusing on the density and centralization of associations, we illuminate how the Internet affects their cohesiveness and democratic character. Methods. Based on network data collected from 41 community‐based associations that are comparable on a variety of factors known to influence network structure, we employ multiple regression techniques to explore the impact of increased email use on group‐ and individual‐level network measures. Results. We find that the technological nature of email as well as the background, interests, and intentions of its users interact to influence density and centralization. Individuals employ electronic mail differently from other communication modes such as phone and face‐to‐face communication. Network density increases, and network centralization either increases or decreases, depending on the distribution of email use in the association. Conclusions. These effects on associational structure are likely to have significant long‐run impacts on the cohesion, efficacy, and democratic character of voluntary associations.     

Working Toward a Just,Equitable, and Local Food System: The Social Impact of Community‐Based Agriculture*

Objective. This article serves as a pilot study of three central aspects of sociological research concerning the impact of local agriculture on local communities: food equity, social integration, and natural human capital. Methods. Four CSA farmers, four partners in a direct‐market organic farm, and four community garden site coordinators working in the Intervale, a local agriculture project in Burlington, Vermont, were interviewed in person for this research. Additionally, the author collected observational data in the Intervale, at two local farmers' markets, and as a member of a local community garden. Result. Different modes of local agricultural production have distinctive effects on the local population with regard to equitable access to healthy food, social inclusion, and experiential knowledge of the natural world. Conclusions. Given class‐based disparities in local agricultural participation, local food projects should consider promoting programs designed for broader social inclusion, including subsidized farmer‐to‐family coupons.     

Political and Civic Participation Among Disadvantaged Urban Mothers: The Role of Neighborhood Poverty*

Objective. This article explores the relationship between neighborhood economic conditions and mothers' political and civic participation, examining whether this relationship is conditioned on mothers' individual characteristics. Methods. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Well‐Being Study, it tests specifically whether neighborhood poverty influences mothers' voting and voluntary behavior differently depending on their income, education, race/ethnicity, and relationship status. Results. The results suggest that the relationship between neighborhood poverty and voting behavior depends on mothers' education level and relationship status, whereas the relationship between neighborhood poverty and mothers' volunteer work varies by race and relationship status. Conclusions. The results are in accordance with what some qualitative research has long suggested: that the relationship between neighborhood conditions and individual outcomes varies from person to person and group to group. Future research on “neighborhood effects” should continue to move beyond homogeneous explanations for how neighborhoods influence behavior and instead seek to determine the specific conditions under which neighborhoods exert influence on individual outcomes.     

The Role of Social Networks in the Maintenance of Schizophrenic Patients

Summary The levels of social support available to the nearest relativesof a sample of 45 outpatient schizophrenics are measured interms of both the structure of their social networks and thequality of their network relationships. It is hypothesized thatthe level of social support available to the closest associateof the schizophrenic patient is linked to the level of functioningfound in the patient. Good social performance in the patient is found with the structuralaspects of the nearest relative's social network whereas goodclinical performance in the patient is related to the interactionalaspects of the relative's network. The results indicate that a view of maintenance in schizophrenicpatients which incorporates both social and clinical functioningneeds to consider the structural as well as the interpersonalcharacteristics of the networks of their closest associates.     

城市移民的政治参与：一个社会网络的分析视角

在中国,随着城市化进程的加快,大量来自乡村的移民进入城市,城市移民群体在城市社区中的社会融合与公共事务参与,对于中国未来的城市发展与社会整合具有重要的意义。使用上海地区“2009年社会网络与职业经历问卷调查”, 本文采用一个社会网络的分析视角,实证地验证了社会网络对于城市移民政治参与的效果。结果显示：“拜年网”的规模对于城市居民（包括上海户籍与非上海户籍）的政治参与具有负向的效果;“讨论网”的规模只对城市移民群体（非上海户籍居民）具有正向的促进作用;而 “社会参与网”表现出了非常显著的正向作用,而且,城市移民群体的“社会参与网”比上海户籍居民具有更强的正向效果。     

The Interaction of Race and Gender: Changing Gender‐Role Attitudes, 1974–2006*

Objective. The purpose of this article is to assess over‐time trends in the interactive effects of gender and race on attitudes toward the changing roles of women in U.S. society. Methods. This article uses data from the 1974–2006 General Social Survey. Gender‐role attitudes are measured using two composite indices of traditionalism. Results. We find black females tend to hold less traditional gender‐role attitudes than their black male, white male, and white female counterparts. Black and white males tend to hold similar attitudes toward women entering politics, but differ significantly in their attitudes toward women working outside the home and its impact on children. Assessing over‐time trends, we find the difference between black females and the other social groups to be generally diminishing. This convergence is more pronounced for white and black females. The difference in attitudes toward women entering politics between black females and white males, on the other hand, appears to be maintaining over time. Conclusions. These findings support the idea that the labor force participation for women may have provided the groundwork for the evolution of attitudes for men and women. As white women in particular increase participation in the workforce, ideologies regarding the place of women in U.S. society have shifted.     

社会网研究的架构:以组织理论与管理研究为例

本文认为社会网研究存在于七大领域之中。根据各研究领域,本文以组织与管理研究为例说明每一领域要研究的内容,并阐述了社会网结构与社会关系如何在集体行动与个体行动之间搭起一座桥,而其间的自组织现象更使得集体行动绝非个体行动的线性加总,而有着复杂现象的特性——不同的自组织会产生分歧的行动结果,相同的个体行动可能在不同的结构中产生完全相反的集体行动。解开此非线性行为之谜,正是未来社会网研究要继续努力的重要方向。     

The Mosaic of Personal Social Services: Public, Voluntary and Private

Correspondence to Joan Cooper, 2A Gallows Bank, Abinger Place, Lewes. Sussex Summary The main characteristics of each sector are outlined. A fluidsituation which lacks a planned strategy reflects inadequatephilosophical and professional debate. Social workers have acontribution to make to such a debate on the advantages andproblems arising from a mix of service provision, on their ownemployment, and on client perspective and participation. Thepaper argues that the direction of social policy is weakenedin the pluralist model, and the inequitable distribution ofservices is increased but that entrepreneurialism is greater.Laisser-faire is seen as effectively a policy decision.     

The Dynamics of Welfare Policy‐Making in South Korea: Social Movements as Policy Entrepreneurs*

This paper analyzes the role of social movements in the creation and evolution of a welfare state in South Korea. We begin with a theoretical overview of the existing works on policy change, highlighting concepts such as ideas, policy paradigms, and windows of opportunity. We then examine state institutions, hegemonic policy paradigms, and the specific dynamics of welfare policy‐making during South Korea’s authoritarian period (1961–1987). Next, characterizing the democratic transition in 1987 and the economic crisis of 1997–1998 as “windows of opportunity,” we probe how social movements emerged as “policy entrepreneurs” and played crucial roles in building welfare institutions and promoting welfare policies. In particular, we focus on the role of social movements in legislating the National Basic Livelihood Security Act in 1999 and consolidating fragmented health insurance systems in 2000. We conclude that social movements in democratized South Korea have assumed the role of policy entrepreneurs, filling the vacuum left by the central government and elite bureaucrats in the field of social welfare policy‐making.     

The Social Networks of UrbanFamilies: The CurrentSituation and Changes

Asabasicsocialunit,thefamilycomprisesanaturalcircleofcontacts,notjustbetweenfamilymembersrelatedbybloodormarriage,butalsowithneighbors,colleaguesandfriends.Since1949,thesocialnetworkinurbanChinahasconsistedofthefamily,theworkplacesofthefamilymembersandtheneighborhoodinwhichthey1ive.Thispatternisexplainedbythefactthattheworkplace,onbehalfofthestate,takescareofalmosteverythinginrelationtoanemployeeandhisorherfamily,whileneighborhoodorganizationsaregivenpartialresponsibilityforresidentswhohavenof…     

The Social Ecology of Early Childhood: Preschool Social Support Networks and Social Acceptance

The focus of this study was on the social networks of preschool children and on the interface between network characteristics and the child's acceptance by peers and teachers. Fifty-six children and their mothers were interviewed about the child's social support network. Social acceptance measures included peer sociometric ratings and teacher ratings of child preference and relationship quality. Frequency of contact with mother-nominated child network members was a determining factors in the concordance of mother and child reports. From the child's perspective, social acceptance was related to the presence and supportiveness of siblings and extended kin. Mother reports were less predictive, with only one significant association between parental support and teacher preference. In general, the children's perceptions regarding the structure and function of their social networks were found to be reliable and to relate meaningfully to social acceptance in the preschool domain.     

Labour Force Participation,Social Inclusion and the Fair Work Act: Current and Carbon‐Constrained Contexts

The notion that employment is a precondition for personal wellbeing and social inclusion is almost sacrosanct in Australian culture. Yet, the working and living conditions of Australia's low paid workers tells a different story. While labour market participation is a cornerstone of the Federal Government's Social Inclusion Agenda, it is recognized that low pay and poor job quality often derail this key objective. Indeed, the difficulty of ‘making work pay’ at the bottom end of the labour market is a social inclusion challenge that has yet to receive the policy or public attention that it warrants. This article considers what the Fair Work Act means for the social inclusion of disadvantaged workers, in the context of wider‐ranging strategies to address low pay. It concludes with some considerations of the challenges that a carbon‐constrained economy is likely to present for labour force participation as a remedy for social exclusion.