More than a Theory: A New Map of Social Thought

In this article we revisit two different temporal phases related to the publication of Serge Moscovici's book La Psychanalyse, son image et son public, and we examine two key concepts of the theory: cognitive polyphasia and anchoring. The first phase, initiated by the Durkheimian circle, gives us an opportunity to retrieve traces of the intellectual debate about collective psychology and reconsider this debate in today's light. The second, more recent phase, is inspired by classical and modern research in the field of social representation, and it serves us as a basis for a new hypothesis about anchoring. We suggest that the traditional concept of familiarisation attributed to anchoring can also have an opposite significance: it can transmit and guarantee the non‐familiar and so establish strangeness. Finally, we argue that social representations are more than a simple theory, just like the symbol is always more than what it symbolizes.     

The Analysis of the Borders of the Social World: A Challenge for Sociological Theory

ABSTRACT: In order to delimit the realm of social phenomena, sociologists refer implicitly or explicitly to a distinction between living human beings and other entities, that is, sociologists equate the social world with the world of living humans. This consensus has been questioned by only a few authors, such as Luckmann, and some scholars of science studies. According to these approaches, it would be ethnocentric to treat as self-evident the premise that only living human beings can be social actors. The methodological consequence of such critique is a radical deanthropologization of sociological research. It must be considered an open question whether or not only living human can be social actors. The paper starts with a discussion of the methodological problems posed by such an analysis of the borders of the social world, and presents the results of an empirical analysis of these borders in the fields of intensive care and neurological rehabilitation. Within these fields it must be determined whether a body is a living human body or a symbol using human body. The analysis of these elementary border phenomena challenges basic sociological concepts. The relevant contemporary sociological theories refer to a dyadic constellation as the systematic starting point of their concept of sociality. The complex relationship between at least two entities is understood as the basis of the development of a novel order that functions as a mediating structure between the involved parties. Based upon empirical data, I argue that it is necessary to change this foundational assumption. Not the dyad but the triad must be understood as the foundational constellation. This implies a new understanding of the third actor, which is distinct from the concepts developed by Simmel and Berger and Luckmann.     

Social Representations Theory: A Progressive Research Programme for Social Psychology

The study “Psychoanalysis—its image and its public” intimates that common sense is increasingly informed by science. But common sense asserts its autonomy and, in turn, may affect the trajectory of science. This is a process that leads to many differentiations—in common sense, in scientific innovation and in political and regulatory structures. Bauer and Gaskell's toblerone model of triangles of mediation provided a distillation of their reading of “La Psychanalyse.” Here it was argued that representations are multi‐modal phenomena necessitating the use of multiple methodologies (comparative and longitudinal; qualitative and quantitative). In this paper we briefly summarise these arguments and elaborate ways in which social representation theory can be considered a progressive research programme. “Progressive” because as the theory has developed it has extended the range and depth of its conceptual basis; it provides a new synthesis for the social scientific understanding of the phenomena of common sense and of representation; it acts as an antidote to the reductionism of public opinion and, finally, it is a stimulus to depart from disciplinary silos. However, there remain unresolved issues: how to segment the relevant social milieus and how to close the feedback loop from common sense to science?     

New Directions for the Study of Incarcerated Older Adults: Using Social Capital Theory

As the population of older adults continues to rise, so, too, does the population of older adults in prison. The body of literature on older adults in corrections is scant, particularly with regard to health and social functioning. Past studies of aging inmates primarily focus on health care and related costs. The purpose of this article is twofold: (a) outline and synthesize the research on older adults living in prison; and (b) propose a framework for future research and intervention development based on social capital theory. Recommendations for social work practice, programs, and research are discussed.     

哈贝马斯新社会运动理论述评

哈贝马斯把新社会运动视为人的需要受到忽视的结果,通过参照"系统"与"生活世界"的分裂的观点,从"合法化"的角度来探讨新社会运动的命运。哈贝马斯认为新社会运动具有两大特点:一是这些运动能防止"生活世界殖民化",通过交往理性来维护规范共识;二是这些运动的本质要求是较少关注物质再生产,而更关注文化再生产、社会一体化和社会化。由于这些运动与传统的围绕分配而展开斗争的工人运动不同,哈贝马斯认为它们不可能被政党制度化或通过物质补偿而缓和。哈贝马斯的"新社会运动理论"对当下的和谐社会的构建具有启发意义,但其在有着理论解释力的同时也存有某些理论局限性。     

The Relation Between Probability and Evidence Judgment: An Extension of Support Theory

We propose a theory that relates perceived evidence to numerical probability judgment. The most successful prior account of this relation is Support Theory, advanced in Tversky and Koehler (1994). Support Theory, however, implies additive probability estimates for binary partitions. In contrast, superadditivity has been documented in Macchi, Osherson, and Krantz (1999), and both sub- and superadditivity appear in the experiments reported here. Nonadditivity suggests asymmetry in the processing of focal and nonfocal hypotheses, even within binary partitions. We extend Support Theory by revising its basic equation to allow such asymmetry, and compare the two equations' ability to predict numerical assessments of probability from scaled estimates of evidence for and against a given proposition. Both between- and within-subject experimental designs are employed for this purpose. We find that the revised equation is more accurate than the original Support Theory equation. The implications of asymmetric processing on qualitative assessments of chance are also briefly discussed.     

社会资本理论述评

一、社会资本概念的提出社会资本是２０世纪７０年代后期 ,在资本概念内涵拓展的基础上发展起来的、与物质资本和人力资本相对应的理论概念。以下我们从资本概念拓展的演变脉络来考察社会资本概念的提出。资本是一个不断发展的概念 ,其内涵逐步由窄变宽。马克思从阶级分析出发最先对资本这一概念进行了科学的界定 ,他认为资本是能够带来剩余价值的价值 ,反映了资本家剥削雇佣劳动者的社会关系 ;同时从动态的角度 ,进一步分析了资本的运动过程及其价值增殖过程。在此基础上 ,马克思揭示了资本主义社会的变迁规律。随着西方经济学的发展以及经…     

The Generality of Theory and the Specificity of Social Behavior: Contrasting Experimental and Hermeneutic Social Science

Since its inception, experimental social psychology has arguably been of two minds about the nature and role of theory. Contemporary social psychology's experimental approach has been strongly informed by the “nomological‐deductive” approach of Carl Hempel in tandem with the “hypothetico‐deducive” approach of Karl Popper. Social psychology's commitment to this hybrid model of science has produced at least two serious obstacles to more fruitful theorizing about human experience: (1) the problem of situational specificity, and (2) the manifest impossibility of formulating meaningful general laws of human social behavior. It is argued that a social psychology based on the search for this kind of lawfulness, under the auspices of either a strict or loose interpretation of the largely Hempelian model, is ultimately unworkable. An alternative approach to social psychology that is attentive both to the need for understanding individual situations and behaviors and to the need for generalized understanding of actual human behaviors is offered. This approach is grounded in the hermeneutic tradition.     

The Epistemological Significance of the Theory of Social Representations

The theory of social representations must be understood in terms of its proper epistemology so that it can accomplish its full potential in social sciences. This is often difficult to achieve because researchers comprehend it in terms of concepts that are part of static and individualistic Newtonian epistemology rather than in terms of dynamic and relational Einsteinian epistemology. This article considers three signposts that Moscovici identifies and analyses in the theory of relativity, namely the relation between epistemology and science, theory and method, and the argument against the explanation of effects by their causes. The following question is posed: are these signposts also characteristic of the theory of social representations? This question is examined focusing on interactional epistemology, theory and method and the diversity of natural thinking and communication. Moscovici's Psychoanalysis shows that natural thinking appears in a plurality of modes according to the situation in which it takes place and according to social groups towards which it is directed. Natural thinking is controversial and communication‐centred. Different professionals, groups and lay people use different kinds of speaking and different communicative genres when they try to resolve “the same” problem. The article suggests that bringing together dialogicality, dialogical linguistics and the theory of social representations may open up new possibilities for theoretical developments in social psychology.     

社会资本理论视角下的当代宗族:一种传统嵌入现代的社会组织

宗族复兴现已是不争的事实,运用社会资本理论对宗族复兴的作用机理进行全面透视可以得出:传统宗族具有社会组织功能与特征的品质即传统宗族的社会资本特性,其内含传统宗族的社会资本信任机制、规范机制和网络机制;当代宗族正是在当代社会现代性的发展面临困境的社会背景下,基于传统宗族的社会资本特性,出现了"路径依赖"的社会现象而勃兴的;当代宗族是在农村现代化进程中获得重生的传统,不可避免的带有传统宗族的某些性质,同时也不可避免的要受到农村现代化大潮的涤荡与洗礼而发生异质性的变化,从而带有某些现代性的气息;因此,复兴的当代宗族是一种传统嵌入现代的社会组织.     

优势视角:残疾人工作的新视角

在残疾人工作方面,存在着两种不同的工作视角,一种是问题视角也称之为缺陷视角,它是以问题为核心,强调将关注点聚焦在残疾人所面临的问题和困难上;另一种则是关注于挖掘残疾人优势的优势视角。优势视角及其工作模式,是当前推进残疾人工作的更为合理的视角和模式。     

社会工作成长小组模式建构——青少年社会工作实践的新领域

成长小组是社会工作的一种重要手段,因其具有特殊的优势,与青少年群体自身所具有的特点紧密结合。本文从这一潜在契合点出发,首先对成长小组相关知识进行概述,其次分析了当前青少年群体的心理——社会特征,进而阐述了成长小组运用于青少年社会工作中所具有的优势,最后探索了一条开展青少年社会工作成长小组的实践模式和策略,以期对相关领域提供参考和借鉴。