Critical phenomena in complex contagions

Why do some contagions “go viral” and others do not? Research on “small world” networks (Watts and Strogatz, 1998) shows how a very small number of long-range ties that bridge between clusters can allow contagions to spread almost as rapidly as on a random network of equal density. Recent research shows how long-range ties that accelerate the spread of information and disease can impede the spread of complex contagions—behaviors, beliefs and preferences that diffuse via contact with multiple adopters ( Centola and Macy, 2007). In confirming this result analytically and extending the analysis from small world to power law networks, we discovered that complex contagions require a critical mass of infected nodes that corresponds to a phase transition in the ability of the contagion to take advantage of the “shortcuts” created by long-range ties. We demonstrate how this critical mass is related to the dynamics of the contagion process and identify implications for modeling behaviors that spread via social influence, such as viral marketing and social movements.     

Romancing Singapore: When yesterday's success becomes today's challenge

When Singapore gained independence in 1965, its policies were “strongly anti-natalist” as the government feared that population growth could strain its limited resources and hinder economic development. National campaigns were successfully used for population control and within a decade birth rates fell so much that the country became a victim of its own success. Fearing a loss in replacement of the population, the government has adopted a rather aggressively “pro-natalist” policy. In addition to cash grants and tax rebates to encourage births, public-education campaigns have promoted positive attitudes towards marriage, children and family life including Romancing Singapore, a month-long campaign in February 2003.     

Re-evaluating the Community Question from a German perspective

The far-reaching effects of the social systemic division of labor on the organization and contents of primary ties make the Community Question an important issue for many sociologists. This paper looks at the personal embeddedness of families in three German cities (Berlin, Hamburg, and Stuttgart) and examines the Community Question with data collected at the end of 2003. It is based on the theoretical views of Wellman [Wellman, B., 1979. The community question. The intimate networks of East Yorkers. American Journal of Sociology 84, 1201–1231], who used a network analysis perspective to conceptualize “the Community Question”. The results of this German study generally support the results of Wellman's second East York Study. However, the network structures analyzed in my study vary from the three ideal-type models. Cluster analysis shows that Wellman's typology can be replicated relatively well in Germany. In contrast to traditional discourse related to the Community Question, particular network types are not associated with low levels of social relations. Moreover, structural factors do not explain the existence of different network types. Thus, the networks are not a product of only one community model. They suggest that it is less helpful to talk about “Saved”, “Lost”, or “Liberated” communities than it is to regard communities as a mixture of strongly-knit nuclear clusters and of broader, sparsely-knit relations that provide access to different groups and their resources.     

Violent children and structural violence: Re-signaling ‘RAD Kids’ to inform the social work professions

This article critically examines representations of children diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder, or “RAD Kids”, and their construction as dangerous subjects. Based on ethnographic research within attachment therapy clinics, and among adoptive families, social workers, and medical professionals in the U.S. and Russia, the author suggests that notions of danger associated with “RAD Kids” actually reflect a social anxiety about the contexts of structural violence in which we are attempting to build families and raise children at the turn of the 21st century. The author culturally and historically contextualizes the signaling of “RAD Kids” as violent within literature on moral panics over children and youth. She explores how these representations function as an attempt to “resignal” public anxieties about the difficulties associated with building families through adoption, and especially, the adoption of formerly institutionalized children. The article provides a model for thinking about complex relationships between children, pathology, and power to inform the social work professions, and particularly practice with children diagnosed with RAD.     

Measuring ‘neighborhood’: Constructing network neighborhoods

This study attempts to measure neighborhood boundaries in a novel way by creating network neighborhoods based on the density of social ties among adolescents. We create valued matrices based on social ties and physical distance between adolescents in the county. We then perform factor analyses on these valued matrices to detect these network neighborhoods. The resulting network neighborhoods show considerable spatial contiguity. We assess the quality of these aggregations by comparing the degree of agreement among residents assigned to the same network neighborhood when assessing various characteristics of their “neighborhood”, along with traditional definitions of neighborhoods from Census aggregations. Our findings suggest that these network neighborhoods are a valuable approach for “neighborhood” aggregation.     

Foster care reunification: An exploration of non-linear hierarchical modeling

Hierarchical or multilevel models are based on the same fundamental concepts that apply to simple linear models. The linear forms of these models can be interpreted with relative ease as parameter estimates do not differ in magnitude or interpretation from standard non-hierarchical models. Non-linear hierarchical models, however, are more complex as the introduction of a random intercept means that parameter estimates must be interpreted as “subject-specific” rather than “population-averaged”. Depending on the specifics of the data being modeled, these parameters may be very different in magnitude. In this article we provide two examples of non-linear hierarchical modeling using administrative child welfare data. For each example, we estimate the odds of reunification for a cohort of children in California using both standard logistic regression models and random intercept models.     

Fathers' encounters with the Child Welfare Service

In this article, we examined fathers who were or had been in contact with the Child Welfare Services in Norway. All of the fathers included in this study had children with women who were unable to take care of them, either because of substance abuse or mental health problems. Hence, the fathers had the primary responsibility for the children. We looked at how these fathers experienced being met and assessed as caregivers by the Child Welfare Service, as well as how they experienced their own competency as caregivers. To explore these themes, seven fathers who were in contact with or had recently been in contact with the Child Welfare Service were interviewed. The discourses on fatherhood, inspired by Scourfield (2003), were used as a framework for the analysis, and interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to analyse the interviews. We found the fathers' experiences to be considered within the discourses on “fathers as a threat”, “fathers as irrelevant” and “fathers as better than mothers”. In addition, we shed light on topics such as the cultural lag, being single-handedly responsible for the children, and the fathers' views on what is important in their contact with the children.Our goal was to increase awareness about fathers who are in contact with the Child Welfare Service so that they are met in a way that helps to support them in their role as fathers for the benefit of their children.     

Children's understanding of the interpersonal consequences of dissemblance of nonverbal emotional-expressive behavior

Eighty-five children in three age groups (6–7, 10–11, and 13–14 years) participated in an interview study in which their beliefs were elicited about how others are likely to react when one presents an emotional front. They also responded to questions about (a) their preference for adults versus peers as targets of genuine emotional expressiveness, (b) expected outcomes for children who either almost never reveal their feelings or who almost always do, and (c) how they construct a balance for themselves between when to reveal their real feelings and when not to. Age and sex differences were found for some social contexts and not for others. The oldest girls stood out on a number of comparisons as a unique group: They were more likely to believe that dissembled expressions would be taken at face value in a couple of social contexts, they were more likely to prefer peers as the recipients of genuine emotional-expressive displays, and they gave more complex reasoning about how to achieve a balance between dissemblance and expression of genuine feelings. The data are discussed from the standpoint of how naive theories of emotion are used by children to make sense of their social relations.I would like to express my appreciation to the children and staff of Rohnert Park School District for participating in this investigation. I also want to thank Jane Weiskopf for her help in interviewing the children and Michael Crowley for his undertaking of the statistical analyses.     

Cultural sensitivity in the delivery of disability services to children: A case study of Japanese education and socialization

This ethnographic study examined beliefs about disability and related socialization and educational practices at a Japanese elementary school. Disability is a universal issue affecting child welfare and educational systems around the world. Yet, relatively little sociocultural research has focused on non-Western children with disabilities. This limitation restricts our understanding of the extent to which and how cultures vary in their responses to disability, and the impact of these variations on children's development. Public schools in Japan recently implemented formal special education services for children with “developmental disabilities,” a new category used by educators to refer to “milder” difficulties in children's acquisition of social and academic skills, for example, learning disabilities, ADHD and Asperger's syndrome. This transition created a dilemma for educators: blending new requirements of providing individualized support with traditional Japanese socialization and educational practices of raising and educating children within peer groups. Participant observation, in-depth interviews, and longitudinal case studies of children with developmental disabilities addressed culturally- and developmentally-sensitive practices employed by educators. Educators were sensitive to stigma, involved peers in supporting one another, created home-like classrooms, guided children towards voluntary cooperation, and provided support and guidance to parents. Broad implications for the design of culturally-sensitive disability services are discussed.     

The hidden curriculum of youth care interventions—A case study

Themes such as “effectiveness” and “evidence-based practice” currently dominate debates about the professional care of children and youth. Notwithstanding the importance of these themes, this rather narrow focus may leave the values and ideals underlying youth care interventions undiscussed. In this article we will present our case study of EQUIP as an example of the role of this “hidden curriculum” in youth care interventions. Qualitative research has been conducted, consisting of content analysis of documents, interviews and observations. For the analysis an existing theory on the content and structure of values is used (Schwartz, 1992). The results show that there are distinct differences in the way moral behavior is defined in a Dutch and American “version” of EQUIP. The results also suggest that a difference in value perspective might be related to the effectiveness of the program.     

Children residing with no parent present

Although foster care and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families “child-only” caseloads have fallen from heights in the 1990s, detailed household relationship data from panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) establish that the share of children residing with no parent present (NoPP) has been rising for decades. Characteristics of NoPP children and the composition and poverty rates of their households are traced over time. Most NoPP spells are found to last 2 years or more. Special attention is paid to “informal care” children, the majority of NoPP children not in contact with foster care or income support programs designed to assist children with no parent present and provide access to health care. By several measures of well-being, informal care children occupy a margin between all children and other NoPP children. Children residing with only one parent are at higher risk of entering NoPP status than those with both parents present.     

The situated self and the negotiation of a “bad” identity in therapeutic foster care

This article presents one of the three main findings from twenty-three observations over four months. The study critically analyzed the naturally occurring discourse used in two foster homes between caregiver and youth to negotiate the self. Three main discourse genres included, “you're bad,” “boys to men,” and “learn the hard way.” This article focuses on the “you're bad” genre and the linguistic tools used to impose and refute the “bad” identity. The findings elicit theoretical considerations, such as addressing aspects of selfhood (e.g., behavioral demonstrations) apart from the naturally occurring day-to-day context within which the self developed (e.g., the pre-placement living environment). It is recommended that future discourse analytic research examines the ongoing development of self upon the return to the pre-placement living environment or other permanent environment.     

Agency and structure in the life-world of Aboriginal children in Central Australia

This paper offers ethnographic observations on the place of “agency” in the lives of Aboriginal children in Central Australia. The focus is on children's play and adult-child interaction in the remote community of Ernabella, the oldest settlement in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, northern South Australia. The circumstance of Aboriginal children in remote areas is introduced as a contrasting picture: on the one hand, the life of Aboriginal families is shaped by their marginalised socio-economic position and dependency on the state, which has become especially evident in the recently intensified efforts by the government to “mainstream” Aboriginal communities deemed in “social chaos” in order to regulate and thereby improve children's lives; on the other there is the social fact that children enjoy a comparatively high level of autonomy within the Aboriginal domain. The much-observed “freedom” from parental discipline, however, does not simply mean that children assert their will without regard for certain social rules. Rather, it is suggested that it is precisely the relatively low level of direct instruction and reprimand by adults that fosters children's ability to pattern their behaviour in relation to one another and to structure their social world and understandings according to the meanings that they co-create. Agency of this kind often occurs through imaginative play and spontaneously. This paper does not address policy issues directly. However, it is relevant as a background paper on Aboriginal children's lives that contributes to the understanding and recognition of existing social capacities outside institutional settings.     

Social affinity among top managerial executives of large corporations in Korea

Korea is a society subject to quite diverse social forces. Modernization should encourage reform, but the yoke of tradition restrains this tendency. This paper examines the patterns of preferential treatment of executives, based on family, school, and regional ties, by the owners of large Jaebol corporations in Korea. We found that about 21% of the total number of executive positions in the large corporations were occupied by individuals who had some type of family tie with the owners of the corporations. Also, there is a strong tendency of corporation owners to employ the executives of the same regional origin of birth as their own, but the affinity based on school ties was not as strong as that of regional origin. The findings of this study seem to support the arguments of previous studies that claimed a trust factor as a main cause of social similarity and affinity between the owners and executives in corporations.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, August 17–22, 1987, Chicago, Illinois.     

Between technocracy and democracy: An experimental approach to certification of food products by Japanese consumer cooperative women

Voluntary food certification systems have emerged as a prominent mechanism of food governance in recent years. However, critics have exposed certifications’ inability to secure independence, quality, consumer trust, and costs. Recent criticism is even more pointed in that some theorists have critiqued “alternative” systems such as Fair Trade as neoliberal window-dressing. What is curious about this emerging literature is how little has been said about the role of citizens. Although most of the certification literature has assumed that food certification resides in the exclusive realm of “experts” and that technical sophistication is equated with improvement, I argue that democratization is possible and desirable. This paper draws on a case study of a Japanese consumer cooperative which has conducted a laywomen's food certification system for past ten years. By proposing at least two parameters of evaluation of food certification—redistributive effect and the degree of democratization, the paper expands the imaginary of “politics of the possible” in food governance while acknowledging tension of gendered participation.     

Kinship Strategies and Self-Sufficiency Among Single Mothers by Choice: Post Modern Family Ties

This article discusses findings from an on-going study of 50 single mothers by choice: women aged 21 to 50 when they become mothers, who are self-supporting economically, and who have chosen to become mothers as unmarried women. The interviews include women (both heterosexual and lesbian) who vary widely by race and social class. We argue that this group of women demonstrate ways of maintaining economic self-sufficiency—relying neither on the state nor on a male provider—through creative efforts at networking, resource sharing, and non-economic exchanges. We find that the route the women take to motherhood (adoption, known donor pregnancies, anonymous donor insemination, or accidental pregnancy) has a strong impact on the makeup of specific kin relationships between the mothers, their children, and others; yet all the mothers strategically forge or foster close ties which enable them to raise their children independently.     

Negative impact induced by foreign workers: Evidence in Malaysian construction sector

Though foreign workers served to overcome the labor shortage in the Malaysian construction market, over-dependence on foreign workers and the negative impacts induced have become a serious social problem. The aims of this research are to identify those negative impacts induced by foreign workers in the Malaysian construction market and to determine strategies in minimizing these negative impacts. Data were collected through a structured interview and survey. The questionnaires were delegated to professionals in construction projects who have direct contacts with foreign workers. Only respondents from those companies registered under the CIDB grade G7 were chosen for this survey. There were 117 sets of questionnaires completed and analyzed through the structured interviews. The three principal factors attracting foreign workers to the Malaysian construction market are “Preference of the employers”, “Lifestyle and working conditions”, and “Unattractiveness of the career pathway”. The main negative impacts induced by foreign workers are “Over-dependence on foreign workers”, “Increment in criminal activities or social problems”, and “Existence of illegal workers”. This research proposes that strategies such as “Attract local workers into the construction industry”, “Industrialized Building Systems”, “Eliminate illegal migration”, and “Improve governance structure” would be successful in minimizing negative impacts induced by foreign workers.     

Duocentered networks

When a pair of individuals is central to a research problem (e.g., husband and wife, PhD student and supervisor) the concept of “duocentered” networks can be defined as a useful extension of egocentered networks. This new structure consists of a pair of central egos and their direct links with alters, instead of just one central ego as in the egocentered networks or multiple egos as in complete networks. The key point in this kind of network is that ties exist between the central pair of egos and between them and all alters, but the ties among alters are not considered. Duocentered networks can also be considered as a compromise between egocentered and complete networks. Complete network measurements are often costly to obtain and tend to contain a large proportion of missing data (especially for peripheral actors). Egocentered network data are less costly but a lot of information is lost with their use when a pair of individuals is the relevant unit of analysis.     

Person perception effects of computer-simulated male and female head movement

Sixteen male and sixteen female student observers were shown computer-simulated sequences of male and female head movement based on time-series protocols of real-life interactions and were asked to rate their impressions of the computer actors on the screen. While in one experimental condition the sex of the movement origin matched the sex of the computer model, the movement protocols were exchanged in the second condition. Impression formation effects were analyzed in a three-factorial ANOVA design, with the independent factors (1) sex of observer, (2) sex of computer model, and (3) sex of movement origin. The results point to strong main effects of the sex of movement origin. Male behavior was perceived as more active and mobile, whether displayed by a male or female computer model. However, three-way interactions indicate that male and female head movement was evaluated differently by male and female observers depending on the sex of the computer model. Counterintuitively, female computer models scored higher in male observers' judgments of friendliness and attractiveness when displaying male head movement.     

La carrière des artistes et les transformations de la production musicale. Relations de travail et relation au travail dans le monde des musiques rap et électroniques

The interaction between the artistic and managerial poles of the world formed by the persons specialized in rap and electronic music in France is described as well as musicians' occupational culture. The aesthetic and organizational characteristics of these musical genres are shown to influence the division of labour in recording and production. Owing to the combination of artistic and managerial activities typical of these musicians, occupational networks are fluid. This blurring of roles is especially visible in the recording labels used from home studios. Technical changes in the “tools” for this work have led these artists to become professionally involved in management and advertising. Cultural motivations also explain this involvement: the critical stance adopted by the “cultures” of rap, electro, techno, etc., tends to make obsolete the image of the artist as a creator who avoids the engineering aspects of the commercial distribution of his recordings. In contrast, rap and electronic musicians' careers develop through participation in many and various projects, which nurtures their artistic production, improves the quality of their groups and enhances their reputations. Accepting more short-term professional engagements supposedly increases their control over their career profiles. However these musicians voice concerns, in particular, about bonds between the individual and the groups whom they cross (and who cross them) — concerns that can be extended to other types de workers caught up in an occupational world organized “by project”.