Zwischen Normativität und Komplexität

The spheres of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) related to development policy have changed significantly in past years. Therefore NGOs are confronted more and more with areas of tension and contradictions that they influence and challenge with their work. In this context, NGOs that are active in education for sustainable development face a special challenge. All of the contradictions and areas of tension appear condensed in this field and need to be examined and processed adequately from the point of education. The resulting areas of conflict and tension mark the central border area and problems of educational work related to development policy that far outreach the practice of NGOs.     

Brasilianität und emotionelle Handlungstheorie

The contribution describes the particular conditions that accompanied the development of the Brasilian national identity. ?Brasilianism“ is not only the basis for the dominating self-perception of the Brasilian people. In addition, the national myth forms a dominating foil to the social sciences. The criticism expressed here is mainly directed against the spiritus rector of the Brasilian collective identity, namely Gilberto Freyre and Buarque de Holanda, as well as against their responsibility for the consolidation of the myth of ?Brasilianism“ and the development of an emotional theory of action with the image of the ?affectionate“, ?sensuous“ and ?optimistic“ Brasilian in its center. Following this criticism a rational access is formulated to understand the national myth that is so very constitutive for Brasilia.     

Deutsch-polnisches Training: Persönliche und professionelle Erfahrungen mit Bikulturalität und Interkulturalität – Anspruch und Wirklichkeit

This report contains several experiences and authentic examples taken from highly professional German-Polish and Polish-German coaching groups. Accordingly, ideas are in part presented from a very personal point of view. Running “Intercultural activities” is very much praised in a world that becomes more and more globalized. But how do these activities work out in practice? The author’s goal is to explain the cultural differences in order for managers to be able to work effectively in international projects. The author illustrates her method and her goals by giving characteristic examples. She talks about demands as far as the personality of the coach is concerned, as well as about interferences within the coaching situation. A prevailing common culture in Europe does not (yet) exist which makes it even more important to talk about differences openly so that they can be understood and be overcome. Useful experiences are shared which shall help to build a ‘working’ trust level between representatives of different cultures. Cultural factors of power usage are described which show how power can be applied in different ways. The influence of language problems is also analyzed in detail. Finally, this paper shows that the most important is to keep an atmosphere based on cooperation: only when such an atmosphere is accepted as a natural daily routine can contacts among participants of different cultures be established as among equals and it is then possible to overcome the challenges related to differences of cultures.     

Zur Gesellschaftsdynamik der Interkulturalit?t �C Implikationen f��r Supervision und Organisationsberatung

Migration has led to growing social diversity. The organisations have to deal with new challenges. Supervision and organisation??s consultancy try to understand the underlying dynamics and deep structures triggered by intercultural situations and to offer adequate consultancy. Experiencing the situations of exclusion or belonging plays a key role for the understanding of the social dynamic of interculturality. To understand the intercultural broadmindedness of the institutions which has been neglected for so long, ??Shifting Baselines?? will be presented as a new concept for supervision and organisation??s consultancy.     

Fordern und f?rdern

The group manager, who has close contact with his employees, is especially adequate to support these according to their interests and abilities. In this study we identified 12 leadership behaviors that enhance employees?? competencies and career advancement by analyzing 36 interviews with (potential) managers from companies operating in the fields of science and technology. These behaviors contain both ways of supporting through direct contact (feedback, training measures, promotion, trust, instrumental and informational support, management by objectives, emotional support and appraisal, recognizing potential, role model behavior) as well as ways of supporting by providing a competence and career enhancing job design (delegation of challenging tasks, job control, person-job-fit). The outcome shows that that job design is a key factor. In addition, the company??s role turned out to be another major factor influencing the employee??s professional progress. Practical recommendations for enhancing employee??s motivation and empowerment are given. These can also be the base for future related additional research.     

Struktur und Identität des Nicht-Religiösen: Relationen und soziale Normierungen

With reference to recent research, the article outlines central elements of a sociological analysis of the non-religious. Starting with a definition of the non-religious via its relation towards the religious, we distinguish different forms of this relation and three levels of its analysis. Then we analyze two different societal constellations: a strong religious norm in the US, and a strong non-religious norm in the GDR. We show how an arena of conflicts emerges in the debates over religion, in which religious and non-religious positions struggle for dominance. We analyze different variations of non-religious positions in this context. In both constellations the non-religious position acquires a positive identity by reference to science. In one case this is motivated by the attempt to maintain the borders of the scientific field; in the second case it is motivated by a claim of superiority, which questions the legitimacy of the religious in general.     

Mobilität oder Immobilität?

An ongoing controversy in transformation research concerns the relative importance of firm-internal versus occupational segmentation in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) employment system compared to the West German system. In a first step, institutions of vocational education and of the employment system focusing on their impact on labor market segmentation are analyzed. Then, the occupational careers of different birth cohorts of East and West Germans are examined. Empirical results show that the importance of internal mobility increased over time in the GDR. But this change cannot primarily be attributed to personnel policies of firms. It was mainly due to social policies, i.e. the introduction of compulsory army service and of maternity leave, since companies were obliged to take the army recruits and mothers back afterwards. Obviously, the way social policies were institutionalized affected the levels of labor market mobility in both countries more than changes of employment strategies.     

Einkommen, Gesundheit und Mortalität in Deutschland, Grossbritannien und den USA

The paper examines the effect of income on mortality with respect to different health statuses and institutional characteristics of the health care system in the USA, Great Britain and West Germany. It is hypothesized that the nature of the theoretical contribution of income in explaining mortality risks changes on whether good or poor health is considered. Taking into account that the health care systems of the countries in question vary by their degree of household out-of-pocket expenditure, we expect an association between income and mortality that differs by country. The analysis is based on the German Socio-economic Panel (GSOEP), the British Household Panel Study (BHPS), and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). The effect of income on mortality is found to be weakest when medical services are sought in the presence of poor health within the framework of a national health insurance that renders free primary health care (Great Britain, Germany). The effect is strongest when the provision of primary health care depends strongly on private expenditures (USA).     

Arbeitsteilung,Berufsorientierung und Partnerschaftsstabilität – Ehen und nichteheliche Lebensgemeinschaften im Vergleich*

The central finding of this paper is that the link between the division of labour and the risk of separation differs depending on the type of relationship. Marriages tend to be destabilised by the wife’s participation in the labour force and stabilised by the traditional division of labour. Empirical evidence of this is manifest in a positive effect of the wife’s income and a negative effect of the husband’s relative income on the likelihood of separation. In contrast to this, unmarried long-term relationships are stabilised by egalitarian division of labour. This is evident from the absence of negative effects of an employment of the female cohabiter on stability of relationship. Furthermore, in unmarried cohabitations the relative income of the man increases the risk of a separation. In addition to the income ratio, homogamous attitudes have explanatory value. Cohabitations are stable when both partners are career-oriented. This finding points to an egalitarian gender-role-orientation among unmarried men. It also implies that an egalitarian orientation has an impact on the living arrangement which needs to be accepted by both partners – for instance when family planning and timing of marriage are concerned.     

Determinanten der Sportaktivität und der Sportart im Lebenslauf

This paper investigates the impact of social class, occupational and family life-course, relocation, age, generation and gender on exercise. Longitudinal, life course-oriented analysis enables identification of the (often diverse) conditions for (re-)uptake and discontinuation of exercise. The paper takes a detailed look at different types of exercise, enabling exploration of the various motivating influences and barriers involved. The database is a retrospective representative survey of the 50 to 70 year old population of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The results show that higher educational qualifications are associated with higher levels of exercise, whereas manual labor and – among women – childcare are associated with lower levels of exercise. With respect to the impact of education, cultural rather than economic capital seems to be the determining influence. Other factors – (un-)employment, partnership, relocation, age and cohort – tend to have more complex effects on exercise. Though being a member of the workforce reduces the likelihood of starting to exercise, it also reduces the likelihood of dropping out. Though partnership encourages the dissemination of exercise, initiation of a relationship is also associated with a higher incidence of discontinuation. Relocation prompts both initiation and discontinuation of exercise. Surprisingly, up to the over-50 age group, increasing age is associated with an increased prevalence of physical activity, especially among women. The results of analysis of social differences in terms of types of physical activity can be used in health programs to provide scientifically founded recommendations for the promotion of specific types of physical activity for lower educational groups, seniors, and other social groups whose lifestyle tends to be inactive.     

Konformit?t durch Herdenverhalten

The adjustment of one??s own actions to the behavior of others offers an inexpensive alternative to self-reliant reasoning. Thus, from a sociological perspective conformity mirrors informative social influences. First, a basic model of social herding is presented, which describes initial conditions and consequences of informational imitation. Central implications of the model are then tested using process-produced data from the German book market (2001?C2006). While the release of public information as well as announcements by opinion leaders trigger conformity under imperfect information, these stimuli show no effects when the general availability of information is improved. Moreover, the availability of information among readers determines the quality of emerging bestsellers. Altogether, the model of herd behavior proves useful in understanding demand processes in book markets.     

Heirat und Familiengründung bei Deutschen und türkischstämmigen Personen in Deutschland

Turkish migrants differ in their fertility and marriage behavior from native Germans. These differences, especially those concerning the link between the two events birth of the first child and first marriage, will be examined in this article by using event history analysis with data of the Generations and Gender Survey from 2005 (main survey) and 2006 (additional survey of Turkish nationals). We address the question to what extent the link between first marriage and starting a family differs between these two groups and if the differences are accounted for by religious or educational differences. The key findings are: Germans often marry between getting pregnant and getting their first child. Turks, however, predominantly get pregnant within marriage. Turkish women who get pregnant before marriage have subsequently worse prospects on the marriage market. These differences are not accounted for by religious and educational differences. It can be assumed, however, that differences between Islam and Christianity are relevant.     

Religiös-konfessionelle Kultur und individuelle Religiosität: Ein Vergleich zwischen West- und Ostdeutschland

In religious terms, East and West Germany are still two separate societies more than 20 years after reunification. While the large majority of the population in West Germany belongs to one of the two main Christian churches, the proportion of those without a denomination in East Germany is now more than 70 %. Moreover, as far as church involvement, confidence in the church and individual religiosity are concerned, the West Germans have a much stronger religious affiliation to the church than their East German counterparts. The main reason for this difference is the influence of different political systems and legal cultures in East and West during the period when the two parts of Germany were divided. The fact, though, that the process of secularization has continued unabated in East Germany since 1989, and that the religious and ecclesiastical discrepancies between the two parts of the country have, if anything, become stronger rather than weaker since then, would suggest that there are other factors at work here, too. In this contribution, we argue that one of the factors that needs to be considered is the dominant denominational culture that exists in each of the two parts of the country, a culture which is highly persistent, can easily reproduce itself, puts pressure on the respective minority cultures, and is able to diffuse into them. While the dominant denominational culture in West Germany is able to slow down the current processes of secularization, the secular, non-denominational majority culture in the East tends rather to produce effects which accelerate these processes. In this essay, we use a variety of empirical indicators (effectiveness of religious socialization, denominational affiliation, churchly affiliation, faith in God) to demonstrate these effects.     

Zwischen Säkularisierung und religiöser Reorganisation – Eine Analyse der Religiosität türkischer und polnischer Neuzuwanderer in Deutschland

This paper addresses the role of religion in the process of immigrant integration in Germany. Based on novel data (SCIP 2010/11) from a survey among new Polish and Turkish migrants, it particularly focuses on the impact of the migratory event upon religious participation and private religious practice as well as on early trends of changing religiosity in the receiving context. The study confirms, first of all, that both groups of newcomers experience a decrease in religious practices after the migratory event. This decrease is more pronounced among Muslim Turks than among Catholic Poles and more pertinent for worship attendance than for prayer, thus attesting to the relevance of religious opportunity structure. Secondly, it can be shown that among new Polish immigrants, religious decrease is more pronounced among individuals with stronger social ties to the secular German mainstream, while this is not the case for Turks. For them, thirdly, it seems that religious practices are being re-captured after the rather disruptive first couple of months in what may a called a process of religious re-organizations. These group-comparative findings attest to limits of classical assimilation theory and to the relevance of symbolic boundary dynamics. Overall, they underline that publicly visible religious diversity will remain a permanent feature of modern immigrant societies.     

Klassenführung und Gruppendynamik in der Grundschule – Eine empirische Untersuchung zur Popularität und Trivialität von Klassenführung

Teacher surveys indicate continued intense discipline problems in elementary school classes. What can you do about it? As the teacher behavior has a strong relationship with active cooperation and misbehavior of students, a skillful group or classroom management of the teacher for an undisturbed instruction is important. However evidence suggests that some in the research literature as particularly relevant documented behaviors hardly appear in teachers’ subjective theories of reducing discipline problems. It is therefore presumed that the level of awareness regarding these insights is low in elementary schools and that it is difficult for teachers to recognize their extraordinary relevance solely by teaching practice. The present study tests this hypothesis on a sample of 101 elementary school teachers. The potentially far-reaching implications of the results are discussed.     

Soziales Lernen – Angewandte Sozialpsychologie für Lernende und Lehrende in Schule und Universität

In this paper, two interdigitated current training projects will be presented. The presentation is to show that social psychological theories can be applied profitably for school development. The content is about social learning in school. Social learning is aimed at the acquisition of social and emotional skills. These skills are positively correlated with the cognitive development of students. Social skills need to be explicitly taught and practiced, especially if they were developed insufficiently in childhood. In the project Social Learning we examine what contents may include social learning. In the project Classroom Management we explore how these contents are best taught and this teaching can be taught. Insights of Social Psychology are introduced for each resulting different extracts of reality and their uses are discussed.     

Religiöse Diversität und Sozialintegration im internationalen Vergleich

Following Robert D. Putnams (2007) thesis that ethnic diversity weakens social cohesion, this study addresses the social consequences of religious diversity. Instead of contrasting social-psychological mechanisms it takes a macro-sociological perspective that focuses on different structural forms of religious diversity and relates them to the trust relations within a population. The empirical results based on a cross-national comparison of 41 European and Non-European societies show that religious macro-structures are indeed related to social trust. But contrary to Putnam’s “hunkering down” thesis religious diversity does not lead to social anomia and isolation but has different effects on social trust toward religious in- and out-groups. Key is the result that different macro-structural forms of religious diversity have different consequences for social cohesion. The question, whether religious diversity poses a threat or opportunity for the social integration of society, therefore crucially depends on its concrete form.     

Der Fu?ball und seine Entproletarisierung

Since the 1950s, in Germany football has been characterized as a proletarian or working-class sport while in our days football is gaining credence and social acceptability. But how could this decrease of proletarianization??described as a shift of the social focus of football from an especially proletarian to an increased higher social classes interest??be explained? Has the transformation of football which is largely caused by television to an event and show sport made it more attractive for higher social classes (transformation hypothesis) or does the change of the interest in football only explain the similar change of the structure of Germany??s social society (similarity hypotheses)? The empirical analysis of the mostly traditional readers of the German Kicker sports magazine as an indicator of the interest in football using the data from Media-Analyse from 1954 to 2005 leads to a clear result: The decrease of proletarianization of the Kicker-readers can only be explained by the socio-structural change in the past fifty years.     

Destabilisierung und Destandardisierung, aber für wen? Die Entwicklung der westdeutschen Arbeitsplatzmobilität seit 1984

We contribute to the long-standing debate about an alleged “destabilization” and “destandardization” of employment biographies by analyzing how the job-shift patterns of West German workers have changed between 1984 and 2008. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we study changes in the rates of (upward) within- and between-firm mobility as well as the risk of employment exit, analyzing trends separately by gender, education, labour force experience, firm size, and sector. We document a considerable and pervasive reduction in the rate of (upward) within-firm moves. The decline is stronger for men and particularly steep for the employees of large companies and for those with limited labour force experience. We interpret these findings as evidence for a decline of internal labour markets and for increasing difficulties among labour market entrants. A second major result of our analysis is that rates of between-firm mobility and employment exit have risen primarily for low-educated men and women.