SYMBOLIC INTERACTION AND SOCIAL POLICY ANALYSIS*

This paper explores the contribution that interactionist approaches may make to the study and understanding of social policy based on a discussion of: (1) the general orientation of the interactionist line on inquiry and the general assumptions which the theoretical stance makes about the character of the world, (2) the problems that are of primary interest to those who work within this perspective, and (3) the methodological and technical aspects of this approach. Fruitful foci for basic and applied research from the interactionist perspective include: (1) how policy is constructed through negotiation within a structural context, (2) the multiple interpretations of policy intent and implementation, (3) the experience and meaning of social “problems” for those who are the intended objects of the social policies, and (4) the consequences of policies for the social order. Some of the major properties of the social policy context (uncertainty, decentralization, and political pluralism) are explored for their relevance to social policy analysis. Finally, we discuss the contribution of an institutional-contextual-social worlds approach as a macro-micro bridging mechanism in social policy studies.     

EMOTIONAL FEEDBACK AND AMPLIFICATION IN SOCIAL INTERACTION

This article develops an interactive, theoretical model of emotional feedback and amplification. Whereas the sociology of emotions typically examines how affect arises, this article focuses on the aftermath of an evoked emotion as it evolves in ongoing interaction. I argue that interactions serve as a stimulus to evoke emotional responses, but as interactions continue, these interactions provide an additional stimulus that feeds back into the initial emotion, amplifying it. I articulate two modes of emotional feedback and amplification: spontaneous and managed. Spontaneous amplification is a by-product of unplanned but continuous interactions. In contrast, managed amplification results from purposeful interactions and can be initiated through either surface acting or deep acting. The process of feedback and amplification is more likely under structural and cultural conditions that facilitate ongoing interactions. An empirical elaboration of the model is drawn from an ethnographic study of "TD's Restaurant." Examining how feedback and amplification occur in different settings is an ongoing task for sociologists interested in emotions, work and occupations, mental health, and social movements.     

MASTERING THE ART OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Online communication has become a central part in the communication repertoires of political actors in Western mass democracies. In Switzerland, where broadband, internet use, and media literacy are amongst the highest in the world, all major political parties run their own website and are active on social media. This article seeks to show how Swiss political parties deal with social media, how they implement it and how they use social media. The study builds on empirical data from a structural analysis of party websites, the official Facebook sites, and Twitter feeds. These social media sites were analysed for their resonance, update frequency, and thematic clusters focusing on information, mobilization, and participation. A weekly assessment of the user numbers illustrates the development of user resonance throughout the 2011 election year. While political parties claim to appreciate the dialogue and mobilization potentials of social media, they mainly use social media as an additional channel to spread information and electoral propaganda. The overall resonance is still on a very low level. The data seem to sustain the normalization hypothesis, as larger parties with more resources and voters are better able to generate effective communication and to mobilize online than small and marginal parties.     

SENTIMENT BIAS AND ASSET PRICES: EVIDENCE FROM SPORTS BETTING MARKETS AND SOCIAL MEDIA

Previous research using attendance‐based proxies for sentiment bias in sports betting markets confirmed the presence of investor sentiment in these markets. We use data from social media (Facebook “Likes”) to proxy for sentiment bias and analyze variation in bookmakers' prices investor sentiment. Based on betting data from seven professional sports leagues in Europe and North America, we find evidence that bookmakers increase prices for bets on teams with relatively more Facebook “Likes,” indicating the presence of price‐insensitive investors with sentiment bias. These price changes do not affect informational efficiency in this market. (JEL L81, G14)     

THE MASS MEDIA AND THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF THE MISSING CHILDREN PROBLEM

This article traces the role of the mass media in the social construction of the "missing children issue' as a social problem. The social construction explanation of social problems offered by Blumer (1971) and Spector and Kitsuse (1977) has been criticized (cf. Best and Horiuchi 1985) for lacking a conception of extra-media influences that can affect audiences beyond the initial viewing situation. Recent work in mass communication indicates that a media logic is adapted by other institutions to amplify television imagery and themes about crime, danger, and child abuse. A case study of the origins and claims and counterclaims about the nature and extent of missing children is combined with an empirical analysis of the impact of various sources of information about the missing children issue in order to demonstrate the process by which a social problem is constructed. The impact of additional information is analyzed by administering a self-report questionnaire to 96 respondents before and after viewing a two-part documentary on the complexities of the issue. The data suggest that mass-mediated imagery and formats forge an interactive informational context for social problems by sustaining what is viewed in one's living room with imagery in bulk mail, milk cartons, and posters. It is further suggested that mass media depictions of problems such as "missing children' carry over into consonant images such as child abuse. This conceptualization is capable of encompassing other accounts of social problems (e.g., "urban legends") within claims-making activity.     

KNOWING TOO MUCH ABOUT OTHERS: MODERATORS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EAVESDROPPING AND RAPPORT IN SOCIAL INTERACTION

This study examined the association between a partners ability to eavesdrop on nonverbal cues and an actors feelings of rapport during interaction, as well as neuroticism and self-monitoring as moderators of this effect. Eavesdropping ability was defined as lower sensitivity to cues of the face, a source of overtly displayed emotions, relative to sensitivity to cues of the body, a source of leakage of covert or hidden emotions. Results showed that actors felt less rapport the higher their partners eavesdropping. High neuroticism actors were especially likely to feel worse about their interaction and themselves when their partners were good at eavesdropping. In both instances, the eavesdroppers nonverbal behavior seems to have mediated the associations to a small degree.Both authors contributed equally to this paper. This research was supported by a Mary Switzer Research Fellowship to Tickle-Degnen from the National Institutes of Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the US Department of Education, a Sargent College of Boston University Accelerated Research Grant, and funding from the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc., the American Occupational Therapy Foundation, and Boston University through the Neurobehavioral Rehabilitation Research Center for Scholarship and Research.     

FORECASTING WITH SOCIAL MEDIA: EVIDENCE FROM TWEETS ON SOCCER MATCHES

Social media is now used as a forecasting tool by a variety of firms and agencies. But how useful are such data in forecasting outcomes? Can social media add any information to that produced by a prediction/betting market? We source 13.8 million posts from Twitter, and combine them with contemporaneous Betfair betting prices, to forecast the outcomes of English Premier League soccer matches as they unfold. Using a microblogging dictionary to analyze the content of Tweets, we find that the aggregate tone of Tweets contains significant information not in betting prices, particularly in the immediate aftermath of goals and red cards. (JEL G14, G17)     

BOOK AND MEDIA REVIEWS

Abstract

GENERATIONS IN TOUCH: LINKING THE OLD AND THE YOUNG IN A TOKYO NEIGHBORHOOD. By Leng Leng Thang. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2001, 209pp., pbk £10.95 ISBN 0 8014 8732 3., by Leng Leng Thang Reviewed by Stephen W. Ellis.

LEGACY:INSPIRINGSOCIALCHANGEINTHEU.S.ANDABROAD.A Film by Tod Lending. Reviewed by Jaia Peterson     

BOOK AND MEDIA REVIEWS

Abstract

A CITY OF ALL AGES. AN INTERGENERATIONAL LOOK AT LOCAL SOCIAL POLICY (EEN STAD VAN ALLE LEEFTIJDEN EEN INTERGENERATIONELE KIJK OP LOKAAL SOCIAAL BELEID). By Kees Penninx. Utrecht: NIZW, 2003, 212 pp., ε18,75, ISBN 9059570340. Reviewed by Christina Mercken

LIFELONG LEARNING, INTERGENERATIONAL LEARNING AND SOCIAL CAPITAL: FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE. By Ann-Kristin, Boström. Stockholm: Institute of International Education, 2003. Reviewed by Harvey L. Sterns     

BOOK AND MEDIA REVIEWS

Abstract

LINKING LIFETIMES: A GLOBAL VIEW OF INTERGENERATIONAL EXCHANGE. By Matt Kaplan, Nancy Henkin, and Atsuko Kusano (Eds.). University Press of America, 2002. Reviewed by Margaret Ann Nicholls

BIG MAMA. A Film by Tracy Seretean. Winner of the 2001 Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject. Running time 40 minutes. Reviewed by Cathy Tompkins     

BOOK AND MEDIA REVIEWS

ABSTRACT

PEDAGOGIA SOCIAL Y PROGRAMAS INTERGENERACIONALES: EDUCACIÓN DE PERSONAS MAYORES. By Juan Saez (Coordinator). Malaga: Aljibe, 2002. Reviewed by Francisco Maños.

ELDER CARE AND SERVICE LEARNING: A HANDBOOK. By S. B. Seperson and C. Hegeman (Editors). Westport, CT: Auburn House (division of Greenwood Publishing Group), pp. 1–332, 2002. Reviewed by Paul Roodin.     

BOOK AND MEDIA REVIEWS

Abstract

HOMESHARE IN EUROPE. By Anne-Lotte Kreickemeier and M^aAsuncion Martinez Roman. Alicante: University of Alicante, 2001. Reviewed by Johan Galtung.

ABOUT SCHMIDT. A Film by Alexander Payne (Director). New Line Cinema, 2002. Reviewed by Liz Larkin.

THE LIVING MAYA: THE MOPAN AND Q'EQCHT OF THE TOLEDO DISTRICT, BELIZE, CENTRAL AMERICA. By Anne-McheUe Marsden. Belize: MayaViewkeeper, 2002. Reviewed by David Burdick.     

BOOK AND MEDIA REVIEW

Abstract

LE SAVOIR SILENCIEUX DES GÉNÉRATIONS (THE SILENT KNOWLEDGE OF THE GENERATIONS). Olivier Taramarcaz. Sion (Suisse): INAG-INUK, 2005. 170 pp. Reviewed by Gilles Renault.     

SOCIAL WORKER PERCEPTIONS OF THE PORTRAYAL OF THE PROFESSION IN THE NEWS AND ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

This exploratory study describes social workers' perceptions of the depiction of the social work profession found in the news and entertainment media. A random sample of 665 MSW social workers who were members of the Florida Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers were surveyed regarding how they felt the profession was depicted in the news and entertainment media on a set of paired adjectives comprising 9 semantic differential scales. Findings showed that these social workers perceived the profession to be depicted negatively in both news and entertainment media. Implications for social work educators are discussed.     

LIVING IN TWO NEIGHBORHOODS—SOCIAL INTERACTION EFFECTS IN THE LABORATORY

Field evidence suggests that people belonging to the same group often behave similarly, that is, behavior exhibits social interaction effects. We conduct a laboratory experiment that avoids the identification problem present in the field and allows us to study the behavioral logic of social interaction effects. Our novel design feature is that each subject is simultaneously a member of two randomly assigned and identical groups where only members (“neighbors”) are different. We study behavior in a coordination game with multiple equilibria and a public goods game, which has only one equilibrium in material payoffs. We speak of social interactions if the same subject at the same time makes group‐specific decisions that depend on their respective neighbors' decisions. We find that a majority of subjects exhibit social interaction effects both when the game has multiple equilibria in material payoffs and when it only has one equilibrium. (JEL C91, H41, K42, H26)     

SOCIAL BONDING AND DELINQUENCY

A multivariate analysis of social bonding theory of delinquency is presented which includes a comparison by rural-urban location. Findings indicate the bonding scales to be a stronger explanation of delinquency among rural youth, although lack of social bonding is also strongly implicated in delinquency committed by urban youth. Also, attachment to peers is positively associated with delinquency, while the conventionality of peers is inversely related to delinquent behavior. However, a strong racial influence on the connection between delinquency and the social bond was also observed. This racial influence appeared to operate independently of type of community, but a definitive conclusion could not be reached, given the characteristics of the sample and scale scores.