Blame analysis: Accounting for the behavior of protected groups

When a group is not doing as well as other groups on some dimension, group members and sympathizers give accounts that attempt to minimize the group’s blame for its predicament. These accounts reflect concerns about prejudice, as well as policy concerns. This approach to social science may be called “blame analysis,” because it evaluates theories according to the extent to which they blame protected groups. Blame analysis treats cause and blame as the same, and rejects theoretical arguments that posit any causal role for the protected group because they “blame the victim.” As a result, discussions of proximate causes and mediating variables are avoided in explanations of outcomes for these groups. The author argues that this approach violates scientific principles and discourages the investigation of important issues. He is a social psychologist who does research on interpersonal violence and on the determinants and consequences of self-appraisals.     

Much ado about Goffman

“The claim that all the world’s a stage is sufficiently commonplace for readers to be familiar with its limitations and tolerant of its presentation.” (Goffman 1959, 72, 254) “Given that the logic of privatization....now odiously shapes archetypes of citizenship, [and] manages our perceptions of what constitute the ‘good society’....it stands to reason that new ethnographic research approaches must take global capitalism not as an end point of analysis, but as a starting point.” (Kincheloe and McLaren 2000, 304) “My abhorrence of neoliberalism helps to explain my legitimate anger when I speak of the injustices to which the ragpickers among humanity are condemned. It also explains my total lack of interest in any pretension of impartiality, I am not impartial, or objective...[this] does not prevent me from holding always a rigorously ethical position.” (Freire 1998, 22)     

A feminist revisiting of the insider/outsider debate: The “outsider phenomenon” in rural Iowa

This article draws upon findings from an ethnographic study of two towns in rural Iowa to examine the adequacy of the insider/outsider distinction as a guideline for evaluating and conducting ethnographic research. Utilizing feminist standpoint and materialist feminist theories, I start with the assumption that, rather than one “insider” or “outsider” position, we all begin our work with different relationships to shifting aspects of social life and to particular knowers in the community and this contributes to numerous dimensions through which we can relate to residents in various communities. “Outsiderness” and “insiderness” are not fixed or static positions, rather they are ever-shifting and permeable social locations illustrated in this case study by the “outsider phenomenon.” Community processes that reorganize and resituate race-ethnicity, gender and class relations form some of the most salient aspects of the “outsider phenomenon.” These dynamic processes shaped our relationships with residents as ethnographic identities were repositioned by shifts in constructions of “community” that accompanied ongoing social, demographic, and political changes.     

Pairwise Strategy-Proofness and Self-Enforcing Manipulation

“Strategy-proofness” is one of the axioms that are most frequently used in the recent literature on social choice theory. It requires that by misrepresenting his preferences, no agent can manipulate the outcome of the social choice rule in his favor. The stronger requirement of “group strategy-proofness” is also often employed to obtain clear characterization results of social choice rules. Group strategy-proofness requires that no group of agents can manipulate the outcome in their favors. In this paper, we advocate “effective pairwise strategy-proofness.” It is the requirement that the social choice rule should be immune to unilateral manipulation and “self-enforcing” pairwise manipulation in the sense that no agent of a pair has the incentive to betray his partner. We apply the axiom of effective pairwise strategy-proofness to three types of economies: public good economy, pure exchange economy, and allotment economy. Although effective pairwise strategy-proofness is seemingly a much weaker axiom than group strategy-proofness, effective pairwise strategy-proofness characterizes social choice rules that are analyzed by using different axioms in the literature.     

Beyond the antinomies of structure: Levi-Strauss,Giddens, Bourdieu,and Sewell

In this article, I attempt to address some enduring problems in formulation and practical use of the notion of structure in contemporary social science. I begin by revisiting the question of the fidelity of Anthony Giddens’ appropriation of the idea of structure with respect to Levi-Strauss. This requires a reconsideration of Levi-Strauss’ original conceptualization of “social structure” which I argue is a sort of “methodological structuralism” that stands sharply opposed to Giddens’ ontological reconceptualization of the notion. I go on to show that Bourdieu’s contemporaneous critique of Levi-Strauss is best understood as an attempt to recover rather than reject the central implication of Levi-Strauss’ methodological structuralism, which puts Bourdieu and Giddens on clearly distinct camps in terms of their approach toward the idea of structure. To demonstrate the—insurmountable—conceptual difficulties inherent in the ontological approach, I proceed by critically examining what I consider to be the most influential attempt to resolve the ambiguities in Giddens structuration theory: Sewell’s argument for the “duality of structure.” I show that by retaining Giddens’ ontological focus, Sewell ends up with a notion of structure that is at its very core “anti-structuralist” or only structuralist in a weak sense. I close by considering the implications of the analysis for the possibility of developing the rather neglected “methodological structuralist” legacy in contemporary social analysis.     

Unmasking Racism: Halloween Costuming and Engagement of the Racial Other

We explore Halloween as a uniquely constructive space for engaging racial concepts and identities, particularly through ritual costuming. Data were collected using 663 participant observation journals from college students across the U.S. During Halloween, many individuals actively engage the racial other in costuming across racial/ethnic lines. Although some recognize the significance of racial stereotyping in costuming, it is often dismissed as being part of the holiday's social context. We explore the costumes worn, as well as responses to cross-racial costuming, analyzing how “playing” with racialized concepts and making light of them in the “safe” context of Halloween allows students to trivialize and reproduce racial stereotypes while supporting the racial hierarchy. We argue that unlike traditional “rituals of rebellion,” wherein subjugated groups temporarily assume powerful roles, whites contemporarily engage Halloween as a sort of “ritual of rebellion” in response to the seemingly restrictive social context of the post-Civil Rights era, and in a way that ultimately reinforces white dominance.

Altruistic Individualists: Motivations for International Volunteering Among Young Adults in Switzerland

Modernization theory posits a change from traditional or “collective” forms to modern or “reflective” forms of volunteering. In a research project using a combined qualitative–quantitative approach, the motivation of 118 young Swiss adults who showed an interest in international volunteering was investigated. Qualitative analysis revealed 12 different motives which could be categorized into three different groups: A first group called “Achieving something positive for others,” a second group named “Quest for the new,” and a third group of motives labeled “Quest for oneself.” Motivations of young Swiss adults for international volunteering clearly show the characteristics of “reflexive” volunteers. Most respondents displayed a combination of motives while for only 11% of them altruism (“Achieving something positive for others”) was the one and only driving force behind their interest in international volunteering. The inductively constructed typology of motives can be a useful planning device for organizations that run or intend to set up an international volunteering program for young adults.     

Menstrual time: The sociocognitive mapping of “the menstrual cycle”

Despite the many angles from which the biological phenomenon now known as “the menstrual cycle” has been addressed, no work explicitly focuses on how social groups actually draw lines around and mentally partition these complex biological processes into discrete temporal units. This paper examines not the meaning of “the menstrual cycle,” per se, but hegemonic Western culture's intersubjective notions of how to carve up this inherently unstructured phenomenon in the first place. Although sociologists of cognition have still to consider this sociomental structuring of “the menstrual cycle” as a case of mental cartography, and sociologists of time have still to consider “menstrual time” as a case of sociotemporality, I conclude that the mental mapping out of what constitutes the elements of this rhythm is a highly social act with serious implications for women's lives.     

When Robert E. Park was (Re) writing “the city”: Biography,the social survey,and the science of sociology

Sociological production is a situated and embodied activity carried out by individuals inserted in actual social relations. Considering that this feature has an influence upon the content of scholarly literature and that it can be revealed in the scientific text itself, I propound a new interpretation of the writing process of Robert E. Park's “The City,” the famous paper he published initially in 1915. Customarily depicted as a manifesto for an autonomous urban sociology, I argue on the contrary that its general economy has to be linked to Park's biographical background. When he affiliated with the Sociology Department at the University of Chicago, Park was brought to teach a course on the social survey. “The City” was to be the academic expression of his point of view on the topic. Park's biographical encounters with some active promoters of the social survey approach are evidenced and their influence onhis 1915 essay is carefully analyzed, showing notably that curious intellectual omissions in “The City” can be traced back to these previous encounters. Park's latter texts, and the 1925 revised version of “The City” in particular, are shown to provide the interwar sociologists with a peculiar narrative about the history of sociology: Park's predecessors are deliberately confined in a pre-scientific stage of the discipline and Park's original essay is presented as a seminal research program destined to be later fulfilled by the newly established urban sociologists. The author wishes to thank the anonymous reviewers for their insightful and helpful comments on the first draft of the paper, Lawrence T. Nichols for his kindly editorial guidence, and Jacques Marquet and Felice Dassetto for their marerial support.     

Charles Tilly,German Historicism,and the Critical Realist Philosophy of Science

This paper examines Charles Tilly’s relationship to the schools of thought known as historicism and critical realism. Tilly was committed to a social epistemology that was inherently historicist, and he increasingly called himself a “historicist.” The “search for grand laws in human affairs comparable to the laws of Newtonian mechanics,” he argued, was a “waste of time” and had “utterly failed.” Tilly’s approach was strongly reminiscent of the arguments developed in the first half of the 20th century by Rickert, Weber, Troeltsch, and Meinecke for a synthesis of particularization and generalization and for a focus on “historical individuals” rather than abstract universals. Nonetheless, Tilly never openly engaged with this earlier wave of historicist sociology, despite its fruitfulness for and similarity to his own project. The paper explores some of the possible reasons for this missed encounter. The paper argues further that Tilly’s program of “relational realism” resembled critical realism, but with main two differences: Tilly did not fully embrace critical realism’s argument that social mechanisms are always co-constituted by social meaning or its normative program of explanatory critique. In order to continue developing Tilly’s ideas it is crucial to connect them to the epistemological ideas that governed the first wave of historicist sociology in Weimar Germany and to a version of philosophical realism that is interpretivist and critical.     

Choosing subsets: a size-independent probabilistic model and the quest for a social welfare ordering

“Subset voting” denotes a choice situation where one fixed set of choice alternatives (candidates, products) is offered to a group of decision makers, each of whom is requested to pick a subset containing any number of alternatives. In the context of subset voting we merge three choice paradigms, “approval voting“ from political science, the “weak utility model” from mathematical psychology, and “social welfare orderings” from social choice theory. We use a probabilistic choice model proposed by Falmagne and Regenwetter (1996) built upon the notion that each voter has a personal ranking of the alternatives and chooses a subset at the top of the ranking. Using an extension of Sen's (1966) theorem about value restriction, we provide necessary and sufficient conditions for this empirically testable choice model to yield a social welfare ordering. Furthermore, we develop a method to compute Borda scores and Condorcet winners from subset choice probabilities. The technique is illustrated on an election of the Mathematical Association of America (Brams, 1988). Received: 18 August 1995 / Accepted: 13 February 1997     

Disunity within the house of labor: Change to win or to stay the course?

In September 2005, six unions representing 5.4 million workers held their founding convention as a new federation independent of the AFL-CIO. Infelicitously named “Change to Win Federation” (CTWF), the new alliance has called for a rededication of union resources and energies towards organizing the unorganized. Although CTWF has occasioned considerable interest and speculation among labor supporters and observers, it is difficult to determine why the break occurred, other than, perhaps, the personal agenda of some of its leaders. An unstated, significant reason may be a desire on the rebels’ part to operate relatively free of “noraiding” strictures of the AFL-CIO, even though the group disclaims any interest in challenging existing bargaining relationships and has penned “solidarity pacts” with some of its principal AFL-CIO competitors and with state and local units of the federation. Competitive forces are missing in the market for workplace representation services. The new group may reignite the rival unionism that spurred organized labor’s marked growth from 1935–1954, but early returns suggest an emphasis on militant posturing and on trendy, implausible themes such as “global unionism” and “subcontracting out strikes.”     

Mental Health of Non-gamblers Versus “Normal” Gamblers Among American Indian Veterans: A Community Survey

Goal This analysis was undertaken to assess the demographic and mental health characteristics of “normal” or non-problem gamblers versus non-gamblers in a representative community sample. Sample Study participants consisted of 557 North Central American Indian veterans. Data collection included a demographic and trauma questionnaire, a computer-based Diagnostic Interview Schedule for DSM-III-R, and a treatment history algorithm. Findings Univariate analyses revealed that gamblers had greater social competence (i.e., higher education, living with a spouse) and higher lifetime psychiatric morbidity. Binary regression analysis revealed that, compared to non-gamblers, gamblers were older, more highly educated, and more apt to be married. More gamblers showed evidence for lifetime risk-taking as evidenced by Antisocial Personality Disorder and Tobacco Dependence. Conclusions Social achievement and disposable income function as prerequisites for “normal” gambling in this population, although “externalizing” or “risk-taking” disorders also serve as independent contributors to at least some gambling. The increased rate of “internalizing” or emotional disorders are only indirectly related to gambling, perhaps through increasing age or through the “externalizing” disorders.     

New places — New identities: Settings in the lives of the old

This paper addresses the relationship between meaning attached to settings by social actors and their self-identities. In the context of research on the social worlds of old widows the author identifies “ideal type” self-designated identities, namely that of “resident” vs. “newcomer” in a setting. These self-identities are considered in light of the bearing upon them of the non-human or physical aspects of settings as well as of the people who share the settings. Finally, strategies for maintaining “resident” status are shown to be more limited for the old than for the younger members of society. I would like to thank Juanita B. Wood, Stephen G. Wieting, Ellen Horgan Biddle, Harold B. Freshley, and an anonymous reviewer forQualitative Sociology for their instructive comments on earlier drafts of this paper. This research was supported in part by a grant from the Administration on Aging, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Researchers undertaking such projects are encouraged to express freely their professional judgment. Therefore, points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent the official position or policy of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.     

Ellen Swallow Richards: “Humanistic Oekologist,” “Applied Sociologist,” and the founding of sociology

Best known as the first woman graduate from MIT, and the founder of Home Economics, Ellen Swallow Richards was a Progressive Era reformer who applied social science research techniques to problems of concern to early sociologists. As a mentor to many women who joined the “Cultural” and “Pragmatic” feminists of Hull House, her secular theories of “Oekology” and “Euthenics” challenged many of the models of social change prevalent in the Cambridge and Chicago academic communities. Her most radical contribution as a feminist was her assertion that women’s unpaid labor in the home played a vital economic role in maintaining capitalism and was the ultimate source of their second-class citizenship. She shared a belief in democracy and education as a feminist “Pragmatist,” and laid the groundwork for the contemporary “Ecofeminist” movement. Although she was a biochemist by training, she engaged several genera-tions of women in the application of scientific methods to the solution of contemporary social problems. As a political organizer, much of her legacy is reflected in the accomplishments of the reform organizations she was instrumental in founding.     

Parent and Peer Attachment in Minority Males at High Risk for Delinquency

Juvenile delinquency and high risk behaviors have been linked to disturbances in attachment. The present study examined parent and peer attachment in 67 African American males and 97 Latinos (ages 12–17, M = 14.7 ± 1.3) attending an alternative school. The Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment was used to identify 3 attachment style groups: “Isolated,” “Disconnected,” and “Connected.” Controlling for age, attachment group membership predicted differences in delinquent behaviors, as did ethnicity. Further, on the Youth Self-Report of the Child Behavior Checklist, attachment group membership predicted differences in both the Internalizing and Externalizing Scales. Implications for interventions with each identified attachment group are discussed.     

Lumping and splitting: Notes on social classification

This paper examines the mental process of grouping “similar” things together in distinct clusters and separating “different” clusters from one another. The role language plays in providing us with seemingly homogeneous mental niches for lumping things together yet at the same time allowing us to carve seemingly discrete categories out of experiential continua directs the sociological study of classification to intersubjective, conventional mindscapes that are neither personal nor “logical.” The paper identifies a nonmetric, topological mode of thinking that involves playing down intracluster while exaggerating intercluster mental distances and ends with some methodological observations of the need to approach classification from a comparative perspective as well as highlighting the role of spatial zoning, rites of separation, and Freudian slips in the study of the social construction of difference and similarity.     

“A New Sort of ‘Salvation Army’”: Historical Perspectives on the Confluence of Psychoanalysis and Social Work

No profession in the United States has a broader perspective on human needs than social work. Bold but also functional, social work distinctively places the pursuit of social justice on a par with the clinical treatment of individuals, pairs and families. Yet for much of the twentieth Century, proponents of the “macro” and of the “micro” approaches to practice have challenged each other’s commitment to social progressivism and humanist values. Interestingly, this on-going debate has hardly changed the core “person-in-environment” psychoanalytic paradigm at all. It is time to set aside this hidebound dispute, I argue in this article: social work is not two institutions folded into one but one profession that must be understood dialectically. Drawing on the history of the early psychoanalyst’s intense social activism and their commitment to treating the poor and working classes, I show how psychoanalysis shares in the transformation of civil society and helps restore individuals and communities alike to self-regulation and productivity.

From the culture of poverty to the underclass: An analysis of a shift in public language

This paper focuses on the emergence of the “underclass,” and the decline of the “culture of poverty,” as terminologies used in scholarly and popular analysis of certain lowincome groups in American society. It is argued that the theoretical cores of these two concepts are similar but not identical, and that a shift in “public language” has occurred. This shift represents the most recent chapter in the historical process of word substitution that Matza (1966) claims has characterized society’s response to the disreputable poor. The factors responsible for this shift are analyzed, and the consequent potential for miscommunication is highlighted. where his research interests include poverty policy and program evaluation. He is the author (with John B. Williamson) ofPoverty and Public Policy (1986). This article is a revised version of a paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Social Problems, August 1986. I wish to thank the anonymous reviewers ofThe American Sociologist for their thoughtful comments and suggestions.     

Inequality, new directions: full ethical foundation and consequences

Deriving comparisons and measures of inequality from full ethical foundations was a main innovation of the 1960s and pursuing it is still a most fruitful direction. This implies using “equal equivalents” and some principles particularly rich in meanings. Multidimensional inequalities can be measured and compared thanks to the “equal-equivalent manifolds”. The “equal-equivalent utility function” defines individual “welfare” cleaned of differences in sui generis individual tastes and hedonic capacities deemed irrelevant for “macrojustice”. Then, equal allocation is a deeper end-value than equal welfare but has to be complemented by free choice for freedom, Pareto efficiency and a demanded partial self-ownership. The result is the richly multi-meaning “equal-labour income equalization”.