The Current State of Social Mobility Research*

Blau's and Duncan's reconceptualization of social mobility analysis in terms of the status attainment model led to a rapid growth in the number of studies of mobility processes in the United States. Observations of differences in the attainment processes of different segments of the population and theoretical and methodological critiques have produced alternative ways of viewing and analyzing social stratification and mobility. Recent European contributions have tended to be more heavily theory-laden and concerned with social class rather than a continuum of occupational levels. Current developments promise to provide a basis for a rapprochement between the two approaches and further clarification of the relative importance of structural and individual factors in the social mobility process.     

Generational Relationships and Social Movement Participation*

Generational relationships are examined in terms of their lineage and cohort dimensions. Each suggests a very different type of relationship between social movement participants, their parents, and members of adult age cohorts. Following a clarification of these relationships and their consequences for lineage and cohort politics, five research propositions are offered as a guide to future research.     

Social Participation,Social Status and Extremist Political Attitudes*

Two measures of extremist political attitudes are used to test the relationship between social participation, social status, and extremist attitudes. The expected relationships are found only for a measure called “support for democratic institutions.” Another measure of political attitudes, vigilantism, was found not to relate to the independent variables. We conclude that people who may adhere to abstract democratic ideals, at the same time may not reject the use of extralegal force to further their political goals. The findings also suggest that the “mobilization function” of social participation will need to be further specified.     

The Social Mobility of Women: a Causal Model of Socioeconomic Success*

This paper extends the analysis of socioeconomic achievement initiated by Blau and Duncan and subsequently developed by both Jencks and Rainwater. The major extensions are the specification of models for female heads of household in the labor force and the inclusion of several previously neglected predictors of socioeconomic achievement including some which require panel data. Our analysis suggests that a different model is needed for females than for males and that a different model is needed for black females than for white females. The evidence also suggests that the socioeconomic success of women is more fixed by background, education, and occupational factors, and is less a function of individual ability than is the case for men. The evidence supporting this conclusion is particularly compelling for black women.     

The Social Dynamics of Brazil's Rural Landless Workers' Movement: Ten Hypotheses on Successful Leadership*

Cet article met l'accent sur le caractere social ainsi que sur la dynamique sociale de l'autorité politique dans ce qui est générale‐ment considéré comme les caractéristiques de classe ainsi que les caracteristiques sociales du leadership, à l'intérieur d'un mouvement que nous et d'autres auteurs considérons comme le mouvement social le plus dynamique de nos jours en Amérique latine, le Mouvement des Sans Terre (MST) au Brésil. Nous fonderons notre discussion de cette dynamique sociale sur dix hypothèses qui tracent, en effet, un portrait sociologique du leadership du mouvement. This paper focusses on the social character and dynamics of political leadership in what is widely regarded as the class and social character of the leadership of a movement that we and others regard as the most dynamic social movement in Latin America today—the Rural Landless Workers' Movement (MST) in Brazil. Discussion of these social dynamics is made with reference to ten hypotheses that provide, in effect, a sociological portrait of this movement's leadership.     

Social Determinants of Inter-Community Mobility: An Inventory of Findings*

L'examen méthodique des données empiriques recueillies au cours de recherches relatives a la migration interneet l'étude des facteurs qui influencent l'érnigration ruraleurbaine mettent en jumiéres certaines caractéristiques des populations impliquées. Les personnes qui vont de la campagne à la ville sont jeunes; elles sont de quotient intellectuel éevé, seolarisées et dotées d'aspirations en matières éducative et professionnelle. Elles partagent les valeurs urbaines plutót que celles du milieu rural. Ces qualityés indiquent des antécédents socio-économiques supérieurs à la moyenne, I'avantage d'avoir été mis en présence de modéles de comportement influents et l'expérience d'un contrôle familial, surtout maternel, qui encouragea des poursuites éducative et professionnelle. Malgré leurs aspirations et leurs dispositions, les personnes qui viennent de la campagne se retrouvent en ville surtout dans des emplois deconsidérés et ils s'assimilent difficilement à l'ensemble urbain.     

Rural-Urban Migration and Social Mobility in Third World Metropolises: a Cross-National Study*

Two implicit models have provided the major frameworks for rural-urban migration research in developing societies: one model, the underprivilege model, predicts that rural migrants enter the bottom rungs of the urban occupational structure and suffer inequality in status attainment in the city; the other model, the push up model, suggests that the influx of rural migrants provides a structural impetus to upward social mobility for the urban natives. This study synthesizes relevant findings from several major Asian and Latin American metropolises and thereby provides a cross-national test of the two models. The paper rejects both models and explicates structural reasons why the models do not hold true in Third World cities.     

Professional Sports as an Alternative Channel of Social Mobility*

Inequality of opportunity in the process of occupational attainment via the educational system is anticipated to cause a tendency toward alternative routes of social mobility among underprivileged groups. Professional sports have often been referred to in this respect, particularly in connection with the overrepresentation of ethnic minorities in them. The present study attempts to determine if the choice of a career in sports is mainly a matter of an individual's educational achievement and aspirations, or whether such a tendency is conditioned by socioeconomic and ethnic background. An investigation of this question among junior soccer players in Israel indicates that the preference for a career in soccer is associated with both low levels of educational achievement and modest goals, regardless of family background. Thus, at least as far as Israeli society is concerned, it is not only “cultural predisposition” which makes professional sports more attractive for lower ethnic groups, but, also the greater difficulties that youngsters of such origin encounter in the educational system.     

The Issue of Schools as Social Systems: Socialization Effects as Inferred from Lengths of Membership*

The critical limitation of the interpretation of schools as independent normative systems is the failure to demonstrate that observed student orientations are acquired in schools rather than in other settings such as the home or community. The problem is approached here as a question of whether students' orientations vary with lengths of membership in the same school organization. Data were examined for 7,954 students in 19 schools which contained grade-lengths 7-9, 7-12, 9-12, and 10-12. The analyses indicated that the distinctiveness of school normative climates is slightly but positively associated with lengths of school membership when school size is controlled. While schools can be viewed as relatively distinct systems, they should also be seen as highly permeable in the midst of their community and home environments.     

Social Participation and a Sense of Powerlessness among Blacks: a Neighborhood Analysis*

This paper examines the neighborhood context and the relationship between four types of social participation and the sense of powerlessness variant of alienation. Findings suggest a refinement and reanalysis of the relationship implied by much of the literature. The strong inverse correlations between participation and alienation found among white populations are not obtained for this population of blacks. Given relative neighborhood stability, some evidence indicates that the expected association may emerge among blacks, depending on individual status characteristics such as income and residency tenure. In retrospect, the study identifies three considerations which might shape future research on the topic.     

The Company You Keep: Adolescent Mobility and Peer Behavior*

Residential mobility has been linked to a variety of problematic behaviors during adolescence, but the reasons for this association are not well understood. This analysis examines the relationship between adolescent residential mobility and the academic and deviant behaviors of members of adolescents’ friendship networks. Using data from approximately 12,000 respondents in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), we find that residentially mobile adolescents belong to school‐based friendship networks whose members exhibit weaker academic performance and expectations, less school engagement, and higher rates of deviance than do members of the friendship networks of nonmobile adolescents, even after controlling for adolescents’ own academic and deviant behaviors. These differences in the behavioral composition of adolescent friendship networks are not ephemeral, but appear to persist for several years. Moreover, these differences are equally pronounced among older and younger adolescents and among girls and boys. We also find that parental socioeconomic status is positively associated with adolescents’ involvement in high‐achieving and prosocial friendship networks. Directions for future research exploring the impact of residential and school mobility on adolescent development and functioning are discussed.     

Status Inconsistency and Participation in Social Movements: an Application of Goodman's Hierarchical Modeling*

Goodman's hierarchical modeling is used to analyze the status inconsistency configuration of 67 active participants in an anti-pornography social movement and 44 persons who actively opposed the movement. The substantive results indicated the need to interpret status inconsistency effects in light of the second-order interaction of all three stratification variables—education, occupation and income. We found that inconsistencies between two of the stratification dimensions changed the association between the third dimension and participation in a social movement in the positive direction. A modification of the over-rewarded/under-rewarded inconsistency hypothesis was advanced as a special case of the general finding. The methodological results indicate that the Goodman hierarchical modeling technique is a promising system for establishing empirical linkages between significance testing and substantive interpretations with regard to the area of status inconsistency.     

Correlates of Social Participation: a Comparison of the Ethnic Community and Compensatory Theories*

The ethnic community and compensatory theories of Black social participation are compared by analyzing affective correlates (political efficacy and self-esteem) of participation for 712 residents of Nashville, Tennessee in 1969. The instrumental-expressive typology of participation is utilized in addition to total participation. Participation and the affective variables are significantly correlated for Blacks, but only weakly correlated for Anglos, lending support to both theories. The relationship between participation, the affective variables, and the controlled background factors is briefly discussed, and problems and directions for future research are outlined.