Integrating intimate partner violence prevention into daily practice

Research on IPV has mainly focused on the identification of abuse, rather than on evaluating interventions that aim for long-term effects. Until there are well-designed studies to determine which prevention strategies are most effective, nurses can use their counseling and education skills to ensure that women are screened and that resources are made available to those who screen positive. Web-based resources and clinical practice guidelines that nurses can use are presented in the Sidebar.     

Social context and network formation: An experimental study

Recently, there has been increasing interest in determining which social network structures emerge as a consequence of the conscious actions of actors. Motivated by the belief that “networks matter” in reaching personal objectives, it is a natural assumption that actors try to optimize their network position. Starting from the notion that an optimal network position depends on the social context, we examine how actors change their networks to reach better positions in various contexts. Distinguishing between three social contexts (a neutral context, a context in which closed triads are costly, and a context in which closed triads are beneficial), theoretical results predict that emerging networks are contingent on the incentives that are present in these contexts. Experiments are used to test whether networks that are theoretically predicted to be stable are also stable experimentally. We find that emerging networks correspond to a large extent with the predicted networks. Consequently, they are contingent on the incentives present in various social contexts. In addition, we find that subjects tend to form specific stable networks with a higher probability than predicted, namely, efficient networks and networks in which everyone is equally well off.     

DO MEN “NEED” A SPOUSE MORE THAN WOMEN?: PERCEPTIONS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF MARRIAGE FOR MEN AND WOMEN

This study examines how important men and women feel marriage is for men and for women. Using data from the National Survey of Families and Households, we find that both men and women feel that men need to be married more than women do. Women are more likely than men to think that both men and women can have satisfying lives without marriage, but they are also more likely to think that only women can have satisfying lives without marriage. Younger, more educated people are less likely to emphasize marriage. On the other hand, religious people and those who are married with children are particularly likely to think that neither men nor women can have satisfying lives without marriage.     

Social Evolution and Environmental Context: Explanative Pluralism and Potentiality

We identify four common, but we argue fallacious, reasons social scientists object to theories that rely on environmental conditions to explain variation in the evolution of societies. First, some sociologists exclude environmental forces as beyond the domain of sociology. Second, environmental theories are often pejoratively labeled “determinist,” and rejected on those grounds. Third, environmental theories are regularly dismissed as being functionalist. Fourth, environmental theories are frequently charged with being Eurocentric and serving to justify colonialism and social inequalities. We argue that although there are examples of theories that fail in these regards, there is no inherent reason that environmental theories are more prone to these limitations and problems than are more sociologically “pure” theories. We argue that sociology should strive to be more transdisciplinary and can benefit from consideration of environmental conditions.     

The structure of rights in the context of private property

Some rights to resources adhere to individuals on the basis of ascribed characteristics—these are rights of person. These rights are not subject to voluntary alienation. And there are rights that adhere to specific characteristics of resources and are subject to alienation. These are rights in property. However, there has been a systematic tendency to promote property rights at the expense of the rights of person and, in so doing, confound the analysis of the commons, of common property, and of private property. Given a delineation of fundamental concepts, this paper examines critically the foundational works of Demsetz and Coase and shows that their theoretical arguments depend on an implicit denial of all rights of person. It is shown, however, that rights of person are not properly analyzable by the standards that apply to rights in property and that the optimal policy to pursue in contemporary society is to determine a desired configuration rights and responsibilities in combination with rights in property.     

Adoption,personality disorder and parental guilt: Implications of genetic research for social work

Few adoptive parents are aware that serious behavioral and personality problems can occur in adopted children. When such problems are manifested, parents are often guilt-ridden, believing that they are to blame. Recent research suggests that the risks associated with adoption may be genetically linked. Social workers who counsel adoptive parents need to be aware of potential problems, explain possible risks to them, and use these research findings to positive effect.     

Empowering Rural Sociology: Exploring and Linking Alternative Paradigms in Theory and Methodology1

Abstract Theoretical and methodological approaches to rural social change are explored, especially those that give visibility to the range of heterogeneous experiences and perspectives that often are overlooked or ignored. Theoretical developments in postmodern, narrative, and feminist theory are described as are the methodological approaches they imply. Examples of research on rural social change that attempt to integrate theory and methods in ways that respect the complicated, processual nature of social life are discussed. They provide concrete illustrations of how alternative approaches can be fruitfully applied to some of the issues and problems rural sociologists typically study.     

The effect of sex role differences on the societal reaction to mental retardation

This paper investigates the thesis that sex role definitions in the U.S. support a double standard in societal reactions to mental incompetence. Role expectations for women are such that females are generally expected to be less competent than males in a variety of instrumental tasks, although perhaps more expressive. Males in turn are expected to be more active and aggressive than females in their exercise of the greater power and responsibility ascribed to them. In light of these generalized expectations we suggest that incompetence in instrumental fields is more disturbing when demonstrated by males, and we hypothesize that societal reactions to the mental deficiencies of males are more prompt and severe. The paper supports this hypothesis with data suggesting that mentally retarded males are more likely to be institutionalized than retarded females, and that males tend to be institutionalized at earlier ages and for milder disorders. It is noted that these data are consistent with previously reported data on mental illness.     

Glossing inadequacies: problems with definitions of key concepts in some methodology texts

It is argued in this paper that a significant number of definitions of terms provided in currently available methodological texts are inadequate or positively misleading. Some do not cover the main meaning of the term but focus instead on a non-standard one. Others fail to pick out the distinctive features of what is being defined. There are also those that fail to indicate relationships to related terms or those with similar meanings. Finally, there are some definitions that are simply incorrect in significant respects. It is argued that defective definitions are worse than useless and are a disservice to students.     

The structure of rights in the context of private property

Some rights to resources adhere to individuals on the basis of ascribed characteristics—these are rights of person. These rights are not subject to voluntary alienation. And there are rights that adhere to specific characteristics of resources and are subject to alienation. These are rights in property. However, there has been a systematic tendency to promote property rights at the expense of the rights of person and, in so doing, confound the analysis of the commons, of common property, and of private property. Given a delineation of fundamental concepts, this paper examines critically the foundational works of Demsetz and Coase and shows that their theoretical arguments depend on an implicit denial of all rights of person. It is shown, however, that rights of person are not properly analyzable by the standards that apply to rights in property and that the optimal policy to pursue in contemporary society is to determine a desired configuration rights and responsibilities in combination with rights in property.     

Advertising unreasonable expectations: Nanny ads on Craigslist

ABSTRACT

Research has shown that while some domestic workers in the United States work in situations that are fair and decent, many others face conditions of abuse, degradation, and/or exploitation. These conditions are commonly seen as a “hidden” aspect of domestic work. This article asks if these conditions are really as hidden as is commonly assumed. Through a content analysis of nanny ads on Craigslist, we explore whether employers are willing to advertise their expectation that nannies will work under one of three unreasonable conditions: i.e., for low pay, long daily hours, and/or long weekly hours. Overall, we find that of the ads that specify how much pay a nanny is expected to work for as well as how long she is expected to work, many contain unreasonable expectations. By looking at how these expectations are expressed in these ads, we can see that these unreasonable expectations are generally presented in a matter-of-fact manner. This suggests that these employers do not find these expectations to be that remarkable, notwithstanding how unreasonable they are.     

The Social Life of Homelessness: Myths and Social Standing

There are two groups of people, the Insiders and the Outsiders. Insiders have access to a network of social transactions that enable them to tap into resources and information that lead to employment, housing, and other opportunities for upward mobility. These processes are often informal, and sometimes exclusive. The social networks that Outsiders have pertain largely to the acquisition of a meal or a night’s shelter. They do not have access to the better-endowed social networks of Insiders, and are therefore not privy to the informational and resources exchange that takes place therein. This translates into fewer job interviews, fewer housing applications, etc. Finally, this means that when an Outsider experiences a stressor (i.e., the flu, eviction, unemployment), it can take on crisis proportions leading ultimately to homelessness. However dim the prospects of Outsiders are, there are specific corrective processes, which can be implemented.     

Sex differences in the use of psychiatric outpatient facilities

Previous research has shown that both symptoms and sociocultural factors are related to use of psychiatric outpatient facilities. However, the utility of using treatment rates from these facilities to make etiological inferences depends on whether sociocultural effects on utilization are trivial or substantial. In this paper data are presented for one such inference, that women are more in need of treatment than men. We find that observed sex differences in the use of a student psychiatric clinic are due both to differential propensities to seek help for problems and also to differential numbers of problems, both of which are higher among women than men. However, the differential propensity to seek help is found to be by far the more important of these two effects.     

Nothing to be had 'off the peg': consumption, identity and the immobilization of young disabled people

Contemporary sociology makes the case that the concepts of society and social structure are past their sell-by dates. Our world is marked by impermanence and social life is characterised by mobilities. Even self-identity has become liquid. Social actors use consumption artefacts and services to re-design themselves in ways that are commensurate with their deepest desires. However, we argue that disabled people are unlikely to recognise themselves in these debates. Young disabled people, in their quest for identity and consumer citizenship, meet with ubiquitous barriers and closed markets. In their experience choice and mobility are rhetorical. They encounter immobilization and exclusion from the kinds of consumer lifestyles that their non-disabled peers take for granted. Furthermore, we argue, that at the heart of consumer culture is an aesthetic of youthfulness that is profoundly alien to 'the anomaly'. The signifiers of 'youth' and disability are in profound tension. Cultures of consumption are constituted in ways that mark young disabled people off as outsiders who need not apply for entry.     

WHOSE GAY COMMUNITY? SOCIAL CLASS,SEXUAL SELF‐EXPRESSION,AND GAY COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

The visible and political gay community has been characterized as an increasingly middle-class, white institution. It is hypothesized that this middle-class nature requires economic and psychosocial resources that are not available to the working class and, thus, may limit the expression of sexual orientation for the working class. An analysis of data from the multicity Urban Men's Health Study supports this hypothesis. Nine of 14 hypothesized effects are statistically significant and indicate that working-class men who are homosexually active are less likely to describe themselves as gay, are more likely to have heterosexual experience, and are less likely to be involved in the gay community. Thus, it is important to incorporate class differences when addressing the social and the political dynamics of sexual orientation.     

Narratives of pain in later life and conventions of storytelling

In this article, I discuss conventions of storytelling by drawing on two accounts of the experience of chronic pain that challenged my hearing. To engage with these accounts and to reflect on my hearing/reading practices I use narrative analysis. Narrative analysis acknowledges the way people tell their stories as integral to the meaning they convey. But definitions of narrative are often linear and causal and are closely linked to the conventions of storytelling that are dominant in our culture. Recognising that link enables the listener/reader to go beyond; to follow disjointed, chaotic accounts that are not easy to hear, and to situate speakers within or outside of dominant discourses. I argue that such a hearing contributes to an understanding of the self that provides an alternative to the modernist idea of an autonomous, self-controlled and independent individual, an alternative that values the lives and narratives of older people.     

Roma as the Others

While it is common to speak about ‘Roma culture’ as a single entity, the questions posed by Roma culture are more complex. We are speaking about the general issues pertaining to various manifestations of this culture in the context of the Czech Republic. It must be stressed that under ‘Roma,’ we understand a family resemblance social category that consists of overlapping smaller groups and that is not based on features that are universally shared across the whole category; there are similarities and some kind of prototype that keeps the category together. Also, this culture is in no way completely separated from the majority (Czech) culture and it shares many features with it and vice versa. Because of the particular history, there are no language barriers, there are no religious differences and also community values and aims are broadly similar. So when we speak about minority/majority, we must try to avoid thinking in terms of distinctive and separate entities.     

The Structure of Motives*

It is argued that decisions are processes that occur in the ordinary course of a human life and that actions taken in life, when they are not habitual, follow such decisions. Decisions are undertaken in the framework of socially validated identities and are accompanied by vocabularies of motive which serve to guide action as well as to justify them. How then are these decisions reached? These decisions are reached, it is argued, by using various objective structures and three cases—Astrology in Ceylon, the Cuban Missile crisis and the Azande Oracles are used to support this claim and to propose a dialectical and interactionist theory of the relationship between actor and motives. The availability of such objective structures allows an actor to use them to legitimize his lines of action as well as to justify them in any future challenges.     

The social life of homelessness: Myths and social standing

There are two groups of people, the Insiders and the Outsiders. Insiders have access to a network of social transactions that enable them to tap into resources and information that lead to employment, housing, and other opportunities for upward mobility. These processes are often informal, and sometimes exclusive. The social networks that Outsiders have pertain largely to the acquisition of a meal or a night's shelter. They do not have access to the better-endowed social networks of Insiders, and are therefore not privy to the informational and resources exchange that takes place therein. This translates into fewer job interviews, fewer housing applications, etc. Finally, this means that when an Outsider experiences a Stressor (i.e., the flu, eviction, unemployment), it can take on crisis proportions leading ultimately to homelessness. However dim the prospects of Outsiders are, there are specific corrective processes, which can be implemented.