Cost-containment,computers and confidentiality

The profession of social work has clear standards to follow in protecting confidentiality when a client discloses information in a psychotherapy session. These standards are examined in relation to an ever-increasing diresrefard for privacy as staff of managed care for mental health services and employee assistance programs gather and store information in computer databases, with the overall objective of cost-containment. Ethical principles are discussed and suggestions are made for safeguarding, the client's right to privacy.     

Group formation,styles, and grammars of commonality in local activism

This article argues that in order to analyse democracy as a pattern constantly processed in a given society, it is useful to look at activist groups’ agenda setting and recruitment principles, group bonds and boundaries, and how these actions direct and influence ways of creating the common. Based on an ethnographic study on bicycle activism in Helsinki, Finland, it describes a local critical mass movement that was successful in promoting a bicycle friendly and sustainable city, yet dissolved due to lack of people involved, and the bicycle demonstrations stopped at a moment of high public interest. This empirical puzzle is addressed by combining three theoretical perspectives: Kathleen Blee’s work on path dependencies in nascent activist groups; Nina Eliasoph and Paul Lichterman’s work on group styles, and Laurent Thévenot’s work on the grammars of commonality. These theoretical tools help understand the sense of what is deemed possible, desirable and feasible in activist groups, and the consequences thereof to social movement ‘success’ and ‘failure’. The article claims that everyday practices and interaction are crucial in understanding the ‘democratic effects’ of social movements. It concludes that following specific processes of politicization and their conditionings in activist groups provides keys to understanding contextual differences in democracies without resorting to methodological nationalism or to exaggerated global isomorphism, and thus may contribute to figuring out how to succeed global action plans over wicked, pressing problems like global warming.     

Ethnicity, cultural disparity and residential mobility: Empirical analysis of Hong Kong

This paper investigates the residential mobility patterns among Hong Kong’s various ethnic groups, grounded on the Spatial Assimilation Theory. The results first show that immigrants in general have contributed the most to the residential movement of Hong Kong’s populace. Nonetheless, disparities in residential mobility patterns have been observed among these immigrants. Wealthier immigrants, for instance westerners, by relocating to non-new town areas of the New Territories, show no signs of acculturation to local Hong Kong community. Also, while public rental housing has managed to relocate and gather ethnical groups, such as new arrivals from the Chinese Mainland and South Asians with permanent residence status, to new town areas in the New Territories (N.T.), the out-migration of private-sector residents from new towns to the outskirt areas of the N.T. has turned these new towns to multiethnic enclaves. For South Asians whom have yet to obtain permanent residence, they appear to have segregated themselves from the locals in urban areas and formed their own ethnic concentrations (i.e. Chungking Mansions in Kowloon). Lastly, the home-moving pattern of long-term Chinese immigrants is very similar to that of local Hong Kong residents, which can be regarded as a sign of assimilation. Policy implications derived from these findings are then discussed.     

Gangs,identity, and cultural performance

Although the notion of identity has received substantial attention from sociologists and psychologists, it has not been well developed in the gang literature. Identity accounts for a person's sense of self, which is based on meaningful social interactions and group participation, and becomes a source for publicly performing social roles. Gang membership is one such role that merits significant attention, and existing theories about identity and role performance can help explain variations in criminal behavior among members. This article applies multiple perspectives on social, personal, and collective identity to gangs and gang members. It offers principles to explain how gang identities fuel social performances that mimic, induce, or involve criminal behavior.     

Media use,social cohesion,and cultural citizenship: an analysis of a Chinese metropolis

The emergence of new social strata and plural identities are two of the most profound changes in China's social transition toward integration into the global economic system. Differentiating three dimensions of cultural citizenship identity (i.e., cosmopolitan, national, and local), this study seeks to depict the paths of influence in the formation of such identities that involve reality construction by the media and evolving patterns of social stratification. Analysing data from a 2009 Shanghai survey, we found a strong relationship between individuals' consumption of local media contents and their local identity. Further, their perceptions of media's centripetal and centrifugal forces have significant effects on their identities, and the Internet has different effects from the traditional media, although such influences vary across different social strata.     

Consuming work: computers, subjectivity and appropriation in the university workplace

The introduction of technologies has long been a central issue in the sociology of work. This has, however, largely been analysed in terms of worker displacement, deskilling and management control, while little empirical work has focused on questions conceming subjectivity. Current interest in Foucauldian approaches to questions of work and identity has remained primarily theoretical in nature and similarly lacks a sustained discussion of agency. Recent work on the relation between consumption and work has begun to provide a more nuanced framework for discussing the context-specific forms of appropriation in the workplace and their relation to workplace subjectivities. This article, based on a study of individuals’ relationships with the personal computer in the university workplace, adopts a consumption-based approach to explore the complex interplay between subjectivity, technology and work. It examines how the introduction of the personal computer articulates with the interweaving of a ‘professional self’ and a sense of self drawn from the non-work realm. These different subjectivities relate to different tactics of appropriation: appropriation by mastery and by domestication of the work environment. Technologies themselves, however, also participate in the reconfiguration of work spaces and routines, involving questions of competence, knowledge and power, time and space, and the boundaries between home and work, in the new environments of computerised academia.     

Ideology,cultural frameworks,and the process of revolution

Conclusions: The varying role of culture The English and French revolutions were not the product of uniquely Western crises of capitalism or absolutism. They shared many elements with profoundly similar crises in the Eastern states of the Ottoman Empire and China. The divergence of Eastern and Western civilizations after the mid-seventeenth century thus cannot be simply attributed to a structural difference between Western revolutions and Eastern peasant rebellions or dynastic crises. In terms of institutional changes, particularly changes in local class structure, more extensive changes followed the seventeenth-century crises in Ottoman Turkey and Ming China than followed the English Revolution. The entire question of the divergence of Eastern and Western economic and political development, of Western dynamism and Eastern stagnation in the early modern period, therefore needs reexamination. In particular, the manner in which Western Europe forged ahead of the advanced Eastern civilizations of Islam and China needs to be explained in a way that accommodates the similarities of the seventeenth-century crises in each.Focusing on cultural frameworks and how they governed reactions to state crises and shaped state reconstruction provides an entry point for such an explanation. Different ideological legacies, embedded in state reconstruction after the seventeenth-century crises, profoundly influenced the later divergence of East and West.Discussions of culture and revolutions have been obfuscated by arguments over whether material or cultural and ideological factors are the primary agents of change. Clearly this false dilemma — asking whether history is governed by Marxist materialism or Hegelian idealism — fails to capture historical reality. A number of scholars have tried to overcome this dichotomy. Clifford Geertz, Natalie Davis, and Robert Darnton have turned to deep analysis of texts or events, analysis designed to illustrate the creativity of individuals and groups in producing symbols and actions that both express and shape their material conditions. Other authors — Giddens and Bourdieu — have put forth general theories of culture that stress the ability of individuals to appropriate cultural elements and use them to reconstruct or reinforce material and institutional structures. All of these approaches attempt to free individuals from the determinism of materialist constraints, and also from the mechanical reproduction of a dominant culture. These approaches therefore have the virtue of avoiding either a simple socioeconomic or cultural determination of individual action. Yet they also are almost useless for long-term, causal historical explanation, for they tend to reduce to a halfway house between materialism and idealism, blandly asserting that, in general, individuals respond to both their material and their cultural environments with (more or less) creative responses that both reproduce and alter those environments.But as we have just observed, the creative response to a changing environment is not constant. These theories of culture fail to appreciate temporal variation, that the role of culture may be quite different in particular concrete historical settings. At some times, as in politically stable periods, the level of cultural innovation may be low; at other times, as in prerevolutionary periods, ideological innovation may increase, but chiefly in response to material forces that create a social crisis. At still other times, as during state breakdown and the ensuing struggle for power, ideological creativity may rise to great heights and develop its own dynamics. And in the restabilization of authority after a breakdown, as the ideological creations of the power struggle become embedded in the postrevolutionary cultural framework, cultural patterns and ideologies may dominate the future possibilities for material as well as cultural change.Interestingly, it was precisely those revolutions that failed to overcome traditional rule fully but did experience a phase of creative, tradition-repudating ideology, namely England and France, that left a legacy of fruitful and dynamic tension in postbreakdown society. Although the Puritans and Jacobins faded after the revolutions, a part of their views remained in a rich stock of antitraditional symbols, institutions, and ideals. State reconstructions in those countries thus were continually challenged by claims to principles that hedged absolute authority. In contrast, the ideological response that occurred in tradition-reinforcing cases of state breakdown — as in the Ottoman Empire, China, and Hapsburg Spain — sought to purify and reaffirm traditional institutions. In these cases, the crisis was blamed on deviation from orthodoxy, and the new regimes sought to strip away variety in the extant cultural framework, purging elements perceived as heterodox. The reconstruction of state and social institutions allowed a recovery of traditional prosperity; but the impoverishing of the cultural framework of post-breakdown society reduced the basis for future dynamism and fundamental change. Meiji Japan was a hybrid case, as marginal elites did sweep away certain aspects of the traditional government and its status system, releasing resources for development and imperial expansion. But the Meiji Restoration still was framed in traditional and conservative ideology, which left a legacy of conservative and traditonal emphasis that continued to dominate much of political and social life.In short, theories of culture that simply describe the interaction of individuals with cultural elements in general terms are gravely incomplete. Cultural frameworks act with particular power at the times when states are rebuilt or revised in times of state breakdown or crisis. A more complete theory of culture — whose development has begun in the works of Wuthnow and Swidler — thus must recognize that cultural dynamics vary over time, becoming more fluid and more creative at some times, more rigid and more limiting at others.But in addition, these diverse outcomes suggest that macrosociology has unduly neglected the role of culture in constraining state structure and dynamics, particularly during periods of state crisis and reconstruction. Theories of social change must recognize that at some concrete historical junctures it is material forces, while at other such junctures it is cultural frameworks and ideologies, that play the dominant role in causing and directing change.This essay is an elaboration of chapter 5 of J. Goldstone's Revolution and Rebellion in the Early Modern World (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1991).

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Medical rationalization, cultural lag, and the malpractice crisis

The theses of this paper are that (1) the practice of medicine has become more formally rationalized in the past century; (2) this rationalization process has been retarded by the professional aspects of medical practice, e.g., the service ethic and the medical profession's exclusive jurisdiction over medicine; (3) this retardation is evident in cultural lag between the development of medical knowledge and how medicine is practiced; and (4) the "malpractice crisis" is a particular force which is accelerating the rationalization process and is overcoming lag. Data from physician surveys and interviews are presented which show the utility of a rationalization-cultural lag model in generating a number of substantive questions pertinent to the quality of rationalized medical care.     

Ethnic economies, affirmative action, and mining cultural capital

If the goal of affirmative action is to make the marketplace a more congenial place for women and minority persons to improve their economic situation, then its champions and detractors are bound to be disappointed. Only a comparatively small number of persons will ever benefit materially from such policies, and they are not likely to view their accomplishment as requiring them to give something back to the larger community or group in whose name the assistance was provided. An affirmative action plan organized around practices common to “ethnic economies,” on the other hand, would spread the benefit and the responsibility for an individual person's material success to a bigger and more inclusive community or ethnic group.     

Entrepreneurial gain,cultural similarity and transnational entrepreneurship

The aim of this article is to analyse the factors affecting the motivations of immigrant entrepreneurs to generate an entrepreneurial gain (positive impact on home and host countries). We consider that positive reasons for emigrating can increase transnational entrepreneurship and mutual benefits for both societies. To test this hypothesis we present a model using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). This model explains the relations between motivations, cultural similarities, institutions and transnational linkage potentials. We designed an ad hoc search of Argentinean entrepreneurs established in Spain, both as EU citizens and without legal EU status, using online social networks. We applied an online questionnaire to 214 such entrepreneurs. We conclude that institutional rules (formal and informal) greatly influence the location decisions of firms and immigrant entrepreneurs’ motivations for starting transnational business because they provide the frame for the development of profitable opportunities.     

Transgression narratives,dialogic voicing,and cultural change1

The narrative discursively analyzed in this paper is taken from a larger study involving life history interviews with Latina/o immigrants in California. It exemplifies a type of narrative among these interviews in which tellers recount how they or their family members have broken with cultural expectations. In this story, the teller, a Nicaraguan woman, recounts how her uncle violated traditional values in her family by enlisting in the Sandinista army during wartime. Despite discursively distancing herself from this transgression, she ends by evaluating the transgressor and his recent accomplishments positively. Through an analysis of the appraisal strategies and interdiscursivity within this narrative, the paper contends that the narrators of such stories can go beyond managing deviations to dialogically position themselves among competing ‘social and historical voices’( Bakhtin 1981 ). Thus, the paper contends that transgression narratives represent the tellers’ efforts to come to terms with cultural changes in their communities.     

Social order,cultural capital and citizenship*

The question of whether education should be seen as an instrument of social order is an old topic in the social sciences. There exist several theories concerning this question. Two of these rival theories are dealt with in this paper. On the basis of each, historical data have been looked at anew and empirical research has been carried out into the prevailing conditions in the Netherlands. On the basis of the first theory, which was inspired by Bourdieu and which concerns economic, cultural (including educational) and social capital, data on the Dutch history between the seventeenth and the nineteenth centuries have been reanalysed with respect to the attitude of the diverse sections of the dominant class towards culture in general and the university in particular. Dutch history can be regarded as a national variant of the universal tensions between ‘culture’and ‘knowledge’and between ‘culture’and ‘economics’in human societies. On the basis of Bourdieu's theory it is assumed that under the prevailing social conditions elementary schools will differ in ‘educational status’in the schools market. Empirical investigation confirms this hypothesis. The ‘educational status’of elementary schools mediates (reproduces) almost all of the influence of the childrens’social background on their school career, and reinforces this influence. On the basis of the second theory, which is based on the work of Meyer, Boli and Ramirez, data on the Dutch history in the Enlightenment period have been reanalysed with respect to the rise of mass education. These historical data give substantial evidence to the theory that the construction of the nation-state is of decisive importance for the rise of mass education. Our empirical investigation, however, does not confirm the hypothesis that in the actual situation elementary schools differ in ‘comprehensiveness’. Neither schools nor parents are oriented towards integration. Rather, the contrasts seem to be getting sharper in the 1980s and the schools as well as the social classes seem to be distancing themselves further from each other. Various sections of the dominant class are busy strengthening their position of power in education. In short, the use of schools to constitute citizens does not lessen the pressure towards differentiation. Thus, the theory of Boli and Ramirez explains the rise of mass education, but cannot explain its social class bound form, a fact that can be explained very well by Bourdieu's theory. Therefore the theories of both Bourdieu and Boli and Ramirez should be regarded not as rivalizing, but as complementary.     

Peer cultural socialisation: a resource for minority students’ cultural identity,life satisfaction,and school values

ABSTRACT

This study investigated how peers can contribute to cultural minority students’ cultural identity, life satisfaction, and school values (school importance, utility, and intrinsic values) by talking about cultural values, beliefs, and behaviours associated with heritage and mainstream culture (peer cultural socialisation). We further distinguished between heritage and mainstream identity as two separate dimensions of cultural identity. Analyses were based on self-reports of 662 students of the first, second, and third migrant generation in Germany (Mean age = 14.75 years, 51% female). Path analyses revealed that talking about heritage culture with friends was positively related to heritage identity. Talking about mainstream culture with friends was negatively associated with heritage identity, but positively with mainstream identity as well as school values. Both dimensions of cultural identity related to higher life satisfaction and more positive school values. As expected, heritage and mainstream identity mediated the link between peer cultural socialisation and adjustment outcomes. Findings highlight the potential of peers as socialisation agents to help promote cultural belonging as well as positive adjustment of cultural minority youth in the school context.     

Income inequality,cultural capital,and high school students' academic achievement in OECD countries: A moderated mediation analysis

This study examines how social context, in this case, income inequality, shapes the role of cultural capital in educational success. First, we revisit the associations between (objectified) cultural capital and academic achievement, and cultural capital's role in mediating the relationship between family SES and academic achievement. More importantly, we explore how national-level income inequality moderates these two relationships. By analyzing a multilevel dataset of 32 OECD countries, a combination of PISA 2018 data and several national indexes, we find that: (1) cultural capital not only has a positive association with students' academic achievement but also acts as a significant mediator of the relationship between family SES and academic achievement in OECD countries; (2) both cultural capital's association with academic achievement and it's mediating role are stronger in more equal countries than in unequal ones. The findings shed new light on understanding how cultural capital shapes intergenerational education inequality across countries with different levels of inequality.     

How cultural difference affects international tourism public relations websites: A comparative analysis using Hofstede's cultural dimensions

This research aims to employ Hofstede's cultural dimensions as a frame to identify valid explanatory factors that account for differences in countries’ tourism websites. The study results support that Hofstede's cultural dimensions can be a valuable tool for developing public relations strategies conducive to building and maintaining relationships with multicultural audiences.