Analyzing gender in public places: Rethinking Goffman’s vision of everyday life

In this study, I discuss critically some of Goffman’s work on public places, with regard to how that work represents women’s experience in public and how women’s experience changes the notions of public places that Goffman portrayed. I draw on an eighteen-month participant observation of one small city (Santa Fe, NM) and a set of in-depth interviews done with both female and male residents of the city. Here, I concentrate on three areas: the normalized distaste for public places that is encouraged in women by their fear of crime in public and the measures they are informed they must take as crime-conscious pedestrians and shoppers; street remarks that are often difficult to manage and impossible to resolve successfully; and access information—information the woman discloses that can be used as a clue to her identity and home and, potentially at least, as ammunition for further harassment of her. I use these areas to illustrate how gender-conscious appraisal is necessary in order to appreciate the character of public places. Her book,Urban Ritual, is forthcoming from University of California Press.     

School, Family and County Effects on Adolescents’ Later Life Chances

This paper explores the links between family, school and area background influences during adolescence and later adult economic outcomes. The empirical analysis is based on data covering the period 1979 to 1996, drawn from the 1979 US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. For a sample of individuals aged 14–19 in 1979, we estimate the association between family, school and area characteristics when growing up, on adult earnings capacity and poverty risk. We show that including all these influences jointly, family and school quality generally have significant associations with adult outcomes, but that area influences generally do not.Simon Burgess, Department of Economics, University of Bristol and CASE, 8 Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1TN, UK; e-mail: Simon.Burgess@bristol.ac.ukKaren Gardiner, Department of Social and Policy Sciences, University of Bath, Claverton Down Bath BA2 7AY, UK; e-mail: K.S.Gardiner@bath.ac.ukCarol Propper, Department of Economics, University of Bristol and CASE, 8 Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1TN, UK; e-mail: Carol.Propper@bristol.ac.uk     

THE FAMILY CRISIS INTERVENTION LITERATURE: WHAT IS MEANT BY “FAMILY”?*

Family crisis intervention is a rapidly growing area of clinical care in family therapy which lacks clear conceptualization, especially with respect to how “family” fits into crisis intervention theory. This paper integrates recent concepts from the family therapy literature into three views: family as background, family as context, and family as a unit. The family crisis intervention literature (56 publications) is reviewed and categorized according to these three views. Clarity in how “family” is viewed and consistency between theory and practice are examined. Recommendations for improving the conceptualization of “family” in family crisis intervention theory and practice are made.     

Balancing regulation and affordability of housing

Housing regulation is a growing concern because affordability of housing has been declining and regulations which increase housing costs have been escalating. Many of the regulations which have been adopted fulfill goals of protection of health, safety, or welfare; preservation of the environment; or improved energy conservation. Little attention, however, has been paid to the effect of these regulations on affordability. This article reviews the role of government regulation on housing, and discusses the parameters of the affordability/regulatory issue.Helpful comments and suggestions were made by Vincent Brannigan, Bob Cleveland, Deborah Godwin, Roger Swagler, Anne Sweaney, and Frank Walter.Dr. Meeks received her Ph.D. from The Ohio State University and is interested in housing economics and policy, and the economic well-being of households.     

Interruptions and nonverbal gender differences

The purpose of this study was to examine gender differences in selected nonverbal behaviors associated with interruptions. Six graduate student groups involving 18 female and 17 male subjects were videotaped. The data for the study were 140 cross-sex interruption sequences and a matched, randomly selected sample of noninterruption sequences. A category system using self-related activity, gestures, body lean, facial expression and eye gaze was developed and used to code the data. There were no significant findings related to interruptions in the categories of self-related activity or gestures. Women leaned away from the group significantly more often than did men and when leaning away, women were more likely to be interrupted. Women were also more likely to be interrupted when smiling than were men, and women smiled significantly more when taking the speaking turn. Finally, women were interrupted significantly more often than men when they did not look at the turn-taker. The high educational status of the subjects was examined in the discussion of the findings.     

Making people feel good: Workers' constructions of meaning in interactive service jobs

This paper analyses the experiences of women who work in residential real estate sales, to identify the factors that lead women to choose and keep this occupation. In-depth interviews provide the data for a case study of the importance of various job traits in determining job satisfaction for a specific category of workers. The more general question concerns workers' constructions of the emotional labor involved in interactive service work. Within a general queueing model, this paper focuses on job queues. Specifically, I examine workers' preferences for jobs and the factors that contribute to positive ranking of the job after workers' initial experiences with it. Findings show that although the women's experiences on the job have disappointed their expectations, most remain satisfied with their work and plan to stay in the field. The reasons for this high level of satisfaction are related to characteristics of the workers—the women's educational and skill levels, and the limited alternatives that they perceive for themselves, and characteristics of the job—its autonomous nature and the emotional labor it entails.     

Out from under: Countertransference in the treatment of the masochistic youngster

The masochistic youngster tends to evoke in the treatment situation precisely the responses which impede progress. This article discusses countertransference issues and the dynamics of masochism, understood as a protection for a frightened ego rather than merely a willful manipulation. Difficulties in and approaches to dealing with the environment of children in residential treatment are presented.Ms. Smaldino is currently in private practice and supervisor of psychotherapy for the New Hope Guild.