A Critical Examination of the Social Contagion Image of Collective Behavior: the Case of the Enfield Monster*

This paper makes an initial statement regarding the conceptual and empirical utility of the social contagion image as posited by Blumer and Klapp. Their position is then criticized on the basis of its assumption that unverified and unusual sensory experiences, mobilization processes, and mass preoccupations are equivalent and undifferentiated products of social contagion. Further, the social contagion approach is unable to adequately account for differential participation in these collective behavior events. Most of these problems stem from the assumed discontinuity between collective and institutional behavior embodied in the social contagion perspective. An alternative approach is posited which suggests that communication processes, availability of the population for participation, and institutional demands provide a more adequate explanation of differential participation with respect to unusual sensory experiences, mobilization, and mass preoccupation. A case study of a monster sighting in a rural community is presented and examined from this alternate perspective.     

SERIAL CORRELATION AND SPECTRAL MOMENT STATISTICS1

Distributions of ratios of weighted independent chi-square variables are found in closed form. Such density functions are of interest in the theory of serial correlation and spectral moment estimation.     

The role of Lean at the interface with between operations management and applied services within a large aerospace organisation: a boundary spanning perspective

Increased complexity in large design and manufacturing organisations requires improvements at the operations management (OM)–applied service (AS) interface areas to improve project effectiveness. The aim of this paper is explore the role of Lean in improving the longitudinal efficiency of the OM–AS interface within a large aerospace organisation using Lean principles and boundary spanning theory. The methodology was an exploratory longitudinal case approach including exploratory interviews (n = 21), focus groups (n = 2), facilitated action-research workshops (n = 2) and two trials or experiments using longitudinal data involving both OM and AS personnel working at the interface. The findings draw upon Lean principles and boundary spanning theory to guide and interpret the findings. It was found that misinterpretation, and forced implementation, of OM-based Lean terminology and practice in the OM–AS interface space led to delays and misplaced resources. Rather both OM and AS staff were challenged to develop a cross boundary understanding of Lean-based boundary (knowledge) objects in interpreting OM requests. The longitudinal findings from the experiments showed that the development of Lean Performance measurements and lean Value Stream constructs was more successful when these Lean constructs were treated as boundary (knowledge) objects requiring transformation over time to orchestrate improved effectiveness and in leading to consistent terminology and understanding between the OM–AS boundary spanning team.     

“She foreswore her womanhood”: Psychoanalytic views of female homosexuality

Just as in early psychoanalytic views of female sexual development women's sexual anatomy, psychic development, and object relations were seen relative to male norms and found wanting, in much of psychoanalytic thinking the sexual and psychic development of women in lesbian relationships are seen relative to heterosexual women and found lacking. Various etiological explanations of female homosexuality attempt to isolate a particular developmental arrest or disorder characteristic of female homosexual relations. This paper reviews the major psychoanalytic formulations of female homosexuality and discusses them in terms of two phallocentric assumptions: 1.) A woman who loves a woman must be a man, or be like a man, or must want to be a man; and 2.) A relationship between two women must always remain incomplete compared to the complementarity assumed in a heterosexual relationship. Increased understanding of the sexual desires and experience of women in lesbian relationships would contribute to expanded perspectives about female sexuality and development. The paper offers two paradigms for thinking about homosexual object choice which are not based on analogies to pathological conditions.If you don't know the kind of person I am and I don't know the kind of person you are a pattern that others made may prevail in the world and following the wrong god home we may miss our star. from A Ritual to Read to Each Other, William Stafford     

Preliminary results of the IRCA legalization programs at the end of phase I

A remarkable gulf in interpretation and evaluation of the 1986 implementation of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) exists between various schools of analysts. Some feel that the law has not changed conditions much, while others consider the legalization program and employer sanctions successful. Altogether, IRCA included 6 specific legalization opportunities. The 2 major ones concerned aliens who had resided illegally in the US since January 1, 1982 and alien farm workers who had worked illegally in the US for at least 90 days between May 1, 1985 and May 1, 1986. Issues concerning the pre-1982 or general legalization program include 1) the 5-year gap between the eligibility cutoff and the start of the legalization program made the principal US legalization program more restrictive than comparable legalization policies in other market economy countries, 2) it did not provide for immediate derivative legislation for family members of an illegal alien eligible for legalization, and 3) analysts disagree on the evaluation and the effectiveness of the public information campaign to inform eligible aliens of the legalization opportunity. The application procedure for the Special Agricultural Worker or SAW was much simpler than for the general legalization program. SAW applicants could apply at US borders. 10% of SAW applications were denied, due to fraud and other reasons, as opposed to 2% for applicants to the major legalization program. Both programs attracted mainly Mexican applicants. The total number of SAW applications received will help to determine future need for alien farm workers. 1 of the most important differences between the SAW and the pre-1982 legalization programs is the legal status of the newly legalized: 1) to secure permanent resident alien status, pre-1982 program applicants must pass civics and English examinations within a set period of time, whereas SAW applicants do not; and 2) SAW applicants are eligible for a broader range of social benefits than those in the major program.     

Programming for preventing sexual abuse and abduction: what does it mean when it works?

Many kinds of educational programs and other approaches to teaching children about the dangers of sexual abuse and abduction by strangers can have the "side effect" of creating new anxieties in the children. The program described in this article is effective without introducing negative, anxiety-producing stories, examples, and other warnings.     

Examining the Impact of COVID-19 on Parental Stress: A Study of Foster Parents

Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal - The overarching purpose of this exploratory study was to understand how foster parents’ parenting-related stress levels have changed over the course...