Central Questions and Some Answers: the State of the Sociology of Education

Schooling, Ideology and the Curriculum By L en B arton et al. (eds.)
Education and The State By R oger D ale et al. (eds.)
The Missing Half: Girls and Science Education By A lison K elly (ed.)     

Population pressures in Latin America

In 1950 Latin America's population of 165 million was on a par with the 166 million of North America. 2 decades of growth at nearly 3% a year pushed the total to 405 million in 1985, vs. 264 million in North America. Despite substantial fertility declines since the 1960s, continued growth is ensured by the demographic momentum built into the region's large and youthful population bases. UN medium projections put the 2025 total at 779 million, compared to 345 million in North America. This Bulletin examines the main demographic changes in Latin America since World War II and their links to economic and social changes in the region as well as their implications for international and social relations. The post World War II population surge was accompanied by massive rural-ruban and international migration, rapid urbanization, large labor shifts out of agriculture into industry and services, increased education for both men and women, and higher labor force participation for females. The rural exodus was spurred by extreme land tenure inequalities and the urban bias of postwar industrialization. The labor-saving bias of this industrialization forced exploding city populations to turn to the informal sector for jobs. Population pressures on city services and housing as well as jobs have been further exacerbated by overconcentration in a few large cities and economic downturns of the 1980s. Recent fertility declines seem to be the result of both increased access to family planning and the economic and social pressures posed by the gap between young adults' aspirations and their ability to realize them. Population and economic pressures could induce faster fertility declines than now projected but in the short run are likely to mean more employment problems, continued rapid urban growth, and even larger international immigration flows within the hemisphere, particularly to the US.     

Solution-focused group therapy for level 1 substance abusers

The present study compared solution-focused group therapy (SFGT) with a traditional problem-focused treatment for level 1 substance abusers. Outcome research on the effectiveness of solution-focused group therapy is minimal, especially in treating substance abusers. In the present study, clients were measured before and after treatment to determine therapeutic effectiveness. Clients in the solution-focused group significantly improved on both the Beck Depression Inventory and the Outcome Questionnaire. The clients in the comparison group did not improve significantly on either measure. Therapist skill level and adherence to theoretical models were measured in each group to reduce confounding variables.     

Anabolic androgenic steroids: use and perceived use in nonathlete college students

OBJECTIVE: The authors investigated the use and perceived use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) among nonathlete college students. PARTICIPANTS: The authors surveyed a sample of 485 nonathlete college students at a major metropolitan university. METHODS: They administered a survey on use and perceived use of AAS to the students. RESULTS: Forty-two participants (9%) reported using AAS (37 men, 5 women). Seniors were the most likely to use AAS (36%), and freshman the least likely (7%). Thirty-four percent of nonusers and 41% of users indicated they knew between 1 and 5 AAS users. Of the total sample, 36% perceived that 5% to 10% of nonathlete college students used AAS. Reasons for AAS use were because friends were using (7%), a desire to enhance physical appearance (45%), and a desire to increase physical performance (48%). CONCLUSIONS: These findings may have significant implications in planning strategic preventive educational programs, and health educators should target incoming college freshmen with the intent of dissuading AAS use.     

THE CHALLENGE OF MANUFACTURING ADVANTAGE

In spite of the significant progress made by a wide range of manufacturing companies over the past decade, few senior executives in U.S. firms would point to manufacturing as a significant source of competitive advantage. This paper seeks to explore some of the basic reasons for this. It begins by providing a framework for manufacturing competitiveness. It then outlines a handful of characteristics that seem to have been pervasive in a wide range of manufacturing competitiveness programs over the past decade. In contrast to those characteristics, it uses three quite different organizations to illustrate a very different mode for pursuing manufacturing competitiveness. Finally, the paper concludes by outlining three elements that appear to be essential in the successful pursuit of manufacturing advantage.     

Multiple social contexts in qualitative bereavement research

Little research focuses on the ways that bereaved family members react to and make meaning of their experience of the death of an elderly father and husband. In a qualitative, ethnographic study of 34 bereaved families we examined how family members respond to two inter-related social contexts: 1. social-cultural values and attitudes such as attitudes toward grieving for old persons, and 2. the inter-personal dyadic relationship between interviewer and interviewee. An underlying theme of uncertainty pervades the study participants' views of what is normal and expected in their own process of bereavement. Implications for future bereavement research are suggested.     

Variation,contact and social indexicality in the acquisition of (ing) by teenage migrants1

We discuss some apparent limits on the acquisition of variation suggested by our recent work exploring how teenage migrants to the U.K. acquire local norms of variation. We focus on the constraints on the (ing) variable that emerged from a multivariate analysis. We find evidence for a systematisation of the variable among immigrants, involving
some linguistically and cognitively predictable constraints, but also the emergence of social constraints not found in the teenage native speakers. We argue that transformation of variable constraints is a necessary artefact of the inherent complexity of sociolinguistic variables, particularly those with social indexicality. This research note: (1) delineates some theoretical and practical questions involved in incorporating social indexing in variationist studies, especially of non‐native speakers; and (2) further explores reallocation (transformation) in the study of language contact. Wir behandeln mögliche Grenzen des Erwerbs soziolinguistischer Variation, die unsere jüngste Studie zum Erwerb lokaler Variationsnormen jugendlicher Immigranten in Großbritannien zu zeigen scheint. In unserer Ergebnisdarstellung konzentrieren wir uns auf die Faktoren, die die Verwendung der (ing) Variable beschränken. Die Ergebnisse gingen aus einer multivariaten Datenanalyse hervor. Wir zeigen, dass die Variable unter Immigranten systematisiert wird, was das Erscheinen einiger linguistischer und kognitiv voraussagbarer Faktoren aber auch einiger interessanter sozialer Faktoren einschließt, die nicht unter den jugendlichen Muttersprachlern gefunden werden konnten. Wir zeigen weiterhin, dass die Umwandlung variabler Faktoren ein notwendiges Artefakt der inhärenten Komplexität soziolinguistischer Variablen ist, insbesondere von Variablen mit sozialer Indexikalität. Diese Notiz umreißt einige praktische Fragen in Bezug auf (1) die Einfügung sozialer Indizes in variationslinguistische Studien, insbesondere solcher, die Nicht‐Muttersprachler betreffen, und (2) die weitere Erforschung des Prozesses der Umverteilung in der Untersuchung von Sprachkontaktphänomenen. [German]     

Alcohol-related problems among adolescents and the role of a sense of coherence

Alcohol abuse is generally regarded as a major risk factor for antisocial problem behaviour among adolescents. On the other hand, personal coping strategies hypothetically can be seen as protective of alcohol-related behaviour problems. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of sense of coherence (SOC) on alcohol-related behavioural problems in an SOC-alcohol intoxication model. The method of study was a cross-sectional, school-based questionnaire study of 4,305, 16- and 19-year-old adolescents. We found that both a SOC and the frequency of alcohol intoxication were independently associated with alcohol-related behavioural problems. Our model shows that the combination of these two independent factors amplifies them considerably, and adolescents with a strong SOC, despite frequent intoxication, were protected to a large degree from experiencing alcohol-related problems.