Animal Abuse as Dirty Play

Animal abuse by children is generally regarded as an impulsive psychological act without instrumental benefit. This research takes a sociological approach to the topic, exploring the deliberate harm of animals as a particular kind of unsavory or dirty play that is part of adolescent socialization. Interviews were conducted with twenty‐five college undergraduate students who admitted to abusing animals earlier in their lives. Respondents considered their prior acts a form of everyday play having serious and thrilling overtones. At a deeper level, their abuse was an extraordinary form of play in that they also were appropriating adult culture. Because their appropriations stemmed from a wider culture racked with inconsistencies about the proper treatment of animals, respondents' presentations of self were split between those who no longer spoke of abuse as fun and admonished themselves for having done this and those who still clung to the idea that harming animals was fun and were seemingly untroubled by their former acts.     

The Market Response to the Sioux City DC-10 Crash

The 1989 DC-10 crash at Sioux City, Iowa presented a rare instance in which a potential threat to safety was both (i) intensely publicized over a short period and (ii) also amenable to the unobtrusive measurement of the market reaction it evoked. As such, it allowed a useful case study of the extent and duration of behavior change caused by a frightening event. Using reservations data from travel agencies in five states, this paper estimates the short-term effects of the Sioux City crash on passenger willingness to fly the DC-10. The data suggest that, in the first few weeks after the crash, more than one third of travelers who would normally have booked DC-10 flights chose instead to fly other aircraft. Within 2 months of the disaster, however, DC-10 bookings rebounded to within 10% of the level that would have been expected had the Sioux City crash not occurred. At no time, apparently, did the airlines that operate DC-10s use their "yield-management" computer pricing systems unofficially to lower DC-10 fares relative to those on other types of plane.     

Estimating Gross Labor-Force Flows

We present and apply an adjustment procedure for the Bureau of the Census and Bureau of Labor Statistics gross labor-force flows data that addresses two major defects in the data. First, an adjustment procedure is developed to take account of individuals with missing labor-force classifications who are not missing at random. Second, we provide a procedure for adjustment for individuals with spurious labor-force transitions arising because of classification errors in either the current or the previous Current Population Survey. Our procedures are applied to compute adjusted monthly gross change data for the period January 1977–December 1982. The average adjustment for nonrandom missing classifications ranges from –12% to 15% of the unadjusted gross change data. The average adjustment for spurious labor-force transitions reduces estimated movements by 8%–49%. The classification adjustment also increases estimated consecutive periods of unemployment by 18%. We apply several internal and external consistency checks to our procedure. In general, the adjustments appear reasonable. We also suggest some modifications of Current Population Survey procedures that could reduce the use of ex post adjustment procedures in the future.     

Logistic processes involving markovian minimization

The class of logistic processes involving geometric minimization introduced by Arnold (1989) is extended by replacing the Bernoulli sequence used in the definition of the process by a Markovian (0,1) sequence. A more flexible range of dependence structures is thus introduced. Parameter estimation and related processes are discussed.     

THEORIES OF ETHNIC SOCIAL DISTANCE: COMPARATIVE EMPIRICAL TESTS FOR THREE DISTINCT ETHNIC GROUPS

Social science theories of ethnic division and antipathy are tested empirically using survey and zip code data for representative samples of whites, African Americans, and Mexican Americans in Texas. Ordered logistic regression tests estimate the effects of theoretically relevant variables on probabilities of racial and ethnic out-group social distance. Competing social science theories of ethnic and racial social distance are tested for multiple groups. Statistical support is found for group attachment/identity theories and realistic group conflict theories in explaining variance in out-group social closeness. The socioeconomic theory was not found to be an important predictor of out-group social closeness.     

Social Capital,Knowledge, and the Environment: The Effect of Interpersonal Communication on Climate Change Knowledge and Policy Preferences

Abstract

This article contributes to the literature on social capital and the environment in two ways. First, we identify a relationship between interpersonal discussion networks and assessed and perceived individual scientific knowledge. We then examine if knowledge mediates the relationship between discussion networks and policy preferences about climate change (CC). Using nationally representative survey data, we examine the extent to which an individual’s interpersonal discussion network is related to knowledge on CC and support for CC policy. We find those who discuss climate have higher levels of perceived knowledge, but discussion is not related to individuals’ levels of assessed knowledge. We also find that knowledge does not fully mediate the relationship between discussion and policy preferences, implying that interpersonal discussion may influence CC policy preferences independent of perceived and assessed knowledge. We conclude with remarks about the importance of knowledge perception as well as offer some avenues to extend this research.     

Enhancing nonprofit resources through barter

This article discusses the objectives and formats that countertrade (barter) assumes as a means of expanding the financial and other resources of nonprofit institutions. Examples of the different types of agreements practiced by various types of institutions indicate the pervasiveness of the practice. The author calls for greater levels of institutional commitment to the proactive seeking and consummating of countertrade agreements.     

Career Counseling and Possible Selves: A Case Study

Process-oriented case analyses, which are the natural next step in understanding career interventions, are beginning to reveal subtle process changes across sessions. In this case, a 37-year-old physical therapist, who expressed dissatisfaction with her current position, participated in 8 sessions of individual career counseling with an experienced doctoral-level career psychologist. The Possible Selves Questionnaire (PSQ; Markus, 1987), the Symptom 90-R Checklist (Derogatis, 1983), and the Career Decision Scale (Osipow, 1987) were administered at pretesting, after 4 sessions, and at posttesting. Four client- and 2 counselor-process measures were also administered following each session. Results revealed expected changes in traditional outcome measures, and an increase followed by a decrease in future possible selves. Anxiety and vocational information seeking followed a sine-shaped pattern, and sleep disturbance increased at midcounseling and posttesting. Session depth and smoothness were highest when anxiety and information seeking were lowest. These findings, which coincide with other case study results, were integrated using an activation theory model of career intervention in which moderate anxiety serves as a motivator for constructive behavior change.