Theorizing and Analyzing Citizenship in Multicultural Societies

I argue that sociologists have directed insufficient attention to the study of citizenship. When citizenship is studied, sociologists tend to concentrate on just one facet: rights. I elaborate four conceptual facets of citizenship. I link two—citizenship as rights and belonging—to theoretical elaborations of multiculturalism. Considering multiculturalism as a state discourse and set of policies, rather than a political or normative theory, I outline linkages between multiculturalism and two additional facets of citizenship: legal status and participation. Over the last 15 years, the idea of multiculturalism has come under withering criticism, especially in Europe, in part because it is claimed that multiculturalism undermines common citizenship. Yet countries with more multicultural policies and a stronger discourse of pluralism and recognition are places where immigrants are more likely to become citizens, more trusting of political institutions, and more attached to the national identity. There is also little evidence that multicultural policies fuel majority backlash, and some modest evidence that such policies enlarge conceptions of inclusive membership. By studying claims‐making and the equality of immigrant‐origin groups, we see that the participatory aspect of citizenship needs to take center stage in future work in political sociology, social theory, social movements, immigration, and race/ethnicity.     

Tracking residential outcomes of supported independent living programs for persons with serious mental illness

This study seeks to document patterns and reasons of leaving housing, and identify factors associated with different types of exits for a cohort of 452 residents with serious mental illness entering supported independent living (SIL) in Philadelphia, PA. The study cohort was tracked through an integrated administrative database comprised information on basic demographic and clinical characteristics, length of stay, homeless shelter use, and publicly funded behavioral health services use. A convenience sample of 46 SIL leavers and their support staff provided data on scenarios of leaving. The findings of this study suggest that departure from SIL is not a unitary phenomenon, but involving plausibly favorable as well as unfavorable circumstances. Multivariate analysis based on administrative tracking data suggests demographic and clinical factors, housing setting, and service use factors to have effects on leaving SIL and distinct types of exit examined in this study. Data procured from the convenience sample highlight the potential roles that program rules and resident–staff relationships play in affecting housing tenure. Implications of the findings for the development of permanent supportive housing for persons with serious mental illness are discussed.     

Gender Differences in Job Challenge: A Matter of Task Allocation

Challenging job experiences are considered important prerequisites for management development and career success. Several researchers have suggested that women are given fewer challenging assignments than their male colleagues. To test this idea we performed two studies. The first examined possible gender differences in challenging job experiences at middle job levels. The results indicated that female employees had fewer challenging experiences in their jobs than their male counterparts. The second explored the proposition that differential assignment of challenging tasks to male and female subordinates underlies gender differences in job challenge. The results indeed suggest that supervisors' task allocation decisions are not gender‐blind and may result in women having fewer challenging job experiences than men.     

Women's Career Progression in Law Firms: Views from the Top,Views From Below

Law continues to be an attractive career path for women. Yet evidence shows that women's careers in law stagnate with proportionally small numbers of women progressing up the hierarchy from law graduate to partner. In this study we investigated how gendering and class processes impact on women's career progression. A major contribution is that we explored the heterogeneous views held by women below and above the partnership line, in Auckland's top law firms. Drawing on Acker's gendering processes (1990, 2006a) plus the accumulation of appropriate capitals needed to progress, we analysed 52 interview accounts. The women lawyers themselves were divided on how gendering and class processes impact on their career progression. Women partners accepted the hierarchical employment model of law and were confident in their role and place. Women below the partner line, while frustrated by the personal and professional requirements for success, did not demonstrate agency for change. In concluding, we reflect on the potential for change in the profession.     

Rocking the Cradle of Dutch Domesticity: A Radical Reinterpretation of Seventeenth-Century “Homescapes”1

In the light of a newly discovered source of thousands of seventeenth-century Dutch letters found in the English National Archive a case is made for a radical reinterpretation of seventeenth-century Dutch paintings. These so-called “homescapes” feature in the historiography of the modern home as proof of the fact that seventeenth-century Holland was the cradle of female domesticity. However, the captured Dutch letters written to the home front by seamen sailing on the large Dutch mercantile fleet, as well as the women’s letters to their seafaring husbands tell quite a different story. Especially the letters from the home front narrate of dire circumstances and shed a new light on the subjects of the homescapes, more in particular on the subject of letter-reading and letter-writing females, and intimate mother-and-child scenes. The nineteenth-century revaluation of the glory of seventeenth-century Dutch painting in general and the homescapes in particular explains how the myth of Holland as the cradle of female domesticity came into existence.     

Analyzing Disability in Socially Responsible Companies

The incorporation of People with Disability (PWD) in organizations is a subject taken up by international organizations, such as the European Union and the United Nations, which has had subsequent consequences in Spain with the development of legislation and specific initiatives. In this paper we have considered the concept of disability as part of diversity and, above all, as a fundamental subject of human rights and justice, which has allowed us to include the collective of PWD among the stakeholders of companies. The research on the incorporation of disability as an integral part of the policies of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in companies is very recent, although the term Corporate Social Responsibility and Disability is already used. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the commitment with PWD of Spanish companies considered socially responsible by the sustainability indices used. We have included in four large dimensions (Stakeholders, Visibility, Human Resources and Accessibility) the indicators that have allowed us to analyze the information on PWD published by these companies in their sustainability reports or similar documents accessible through their websites. The results suggest that the companies are more concerned about improving their image towards the exterior than for the commitment with their own employees, which is consistent with the dimension Visibility being where the companies carry out more actions in favor of PWD.     

Gender Differences in the Sexual Well-Being of Mexican Adolescents

Objective: This study examines the associations of gender roles and sexual power with the sexual wellbeing of Mexican adolescents. Particularly we look at the role played by adolescent’s attitudes toward gender roles and sexual power regarding three aspects of their sexual well-being: satisfaction with one’s sex life; consistent condom use; and the refusal of unwanted sexual contact with one’s partner. Methods: we used logistic regression models to analyze possible associations between attitudes toward gender roles, and sexual power, with the sexual well-being of adolescents, using a random and representative sample of 4,738 sexually active teenagers from three Mexican states. Results: egalitarian attitudes are positively associated to high sexual satisfaction for female adolescents, whereas for males they favor the refusal of unwanted sex. Sexual power shows significant associations with consistent condom use for both males and females, and it also significantly increases the likelihood of high sexual satisfaction and refusal of unwanted sex among females. Conclusions: the findings suggest the relevance of overcoming traditional sex roles to achieve adolescent sexual well-being. In this sense, health and population policies should direct more substantial efforts in the promotion of gender equality among the adolescents and in the development of critical attitudes towards traditional gender norms.     

The impact of adult child emigration on the mental health of older parents

We explore whether older parents of adult children who emigrate experience, in the short term, increases in depressive symptoms and loneliness feelings compared to parents whose children do not migrate. We use data from the first two waves of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, which is a nationally representative sample of 8500 people aged 50 + living in Ireland. To deal with the endogeneity of migration, we apply fixed-effects estimation models and control for a broad range of life events occurring between the two waves. These include the emigration of a child but also events such as bereavement, onset of disease, retirement and unemployment. We find that depressive symptoms and loneliness feelings increase among the parents of migrant children but that the effect is only present for mothers. As the economic burden of mental health problems is high, our findings have potentially significant impacts for migrant-sending regions and countries.     

Internet Gambling Among High School Students in Hong Kong

The study investigated Internet gambling involvement and pathological gambling among Hong Kong adolescents aged 12–19 years. The diagnostic and statistical manual (4th edition) multiple response format for juveniles (DSM-IV-MR-J) (Fisher in J Gambl Stud 16:253–273, 2000) was filled by 1,004 students (597 boys, 407 girls) recruited by random selection of classes. The response rate was 86.6 %. Results indicate that more respondents participated in land-based gambling than Internet gambling (63.5 vs. 3.5 %) but online gamblers are 1.5 and 3.2 times more likely to develop pathological and at-risk gambling than non-Internet gamblers. Using the DSM-IV-MR-J criteria, 5.7 and 22.9 % of the Internet gamblers could be classified as at-risk gamblers and pathological gamblers, respectively. Majority (94.3 %) wagered online at home, and 91.4 % made their first bet before 18 years. Many perceived Internet gambling as a trendy (71.4 %) and safe entertainment (54.3 %). Problematic Internet gambling was significantly associated with the male gender, school grades, online gambling frequency, amount wagered and a gambling family environment. Survey results have implications for gambling research and preventive programs.     

A model-based approach to Spotify data analysis: a Beta GLMM

Digital music distribution is increasingly powered by automated mechanisms that continuously capture, sort and analyze large amounts of Web-based data. This paper deals with the management of songs audio features from a statistical point of view. In particular, it explores the data catching mechanisms enabled by Spotify Web API and suggests statistical tools for the analysis of these data. Special attention is devoted to songs popularity and a Beta model, including random effects, is proposed in order to give the first answer to questions like: which are the determinants of popularity? The identification of a model able to describe this relationship, the determination within the set of characteristics of those considered most important in making a song popular is a very interesting topic for those who aim to predict the success of new products.