THE SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST “I” AS IRONIST: TOWARD ALTERNATIVE WORLDS*

Symbolic Interactionist Irony (SII) has as its aspiration, possibility, and achievement the creation of alternative worlds of seeing and doing. The constituent features of irony as detached from and skeptical of all available perspectives elevate its status to that as transcendental of extant reality. The internal logic-of-discovery and reflexive mood of SII conclude that all knowledge have an inseparable personal and autonomous basis. Hence, there are alternative ways but no final way of knowing. Knowledge without final truth value is–and can only be–an alternative world of seeing and doing. Nonetheless, an ironic alternative world is seen as an emergent that has its own integrity from the interaction of facts against analytic perspectives. The works of Erving Goffman and Joseph R. Gusfield, and their roots in the writings of Kenneth Burke, are read as having conceptual resonance for SII as an intellectual style. An ironic reading is thus offered of how SII practice is possible and how this practice refocuses the worlds of seeing and doing.     

Challenges in Multidisciplinary Systematic Reviewing: A Study on Social Exclusion and Mental Health Policy

In the clinical sciences, systematic reviews have proved useful in the aggregation of diverse sources of evidence. They identify, characterize and summate evidence, but these methodologies have not always proved suitable for the social sciences. We discuss some of the practical problems faced by researchers undertaking reviews of complex and cross‐disciplinary topics, using the example of mental health and social exclusion. The barriers to carrying out social science and cross‐disciplinary reviews are reported and some proposals for overcoming these barriers are made, not all of them tried and tested, and some of them controversial. Using a mapping approach, a wide‐ranging search of both clinical and social science databases was undertaken and a large volume of references was identified and characterized. Population sampling techniques were used to manage these references. The challenges encountered include: inconsistent definitions of social phenomena, differing use of key concepts across research fields and practical problems relating to database compatibility and computer processing power. The challenges and opportunities for social scientists or multidisciplinary research teams carrying out reviews are discussed. Literature mapping and systematic reviews are useful tools but methods need to be tailored to optimize their usefulness in the social sciences.     

The Impact of Women’s Work on Gendered Health Inequities

ABSTRACT

How does the work that American women perform, both in the formal economy (paid labor) and in the caring economy (caring for children and households) negatively affect their health? The World Health Organization’s social determinants of health model is used to illuminate the causes of gendered health inequities. The social determinants of gendered health inequities that are correlated with women’s work include globalization, cultural norms, an imbalance of power between men and women, the feminization of work, the gendered pay gap, unequal responsibilities in the caring economy, the lack of recognition of the value of caring work, stress, and poverty.     

Analyzing sub-population profiles and risk factors for school bullying

Drawing from a local sample of 1822 7th and 8th grade students, this study used Latent Class Analysis (LCA) and Latent Class Regression Analysis (LCRA) to identify sub-population profiles and risk factors for school bullying. Four sub-population profiles of school bullying risk were yielded from this approach. These profiles included students who presented little need for formal services as well as students who manifested needs for wrap-around support. Importantly, additional regression analyses related student membership in particular risk profile groups to the support they receive from peers, teachers, and parents. Several significant practice implications for bullying prevention and Response-to-Intervention (RTI) frameworks accompany the findings. Above all, school bullying interventions should be implemented with prudence because even the best intended ones carry the potential for harm.     

Accounting for Sustained Volunteering by Young People: An Expanded TPB

This study tested an expanded TBP model, which included personal norms and self-identity as cognitive variables, in a sample of current young volunteers of a general charity in the UK. Actual volunteering was measured via continued observation throughout the duration of the projects. An integrative model of sustained volunteering was proposed because some relationships did not follow the hypothesized paths. Subjective norm emerged as the exclusive determinant of sustained volunteering and also as the potential mediator of the effects of other variables over future volunteering behavior. Two focus groups with volunteers and 28 personal interviews with the coordinators of the volunteering projects were conducted to triangulate the research findings and reveal the main causes for drop-outs and non-attendance.     

Validation of multidimensional scale of perceived social support in middle-aged Korean women with diabetes

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to validate the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) among middle-aged Korean women with type 2 diabetes. Methods: Data were collected from 123 middle-aged Korean women with diabetes. Construct and concurrent validity were examined using factor analysis. Results: Factor analysis extracted three factors: spouse, family, and friends. The MSPSS had relatively good concurrent validity (r = .66, p < .0001), construct validity, and strong reliability (Cronbach's alpha = .90). Conclusion: We concluded that the MSPSS is a simple and well-established instrument to measure social support in middle-aged Korean women with diabetes.     

“Isn't it ironic…!?!” Mobility researchers go sedentary: A group auto-ethnography on collective coping and care in pandemic times

We moved places and places moved us, until force majeure detained us on the spot. Signed-up to be hyper-mobile Ph.D.-candidates, we became hyper-reflective pandemic intimates. We moved together into a space that felt safe, OUR safe space. Suspended. Did the pandemic open this door, or had this space always existed, even back in the old days? Probably the latter, although we were not sensitive enough to perceive it, too busy to push the door, too lonesome to CARE. Not attentive to its possibilities, not imaginative of its POWER, too confident to be capable of succeeding alone. Even if we might have secretly wished for this space to exist. The present piece of work, and JOY, might be described by others as a “side-step,” a “hobby project,” a “shadow activity.” For us, it is a recollection of shocks and wonders, a sentience of precious, ephemeral instances that last. We are a group of eight early career researchers who study global mobility and labor migration from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. With prior international mobility experience, we left our previous countries of residence in 2018 to join an EU-funded research project, whilst being located in different European cities. One could classify us, for example, as highly qualified, privileged migrants. The present paper is the outcome of a collaborative, auto-ethnographic study, conducted in 2020, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, when we suddenly were forced not to travel anymore. We got together online every week to “refaire le monde,” and we conducted virtual, dialogical self-interrogations and group reflections. Based on an emic approach, in line with Chang et al. (2013), we applied an iterative process of data collection and analysis. Our weekly conversations naturally emerged as a safe space for exchange and understanding, as we were facing similar situations, despite staying at different places. Suddenly, as the privilege of “always being on the move,” “always socializing and networking” disappeared due to closed borders and pandemic threats, we experienced anxieties and isolation and had to re-evaluate our perceptions on life, work, and international mobility. The very purpose and meaning of our broader research endeavors and employment perspectives suddenly faded away. We realized more than ever before, what it means to us to be allowed to move, to travel freely across continents.     

The impact of life stage and societal culture on subordinate influence ethics: A study of Brazil,China, Germany,and the U.S.

In this paper, we investigate the effects of societal values and life stage on subordinate influence ethics. Based on the evolving crossvergence theory of macro-level predictors of values evolution, we demonstrate the applicability of crossvergence theory in the micro-level context. Furthermore, our study provides the first empirical multi-level analysis of influence ethics utilizing a multiple-country sample. Thus, we illustrate how the breath of crossvergence can be expanded to provide a multi-level theoretical foundation of values and behavior evolution across cultures. Specifically, we integrate micro-level life stage theory and macro-level societal culture theory to concurrently assess the contributions of each theory in explaining subordinate influence ethics across the diverse societies of Brazil, China, Germany and the U.S. Consistent with previous research, we found significant societal differences in influence ethics. However, we also found that life stage theory played a significant role in understanding influence ethics. Thus, our findings expand the crossvergence perspective on societal change, indicating that key micro-level predictors (e.g., life stage) should be included in cross-cultural research.     

Coordinate-free analysis of trends in British social mobility

This paper is intended to make a contribution to the ongoing debate about declining social mobility in Great Britain by analyzing mobility tables based on data from the 1991 British Household Panel Survey and the 2005 General Household Survey. The models proposed here generalize Hauser's levels models and allow for a semi-parametric analysis of change in social mobility. The cell frequencies are assumed to be equal to the product of three effects: the effect of the father's position for the given year, the effect of the son's position for the given year, and the mobility effect related to the difference between the father's and the son's positions. A generalization of the iterative proportional fitting procedure is proposed and applied to computing the maximum likelihood estimates of the cell frequencies. The standard errors of the estimated parameters are computed under the product-multinomial sampling assumption. The results indicate opposing trends of mobility between the two timepoints. Fewer steps up or down in the society became less likely, while more steps became somewhat more likely.