Continuity,change and complexity in the performance of masculinity among elite young footballers in England

Following recent research evidencing that young men are redefining the essential components of what it is to be a man, this paper draws on qualitative interviews with 22 elite‐level, English Premier League academy level football (soccer) players to investigate their performances and understandings of masculinity in relation to decreasing homohysteria. Even in this gender‐segregated, near‐total institution, these working‐class, non‐educationally aspiring adolescents evidence an attenuated performance of ‘maleness’ and improved attitudinal disposition toward homosexuality. Congruent with insights developed by inclusive masculinity scholars, respondents maintained emotional closeness and physical tactility with male teammates and friends. These more inclusive attitudes and homosocial behaviours were, however, slightly more conservative than in other recent research. We close by explaining this variation with reference to theoretical apparatus’ provided by Goffman and Bourdieu to advance theoretical debates about social class and masculinities.     

Karl Polanyi as a spatial theorist

ABSTRACT

The ‘spatial’ turn in political economy has re-invigorated Marxian analysis, allowing for new research programmes into urbanization, geopolitics, and social movement activity amongst other topics. This tendency emerged through a critical re-reading of Marx and Gramsci, amongst others, uncovering spatial analyses embedded in the logic of their arguments. Conversely, Karl Polanyi’s interlocutors have tended to add geographical analysis as an additional layer of theory, reading space ‘in’ to the text. However, a close reading reveals that a concern with space permeates Polanyi’s analysis. As such, it is possible to read space ‘out’ of Polanyi, adding a level of theoretical rigour and logical consistency when applying his insights to geographic topics. This article carries out an exegesis of Karl Polanyi’s work, uncovering a theoretical framework that deals with space, place, scale, fixity, and motion. From this vantage point, the article considers the potential implications of this new geographical reading of Polanyi.     

Effects of chronic illness on daily life and barriers to self-care for older women: A mixed-methods exploration

This mixed-methods study examined the subjective experience of living with chronic illness and identified barriers to self-care. Community-dwelling older women with chronic illness completed an initial (N = 138) and follow-up mailed survey 6 months later (N = 130). On average, participants reported four comorbid health conditions and the corresponding physical pain, activities curtailed or relinquished, and time and energy focused on managing health. Only 34% of participants practiced all 10 key self-care behaviors. Reported barriers to self-management included pain, lack of financial resources, and worry. In the regression analysis, having more depressive symptoms was a significant predictor of challenges with self-care behaviors.     

Book Review: Constructing World Culture: International Nongovernmental Organizations Since 1875 by John Boli and George M. Thomas (eds.). Stanford University Press,Stanford, 1999

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations -     

The Remains of the Workday: Impact of Job Stress and Exhaustion on Marital Interaction in Police Couples

We examined the impact of job stress and physical exhaustion on the physiological and subjective components of emotional responding during marital interactions between 19 male police officers and their spouses. Couples completed 30‐day stress diaries and participated in 4 weekly laboratory interaction sessions. During interactions on days of greater stress, both spouses were more physiologically aroused, husbands reported less positive and more negative emotion, and wives reported less emotion (both positive and negative). On days of greater exhaustion, husbands were more physiologically aroused. All of these findings are indicators of heightened risk for poor marital outcomes and thus document an emotional mechanism by which job stress and exhaustion can negatively impact marriage.     

Perfect slice samplers

Perfect sampling allows the exact simulation of random variables from the stationary measure of a Markov chain. By exploiting monotonicity properties of the slice sampler we show that a perfect version of the algorithm can be easily implemented, at least when the target distribution is bounded. Various extensions, including perfect product slice samplers, and examples of applications are discussed.     

GPs in cyberspace: the sociology of a 'virtual community'

It has been argued that on-line networked communication can enable the establishment of ‘virtual communities’. Empirical data from an electronic discussion group for general medical practitioners (GPs) are used to evaluate these claims, and to explore the similarities and discrepancies between on-line and face-to-face interactions. A distinct social order for this ‘community’ is reported, and the strategies to establish this order in a textual environment are discussed. Participants went through a cycle of integration into membership, and some generated distinctive virtual identities or personae. The notion of a ‘virtual community’ is critically discussed. Participants interacted as if they were part of a community, but it is suggested that the interactions on the list are best understood as extensions of the wider social relations of general practice. The study of virtual communities may thus have relevance for wider issues of social inclusion and citizenship. The paper also includes reflections on ‘cyberethnography’, and suggestions for further research are offered.     

Fire and Ice in Marital Communication: Hostile and Distancing Behaviors as Predictors of Marital Distress

This study examined the relationship between partner hostile responsiveness, as well as three types of withdrawing responses (intimacy avoidance, conflict avoidance and angry withdrawal) and both concurrent and prospective marital satisfaction in a community sample of couples. The primary predictor of marital outcomes for wives was partner hostile responsiveness, whereas for husbands it was partner withdrawal. Wives' intimacy avoidance contributed unique variance to the prediction of husbands' marital distress; husbands' conflict avoidance provided a buffering effect for wives in the context of high husband hostile responsiveness. Results underscore the importance of differentiating hostile and distancing behaviors and, further, assessing withdrawal outside of the context of marital conflict.