The Cohesiveness of Blocks In Social Networks: Node Connectivity and Conditional Density

This study shows several ways that formal graph theoretic statements map patterns of network ties into substantive hypotheses about social cohesion. If network cohesion is enhanced by multiple connections between members of a group, for example, then the higher the global minimum of the number of independent paths that connect every pair of nodes in the network, the higher the social cohesion. The cohesiveness of a group is also measured by the extent to which it is not disconnected by removal of 1, 2, 3,..., k actors. Menger's Theorem proves that these two measures are equivalent. Within this graph theoretic framework, we evaluate various concepts of cohesion and establish the validity of a pair of related measures: 1. Connectivity—the minimum number k of its actors whose removal would not allow the group to remain connected or would reduce the group to but a single member—measures the social cohesion of a group at a general level. 2. Conditional density measures cohesion on a finer scale as a proportion of ties beyond that required for connectivity k over the number of ties that would force it to k + 1.
Calibrated for successive values of k, these two measures combine into an aggregate measure of social cohesion, suitable for both small- and large-scale network studies. Using these measures to define the core of a new methodology of cohesive blocking, we offer hypotheses about the consequences of cohesive blocks for social groups and their members, and explore empirical examples that illustrate the significance, theoretical relevance, and predictiveness of cohesive blocking in a variety of substantively important applications in sociology.     

Marriage or cohabitation: a competing risks analysis of first-partnership formation among the 1958 British birth cohort

A discrete time competing risks hazards model is used to analyse entry into first partnership among men and women born in Britain in 1958. Using a life-course approach we identify family background and current life experiences which affect the timing and type of first-partnership formation. Education is a key factor influencing the age of entry into first partnership and whether or not the respondent will experience pregnancy before forming the partnership. Religiosity, experience of parental separation and the geographical region of residence are more important in affecting the decision to cohabit rather than to marry directly. The analyses highlight the importance of transitions in other domains such as leaving the parental home in encouraging cohabitation.     

Parents’ Workplace Situation and Fathers’ Parental Leave Use

This study examines how the workplace situation of both parents affects fathers’ parental leave use. We used parental leave‐taking register data from Statistics Sweden for dual‐earner couples who resided in Stockholm and had children in 1997 (n= 3,755). The results indicate that fathers shorten their parental leave if their workplaces are such that one can expect leave to be associated with high costs and that fathers appear to be influenced by the leave use of other fathers in the workplace. Mothers’ workplace situation appears to be less important for fathers’ leave use. The results point to the importance of actors other than parents (such as employers) for understanding the gender‐based division of child care.     

Employee Participation in the Management of Working Life: An Historical Analysis Focusing on Danish and Scandinavian Conditions

It is argued that the historical development of employee participation in the management of working life is a complex process in which three different institutional logics have been at play throughout the twentieth century in industrialized societies: professional communities, collective bargaining, and co-management. Even though the logics were constructed at different times in history, none of them is necessarily obsolete. But their importance in the total picture of the regulation of working life has changed. The logics are robust as institutions in the sense that they have tried, each in their own way, to adapt to the challenges of working life—that is, to new technology and globalization. As the concrete historical development differs from country to country, requiring a contextual delimitation, I have chosen to focus primarily on conditions in Denmark and secondarily on conditions in the Scandinavian countries: Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. In a concluding perspective a number of traits characterizing international development are pointed at, traits that may become important for the three institutional logics. They concern changes in employment relations and in the nature of tasks.     

A re-analysis of the occupational stress indicator

This paper investigates the reliability of the Occupational Stress Indicator (OSI). Data from a sample of university staff, drawn from all areas of an urban university, are used to reassess the apparently low reliabilities of many of the OSI subscales reported by Cooper et al. (1988). In addition, factor analysis results are reported for the first time for the sources of pressure data. The reliability data reported here, while higher reliabilities than originally obtained, remain unacceptably low. A lack of stability in the device as it is currently formulated seems apparent. The paper also presents for the first time a detailed analysis of the sources of pressure scale, indicating a solution different from that proposed by Cooper et al. (1988). Certain areas of the OSI clearly need refinement; the inclusion of locus of control and type A behaviour as personality variables in particular is called into question. Observations regarding the particular strengths and weaknesses of this device, and suggestions for future refinements, are offered.     

Parental Housing Assistance and Parent‐Child Proximity in Italy

Many studies of intergenerational exchanges include parent‐child proximity as an exogenous explanatory variable. Proximity may itself be a consequence of intergenerational resource flows, however. We analyze patterns of economic transfers between generations and their relationship to parent‐child proximity in Italy. Parental support for a child's home purchase may influence the child's choice of location, whether to facilitate parent‐child contacts, grandchild care, or parent care. We examine the situation of married couples, focusing on housing help received and the association of that help with proximity to each spouse's parents. Using 1998 survey data and multinomial logistic regression models, we find that past housing assistance has a significant effect on current proximity to each spouse's parents, controlling for parents' survival, family composition, and other factors.     

Childhood Predictors of Labor Force Participation in Adult Life

This study used longitudinal data from the National Child Development Study in the United Kingdom to investigate childhood predictors of labor force participation outcome (unemployed versus employed or self-employed) at age 33. In women, only general ability at age 11 was related to labor force participation at age 33, whereas in men labor force participation was negatively related to sibship size and domestic tension in childhood and psychological distress in adult life, and was positively related to presence of a partner in adult life, academic motivation in adolescence and educational attainment.     

Inferring Australian children's sense of community: A critical exploration

Sense of community (SOC) has been found to be a predictor of adult well-being and psychological health. Recent research has begun to explore adolescents' SOC. However, there is a dearth of research on the meaning children attach to their community and the development of their SOC, despite its potential for providing an understanding of important aspects of children's lives. Conversational interviews were conducted in schools with 46 children aged from 9 to 12 years. The results were analysed using an unfolding strategy. The findings indicate that for children, understandings of community focus on the relationships shared with the significant others central to their experience of childhood--family, friends, and neighbours, consistent with Bronfenbrenner's ecological framework. Children also described community in terms of environment, both built and natural. Further exploration of the children's understanding of community yielded insights into the role of activities, interactions, good and bad aspects of community and problem solving in their understanding of community. The implications of the research are discussed in terms of programme planning at the individual and systemic levels. Le sentiment d'appartenance àune communauté est un indicateur qui nous permet de prévoir la santé psychologique et le bien-être chez les adultes. Les chercheurs ont commencé récemment à explorer le sentiment d'appartenance à une communauté par les adolescents. Cependant peu de recherche a étéfaite sur le sens que les enfants donnent àla communauté à laquelle ils appartiennent et au développement de leur esprit communautaire. Ceci est important pour comprendre certains aspects essentiels de la vie des enfants. Nous avons conduit dans quelques écoles des entretiens non dirigés avec 46 enfants âgés de 9 à 12 ans. Les résultats ont été analysés étape par étape. Ils nous ont indiqué que la prise de conscience par les enfants de leur communauté proche dépendait de rapports-clés associés à leur expérience--en famille, avec leurs amis et leurs voisins, selon le modèle écologique de Bronfenbrenner. Les enfants décrivent également leur communauté en faisant des liens avec leur environnement (la nature et les bâtiments). D'autres études sur la manière dont les enfants assimilent la notion de communauté ont aidé à comprendre le rôle jouépar leurs activités, leurs interactions, les aspects positifs et négatifs de la vie de groupe et par la résolution des problèmes. Nous présenterons des applications de cette recherche à l'élaboration de programmes au niveau individuel et systémique.