Protest or Partnership? The Voluntary and Community Sectors in the Policy Process

The growing emphasis on partnership is opening up new opportunities for voluntary and community organizations, many of which have felt themselves hitherto to be “outsiders” in the policy process. But it is also generating new dilemmas as they strive to maintain their autonomy while increasingly operating as insiders. This article examines the strategic choices that such organizations make in seeking to influence policy and the challenges that they face. It rejects the simple categorizations made between “insiders” and “outsiders” in the policy process, arguing that strategic choices are more complex and dynamic than this, with insider strategies dependent on outsider strategies and vice versa, and many organizations operating from both arenas.     

Client satisfaction in a community crisis center

Variables determining client satisfaction with crisis intervention services were evaluated. The short version of the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8), and open ended questions were used in telephone interviews of clients and significant others. Results showed that 40% of the total variance of client satisfaction was explained by clients' evaluation of workers. Low correlations were found between reports of clients and significant others, implying that different factors determine satisfaction for each group.     

Models for mating disruption by means of pheromone for insect pest control

Models are presented to investigate the population dynamic behavior of a pest population with the release of pheromone for mating disruption. Three mechanisms of mating disruption are considered: (i) confusion of males, (ii) competition with female pheromone trails yielding false trail following, (iii) emigration of males prior to mating. In addition, several refinements to confusion are considered. Confusion and emigration of males were found to be very similar both quantitatively and dynamically; also, a combination of both mechanisms was very little more efficient than either one separately. False trail following is difficult to compare with the other two, since competition with wild females is involved and thus the total population size enters the equations. Density dependence of the action of pheromones results in some cases in which mating disruption cannot control the pest population. Similarly, aggregation of the pest population decreases the efficiency of the method unless the pheromone action is density independent. Delayed mating of females makes control easier, and may constitute one mechanism for mating disruption.     

Family Assessment and Intervention for Early Adolescent Problems*

The clinical assessment of adolescent problems is most effective when conducted in view of developmental tasks, family interaction, and peer group influences. For early adolescents, developmental issues need to be resolved within a supportive family milieu before satisfactory differentiation toward a peer group can occur. An assessment-intervention model for initiating treatment with early adolescents and their parents is presented. The combined collaborative-conjoint method was operationalized by interdisciplinary professional teams in a community health setting. The treatment model's effectiveness was evaluated by self-reports and statistical comparisons in 50 cases over a two year period. The results are discussed and illustrated in two case studies.     

The salary structure of sociology departments

Department chairs have recently expressed concerns over the phenomenon of salary compression, or the narrowing of the gap between the salaries of assistant professors and those of senior faculty. Such a compression is thought to lower senior faculty morale. The paper explores salary data organized by academic rank (professors, associate professors, and assistant professors) on a sample of 78 graduate departments drawn from the 1988 ASAGuide to Graduate Departments. Significant differences in the highest, lowest, and average salaries of assistant, associate, and full professors exist between public and private universities and between schools in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas. Few differences are found among regions of the country and between terminal M.A.- and Ph.D.-granting departments, the latter perhaps due to the shortfall in the supply of new assistant professors. Analysis of salary data reported over a fifty-year period by AAUP suggests that salary compression is not a recent problem in academia. Rather, it has typified academic salary structures for at least a half-century. Salary compression in sociology is somewhat less severe than in other fields, but effects of a lag in supply may eventually be felt in the 1990s. His most recent publications areTeacher Burnout in the Public Schools (1987), and a forthcoming book,Giving Up in School (1990) with Margaret LeCompte. He is working on the third edition of his text,The Minority Report, with Rosalind J. Dworkin. He serves as editor of a book series entitled “The New Inequalities” published by the State University of New York Press, and is president of the Southwestern Sociological Association.     

Adaptive familial strategies among merchant seamen

The study reported here examines those familial strategies that develop among merchant seamen families: replacement husband/father, conflict, contingent authority, and periodic guest. Data were gathered from interviews with 141 families over a 7-year period. Results indicate that merchant seamen families use a replacement husband/father strategy if male kin are available. When kin are not available these families eventually arrive at and remain in a periodic guest strategy. A discussion of family power as it relates to the development of specific strategies is also included.Craig J. Forsyth is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, P.O. Box 40198, Lafayette, LA 70504. His current research interests include deviant life-styles, maritime sociology, and the interrelationship between family and work. He received his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University.Robert Gramling is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, P.O. Box 40198, Lafayette, LA 70504. His research interests are in the areas of social impacts of economic activity, particularly on the family, and microscopic social theory. His Ph.D. is from Florida State University.     

How data type affects conclusions about individual mobility

This paper investigates the implications of using different types of panel data to study individual mobility by means of empirical analyses of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics on intercounty migration of white male heads of household in 1975–1980. While event history data are clearly superior to panel data for studying individual mobility, often event history data are unavailable. We examine the consequences of different panel designs (varying number and spacing of waves) and of different timings of the measurements of explanatory variables. The results indicate that: (1) measuring the covariates at the end of an interval can be misleading, especially if these covariates are likely to change during the interval as a consequence of mobility; (2) a study of the mobility of a group of individuals during a single short interval can lead to different conclusions from a study of the mobility of the same group of individuals during a single long interval; and (3) multiwave panel data have clear advantages over data from a single short interval or a single long interval.     

Marketing to retailers: A battle for distribution?

There have been two revolutions in retail trading in the history of distribution; the emergence of retailing as a specialist function and the growth of multiple retailing. The slow rate of change in the distribution system, when viewed from the perspective of long term control, has tended to obscure the extent of a third revolution, that of retailer power. Penetration rates of own label merchandise, in particular, could be being seriously underpredicted. The strategic response by manufacturers has been mixed and, arguably, inadequate in the circumstances. While the typical consumer product manufacturer has developed an understanding of the needs and wants of the consumer, less attention has been given to understanding retailer strategies and how the manufacturer can tailor its offer to suit the individual retailer. Some options are presented for consideration, in particular a focus on closer collaboration between manufacturers and retailers and better integration of their contributions to the supply chain creating mutual dependency.     

Past Activeness,Solidarity, and Local Development Efforts1

Abstract Actions by local groups and leaders constitute an essential but poorly understood element of many rural development strategies. Previous studies suggest that local development efforts can influence community change, but questions remain about why localities differ in mobilization to achieve development goals. Drawing upon community field theory and human ecology, this study uses data for rural school districts in Pennsylvania to examine the argument that activeness in the past and development of solidarity can contribute to a higher probability of local mobilization than would be predicted by ecological characteristics alone. Hierarchical regressions support this argument for some local actions, while canonical correlations show a generalized pattern strongly associated with past activeness and solidarity.