Marital instability and the economic status of women

This paper uses longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to examine the relationship between changes in marital status and economic status. Differences between men and women and between whites and blacks are also considered. A major finding is that, after adjusting for changes in family size, the economic status of divorced or separated men improves, while that of women declines. Components of income change are discussed, with special emphasis on changes in the labor force and welfare status of women who were divorced or separated during the analysis period. Finally, data on the magnitude and distribution of alimony/child-support payments are presented.     

Castles in the Air: Welfare Services for Ex-prisoners

Prison aftercare in New Zealand has a history of haphazard planning and fragmented policy implementation, and a recent governmental review of penal policy recognized the inadequate provisions currently made for prisoners' re-establishment in the community. The research reported in this paper has shown that, at a local level, a considerable degree of confusion and ignorance exists among people presumed to have knowledge in the field of prison aftercare. This shortfall of knowledge and lack of cohesion among existing services must be taken into account before effective policy changes aimed at improving prison aftercare can be implemented.     

A story of nimble knowledge production in an era of academic capitalism

Theory and Society - A rise of academic capitalism over the past four decades has been well documented within many research-intensive universities. Largely missing, however, are in-depth studies of...     

Simulation as a Social Process in Organizations

An emergent research literature is starting to cohere on simulation as a sociological process within organizations. This paper shines a spotlight on this scholarship, and offers new ways to think about the dizzying array of simulation we encounter in our organizational, institutional, and everyday lives. I define simulation as an empirical social process and show how they vary in consequence by their experiential modality, their referential frame, and their perceived realism. I then document three conceptual trends in the literature: (i) treating simulation as an organizational technique for risk management; (ii) a focus on virtual reality, video games, and moral ambiguity; and (iii) studies of the impact of computer simulation on scientific knowledge production and the reorganization of some technical fields, such as weapons research, artificial intelligence, and meteorology. Organizational uncertainty tends to coalesce around disputes about the appropriate qualities and functions of a given simulation technique or technology. I conclude the paper by identifying how the sociology of simulation can connect with more established areas of contemporary research within organizations, work and occupations, and institutional sociology.     

人类学视野中的灾难和文化要素的探讨

Like Professor Anthony Oliver -Smith, I wish to speak to the theories and analyses of disaster from an anthropological perspective. While Professor Oliver -Smith's paper covers the history of the anthr...     

The Roots Index: Exploring Indices as Measures of Local Sustainable Development,New York City: 1990–95

Social Indicators Research -     

Vices, gods, and virtues: cosmology as a mediating factor in attitudes toward male homosexuality

Using historical and anthropological evidence, the article examines the relationship of the polytheistic and monotheistic cosmologies and attitudes toward sexuality, in particular, male homosexuality. The polytheistic cosmology included the ideas of the continuity of creation, the generative forces of the universe as a whole, and gender blurring in the realm of the supernatural. In the monotheistic cosmology the godhead (Yahweh) is unborn and does not father any generations, the universe is desexualized, and the conception of gender is rigidified. The author concludes that polytheism created the conditions for a wide variety of sexual expression and sex-role behavior and did not preclude any particular form of sexual activity. In contradistinction, the monotheistic cosmology was highly restrictive of permissible male and female behavior and sexual expression and conduct. Consequently, polytheism was able to embrace the crossing of gender lines and homosexual relationships while monotheism was incapable of making these accommodations.