Young people in Britain at the beginning of a new century

The intention of this review article is to consider some of the major social changes that have had an impact on adolescents during the latter part of the last century, and to suggest ways in which the behaviour and development of young people in the present century will alter in response to such a change. It is argued that alteration in the labour market and in family composition and structure will have particular effects on young people in the coming years. The article also considers race, gender, sexuality, mental health and social exclusion. The review concludes with some tentative predictions concerning the attitudes and likely behaviours of young people in the twenty first century. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Civil Society Transformed: International Aid to New Political Parties in the Czech Republic and Slovakia

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - How do international nonprofit organizations influence political party formation in new democracies? Despite recent...     

Social choice with independent subgroup utility scales

In this article, the kinds of utility comparisons that can be made may differ in distinct population subgroups. Within each subgroup, utility is either ordinally or cardinally measurable. Levels and differences of utility may or may not be interpersonally comparable within a subgroup. No utility comparisons are possible between subgroups. Given these informational assumptions, it is shown that any continuous social welfare ordering that satisfies the weak Pareto principle only depends on the utilities of one of the subgroups. The class of social welfare orderings consistent with these assumptions is determined by the scale type of the dictatorial subgroup. Received: 25 May 1999/Accepted: 4 November 1999     

RIGHT‐WING EXTREMISM IN CONTEMPORARY FRANCE: A “Silent Counterrevolution”?

Postmaterialist theory (PMT) challenges Lipset and Rokkan's freezing hypothesis by arguing that conflict over noneconomic values is transforming the political sociology of advanced industrial societies. Hardly studied is PMT's claim that support for the contemporary far Right stems from a reaction against the social and moral libertarianism of postwar generations. An analysis of cross-time data on the class, generational, and ideological profiles of voting for a French far Right party (the Front national) provides weak support for PMT. The discussion focuses on class and religious cleavages in postwar France and the discrepancy between voter attitudes and party platforms.     

ANOTHER STEP IN THE STUDY OF RACE RELATIONS

Recent qualitative researchers have argued the need for a more sensitizing approach to race research that elevates in importance the concerns and interests of those under study. This article illustrates how Herbert Blumer's work on race relations, critical race theory, and participatory action research may help this objective. These projects' similar epistemologies advance a type of social imagery that has powerful emancipatory implications in regard to racial oppression. Simply put, dominant renditions of social reality–including structural imperatives and racial identities–are illustrated to be socially constructed and hence open to negotiation. As a result of this shift, sensitizing methodologies (e.g., storytelling and collaboration) are employed that allow minorities an opportunity for self-representation. The liberating potential of all these projects can be further enhanced by relating their conceptual links to recent developments in contemporary social theory. Specifically, the typical concerns with process, interaction, and experiential meanings are intersubjectively mediated and not reducible to an objective subjective theoretical framework. Rather than simply personal or external, all knowledge is recognized to be fluid and coproduced. By grounding research on this intersubjective region, equitable exchanges are possible.     

Cohabitation in Great Britain: not for long, but here to stay

This paper uses a new source of data to study the dramatic increase in cohabiting unions in Great Britain. It analyses, in turn, entry into first partnership, the stability of cohabiting unions and repartnering after dissolution of cohabitation. In excess of 70% of first partnerships are now cohabitations, and these last a relatively short time before being either turned into marriage or dissolved. The shift to cohabitation as the dominant mode of first partnership plays an important role in the delay of first marriage and motherhood. The paper also investigates the factors that are associated with the outcome of cohabitations.     

Changing Attitudes Toward the Homeless: The Effects of Prosocial Communication With the Homeless

One hundred, thirty-four undergraduate students participated in a field experiment designed to examine the effects of extended, prosocial communication with homeless persons, upon attitudes toward the homeless problem, of behavioral intentions towards the homeless, and of causal attributions about homelessness. It was expected that prosocial interaction with the homeless would produce shifts in attitudes and behavioral intentions toward the homeless and homelessness and result in greater attributions of external causes to explain homelessness. Nineteen experimental participants worked 15 hours at a local homeless shelter. Their responses to a posttest questionnaire that measured a range of attitudinal and behavioral orientations toward the homeless were compared with control participants who did not work at the shelter. Subsequent analyses furnished strong evidence of positive changes in attitudes and intentions toward homelessness among the shelter workers. These participants evaluated homeless people as less blameworthy and more socially attractive than did control participants; moreover, shelter workers indicated more personal responsibility and behavioral commitment to helping the homeless than control participants. They also perceived the homeless problem to be more serious and were more likely to attribute homelessness to bad luck than control participants. However, the two groups were equally likely to attribute homelessness to various external causes such as the economy, housing costs, and governmental policies. The results are interpreted as having policy implications for volunteer service.     

Lifestyle Options and Economic Strategies: Subsistence Activities in the Mississippi Delta1

Abstract "Subsistence" and "informal economy" are contrasted in their utility as sociological concepts and their ability to explain a variety of activities in two rural Mississippi Delta communities. Literature on subsistence stresses that the desired outcome of participation is not an increase in income but the social rewards of participation itself. Two underlying dimensions of participation in these activities are documented through the literature and through a confirmatory factor analysis of empirical data: life-style choice and economic strategy. These were constructed into indexes and examined individually and in combination as dependent variables using regressors at the community, household, and individual levels. Community ties were weakly associated with participation in such activities. Whites and those with higher incomes participated more in lifestyle choice oriented activities. Participation in general was statistically related to households needing less weekly income and being of larger size. Potential connections with persistent rural poverty are discussed.