The Exclusiveness of the Political Field: Networks and political mobilization

This paper applies social network analysis to three case study social movement organizations based in the north of England: a local Labour Party branch, an environmental group, and a conservation group. Using a postal survey of members, we chart the extent of ties between members of these three groups, indicating how each group has its own internal social dynamics and characteristics that are related to the nature of the movement organizations themselves. We explore how the network structures interrelate with the socio-demographic structure of the membership of the three organizations, and we show there are important differences in the way that core members of the three organizations are recruited compared to those who are either peripheral or isolated. Our paper is the first to analyse the networks of whole populations of case study organizations in the UK, and can therefore be read as developing the potential of social network analysis for case study research and for understanding social movements. Analytically we argue it is important to distinguish two different types of ways that networks are important. They can be seen as offering resources for mobilization, or they can be seen as providing a means of integrating particular types of individuals into organizations. It is this latter sense that offers a more fundamental role for network analysis, and we argue that it offers an important way of developing insights from resource mobilization theory by relating them to Bourdieu's provocative arguments regarding the exclusiveness of the political field.     

Book reviews

New scholarship on rape in American history

Sex Without Consent: Rape and Sexual Coercion in America. Edited by Merril D. Smith. New York: New York University Press, 2001, 308 pages. Cloth, $60.00; paper, $19.50.

The enigma of sexual desire

Sexual Appetite, Desire and Motivation: Energetics of the Sexual System. Edited by Walter Everaerd, Ellen Laan, and Stephanie Both. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Knaw Edita, 2001, 156 pages. Paper, NLG 80.00, Euro 36.30.

American sex in the private and public sectors

Sex, Love, and Health in America: Private Choices and Public Policies. Edited by Edward O. Laumann and Robert T. Michael. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2000, 535 pages. Hardcover, $48.

Enlarging the landscape of sexual pleasure

Good Sex: Feminist Perspectives from the World's Religions. Edited by Patricia Beattie Jung, Mary E. Hunt, and Radhika Balakrishnan. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2001, 220 pages. Cloth, $50.00; paper, $20.00.

Another stab at sexual theory

The Role of Theory in Sex Research. Edited by John Bancroft. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2000, 366 pages. Cloth, $49.95.     

Violence among child molesters

Although sexual offenses against children have often been characterized as nonviolent, recent information has indicated that a subgroup of very violent offenders exists. The present study examined details of both familial and nonfamilial sexual offenses against children in order to investigate the type of offense committed, as well as the frequency of violence and aggression. Two trained raters were used to code clinical information which examined offenders’ backgrounds as well as details of crimes. Subjects consisted of all in‐patients referred to the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry over a five‐year period who were charged with a sexual offense against a child (29 incest offenders and 37 nonfamilial offenders). The two groups were similar in demographic characteristics, with the exception of the incest group being older and more frequently married. Details of the index offenses revealed that both groups of offenders had penetrated victims in over half the cases, had used physical force (such as beating) in 89% of cases and had used verbal threats in 26% of cases. Victims included a 3‐month‐old infant and seven children between the ages of 3 and 5. Higher levels of physical aggression and verbal intimidation were found among incest offenders. These findings are particularly alarming given that clinical files are often lacking in details of criminal charges and may underestimate the degree of violence in these offenses. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of generalizability and the myths and stereotypes that surround both the perpetrators and the child victims of sexual assault.     

Diagnosing Discrimination: Stress from Perceived Racism and the Mental and Physical Health Effects*

Differences in health between racial groups in the United States are significant and persistent. Many studies have documented these differences as a result of a variety of different social factors. An emerging emphasis is the impact of racism in its various forms on physical and mental health. Social stress theory conceptualizes racism as a social stresssor which can produce negative health consequences for racial minorities. This study uses binary logit and negative binomial regression models of four items from the 2004 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to test social stress theory and examine the relationship between stress symptoms from perceived racism and overall health (N = 32,585). The effect of race on the experience of emotional and physical stress symptoms from racism is substantial. Furthermore, experiencing both emotional and physical stress from perceived racist treatment is an important factor in predicting the number of poor mental and physical health days, indicating that the experience of stress from perceived racism is related to overall poorer health.     

A Survey Experiment of Women’s Attitudes About Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in Rural Bangladesh

According to the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) in poorer countries, 50 % of women of reproductive age report that wife hitting or beating is justified. Such high rates may result from structural pressures to adopt such views or to report the perceived socially desirable response. In a survey experiment of 496 ever-married women aged 18–49 years in rural Bangladesh, we compared responses to attitudinal questions that (1) replicated the 2007 Bangladesh DHS wording and portrayed the wife as transgressive for unstated reasons with elaborations depicting her as (2) unintentionally and (3) willfully transgressive. The probabilities of justifying wife hitting or beating were consistently low for unintended transgressions (.01–.08). Willful transgressions yielded higher probabilities (.40–.70), which resembled those based on the DHS wording (.38–.57). Cognitive interviews illustrated that village women held diverse views, which were attributed to social change. Also, ambiguity in the DHS questions may have led some women to interpret them according to perceived gender norms and to give the socially desirable response of justified. Results inform modifications to these DHS questions and identify women for ideational-change interventions.     

Homecoming as Safe Haven or the New Front: Attachment and Detachment in Military Couples

Traumatized military couples represent a new population for the application of attachment theory constructs. An innovative clinical social work practice model, grounded in a synthesis of social and psychological theories, aims to assist these couple and families who are navigating very difficult transitions. Since social support is known to be a central protective factor in mediating the long-term adverse effects of combat trauma, this therapeutic focus addresses two compelling problem areas: the disruption of secure attachments and affect dysregulation. The effects of deployment stressors on soldiers, their intimate partners, and their families are discussed in depth. Clinical illustrations highlight the utility of a phase-oriented culturally responsive couple therapy practice approach that has clear clinical implications for military couples.

Coming of age and awakening to spiritual consciousness through rites of passage

A contemporary American form of the ancient idea of rites of passage can guide young people toward deeper meaning and strengthen their sense of identity and connection to the community.     

Lead Time and Price Quotation Mode Selection: Uniform or Differentiated?

Firms in service and make‐to‐order manufacturing industries often quote lead times and prices to customers. We define uniform quotation mode (UQM) as the strategy where a firm offers a single lead time and price quotation, and differentiated quotation mode (DQM) is where a firm offers a menu of lead times and prices for customers to choose from. Both modes are followed in practice. Firms should determine which is more profitable. We classify customers into two groups: lead time sensitive (LS) and price sensitive (PS). LS customers value lead time reduction more than PS customers. We develop mathematical models of both quotation modes and analyze them to determine the most profitable mode under specified situations as well as the best lead time and price quotations within each mode. We find that DQM is dominated by UQM whenever PS customers have positive utilities from UQM or LS customers have positive utilities from DQM. Otherwise, which quotation mode is better depends on multiple factors, such as customer characteristics (including lead time reduction valuation and product valuation of a customer, and the proportion of LS customers) and production characteristics (including the desired service level and service or production cost).     

Multiple In‐Cycle Transshipments with Positive Delivery Times

We study a centralized inventory sharing system of two retailers that are replenished periodically. Between two replenishments, a unit can be transshipped to a stocked‐out retailer from the other. It arrives a transshipment time later, during which the stocked‐out retailer incurs backorder cost. Without transshipment, backorder cost is incurred until the next replenishment. Since the transshipment time is shorter than the time between two replenishments, transshipments can reduce the backorder cost at the stocked‐out retailer and the holding costs at the other retailer. The system is directed by a centralized inventory manager, who minimizes the long‐run average cost consisting of replenishment, holding, backorder, and transshipment costs. The transshipment policy is characterized by hold‐back inventory levels, which are nonincreasing in the remaining time until the next replenishment. The transshipment policy differs from those in the literature because we allow for multiple transshipments between replenishments, positive transshipment times, and backorder costs. We also discuss the challenges associated with positive replenishment time and develop upper and lower bounds of average cost in this case. Bounds are numerically shown to have an average gap of 1.1%. A heuristic solution is based on the upper bound and differs from the optimal cost by at most this gap.