Und Immer Noch Einmal: Alfred Schütz, „Die Definition der Situation“ und die (Angeblichen) Grenzen von Rational Choice

The paper is a reply to the critique of Christian Etzrodt in two points, where he was discussing the model of frame-selection which I formulated following some suggestions of Alfred Schutz on the problem of bounded rationality: (1) The model does not exclude at all the processes of the “interactive” and symbolic constitution of social situations; (2) it does in no way rely on the “rationality” of the actors alone. It does, however, assume quite a different mechanism to the assumption of “calculativeness”, usually associated with subjected-expected-utility theory, despite it is based on certain formal assumptions of this theory. The core of the framing-concept is the “match” of typical properties of the situation (i.e. “symbols”) with socially shared mental models, which are part of the identity of the actors. Quite different to the assumptions of Etzrodt, the model thus systematically takes into account the “meaning” of social action and the strength of culture in defining a situation.     

Structural and motivational mechanisms of academic achievement: a mediation model of social‐background effects on academic achievement

This paper takes up ongoing discussions on the inequality of educational opportunities and formulates a conceptual model to link separate lines of research. Our particular focus is on combining motivational and structural approaches into a mediation model that explains differences in academic achievement. In the literature, four main mechanisms of social reproduction are discussed. Two main pathways refer to (1) parents’ expectations regarding their children’s academic success and (2) replicating cultural capital through intra‐familial cultural practices. (3) Parents’ perception of children’s abilities depends on social position and is influential for expectations of success. (4) For all three pathways, we expect effects on students’ motivational characteristics, which in turn influence academic achievement. We test our conceptual model by structural equation modelling using longitudinal data from primary school students in Germany. Empirical evidence is in line with the assumptions in the model. Cultural reproduction and expectations of success can be seen as the key components of the model. However, both chains of reproduction are related to each other by parents’ perception of child’s ability, and their effects are mediated by child’s motivational characteristics.     

An Innovative Behavioral Health Workforce Initiative: Keeping Pace with an Emerging Model of Care

ABSTRACT

Recent policy shifts in health care have created opportunities for social workers to provide services in integrated primary care and behavioral health settings. However, traditionally prepared social workers may not have the skill set necessary to meet practice demands. This article describes a behavioral health workforce initiative that trains master’s of social work students for work in integrated primary care settings with children, adolescents, and transition-age youths. The training model includes field placements in integrated care settings, co-curricular seminars, and advanced clinical electives. This article identifies challenges of creating new field placements and developing new curricula to support students’ acquisition of knowledge and skills required in integrated care settings. Additionally, it presents data on changes in students’ knowledge and confidence.     

AN OPERATIONAL PLANNING CONCEPT FOR DEEP LANE STORAGE SYSTEMS

The main advantage of deep lane storage systems compared with conventional high bay warehouses is seen in a better space utilization, because products are stored in channels one pallet behind the other. However, for deep lane storage systems the last-in-first-out principle holds and direct access to pallets is lost apart from the last pallet entering a channel. To operate deep lane storage systems effectively, namely, providing high throughput rates even at times of high storage rack utilization requires a sophisticated operational planning system. We will describe a totally new concept consisting of five modules for storage and retrieval assignments, as well as for a reorganization of storage location occupations.     

Paradoxes of late-modern autonomy imperatives: Reconciling individual claims and institutional demands in everyday practice

Governmentality studies and social theories agree that in contemporary societies the idea of autonomy is no longer simply an ideal or an individual aspiration but a social obligation. In an attempt to clarify the meaning of autonomy in this day and age, this paper asks how individuals perceive and negotiate the various dimensions of autonomy and how this affects the functioning of late-modern institutions. The empirical insights derived from a qualitative study provide a differentiated picture of how individuals pursue their claims to autonomy and comply with institutional demands for autonomy in everyday practice. By presenting seven types of late-modern “autonomy managers,” the analysis evinces a usurpation of autonomous agency that renders individuals the institutional editors of the contemporary contradictions, deficits, and tensions that occur in their everyday interactions. This comes at the price of notionally free but exhausted actors running short of all kinds of resources.     

Zum Tod von Alphons Silbermann (12.8.1909–4.3.2000)

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Historical changes,and a modern program to improve the ecology of the Alster River of Germany

The Alster River, located in and around the State of Hamburg, Germany, is an extensively polluted, urbanized river of historical importance currently experiencing a cleanup effort of unprecedented proportions. The 30-year projected sewerage renovation currently in progress is designed to protect the river's water quality and is estimated to cost overall in excess of 1 billion DM (German marks). In this paper we analyze the in-progress construction of a modern sewerage network to restore the Alster River quality. To understand the importance of a new sewerage system it is necessary to review the history of the Alster River following urban settlement that began in the ninth century at the confluence of the Alster and the Elbe at the site of Hamburg. The biological and physical changes affecting communities of the Alster ecosystem are reviewed, as well as the developmental history of impoundments and canals along the river and the development of the sewerage system of Hamburg in relation to the Alster. The plan for restoration of the Alster is one of the most dramatic of its kind in modern European history and provides a blueprint for similar urban river restorations worldwide in the future.