A sociology of hackers

Illicit computer intruders, or hackers, are often thought of as pathological individuals rather than as members of a community. However, hackers exist within social groups that provide expertise, support, training, journals and conferences. This article outlines this community to establish the nature of hacking within ‘information societies’. To delineate a ‘sociology of hackers’, an introduction is provided to the nature of computer–mediated communication and the act of computer intrusion, the hack. Following this the hacking community is explored in three sections. First, a profile of the number of hackers and hacks is provided by exploring available demographics. Second, an outline of its culture is provided through a discussion of six different aspects of the hacking community. The six aspects are technology, secrecy, anonymity, membership fluidity, male dominance and motivations. Third, an exploration of the community's construction of a boundary, albeit fluid, between itself and its other, the computer security industry, is provided. This boundary is constructed through metaphors whose central role is to establish the ethical nature of hacking. Finally, a conclusion that rejects any pathologisation of hackers is offered.     

Interest Organizations,Information, and Policy Innovation in the U.S. Congress1 2

Interest organizations are hypothesized to strongly affect public policy, but the evidence that they do so is mixed. This article argues that one reason for the disparity is a gap between theory and research: theory suggests that information provided by interest organizations should strongly influence elected officials, but there is no systematic research on its impact. We examine a potentially important source of information for members of the U.S. Congress—testimony at committee hearings—to ascertain if it affects the enactment of policy proposals. The data, based on content analysis of almost 1,000 testimonies on a stratified random sample of policy proposals, describe who testifies, their arguments, and the evidence they provide. Supporters of a proposal emphasize the importance of the problem being addressed, while opponents claim the proposed policy will be ineffective and try to reframe the debate. Information—particularly information regarding policy effectiveness—does affect the likelihood that a policy proposal will be enacted.     

Describing the Dynamics of Attention to TV Commercials: A Hierarchical Bayes Analysis of the Time to Zap an Ad

This paper provides insights into the dynamics of attention to TV commercials via an analysis of the length of time that commercials are viewed before being 'zapped'. The model, which incorporates a flexible baseline hazard rate and captures unobserved heterogeneity across both consumers and commercials using a hierarchical Bayes approach, is estimated on two datasets in which commercial viewing is captured by a passive online device that continually monitors a household's TV viewing. Consistent with previous findings in psychology about the nature of attentional engagement in TV viewing, baseline hazard rates are found to be non-monotonic. In addition, the data show considerable ad-to-ad and household-to-household heterogeneity in zapping behavior. While one of the datasets contains some information on characteristics of the ads, these data do not reveal any firm links between the ad heterogeneity and the ad characteristics. A number of methodological and computational issues arise in the hierarchical Bayes analysis.     

Longitudinal Relationships Between Part-Time Work and Career Development in Adolescents

In discussions about the effects of part-time work on adolescents, career development processes have received little attention. This study examined relationships between part-time work and two components of career development (work values and career indecision) in 483 high school students. Comparisons of longitudinal and cross-sectional data revealed that peripheral work aspects were less valued as a consequence of being involved in part-time work; thus, the relative value placed on central work aspects increased. However, part-time work did not affect career indecision. The decision of whether to work seemed unrelated to the preexisting career development status, except for the value placed on physical activity in boys.     

Acculturation and Risk Behavior among Pregnant Mexican American Females: A Structural Equation Model

The purpose of this study was to test a theoretical model designed to predict risk behavior (i.e., cigarette and/or alcohol use) in a sample of Mexican American females who were pregnant and ranged in age from adolescence to early adulthood. The model consisted of six hypothesized predictors–acculturation status, intergenerational family conflict, acculturative stress, educational attainment, household income, and age of respondent, which were proposed as antecedents of risk behavior. Structural equation modeling was used to test both the direct and indirect effects for a set of proposed antecedents to the tendency for Mexican American females to engage in risk behaviors. Several of the hypothesized relationships were supported, with the strongest predictors of risk behavior being acculturation status, intergenerational family conflict, and acculturative stress. An important conclusion was that risk behavior by Mexican American females increased as they became more acculturated to the social circumstances of the U.S. Another notable result was that risk behavior increased among Mexican American females as they experienced higher levels of intergenerational conflict within their families.     

Risk,Media, and Stigma at Rocky Flats

Public responses to nuclear technologies are often strongly negative. Events, such as accidents or evidence of unsafe conditions at nuclear facilities, receive extensive and dramatic coverage by the news media. These news stories affect public perceptions of nuclear risks and the geographic areas near nuclear facilities. One result of these perceptions, avoidance behavior, is a form of "technological stigma" that leads to losses in property values near nuclear facilities. The social amplification of risk is a conceptual framework that attempts to explain how stigma is created through media transmission of information about hazardous places and public perceptions and decisions. This paper examines stigma associated with the U.S. Department of Energy's Rocky Flats facility, a major production plant in the nation's nuclear weapons complex, located near Denver, Colorado. This study, based upon newspaper analyses and a survey of Denver area residents, finds that the social amplification theory provides a reasonable framework for understanding the events and public responses that took place in regard to Rocky Flats during a 6-year period, beginning with an FBI raid of the facility in 1989.