Back to Hegel? On Gillian Rose's critique of sociological reason

Thirty‐five years ago, Gillian Rose articulated a significant critique of classical sociological reason, emphasizing its relationship to its philosophical forebears. In a series of works, but most significantly in her Hegel contra Sociology, Rose worked to specify the implications of sociology's failure, both in its critical Marxist and its ‘scientific’ forms, to move beyond Kant and to fully come to terms with the thought of Hegel. In this article, I unpack and explain the substance of her criticisms, developing the necessary Hegelian philosophical background on which she founded them. I argue that Rose's attempted recuperation of ‘speculative reason’ for social theory remains little understood, despite its continued relevance to contemporary debates concerning the nature and scope of sociological reason. As an illustration, I employ Rose to critique Chernilo's recent call for a more philosophically sophisticated sociology. From the vantage point of Rose, this particular account of a ‘philosophical sociology’ remains abstract and rooted in the neo‐Kantian contradictions that continue to characterize sociology.     

How Have Other Journals Compared to “The Top Seven” Journals in Family Social Science with Respect to LGBT-Related Research and Reviews? A Comment on “A Content Analysis of LGBT Research in Top Family Journals 2000–2015”? An Editorial Analysis

Van Eeden-Moorefield, Few-Demo, Benson, Bible, and Lummer (2018) recently reviewed the content of seven family social science journals with respect to theory and methods used in 153 articles featuring LGBT research or reviews of LGBT research. They concluded that less than three percent of 6,832 articles published in those journals between 2000 and 2015 were LGBT-related and that most had not used explicit theory and had used purposive cross-sectional samples consisting mostly of White and middle-class participants. During the tenure of the present editor, between 2010 and 2017, Marriage & Family Review featured 14 research reports, reviews, or commentary on LGBT-related issues out of 250 articles, not counting brief editorials or biographies between 2010 and 2017, an odds ratio of over 2.0 compared to the other “top-tier” journals. Likewise, the Journal of Family Theory & Review published at least 15 articles, mainly reviews or commentaries, on LGBT-related issues between 2009 and 2017. Articles in Marriage & Family Review and Journal of Family Theory & Review were more likely to be reviews of the literature, or feature explicit theory, to be qualitative in methodology, or to involve interviews or surveys, while other characteristics were similar to those in the other seven journals. Thus, even if some mainstream family journals did not publish often on LGBT-related issues, other important family science journals have done so. Furthermore, there are numerous scholarly journals that welcome LGBT-related research and reviews almost exclusively.     

Retrospective Paternal and Maternal Parenting Styles,Regulatory Self-Efficacy and Adolescent Risk Taking

This study aims to calculate a scaled risk-taking behavior index and to test a model in which maternal and paternal parenting styles affect risk-taking behavior with a mediation of adolescents’ regulatory self-efficacy. Participants were 816 adolescents (44% males) responding to a self-report questionnaire about their risk-taking behavior, regulatory self-efficacy, and retrospective memories of paternal and maternal parenting styles. Results suggested an item rating in the index showing that behaviors considered less risky referred to alcohol use and the unplanned first sexual intercourse, whereas behaviors considered more risky referred to the lack of use of contraceptives and the age of the first sexual intercourse. Results revealed a significant indirect effect of authoritative and authoritarian styles on risk-taking behavior. These styles shaped the adolescents’ regulatory self-efficacy, which in turn predicted adolescent risk-taking behavior. Results underline the complex interplay of relationships between parents and their children.     

Assessing social work and nursing students’ intentions to work with dying patients

This study assessed social work and nursing students’ intentions to provide end-of-life care, based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. A total of 181 social work and nursing students completed a questionnaire examining intentions to provide end-of-life care, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived control, death anxiety, subjective knowledge, and sociodemographic characteristics. Students manifested a moderate level of intentions to provide end-of-life care, with nursing students indicating higher levels of intentions than social work students. Multiple regression analyses revealed that attitudes, subjective norms, and previous experience were the main predictors of intentions to provide end-of-life care. Recommendations for academic programs are discussed.     

Israel's military public diplomacy evolution: Historical and conceptual dimensions

This study provides an historical overview of the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit (ISU) from the early years of the State of Israel until 2009. Analyzing five periods during which the ISU played a key role in Israel's public diplomacy, this research sheds light on the challenges the ISU faced in different periods and circumstances and examines how the ISU tried to modify its methods and actions in response to geopolitical changes and media development, albeit not always successfully. The study suggests better understanding the adaptation process by applying a three-layer framework for analysis: the tactical layer, the strategic layer and the perceptional layer. The findings of this work demonstrate that in adapting to new circumstances, the ISU focused mainly on the tactical response level, with the result that it did not undertake any review or debate over the need for deeper perceptional changes in ISU policies.     

Employees’ prosocial behavioral intentions through empowerment in CSR decision-making

This study theorizes and empirically tests a conceptual framework to understand how a company can better motivate its employees to carry out persistent prosocial behavior and develop positive organization-employee relationships through corporate social responsibility (CSR) involvement. A managerial approach, employee participative decision making in CSR, is examined for its impact on the prosocial behavioral outcome among employees and the relational outcome for the organization. Furthermore, a psychological mechanism that emphasizes employees’ perceived need satisfaction is examined as the underlying explanation that drives the effectiveness of the managerial approach. The study results support that empowering employees to co-construct CSR decisions with top management is effective in satisfying employees’ basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. This in turn increases the employees’ intention to maintain long-lasting involvement in CSR and improves their relationships with the company. This study provides important implications for public relations professionals and organizational leaders on how to improve their internal CSR communication and involvement practice and cultivate desirable organization-employee relationships.     

Tweeting about emergency: A semantic network analysis of government organizations’ social media messaging during Hurricane Harvey

While social media like Twitter have been increasingly adopted by public-sector organizations, it remains less explored as to how government and emergency management (EM) organizations use these platforms to communicate with the public in response to emerging natural disasters. Extending the Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) to the realm of social media, this study examines the emerging semantic networks from 67 government and EM organizations’ official tweets during Hurricane Harvey over a three-week period. It identifies how multiple crisis response strategies—including instructing information, adjusting information, and bolstering—are constituted of different issues, actions, and organizational actors before, during, and immediately after the disaster event. Results suggest that government agencies use the strategy of instructing information predominantly before and during the disaster, whereas adjusting information and bolstering strategies are utilized more during post-disaster recovery. The study offers theoretical and practical implications of using a semantic network approach to studying organizational crisis responses.     

One does not simply meme about organizations: Exploring the content creation strategies of user-generated memes on Imgur

This study explores how online publics are engaging with organizations by creating and sharing brand-related content online, outside corporate-controlled communication environments. This research employs a quantitative content analysis of memes shared on the social networking site Imgur to reveal how user-generated content conveys meaning about organizations. The analysis reveals brand-centric memes are generally classified as orphan memes, or memes that have distinct textual and visual characteristics separating them from established or emerging meme families. Memes about organizations are neither an overwhelming reflection of biting criticism or support, but rather a reflection of online public engagement with organizations that primarily use humor and textual brand features (or quiddities) to convey their commitment and satisfaction with the organization and unite meme families.     

Framing the Women’s March on Washington: Media coverage and organizational messaging alignment

Half a million citizens participated in the Women’s March on Washington the day after President Trump’s inauguration, starting a political movement. The march communicated key messages to the public directly and via the media. This study explores how media coverage framed those key messages through content analysis. Media frames mentioned all key messages, emphasizing solidarity and activation at the grassroots, and in a way that both supported and challenged organizational messages. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.