The Construction of Fear

The paper derives applications of an observation about how fears are constructed by people in their daily lives in order to expand upon developments and critiques in constructionist analyses of scares in the news media.     

Fitness and the postmodern self

This essay suggests that contemporary fitness practices share aesthetic and ideological commitments with other activities that have been classified as postmodern. The aesthetic similarities are evident in the use of pastiche and simulation by manufacturers of exercise machines and videotapes. In terms of ideology, the pursuit of fitness is promoted as an opportunity for individuals to avert several of the risks to selfhood thought to be present in modern social organization. Implications for G.H. Mead's theory of the self are discussed.     

Bullying victimization,negative emotions,and substance use: utilizing general strain theory to examine the undesirable outcomes of childhood bullying victimization in adolescence and young adulthood

Bullying victimization has been directly associated with a variety of negative outcomes, but there are still many unknowns as to how deleterious emotional states resulting from victimization influence other undesirable events. The current study draws on Agnew’s general strain theory to examine multiple outcomes of youth victimized by repeated bullying prior to adolescence. Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 were used to examine indicators of diminished moods and negative emotions on substance use for bullying victims in adolescence and again during young adulthood. Findings from various LISERL models indicate that bullying victimization directly increases diminished moods for males and females in adolescence. Additionally, childhood bullying victimization directly increases substance use in adolescence and young adulthood for males but not females. Finally, diminished moods in adolescence and negative emotions in young adulthood increase substance use for females but not for males. Policy implications and limitations for this analysis are discussed.     

Exploiting logistic potentials with a simulation-aided test of PPC methods

In order to guarantee company competitiveness, the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of the production process must be continuously enhanced. In practice, PPC systems are implemented for this purpose, but frequently do not meet expectations. Reasons may be an inadequate selection of PPC methods as well as an unsuitable configuration of PPC parameters. By making use of a simulation-aided test bed it becomes possible to check and reconfigure a PPC system with regard to its specific application in a company. This gives access to logistic potentials which have remained unused so far. The paper introduces the concept of a simulation-based PPC tester and describes one application of the system in a medium-sized mechanical engineering company. An example taken from that investigation shows how to generate warehouse logistics operating curves with the help of simulation and how this knowledge could be used to select suppliers and to determine the 'appropriate' stock-on-hand level.     

Introduction

Qualitative Sociology -