Marxist sociology and humanist sociology: Diversity, intersections, and convergence

Marxist sociology is at the intersection of Marxism and sociology; while humanist sociology is at the intersection of humanist thought and sociology. Both see sociological theory as a living, evolving activity, and both take a critical stance toward the workings of capitalism. The main difference between them is that Marxist sociology is a body of thought tied to a movement, whereas humanist sociology is a movement tied to a body of thought. Professor of Sociology, Purdue University Calumet. He is past chair of the Section on Marxist Sociology, has been a member of the AHS for twenty years, and is co-author of Crisis and Change: Basic Questions of Marxist Sociology.     

Decision analysis for practical negotiation application

The family of decision analysis techniques can be applied effectively to support practical negotiators in international settings. These techniques are most appropriate in support of the prenegotiation phase, when parties are diagnosing the situation, assessing their own plans and strategies, and evaluating likely reactions and outcomes. The paper identifies how these approaches have and can be used to assist negotiation practitioners, offers a rationale for the application of decision analytic approaches in terms of the particular analytical requirements of the prenegotiation period, suggests how these process-oriented tools can be integrated with substantive tools, and discusses ways in which these tools can be presented and delivered to practitioners in a practical and confidence-building manner.     

The sequential path to transformation management

The requirement for organizational transformation presents a troubling paradox for would-be leaders of change. To achieve significant and lasting transformation, everything about the organization must change. But changing everything at once is simply impossible. In seeking a way through this paradox, the article suggests a sequence of interventions. This is what needs to occur first, second, third, and so on, if transformation is to be effective. Underlying that sequence are the concepts of customer alignment and learning. Driving that sequence is a transformation in leadership style that addresses first sequentially and then simultaneously the twin demands of what Bert Spector refers to a ‘taking charge and letting go’.     

Using Technology to Facilitate Collaboration in Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR)

This study explores the use of Computer-Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW) technologies, by way of a computer-based system called iCohere. This system was used to facilitate collaboration conducting Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR). Data was gathered from 13 members of a Community Collaborative Board (CCB). Analysis revealed that iCohere served the following functions: facilitating communication, providing a depository for information and resource sharing, and allowing for remote meeting attendance. Results indicated that while iCohere was useful in performing these functions, less expensive technologies had the potential to achieve similar goals if properly implemented. Implications for future research on CSCW systems and CBPR are discussed.     

Community Wise: The Development of an Anti-Oppression Model to Promote Individual and Community Health

Communities with histories of oppression have shown great resilience, yet few health interventions focus on structural oppression as a contributor to health problems in these communities. This article describes the development and active ingredients of Community Wise, a unique behavioral health intervention designed to reduce substance use frequency, related health risk behaviors, and recidivism among individuals with a history of incarceration and substance abuse residing in distressed and predominantly African American communities. Community Wise, developed through the collaborative efforts of a board of service providers, researchers, consumers, and government officials, is a 12-week group intervention that aims to address behavioral health problems by raising critical consciousness in distressed communities.     

Design and the global and human wellbeing

This paper approaches the challenge of considering the principles of sustainable development in the conception of products, services or systems in a specific territory, though inserted in a globalized world. The reflection takes place by crosschecking the information gathered through bibliographical research on the following themes: wellbeing, design, and the local versus global relation. Thus, the strategy of analysis adopted comprehends the triangulation of information for further comparison of the survey and discussion of the data obtained. This paper results in a set of reflections on the interactions between human beings and their territories, towards new conceptions oriented to a more sustainable future.     

Stressors beget stressors: The effect of passive leadership on employee health through workload and work–family conflict

The current study examined passive leadership as a potential antecedent of two commonly studied workplace stressors (i.e. workload and work–family conflict), and investigated its negative effect on employee burnout and physical symptoms via these stressors. We collected two waves of data from 274 focal participants, and one wave of data from their co-workers. Results showed that both self-reported and co-worker-reported passive leadership was positively related to employee burnout and physical symptoms, as well as workload and work–family conflict. Additionally, workload and work–family conflict partially mediated the effects of passive leadership on burnout and physical symptoms, respectively. Our findings support the notion that passive leadership can create a stressful workplace and have a detrimental effect on employees’ health.     

Bored employees misbehaving: The relationship between boredom and counterproductive work behaviour

In this study, the relationships among boredom proneness, job boredom, and counterproductive work behaviour (CWB) were examined. Boredom proneness consists of several factors, which include external stimulation and internal stimulation. Given the strong relationships between both the external stimulation factor of boredom proneness (BP-ext) and anger as well as the strong relationship between trait anger and CWB, we hypothesized that examining BP-ext would help us to better understand why employees commit CWB. Five types of CWB have previously been described: abuse against others, production deviance, sabotage, withdrawal and theft. To those we added a sixth, horseplay. Using responses received from 211 participants who were recruited by email from throughout North America (112 of them matched with co-workers), we found support for our central premise. Indeed, both BP-ext and job boredom showed significant relationships with various types of CWB. The boredom proneness factor also moderated the relationship between job boredom and some types of CWB, suggesting that a better understanding of boredom is imperative for designing interventions to prevent CWB.     

Letters of recommendation in academe: Do women and men write in different languages?

The present study analyzes seventy-eight letters of recommendation sent to a department of sociology and anthropology for six replacement and two tenure-track positions. The sample consists of fifteen pairs of letters written for women and twenty-four pairs written for men. Each pair of letters includes one written by a woman and one written by a man for the same candidate. Men and women wrote letters differently, but their letters also varied by the gender of the applicant. The concept of tokenism, Gilligan’s theory about moral reasoning, and Acker’s discussion of gendered organizations are used to interpret these differences. This article is a revised version of a paper presented at the Eastern Sociological Society Annual Meeting, Providence, R.I., April 12, 1991.     

The stressor–strain relationship in diary studies: A meta-analysis of the within and between levels

Daily diary studies use the same set of measures repeatedly for several days. Within the work stress domain, these studies are able to isolate the effects of daily exposure to stressors within people from the general level of stressors between people. This meta-analysis investigated both content-related and methodological aspects of workplace stressor–strain relationships in diary studies. Results from 55 unique samples (a combined sample size of 5409) indicated that the magnitude of the stressor–strain relationship was stronger at the between-person level than the within-person level. Further, when the stressor was measured prior to the strain (within the same day), the relationship was somewhat stronger than when stressor and strain were measured concurrently. This suggests that stressor–strain effects might take some time to fully manifest. Differences were also detected among types of strains: affective strains had stronger relationship with stressors than behavioural strains. There were also differences in the stressor–strain relationship depending on both the type of strain and the timing of their respective measurement (concurrent versus predictive), suggesting that certain strain responses require more time to manifest. Overall, this meta-analysis elucidates important considerations in the design and interpretation of diary studies on occupational stress.