Ethnomethodology and Marxism: Their use for critical theorizing

Conclusion Each theory and, ultimately, school of theorizing exposes and criticizes the theorizing of others, and at the same time contains false or misleading statements. Theory as it is must rest on some presuppositions. Thus, Marxism exposes the flaws and lies of capitalism while positing another world view-Marxism—which it does not treat critically. Marxism also provides a critique of positivistic thinking. In The Grundrisse, Marx engages in a dialogue with economists and philosophers of his day. His theory emerges out of the rejection of their theory. Ethnomethodology can be seen as critique of positivism, too. It can also tell us something about Marxism, as some of its concerns are similar, although the methods are dissimilar. At the same time, ethnomethodology denies us certain information about itself. Theorists, then, question others and not themselves. Theory can be seen as a product of inquiry; the theorist shows only the product and hides what made the product. Indeed, just as the statistician reveals a correlation between two variables and omits all the common sense reasoning that went into the process (a method of theorizing ethnomethodologists criticize), so does the ethnomethodologist or Marxist omit, to a great extent, the process of theorizing involved.Thus, while neither form of theorizing, taken literally, can be critical (for to be critical, one must sometimes suspend belief in one's own theory, bracket it, or see it as strange), either form, if taken metaphorically (and in a way that is unfaithful to Marxism and ethnomethodology), can be used for critique.The ethnomethodological and Marxist critiques of social information, as in their processual framework and their emphasis on the thinking individual, provide critiques of contemporary society and an impetus to try to change it. Links between the two schools of theorizing would perhaps help overcome the deficiencies of each mode of theorizing. Taylor, Walton, and Young advocated (although they never carried it out) building a bridge in criminology so to speak, between ethnomethodology and Marxism. The advantage would be to enable us to escape from the straitjacket of an economic determinism and the relativism of some subjective approaches to a theory of contradiction in a social structure which recognizes in deviance the acts of men (men and women) in the process of actively making, rather than passively taking, the external world.Our special thanks to Ishna Abrams, Igor Freund, and Peter Schwarzburg for their tireless assistance.     

Mothering and everyday life during and in the aftermath of domestic violence among women with immigrant backgrounds in Norway

This paper focuses on how immigrant women experience and negotiate their everyday life with children prior to and after leaving a violent partner. Twenty‐three women staying at domestic violence and abuse shelters with their children were interviewed about their experiences with assistance services and their everyday life with their children. At the time of the interviews, most of the women were legally separated or divorced and were either living in or in touch daily with shelters. In this paper, we look at some of the challenges that women face when exposed to violence in a relationship that involves children. Being exposed to violence from a partner raises a number of economic, practical, and emotional concerns, both prior to and after leaving. For the mothers in our study, maintaining a regular routine is key to making the children feel safe in an unpredictable setting. For many, economic dependence on the partner is replaced with economic dependence on assistance services after leaving the partner. Services must recognize that providing help to mothers who have left a violent partner constitutes more than just practical support but is crucial for mothers' ability to re‐establish a predictable everyday life with their children.     

Identity construction of second-generation Iranians in Australia: influences and perspectives

Understanding the complexity of identity in the children of immigrants has become important with the growing rates of global migration. A new theoretical construct refers to an individual’s subjective representation of the interrelationships among his or her multiple group identities and how their subjective identity could be explained.

The aim of this study was to examine the impact of their Iranian background and the social characteristics of their host society, Australia, on the second generation’s understanding of their national and ethnic identity.

This cross-sectional study is based on a quantitative method. Participants in the study were second-generation Iranians aged 18–40, living in Australia. Data were collected on how these second-generation Iranians identified themselves with Iranian society and/or with the wider society, and how their chosen identity was influenced by their background, their national beliefs, their perspectives towards the host country and the host country’s perspective towards specific ethnic groups.

Overall, 137 people participated in this study, and the results show patterns of biculturalism; the majority claimed hyphenated identity wherein the second identity was shown to be the weaker identity. The main contextual factors influencing their identity formation were birth place, acculturation and attitudes towards the host.     

Enclosed versus open nursing stations in adult acute care psychiatric settings: does the design affect the therapeutic milieu?

Specific efforts by hospital accreditation organizations encourage renovation of nursing stations, so nurses can better see, attend, and care for their patients. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of nursing station design on the therapeutic milieu in an adult acute care psychiatric unit. A repeated cross-sectional, pretest-posttest design was used. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 81 patients and 25 nursing staff members who completed the Ward Atmosphere Scale. Pretest data were collected when the unit had an enclosed nursing station, and posttest data were collected after renovations to the unit created an open nursing station. No statistically significant differences were found in patient or staff perceptions of the therapeutic milieu. No increase in aggression toward staff was found, given patients' ease of access to the nursing station. More research is needed about the impact of unit design in acute care psychiatric settings.     

Policy advocacy for women's unpaid care work: comparing approaches and strategies in Nepal and Nigeria

This article focuses on policy advocacy programmes in Nepal and Nigeria, instigated by ActionAid International with local women's rights organisations and non-government organisations, and supported by the Institute of Development Studies, UK. These programmes aimed to challenge women's unequal responsibility for care work and to influence policymakers to understand the importance of providing services to support them. One of the main components of these programmes was child care, a responsibility which most women experience 24/7 for at least two decades of their lives, and which profoundly shapes their lives and opportunities. We examine the processes through which each of the country teams have engaged with public policies on this issue, focusing on the similarities and differences in each context. Although the programme of activities has been implemented in much the same way in both countries, and each chose to focus on early child-care provision as the main policy demand, the partnerships and policy processes chosen differ greatly. Specifically, we distinguish between ‘critical engagement’ (in the case of Nepal), as compared to ‘constructive engagement’ (in the case of Nigeria). The article ends with some reflections on the challenges facing the teams during their work, and the implications and lessons that can be drawn from these two case studies.     

Incorporating husband-wife differences in place utility differentials into migration decision models

This paper extends the micro-level empirical literature on migration decision making by investigating the manner in which husbands' and wives' subjective place utility expectations jointly feed into migration decisions in a low-income country. The authors use expectational data relating to four place utility dimensions and stated migration intentions of 376 village-resident Egyptian couples to test alternative decision models. An ordinal probit estimation technique is employed. The results of the analyses support the hypothesis of husband dominance in migration decisions in this context. The authors conclude with a discussion of the implications of the paper for further theoretical refinement and for migration survey design in this and other developing countries.Dr. McDevitt is a Research Associate of the Carolina Population Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Gadalla, former Director of The Social Research Center of The American University in Cairo, is currently Visiting Distinguished Professor of Sociology-Demography, San Diego State University, San Diego.This is a revised version of a paper presented at the 1984 annual meetings of the Population Association of America and cited throughout as McDevitt and Gadalla (1984). The authors wish to acknowledge helpful discussions with Amos Hawley in the early stages of the development of the paper and the guidance of David Guilkey and Larry Taylor with the statistical techniques employed in the work reported in the paper. The research was supported in part by grants 1-R01-HD14943 and 1-T32-HD07168 from the National Institutes of Health.     

Milford Redefined: A Model of Initial and Advanced Generalist Social Work

Abstract

Social work has long sought a conceptual framework to describe its most basic approach to service delivery: generalist social work practice. A milestone in that process was the series of Milford conferences in the 1920s during which the elements of “generic casework” were first identified. This article presents a model that advances and clarifies the concepts of generalist social work as viewed at the beginning of the 1990s. Generalist social work at both the initial and advanced levels involves a way of viewing practice. It is a perspective that focuses on the interface between systems, on a client-centered and problem-focused philosophy, and on an openness to multiple theories and approaches for improving people's well-being. Practice at the initial level requires a set of competencies necessary to provide services consistent with the understanding derived from the perspective. Advanced generalist social work represents increased complexity in the learning process and greater breadth and depth of exploration in a generalist perspective rather than a uniquely different perspective from the generalist approach.     

Causes of death to women of reproductive age in two developing countries

Data on cause of death are deficient for most developing countries. Nevertheless, it is important for policy makers to have access to such information to plan the use of resources and to evaluate health programs. In this study, deaths among women of reproductive age (15 to 49) in two areas in developing countries were located, and family members were interviewed. Local physicians reviewed the completed interviews and determined the cause of death.Complications of pregnancy and childbirth were the cause of 23% of the deaths in Menoufia, Egypt and Bali, Indonesia. In Egypt, the first cause of death was circulatory system disease (28%), followed by complications of pregnancy and childbirth (23%), and trauma (14%, primarily burns). In Indonesia, complications of pregnancy and childbirth was the first cause of death, followed by infectious disease (22%, primarily tuberculosis), and circulatory system disease (13%).Although the method of data collection was unorthodox, findings for Menoufia are comparable to data from other sources for the country as a whole. There are few data with which to compare our findings for Bali, but their similarity to the data from the Egyptian study lends credence to their quality.     

Does differential response make a difference: examining domestic violence cases in child protection services

Large numbers of domestic violence (DV) cases on child protection caseloads have necessitated the development of practices that address both DV and child safety. The first step in this process is to gain an understanding of the differences between DV‐involved cases and other forms of maltreatment. The implementation of a differential response service model in Ontario offered an opportunity to compare risk assessment ratings, service outcomes and recurrence and to identify pathways of DV cases through child protection services (CPS). A sample (n = 785) of child protection investigations over a 4‐month period was examined. Of these investigations, 26% cases were DV referred; 87% of the DV victims were mothers; perpetrating partners were mostly absent from investigations; non‐white families were more often investigated for DV than white families; and DV cases were more likely to remain open for ongoing CPS. Only one‐third of DV‐exposed children were assessed as having been harmed and most community referrals were made for the victim parent. Mothers were the primary target of investigation, remaining in CPS for extended service provision although recurrence rates were lower than found in other investigations. Results are discussed to inform investigative procedures, assessment and service response to more adequately respond to children and families when DV is present.