The Road Less Traveled: Emotions and Morality in Public Controversies: A Response to Brian Lowe

Qualitative Sociology -     

The Development of Impulse Control and Sensation‐Seeking in Adolescence: Independent or Interdependent Processes?

This study examines whether changes in impulse control and sensation‐seeking across adolescence and early adulthood reflect independent or interdependent developmental processes. Data are drawn from a national longitudinal study (N = 8,270; 49% female; 33% Black, 22% Hispanic, 45% non‐Black, non‐Hispanic). An autoregressive latent trajectory model is used to test whether development in one trait influences development in the other. Although levels of these traits are inversely correlated, we do not find evidence that change over time in either trait is influenced by the prior level of the other. This failure to reject the null hypothesis is consistent with the view that sensation‐seeking and impulse control are the products of distinct neuropsychological systems that develop independently of one another.     

The Social Bases of Rural‐Urban Political Divides: Social Status,Work, and Sociocultural Beliefs

The rural‐urban political divide has sparked media and social science concern. Yet national studies of rural and urban voters have largely failed to draw from the distinct conceptual literatures produced by rural sociologists. We take a new look at individuals’ voting choices, building from two rural sociological literatures, research on spatial inequality and on the rural‐urban continuum, to identify the social bases anteceding Republican voting in presidential elections. We analyze three social bases along which rural‐urban populations vary: social structural statuses, work and employment, and sociocultural values and beliefs. We question the degree to which rural‐urban differences can be accounted for by these factors. Data are from approximately 9,000 respondents to the General Social Surveys for election years 2000–2012. Our findings demonstrate that the literatures produced by rural sociologists provide a strong conceptual foundation for explaining rural‐urban voting differences. Rural and urban residents’ differential social statuses account for the greatest variation in their voting choices. Sociocultural values and beliefs, particularly attitudes toward domestic social issues, are also important. Findings add significant insight into the variety of factors that differentiate rural‐urban individuals’ voting choices as well as illuminate the need for greater emphasis on exurban voters.     

Remission from Depression in the DSM: Moving from Rhetoric to Restoration

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition, the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, uses the term “remission” to describe the reduction of depressive symptoms. This paper argues that by categorizing someone who no longer has depressive symptoms as “in remission,” that person may feel indefinitely tied to his or her diagnosis. Considering the unfortunate stigma associated with mental illness, permanent linkage to diagnosis through records and professional memory may cause individuals to internalize pathology. In fact, the language of the diagnosis can affect self-perception in sensitive souls for a lifetime. As an implication for practice, we propose that cognitive and narrative therapy approaches, mood-memoirs, and use of metaphor present alternative uses of language that can reduce power imbalances between clinicians and clients, providing a bridge to healing.     

Knowledge and information about drugs in Australia

This article uses a national population survey conducted in 1988 to examine drug information needs within the Australian population. The analysis concentrates on three types of informational needs--knowledge and contact with drug services, the nature of the drug information sought, and the sources of drug information. The results show that almost half of the respondents in the survey considered that they had an adequate amount of information about drugs and there were generally high levels of factual knowledge about the drug and alcohol services available in the community. Knowledge of drug services was found to be unrelated to the need for information, although high levels of knowledge did correlate with a willingness to use a variety of medical, welfare, and social support services to obtain information. The data indicated that contact significantly correlated with both a desire for information and a willingness to consult a variety of services. Finally, users of all types of drugs reported higher levels of knowledge, with users of illicit drugs, in particular, expressing a greater desire for information about all types of drugs and an increased willingness to use a variety of welfare and social support agencies.     

Family Development Cycle,Social Class,and Inequality in Rwanda1

Abstract The relative importance of social class differences (social differentiation) and stages of the family development cycle (demographic differentiation) on income inequalities in rural Rwanda are discussed and compared using survey data from 1,019 households. Both forms of differentiation are conceptualized as dynamic processes that intersect through their mutual inclusion of landholding—land being fundamental to our understanding of social class in the Third World and likewise closely tied to the timing of the developmental stages of the family cycle. Findings demonstrate that both forms of differentiation are vitally important, in roughly equal proportions, to household income generation in Rwanda. Emphasis is placed on the direct effects of the social class variables and on the indirect effects of the demographic differentiation process. The importance of the impact of contextual variables, such as land scarcity and the absence of alternative nonfarm employment, on income inequality are assessed.     

The Political Attitudes of Australian Voters and Candidates

Modern theories of political representation assume that there will be little congruence between the views of political elites and the voters they govern. This paper uses survey data collected among candidates and voters at the 1987 Australian federal election to examine the extent of elite-mass differences on a range of 33 issues. The results show that Labor candidates and Labor voters are more likely to disagree on political issues, while Liberal-National candidates and voters are more likely to agree. Candidates of all parties are more liberal on issues such as Asian immigration, law enforcement and the protection of the environment, compared to their voters, while Senate candidates are more liberal than House of Representatives candidates. Finally, as other studies have found, candidates with constituency responsibilities, in this case those standing for the House of Representatives and incumbents, are more likely to be closer to the views of their party's voters than Senate and non-incumbent candidates.     

Relational Aggression, Relational Victimization, and Language Development in Preschoolers

We investigated language development, relational aggression, and relational victimization in ethnically, socioeconomically diverse preschoolers. Relational aggression was positively related to language development. Girls were more relationally aggressive than boys, and higher‐socioeconomic status (SES) children were more relationally aggressive and victimized than lower‐SES children. Neither gender nor SES conclusively moderated the relation between language and relational aggression, though some findings suggest the possibility of stronger relations among boys and lower‐SES children. Teachers agreed on ratings of relational aggression and relational victimization to a moderate extent.