The objective of the current study was to examine the relationships among neighborhood disadvantage, perceived neighborhood quality, family processes, and child internalizing problems within the framework of social disorganization theory. The sample consisted of 189 low-income, European American and Mexican American children and their mothers. The…

Given the perennial interest in the construct of age identity yet its persistent resistance to explanation, the purpose of this study was to re-examine the conceptual structure of age identity by using a focus group design modified to reflect contemporary social science theory. The second purpose of the study was to examine how this modified…

Primary processes in schools are hard to pin down despite attempts to measure central aspects of processes and outputs. For this very reason, it is important that teachers are motivated to go above and beyond their formal job responsibilities, a phenomenon called organizational citizenship behaviour. Social exchange theory is a theoretical…

We examined trends in group research published in Social Psychology Quarterly (SPQ) from 1975 to 2005. We identified a total of 332 papers about groups published during the time period. Following Moreland, Hogg, and Hains (1994), we created an index of interest in groups by dividing the number of pages in papers about groups by the total number of…

Noting the incompatibility of education with the organizational structure of schooling and the stagnation in the educational debate on school organization in the 1970s, this article offers new approaches to the relationship of organization and education. Both the rationalistic and mechanistic approaches are discarded in favor of concepts which…

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to develop a working model to explain medical specialty decision-making. Using Social Cognitive Career Theory, we examined personality, medical specialty preferences, job satisfaction, and expectations about specialty choice to create a conceptual framework to guide specialty choice decision-making.…

Argues that social forces and social pathologies figure prominently in the dynamics of suicide. Gives several examples of "social suicide," including mass suicide, organizational self-destruction, social analogues to individual suicide, and military suicide. Claims that suicide prevention requires social, economic, and cultural transformations at…

Examines 57 introductory sociology texts from the 1980s. Critically summarizes how "common sense" is presented, discusses the legitimacy of common sense from both a philosophical and sociological view point, and makes suggestions for a more adequate interpretation of the relationship between this concept and sociology as a science. (KO)

Four case studies of British adolescents describe their application of social theories to political, social, and personal issues. The studies imply that political reasoning does not develop separately from other domains. Discussion of the concept of lay social theory precedes the case studies. (BC)

Analyzes national survey data, which permitted operationalization of compensatory behavior as low self-esteem. Results support an ethnic community (race consciousness) explanation of African-American social and political participation and do not support compensatory explanations. Age, education, income, gender, and place of residence were also…

Compares United States and Japanese cultures in terms of incidence and management of face-threatening predicaments perpetuated by others. Finds United States citizens more likely than Japanese citizens to employ humor, accounts, and aggression and Japanese more likely to employ apology and remediation. (NH)

The study drew on Bernstein's theory and Moscovici's theory of Social Representations to investigate how children in classrooms with different types of structuration developed social representation of the curriculum. Comparable case studies were carried out in schools chosen to reflect three types of pedagogy according to Bernstein's typology.…

The striving for status has long been recognized in sociology and economics. Extensive theoretical arguments and empirical evidence propose that people view status as a sign of competence and pursue it as a means to achieve power and resources. A small literature, however, based on arguments from biology and evolutionary psychology, proposes that…

Purpose: This paper presents routinized action theory as a way to examine the regular, habitual activities that occur in school organizations. Using this theoretical lens, school routines were analyzed in order to understand organizational stability and change. Design/methodology/approach: Using case study methods, three discrete cases are…

This study represents an attempt to test Braithwaite's theory of reintegrative shaming with an operationalization scheme of two variables--disapproval of delinquent behavior (shaming) and forgiveness of the transgressor (reintegration) by parents and peers. The study combines measures of delinquency disapproval and forgiveness of the transgressor…