Search

Structural features of populations, such as diversity or inequality, are typically used to explain overall patterns of intergroup interaction (for instance overall patterns of friendships between immigrant and native groups). While intergroup interaction is a component of social integration, recent studies are able to distinguish between intergroup interaction and homophily, which is an important component of social integration because it reflects individual-level attitudes or preferences. Homophily refers to the fact that individuals often prefer to associate with those who are similar with themselves (for instance those who share the same native or immigrant background). While forms of inequality are known to structurally diminish intergroup association, whether inequality increases homophily remains an open question. This study proposes and tests novel hypotheses on inequality as an origin of homophily. Specifically, this study will test whether two forms of inequality, (1) direct socioeconomic inequality and (2) the consolidation (or correlation) of socioeconomic status and immigrant background, exacerbate immigrant-native homophily within adolescent friendships in school classrooms. Using Exponential Random Graph Models (ERGM) of friendship networks captured by the CILS4EU (the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries) survey, the findings indicate that consolidation, but not inequality, exacerbates native-immigrant homophily. This indicates that existing studies underestimate the implications of inequality for social integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years there has been an increase in the number of quantitative studies examining the consequences of individual-level socioeconomic mobility. Nearly all of these studies in sociology and demography have used Sobel's (1981; 1985) diagonal reference model. In this paperwe examine the mathematical properties of the Sobel model. We showthat, under plausible values of mobility effects, the diagonal reference model tends to generate results that implicitly force the mobility linear effect to zero. As such, the model has little advantage over Duncan's square additive model, which has been abandoned for similar reasons. We conclude with a caution to researchers interested in using the diagonal reference model for estimating the consequences of social mobility. The resulting estimated mobility effects are, in part, an artifact of the model and should be interpreted judiciously. In general, when using the technique researchers should decompose the mobility parameters using orthogonal projection, which will reveal the potentially strong assumptions underlying the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On November 25, 2018 a Chinese researcher name He Jiankui created headlines around the world when he announced that he had created the first CRISPR-edited babies. Scientists in genetics and genomics were shocked and even those leading the charge for CRISPR technology felt his alleged work had gone too far, too fast. This announcement highlighted that ethical, legal, social and policy implications (ELSI) research is vital in the rapidly-growing field of genetics and genomics. There is a need for new models of integrating ELSI research into ongoing and future genomic advancement. In this paper, we present one model, Embedded ELSI Ethnography, for conducting research that allows for both the study of complex genetics and genomics projects and ethical intervention into complex scientific inquiry. This paper will describe the opportunities and dilemmas our interdisciplinary team has encountered as we initiated an embedded study of a preference-sensitive, pragmatic clinical trial. The trial's goal is to test a "risk-stratified" approach to breast cancer prevention and early detection on a large population. As genomics research expands to include large clinical studies, it is critical for social scientists to find innovative ways to be a central part of the research process. We will describe in detail both the methodology and the rationale for undertaking embedded work, and offer specific examples from our study. Embedded ethnographies allow researchers to: 1) observe challenges and issues that emerge in real time, 2) ascertain the views of both key stakeholders and study participants, 3) evaluate the impact of the study on key public policy and ethical concerns, and 4) contribute to answering ethical concerns as they arise, thus improving the implementation of pragmatic trials. We will share our experiences using this methodology, the challenges we have faced and our advice to future researchers engaging in this type of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immigrant status and visa type represent an important yet understudied dimension of inequality among immigrants with consequences on the lived experiences and outcomes of immigrants and their families. Further, assumptions about gender and family are entrenched in the US immigration system in ways that reflect and reinforce gendered roles. This paper seeks to further our understanding of these effects by focusing on spouses of international students who are considered to be "dependents" within the US visa system and face severe restrictions on their ability to work outside the home. This policy enforces a "forced time out", and this paper seeks to explore its consequences on the gendered division of household labor within immigrant families and their overall economic and social wellbeing. Using qualitative data collected through interviews with immigrant couples, comprised of international students (on F1 visa status) and their "dependent" partners (on F2 visa status), this study seeks to identify the intended and unintended consequences of the dependent spouse visa status on the division of household labor and broader consequences on the social and economic wellbeing and integration of immigrant families. More broadly, this paper contributes to how immigration policy, even those intended to be temporary, have reverberating long-term consequences on individuals and families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past two decades, postsecondary institutions have increasingly incorporated transgender inclusive language, policies, and facilities to address poor trans student health, grades, safety, and academic achievement. While such efforts have been heralded, little research has studied trans student experiences on campuses with such policies. My study remedies this gap through an ethnography examining the experiences of trans students at two women's colleges. Since 2013, over twenty U.S. women's colleges have adopted transgender admissions policies that outline varying biomedical, social, and legal criteria for who may apply to their institution to include trans women, men, and occasionally gender non-conforming students. Data for this research come from archival research, 80 interviews with students, alumna/i, and staff/faculty/administration, and participant observation with 6 transgender students throughout the academic year. The primary question this paper asks is: How are student's academic and social experiences impacted by gendered policies? In answering this question, this research extends sociological research beyond binary examinations of gender to examine how even seemingly inclusive institutional policies may still exclude the most marginalized students. As such, this paper calls to think about diversity as a product of postsecondary institutions; not simply in terms of the identities that are listed in nondiscrimination policies, but in the ways in which these policies are implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While we understand that city life is strongly patterned, specifically in 24 hour increments, the forces behind this patterning are not as well understood. I examine one of the forces that has been suggested as a predictor and driver of daily life, social ecology. Measuring this concept as combinations of institutions, I use quantitative methods including OLS regression to predict the patterns of daily life. Drawing on literature from social ecology, geography and sociology, I use this regression model to understand how these institutions could drive the 24 hour pattern of life. This project uses cell phone data from the city of Milan across a period of two months to examine this question, leveraging methods drawn from signal processing to refine diurnal signals. I find that while social ecology is a strong predictor of the amount of social activity in a city, other latent forces are certainly pertinent in the production of this pattern of life. To better understand why the OLS model can only predict part of the pattern, I use random forests to better explain why the temporal phase of this activity is difficult to estimate. These results have implications for organizers of social movements, criminologists, and epidemiology, as it allows people to better understand the movement of people around a city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the relationship between neoliberal globalization and long-term adverse social and environmental consequences of the 1984 Bhopal disaster. The Bhopal disaster that killed 25,000 and injured 600,000 is only remembered by the spectacle of its immediate aftermath. What remains understudied is the way in which the slow violence of social and environmental destruction continues to affect marginalized people living in Bhopal. Bhopal is a site of slow violence because Bhopal represents prolonged devastation that continues over time and space. More than 100,000 in Bhopal remain chronically ill; children continue to be born with physical and mental deformities; women and girls suffer many reproductive health complications; and contaminated soil and groundwater affect thousands of marginalized Bhopalis. This paper attempts to go beyond the spectacle-driven understanding of the tragedy by examining (1) the Bhopal disaster as the outcome of a process in which developed countries/sites offshore socioecological risks to poor countries/sites; (2) the ongoing adverse consequences of the disaster as the outcome of a dynamic that renders invisible the slow violence of social and environmental harms affecting vulnerable populations in marginalized countries. This paper uses a mixed-method approach, drawing data from 50 interviews with Bhopal victims and activists and relevant archives and official and independent reports. Additionally, I create and use a cross-national dataset on industrial disasters that have enduring social and environmental consequences. This research on the intersection of environmental justice, neoliberalism, development, disaster, and resistance has multiple scholarly implications, both methodological and theoretical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historical rates of divorce and separation show an almost quadrupling of divorce from 1880 to 1990, with rates doubling from 1960 to 1990 for age-standardized rates (Ruggles 1997). These rates continued to increase from 1990 to 2010, but among youngest couples, divorce rates have remained stable or are declining (Kennedy and Ruggles 2014). Given these drastic changes from 1960 to the present, this study is uniquely situated to examine the effects of divorce using UCNets, data sampled on cohorts aged 21-30 and 50-70. There is evidence that divorce continues to affect children in a variety of ways twenty years onwards (Ahrons 2007). Yet, we know relatively little about how parental divorce impacts social networks of adult children. My study addresses this issue, investigating how parental divorce impacts social network ties and multiplexity in a sample of 21-30-year-olds and 50- 70-year-olds. My findings show that divorce does have a significant effect on multiplexity, indicating that individuals who experienced parental divorce have more overlapping networks while those who did not draw on different people for different support. Because this analysis does not look at types of multiplexity, to see overlap between certain networks, I am unable to make predictions as to the nature of the relationship between parental divorce and multiplexity. Lastly, there is a marginally significant interaction between cohort and parental divorce status for multiplexity, which indicates that parental divorce is differentially impacting different cohorts, likely due to cultural, age, and recency differences in the experience of parental divorce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How is racialized illegality constructed in space? Extant research has examined how Latino ethnorace operates as a social marker for undocumented status (Garcia 2017). Few studies have explored how racialized illegality takes on a spatial dimension. This article draws from 34 interviews from undocumented students and Dream Resource Center staff as well as twelve months of participant-observation data from Dream Resource Centers (DRCs), a form of institutional support at colleges/universities for undocumented students, to suggest three ways in which racialized illegality unfolds in space: 1. DRC decoration 2. Food and Language 3. Presence of Latinos. Examining racialized illegality in space is critical given that it is a mechanism for inclusion of those that fit the racialization of illegality while excluding those that do not, therefore restricting their access to peer networks and resources. This study advances theoretical understandings of racialized illegality and ethnoracial framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Imbalanced numbers of men and women (i.e. skewed sex ratios) have been linked to a variety of social consequences. Studies report associations with relationship formation patterns and timing, divorce rates, fertility timing and rates, sexual norms, female labour market participation as well as violence and aggression. Theoretical explanations commonly argue that sex ratios shape individuals' dyadic power on the partner market and within relationships, shifting the attractiveness of different partner market strategies. Consequentially, behavioral consequences are theorized to result from these power and opportunity cost imbalances. However, reasoning remains vague on whether behavioral consequences result from individuals' deliberate adjustment of partner market strategies. Specifically, subjective partner market perceptions might play a crucial role. Whether individual partner market perceptions correlate with local sex ratios has yet to be tested. We fill this gap using longitudinal pairfam data to analyze correlations between local and subjective sex ratios in Germany on state, county as well as municipality level. Our results reveal no correspondence between subjective partner market perceptions and local sex ratios. Results are robust for a variety of operationalizations for local sex ratios and all three aggregation levels. Additionally, we analyze transitions into relationships and find significant effects of local sex ratios only for women and only for age-specific sex ratios that reflect age hypergamy. Subjective sex ratios consistently correlate with union formation. In sum, our findings suggest that local and subjective sex ratio are independent of one another. Consequently, sex ratio effects on behavioral outcomes are rather unlikely to be due to conscious strategy adjustments. Subjective partner availability and local sex ratios appear to be separate factors. Instead, local sex ratios may affect relationship formation via processes not observed by individuals. Moreover, our results question the common use of adult sex ratios for wide age ranges in partner market research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informal caregiving often occurs in later life when the increased responsibility may pose a significant strain on older adults. Many studies question the health consequences of caregiving, but find evidence pointing in either direction. I revisit the relationship between caregiving and health among older adults by drawing attention to the moderating role of social networks. In particular, I focus on cognitive functioning among long-term caregivers compared to noncaregivers. This is important given that later life is a time when many older adults face concerns of cognitive decline and that long-term exposure to caregiving stressors may aggravate such declines. Social networks are typically considered beneficial for personal health as they can buffer the detrimental effects of stress, provide stimulating interactions, and diversify social resources. However, certain types of social networks are more beneficial than others. Drawing on insights from social network theory, I use nationally-representative panel data to explore whether certain social network characteristics (e.g., network composition and structure) have divergent effects on cognition. Ultimately, I find that being connected to a diverse group of people offers exposure to different social situations which bolsters caregivers' cognitive functioning. Non-caregivers, who are not exposed to caregiving duties, appear to be unaffected by these differing forms of social network composition and structure. Rather, they simply benefit from any type of social interaction so long as they maintain a large social network. Moving forward, research should continue to consider the impacts of social networks on health outcomes, particularly when investigating relationships characterized by cognitive decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current political debate over the incorporation of refugees who have arrived in Germany since 2013 frequently revolves around cultural differences, in particular differences pertaining to values. These differences are suspected to hamper social integration on both, an individual and societal level. Sociological accounts of values in principle warrant the assumption that different value orientations might promote conflict over sensitive issues of social coexistence, both in terms of the structure of values and their assumed consequences for social action. However, only little is known about the actual values of refugees who have recently arrived in Germany. Comparative values research suggests that immigrants from culturally distant countries increase value heterogeneity. In contrast, acculturation and assimilation theories argue that values are not static constructs, but subject to change and transformation, possibly already at the early stages of the migratory process. Moreover, refugees might differ considerably from the population in their countries of origin due to self-selection processes. Using data from the IAB-BAMF-SOEP survey, a representative panel of refugees who have arrived in Germany between 2013 and 2016, and from the World Values Survey, the present study investigates differences in liberal democratic and gender equality values between refugees from Middle Eastern and North African countries and German citizens. Results indicate that refugees from almost all countries we investigated show higher levels of agreement to these values than German citizens. The only exception are values of secularism, for which we find lower levels of agreement amongst refugees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Older adults experience rapid change in social and emotional relationships. The extent to which perceptions of emotional isolation and sources of emotional support vary across social groups remains poorly understood. This study uses data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to investigate social differences in emotional support networks among older adults (N= 5910). Population level estimates suggest considerable disparities in emotional isolation across social groups, including differences by race/ethnicity, socioeconomic position, and health status. Differences in sources of emotional support vary widely across groups, including those relying on siblings and relatives, those who draw support from their children, and those who depend on spouses and friends. These findings are discussed in relation to the social differences in the consequences of aging and how more research is necessary for us to understand the causes and consequences of disparities in emotional isolation and social variation in emotional support networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges of the 21st century and is likely to exacerbate social inequalities. Climate change impact studies typically focus on population totals or use current populations to discuss social inequalities of impacts. With the anticipated growth of minority groups in the United States, the potential inequalities that climate change is expected to exacerbate are still relatively undefined. Here, we use critical race theory coupled with detailed sociodemographic population projections to answer two primary research questions regarding social inequalities due to climate change impacts within the context of sea level rise. First, who is at the highest risk to SLR? Second, is climate change a new form of in- equality or is it simply a new avenue for current inequalities to continue to manifest? Our preliminary results suggest women, the elderly, and communities of color will likely account for most sea level rise displacement, in the absence of protective measures. Sea level rise is not simply a new avenue for current inequalities, but the magnitude of these inequalities suggest it could be considered a new form of inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: In later life, the loss of a spouse or child is common, and can lead to elevated depressive symptoms and loneliness. Research suggests that companion animals may be beneficial for psychological health, but limited research has explored whether companion animals can buffer negative consequences of social losses. Research Design and Methods: This study uses data drawn from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to examine changes in depressive symptoms and loneliness in relation to a social loss among those with and without a companion animal. Inverse-probability weighted regression was used to adjust for selection factors and isolate effects of pet ownership on changes in psychological health. Results: Regardless of pet ownership, experiencing the loss of a spouse or child was associated with a decline in psychological health. However, facing a social loss without a pet was related to more pronounced increases in depressive symptoms relative to those with a pet (2.36 versus 1.09, respectively). Similarly, relative to those who did not experience a loss, non-owners who experienced a loss reported significantly greater increases loneliness, but pet owners did not experience significantly greater increases in loneliness. Discussion and Implications: In later life, pet ownership may provide a buffering effect against the detrimental consequences of major social losses on psychological health. Future research on the therapeutic effects of pet ownership, as well as pet therapy, during other major life stage transitions is needed to help isolate potential mechanisms driving the benefits of human animal interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In explaining cross-national variation in social trust, scholars have argued that political institutions are influential in enhancing trust in others. Recently, Bjørnskov (2007) underscored the importance of the role of monarchies in this. As a unifying symbol, monarchs are able to pacify past and future with the present, and are able to bind social cleavages that are politically represented by partisan institutions; further, monarchies exists on the grace of its citizens. This paper puts this macro-level thesis to a micro-level empirical test by questioning whether positive opinions towards the monarchy relate to social trust. In order to test this, we analyze the 2014 Belgian National Election Study, which questioned about 2,000 Belgians about their political preferences and related social attitudes. Contrary to the theory, we discover a negative relationship between love for the crown and social trust: those who support the monarchy are less trusting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within identity theory, researchers distinguish between large, intermediate, and proximate social structures which have been shown to impact individuals' self-structures by shaping interactional probabilities. To date, scholars have paid the least attention to intermediate social structure despite its important role in facilitating and/or constraining individuals' abilities to reach the physical locations where they can regularly enact a given identity. In order to address this gap, this research seeks to examine how the physical layout of the social world impacts the identity process. Specifically, I examine how the effort required to traverse space to reach a given place is an element of intermediate social structure that shapes how regularly one comes into contact with identity related others at that place. In so doing, I also examine how the frequency of attending a place impacts who one knows in the given identity context, and how this in part determines the location of an identity with the prominence and salience hierarchies. Using the religious identity as the identity of interest, I examine these relationships using survey data collected from 300 individuals in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. The findings support the propositions that the easier it is to reach a place, the more frequently that place will be visited and thereby the greater the proportion of one's regular social contacts who share the religious identity. The importance of these findings to identity theory and its connection to place and space in sociology more broadly is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing but limited body of research is identifying the college student population as one that is particularly vulnerable to food insecurity. Early research has produced estimates of food insecurity prevalence among college students ranging from 14 to 60 percent. This literature has focused primarily on the academic consequences of food insecurity for students, while others have begun to identify the health consequences. Mostly absent from the literature is attention to the social consequences of food insecurity in the university setting, and how those social factors may also contribute to worse health outcomes. The present study fills this gap by utilizing original survey data collected from a random sample (n=300) of college students enrolled at an urban university in the Midwest. This study examines the impact of food insecurity on health outcomes and the mediation of this relationship by social status among college students. The analysis is designed to answer the following research questions: 1) What is the relationship between food insecurity and self-rated, physical, and mental health among college students? 2) Does social status play a mediating role in the relationship between food insecurity and health among college students? Using a psychosocial framework and insights from the stress process model, I discuss the implications of the findings for understanding food insecurity in a university context. In doing so, I offer a more complete view of the food insecurity experience that emphasizes the social significance of food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teens and parents have different opinions on social issues such as drugs and alcohol use, sex, and LGBTQ rights. In fact, teens are often more liberal on these issues. Our research focuses on an intergenerational comparison of religious minorities in the Latinx community. Although the older and younger generations have the same backgrounds, their views still differ in various topics. The high school student generation generally believe that growing up outside of the United States influenced their parent's perceptions on social issues. Students and their parents similarly generally recognized that their ethnic community did not reflect their religious community's perspectives on social issues, especially related to drugs, alcohol, and sex. Both also agreed that their church and its teachings have a greater impact on their positions on social issues than the general Mexican American community and culture do. Students and parents generally shared similar perspectives on drug and alcohol use, as well as sexual behaviors outside of marriage. However, on sexual orientation, parents and their students generally diverged. While some high school students did not object to LGBTQ status, even those who did generally expressed respect for the LGBTQ community regardless. More influenced by their churches, parents were more conservative on LGBTQ status and related issues, though in some ways, more flexible than anticipated. Overall, this study gives voice to the perceptions and beliefs of Christian minority groups that are often overlooked, ignored, or more often persecuted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How is something made into property for the first time? This article elaborates and applies a new theoretical framework for the study of "propertization" through a case study of the transformation of a single color--brass #6587--into an intangible corporate asset: the color trademark. Taking as an empirical touchstone the 1995 U.S. Supreme Court case, Qualitex v. Jacobson--which explicitly granted corporations the right to trademark individual colors for the first time, it draws on archival data to show that two processes guide the start of legitimate chains of transfer: 1) classification--the determination of legitimate objects of property rights; and 2) attribution--the determination of legitimate subjects of property rights. With regard to classification, the article finds that political and legal actors invoked economic analysis to justify the expansion of trademark protections to individual colors. With regard to attribution, it finds that quantitative metrics of "property-making work" were used to determine the deserving subjects of property rights, with work in this case principally defined as corporate marketing efforts. The article concludes by addressing the broader social and economic implications of using quantitative methods to define and answer moral questions about the original acquisition of property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2014, China initiated its social credit system (SCS), which turns online and offline (deviant) behaviors into a social credit score, with a plan to expand the system nation-wide by 2020. Using twenty-two stories that were gathered by a story completion method, this paper analyzes the SCS as a big data surveillance tool that use techniques of everyday and technology surveillance. On the one hand, this study links state control of the SCS to concepts of self and police control, as well as that of everyday surveillance. On the other hand, this research shows that technology functions as both a facilitator and an inhibitor for technological surveillance. By looking from macro-level social control to micro-level selfcontrol, this research improves our understanding of how different components of surveillance and control mechanisms operate in China's social credit system. This paper outlines social and policy implications for surveillance and policing as they link the offline world to cyberspace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet has facilitated the acquisition of knowledge. However, in an age when it seems that everyone has access to every knowledge, what will become of the professions whose main mission is to master those knowledges? How does the diffusion of knowledge affect professionals with expertise? This research proposal focuses on the interaction between doctors and patients. The author aims to clarify that, within a specific institutional or cultural context, patients' perceptions on medical knowledge (i.e. knowledge as power, and knowledge as social construction) constitute two possible mechanisms that knowledge affect professional autonomy or jurisdiction. Specifically, the growing knowledge has dual meanings for patients: 1) under the institutional background of marketization reform on China's health care system, accessible knowledge empowers patients to resist doctors' moral hazard; 2) under the unique development sequence of Chinese medicine, the democratized knowledge has created an illusion that everyone has the possibility to become a "medical expert". Although both mechanisms can lead to incompliance with medical professionals, the social consequences between the two are not the same. The former case might set the stage for conflicts between doctors and patients, while in the latter one, patients are more likely to abandon the treatment of contemporary medicine and turn to astray. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family structure in the United States is undergoing important change and continued stratification with increases in single parenting and cohabiting unions. These transformations in family demography have important implications for social mobility as theory and empirical research suggest family structure plays an important causal role in shaping children's life chances, in part through the differential financial investments that parents make for their children's development. Drawing from the 2003-2017 Consumer Expenditure Surveys, we examine differences by family structure in parental financial investments in children's childcare, schooling, and enrichment activities. We compare differences between married, cohabiting, and single parents and we test two candidate pathways that might account for associations between family structure and financial investment in children: disparities in economic resources and differences in long-term commitment. Single and cohabiting parents make fewer parental investments than married parents. Income explains the entire difference for singles but less than half the gap for cohabiters, suggesting differences in commitment/preferences. Our work illustrates the heterogeneity in the extent and causes of familial inequalities in parental investments in children, which in turn has important implications for stratification and future inequality in America's opportunity structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper scrutinizes the determinant mechanism of beauty by proposing a concept of "beauty capital" as one form of human capital. The literature has revealed diverse social consequences of physical attractiveness. Still, it has been left unsolved whether beauty is naturally determined or intentionally attained. Data were collected in 2018 Opinion Survey on Local Governance in Indonesia. A representative sample in Java was chosen and analyzed with 3,212 respondents. Interviewers evaluated respondents' beauty and skin brightness on five-point scales. Key findings include, first, that education and income increased skin brightness. Second, while skin brightness did boost beauty levels, education and income also raised it. This implies that different socio-economic status groups use different strategies of investment in beauty capital, which is changeable and controllable. Therefore, beauty depends, at least partly, on individual attainment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Big Data, algorithms, artificial intelligence... Multiple and overlapping concepts coexist to make sense of digital technologies of quantification and their impact on the social world. This article offers a theoretical framework to clarify the social and organizational effects of data, online and offline. Specifically, I provide a typology of five different mechanisms through which datadriven procedures operate: comparison, dragnet, triage, extraction, and prominence. After drawing on analog and digital examples to illustrate these processes, I put this framework to use by turning to three empirical cases that involve data-driven software programs: Chartbeat in web journalism, COMPAS in criminal justice, and Predictim in babysitter hiring. I analyze these cases through the typology offered above. The article concludes by calling for more robust theoretical integration in the uses of data both as a method and as an object of study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tests that occur in biomedical environments, like labs and doctors' offices, pose specific questions to try to obtain specific information -- a diagnosis, a measurement, a positive or negative. Social scientists in science and technology studies, as well as the sociology of diagnosis, continue to examine tests in the biomedical environment to understand how they are designed, used, and understood by a variety of different actors, over time, and in the doctor-patient relationship. But different interactions happen in the social world when these tests never see the inside of a lab or doctor's office, and instead they are used in a house, in a Walmart bathroom, or in a dorm room stall. This paper examines one such test, the home pregnancy test, and specifically, its use in contemporary intimate life of people who do not want to be pregnant. Of course, pregnancy tests test for pregnancy. But what else in social life is the pregnancy test putting to the test? To investigate this, I use 85 life history interviews with home pregnancy tests users and partners and a focus group of college-aged men. Each participant was asked to recall, in full, all of their experiences with home pregnancy tests throughout their lives, totalling well over 300 narratives of home pregnancy test usage which I qualitatively analyzed. I find that more than just a test for a pregnancy, the use of the home pregnancy test is a test of roles, relationships, and responsibilities. In the case of people who do not want a pregnancy, it is a moment of truth about their recent intimate life -- a sex reckoning. These findings suggest implications for social life as more biomedical tests move out of the purview of the medical establishment and into the social wild. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examine migrant families' experiences with public health- and social services in Finland. Using the theory of recognition as a theoretical framework, data consist of interviews with 20 parents who moved to Finland from six different countries. This research focuses on a recognition and services for disabled persons for two reasons. Firstly, research on disability in the migration context remains lacking. Secondly, while theoretical discussions about recognition are rich, empirical studies relying on theory have received less attention in the social sciences and, especially, in the institutional context. Here, we aim to explore the practical forms of recognition acquire in specific social settings and the consequences of recognition, or non-recognition for individuals' and families' everyday lives. Our results indicate that, parents face multiple challenges when encountering public service professionals. For example, parents' concerns for a child's disabilities are nor easily recognized by professionals. In addition, professionals recognize parents neither as equal partners, nor as autonomous agents. Furthermore, our findings indicate that the families perceive the available services as fragmented, inflexible and technocratic. Regardless of problems related to services, parents employed different strategies to struggle for recognition based on their own resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In religiously diverse societies, social conservatives (religiously devout, or socially traditional) feel their beliefs threatened, even where others in their society (religiously secular, or socially liberal, or politically to the left) have no desire to threaten them, or to discriminate against them, or even to proselytize. Examples include devout English pilgrims in liberal 16th century Holland and devout Muslims in liberal 21st century Western Europe. We suggest that this is because diversity itself poses a threat to a conservative way of life. The consequences of societal diversity in religion and morality are, to date, a neglected domain of research. In this paper, we show that societal diversity in religiosity (the centrality of religion to one's life) undermines conventional morality (re abortion, divorce, euthanasia, suicide, prostitution), reduces prejudice (re race, immigrants, other religions), elicits broadminded views about homosexuals, reduces support for religious politicians, reduces charitable volunteer work, and increases tolerance of some crimes. These changes are net of a person's own religiosity, net of the average level of religiosity in the society, net of socioeconomic development, and net of numerous individual level controls. Data are from the pooled World Values Surveys/European Values Surveys, 1981-2008, with 90 countries, 200+ surveys, and 300,000+ individual respondents. Analysis is by multilevel methods (variance components models with random intercepts, estimated by GLS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, predominant, mainstream LGBTQ+ activism has excluded the voices of people from multiple marginalized social positions, particularly people of color, immigrants and people living in more rural geographical regions. Though more scholarly attention is being given to the historical presence of subordinated voices within the realm of social justice, such as LGBTQ+ Latinx activism, little is known about the intersections of contemporary queer activism in cyberspace. Growing digital social movements strive to make queer activism more inclusive by placing marginalized voices at the center and making their messages more accessible across local, regional, and global contexts. These more socially diverse activist endeavors are often led by young people and originate online using social media platforms, yet little scholarly attention has been paid to these groups' social impact. Through a content analysis of four major sources of online Latinx queer activism (Neta, Mitú, Mijente, Galaei) and 182 sources of discrete webpage data, we explore how these online communities establish their ideological messages of intersecting identities, social justice and civic engagement. First, all the websites promoted social activism through the arts and educational endeavors. Second, the overarching thread of health and wellness as social justice was also present throughout the websites. Finally, the websites promoted a strengths-based approach when highlighting the importance of advocacy through resilient personal and collective values. Our findings extend paradigms considering the influence of LGBTQ+ and Latinx-based social activism to encompass the dynamics of intersectionality in how these online organizations shape societal discourse surrounding social inequalities. This research can help inform local and national policy on the social, political and health needs of LGBTQ+ Latinx communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on consequences of social movements has increasingly diversified over the last decade. Apart from changes in public policy which touch larger citizenry, less is known about how movements may affect nonparticipants or individuals who are not direct constituents of the movement. In this article, I consider how movement effects may spillover and inuence nonparticipants to mobilize. I apply this idea to examine the role of labor unions in boosting legal mobilization among nonunion workers in US. To do so, I constructed a new dataset of the legal cases filed by workers under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) over a period of 25 years, to explore the variation in state union membership density during the same period. I find that an increased union density positively affects the number of the cases filed by workers, more importantly, nonunion workers. This finding is of particular importance as hostility towards unions grows and as labor movement seeks its revitalization through creative forms of union activism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years there has been increasing social concern about the impact of automation on labor market outcomes, a phenomenon known as technological unemployment. Specific concerns revolve around the decline in wages and the increase in unemployment in routine-predominant occupations. This study aims to understand the correlates of perceptions of job loss and wage loss due to computerization, perceptions about the effect of new technologies on the workplace, and the beliefs about job creation and social inequalities as their consequence. We conducted a secondary data analysis of the 2017 Pew Research Center American Trends Panel. The survey was administered in the U.S. in Spanish and English (n=4135). Results indicate that 4.6% of respondents believed they had suffered from technological unemployment or under-employment, and 16% thought that technology had a negative impact on their job. A quarter of the respondents indicated that they believed the economy would create new, better paying jobs and 78% predicted that the inequality between rich and poor would increase in the future as a result of the introduction of new technologies. Multivariate regression analyses showed that age, gender, education and income had an effect on more optimistic views on technology. Furthermore, technological unemployment and the negative effects of computerization were associated with having poorly paid jobs and working in the transportation industry. In contrast, those in managerial and data analysis jobs were more positive about the role of technology in their current and future work life, similar to those who believed that technology increased their career opportunities and made their work less demanding. Findings provide evidence for the self-interest hypothesis concerning fear of robots, and the strengthening of socioeconomic divisions and social fears as its consequence. Implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black adolescent boys growing up in systemically-neglected urban neighborhoods disproportionately experience the loss of peers to gun violence; however, this phenomenon and its social and educational impacts have been understudied. Neighborhood effects research has convincingly shown the relationship between local community violence and children's academic performance as well as their long-term academic trajectories or aspirations, most dramatically for Black students. Using two years of ethnographic fieldwork in an urban high school for Black boys, this paper builds on that research by investigating the individual and institutional mechanisms that might lead to academic fluctuations and other social outcomes. By studying in depth the aftermath of one gun violence incident which took the life of a high school boy, I show the range of emotional, interactional, and relational processes that play out as his grieving friends and their teachers navigate the academic and social spaces of their high school. I use emotion work (Hochschild 1979), and the racialized and gendered feeling rules that guide emotional display, as a framework to analyze moments of conflict between students and adults - and even between adults - related to what grieving behaviors look like. I document the ways in which this can lead to the disciplining of students who break restrictive feeling rules, as well as supportive teacher-student relationships in which feeling rules are relaxed. Overall, I outline three stages of institutional responses to students' grieving and focus particular attention on the consequences of enduring, yet often hidden, grief in the months and even years following a loss. Understanding the mechanisms that may explain differences in students' response to, and recovery from, losses to gun violence will inform scholars, policy-makers, and educators seeking to understand sources of educational inequity and improve outcomes for Black boys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]