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This paper examines the causal and explanatory role assigned to intrapersonal (or P-) variables in the recent sociological literature on collective behavior. In Part I emphasis is on the use—or nonuse—of P-variables as factors mediating between collective behavior episodes and their antecedent social and situational determinants. It is suggested that P-variables have been (1) excluded on methodological grounds in favor of more directly observable and/or manipulable behavior, (2) analyzed as dependent variables, defined by and contingent on antecedent social and situational considerations, or (3) introduced as independent variables and therefore significantly figuring in any explanatory account of collective behavior. Part II deals with the conceptually deeper issue concerning the terminology and metaphors employed in the literature regarding collective behavior and its causal antecedents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ideas of community and social capital have received much attention in the last decade, but are plagued by a multitude of conceptualizations, definitions, and operationalizations. This confusion is problematic for both researchers and policymakers trying to use these concepts. While numerous efforts have been made to clarify “social capital” and “community,” too often the two are simply conflated. This paper attempts to distinguish between them by looking at the various ways they are related in concrete examples. Drawn largely from the literature, five examples are offered that together describe the complex interactions of place-based communities and social capital networks. These examples also demonstrate distinctions between community and social capital with regard to boundaries, the qualities of social relations and trust in each, instrumentality, the consequences of one for the other, and issues related to multiple communities in a single place. It is hoped that these distinctions will inform the ongoing efforts to develop unique and useful conceptualizations of these two terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper elaborates upon the emergent social psychology of social endings and explicates how culminating behaviors associated with role conclusions in general and with retirement in particular can contribute to both social and personal order. Now that role careers are typically concluded by design rather than by death, invidious comparisons are being drawn and ending strategies rank-ordered in terms of their desirability. It is hypothesized that some retirements are recognized as being better than others and that our social system is coming to recognize and celebrate those who excel in their role performances until the very end. As illustration, we consider American professional team sports as the cultural totem dramatizing modern work relations and examine how the quality of athlete's career conclusions affect how they are remembered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to identify and explain a generally unidentified source of problems which affects married people. Whereas friendship is, in most cases, a socially accepted and highly valued relationship, there is a form of friendship which appears to be, if not unacceptable, at least discouraged and ignored—opposite-sex friendship with a married person Because it is discouraged, the role remains undefined. The reason for the lack of a socially accepted and defined role of friend of the opposite sex to a married person seems to be related to society's negative evaluation of adultery and its fear that this type of close relationship may become adulterous. It is ironic, however, that society's lack of definition of this role may actually be causally related to at least some adultery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the challenges in front of men living with advanced symptoms of AIDS. Basic issues discussed in this article include challenges to come to terms with debilitating symptoms and a diminishing future; to offset the threats posed by suffering, dependence, and dying; and to construct and solidify identities that extend beyond death. In doing so, the article has revealed the strategies AIDS patients use to sustain a sense of control, value, and continuity in the face of the threats posed by their advancing illness. In many cases, these people do this by emphasizing the legacies they leave behind through their community involvements, job accomplishments, creative activities, or personal relationships. Ultimately, regardless of how they construct and embrace post-mortal selves, men with AIDS gain a measure of control over their prospective deaths by doing so. They also derive a sense of hope, vitality, and continuity that helps them in their ongoing struggles to cope with the implications of their advanced illness.

Research has documented the stigma of obesity extensively, but little attention has been given to the study of stigma toward formerly obese individuals. The present study examines whether the stigma of obesity in romantic relationships carries over to formerly obese individuals by using primary data collected from a Midwestern university in the United States ( N = 363). We consider how an individual's own body weight, demographic characteristics, familiarity, and attitudes affect the willingness to form a romantic relationship with a formerly obese person. Results suggest that obese individuals are less likely to hesitate about engaging in a romantic relationship with a formerly obese person than underweight or normal weight individuals, but only when attitudes toward obese and formerly obese individuals are controlled. In terms of demographic characteristics, men and African Americans are more likely to hesitate about forming a romantic relationship than their respective counterparts. More familiarity with currently obese family members and formerly obese close friends appears to reduce the stigma minimally. Greater social distance is also desired if weight loss is believed to be temporary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from the rationale that elderly urban residents tend to be “neighborhood-bound,” this study examines the relationship between age or aging and local social bonds (friendship, social cohesion and trust, informal social control, and participation in local organizations). Specifically, is the level of local bonding among elderly urban residents (age 65 and over) greater than that of the younger cohorts (17–35, 34–49, and 50–64)? Additionally, two specific hypotheses are constructed to examine the determinants of local social bonds among elderly urban residents: the systemic approach, regarding length of residence; and the social-disorganization approach, regarding crime victimization and perceived disorder. Using Chicago data collected in 1995, the analysis found a substantial difference between the elderly cohort and each of the younger cohorts in only the friendship category of local social bonds. The other results show that in a sample of elderly urban residents, length of residence is the only significant, positive factor in local friendship, and that the two disorder predictors, physical and social, play a substantial role in weakening two types of local social bonds, social cohesion and trust and informal social control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the context of gender differences in social perception and gender role attitudes. During the past two decades, there has been substantial interest in gender role attitudes and behaviors among adolescents. The literature on social perception can also be used to predict particular patterns of gender differences in avenues to prestige. Researchers argue that one of the most persistent gender differences in perception and conceptualization involves attempts to understand others experiences in relation to one's own experiences. Researchers further specify this argument by positing that boys identity development is primarily intrapersonal, while girls is both intrapersonal and interpersonal. Such a pattern of gender differences may be especially salient for interpreting social hierarchies and other dimensions of social comparison. In particular, if girls have a heightened sensitivity to social comparison and social interaction, they may also have a greater ability to recognize the normative structure of the adolescent male subculture. Conversely, if boys have lower sensitivity to these issues, their access to understanding the adolescent female substructure may be reduced.

In this article the author analyzes the role of caring in the teacher-student relationship for students at-risk of dropping out of high school using the National Longitudinal Study conducted in the U.S. in 1998. The author remarks that a century and a half following the founding of mass public education, the relationship between teachers and students has elicited generaI concern, accompanied by the recognition that students and classroom teachers may be poorly matched. Social capital in the teacher-student relationship may be unique in some respects because of its context and the roles of teacher and student. These roles entail the student's preparation for participation in the society by learning material taught in school. These objectives, which are commonly understood as progress toward learning and preparation for the future, imply that there will be an instrumental aspect of the teacher-student relationship. Both teacher and student are likely to calculate an expected pay-off from investing in the relationship.

In this article the authors analyze data from the Virginia Twin Registry to determine the independent contributions of genetics, shared and nonshared environments, adult roles and statuses on women's perceived control. In the past two decades perceived control and the related constructs of self-efficacy, mastery, and locus of control have received a great deal of attention in both sociological and psychological research. While studies continue to confirm the benefits associated with higher levels of perceived control, very little empirical work has addressed the causes of individual differences in perceptions of control. From its inception to the present, the majority of the research in this area has viewed perceived control as a stable personality characteristic. High-perceived control individuals will attain psycho-social benefits, while low-perceived control personality types will suffer social, psychological, and physical distress. Although there is consistent evidence of positive associations between perceived control and various indicators of psycho-social well-being in cross-sectional studies, relatively few studies have explored the antecedents of differential perceptions of control.

The article examines the social dimensions of interpersonal dispute resolution. Although the concept of social control is a primary concern of sociologists, it is rarely considered as a dependent variable. Instead, researchers and theorists alike generally attempt to describe the functions and relative merits of the various forms of social control in terms of such constructs as efficiency or effectiveness. By framing the research question in these terms, variation in the construct of interest, social control, is not explained. There are several problems with the existing dominant approach. First, most studies evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of various forms of formal and informal social control. A large body of literature addresses the issue of deterrence. General deterrence studies usually evaluate whether the presence of police, a high arrest rate, or a high crime clearance rate drives down the subsequent rate of crime. A second problem with the existing paradigm is that its focus is often on explaining rates of crime or victimization at the aggregate level. The most serious problem with this is that definitions of crime vary both across time and across social space.

Deviance in intimate relationships may lie as much within the micro system of such relationships as it does within the personalities of the actors involved. Using a Parsonsian framework, it is argued that the strain of systemically disequilibrated relationships can produce deviant personality adaptations which, in turn, intensify conflict and deviance in those relationships. It is also proposed that a reciprocal quality exists to such maladaptations, with each member of the dyad contributing to the amplification of a stable system of deviant behavior patterns within the relationship. Because the patterns of maladaptive dyads spill over into parent-child relationships, they have implications for understanding intergenerational transmission of deviance between intimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generational relationships are examined in terms of their lineage and cohort dimensions. Each suggests a very different type of relationship between social movement participants, their parents, and members of adult age cohorts. Following a clarification of these relationships and their consequences for lineage and cohort politics, five research propositions are offered as a guide to future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on an analysis of twenty family albums, this study investigates how social class affects the family's portrayal of kin and friendship networks as well as its geographical boundaries. The results suggest the visual collections of middle-class families are more likely to present a kin oriented image of family life, include friends, and portray the family as a system with broad geographical boundaries than those of the working-class. Theoretical and methodological implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study offers an interpretation of driving signs used in interpersonal communication. Questionnaires were administered in a university setting to faculty members to assess the manner in which ‘parking’ is used. Religious affiliations of the respondents are related to social identities, and the results suggest that religion serves as a direct influence on motorists who park off the road to communicate with other drivers. The findings further suggest that within the specific cultural milieu described, parking connotes respect for family members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from a sample of sixth, eighth, and tenth grade students and their mothers and fathers, this research tests the effects of parental formal education and parental recognition of achievement upon school grades, realistic educational expectations, and ideal educational aspirations. Substantial differences between mothers and fathers arc reported. Maternal education had effects, net of the other variables, on all three of the dependent variables, whereas paternal education had an effect only on student educational expectations; the effects of paternal recognition, net of the other variables, upon grades and educational expectations and aspirations were clear, while those of maternal recognition were not. The findings arc interpreted in terms of the differential impacts of three mechanisms of parental influence which were suggested by theories of (a) economically-based status ascription, (b) modeling the role behavior of significant others, and (c) conditioned learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article hypothesizes that informal youth organizations influence processes of transition to adulthood by facilitating role development, that is, the conversion of child-oriented roles into adult-oriented ones. In an attempt to test the hypothesis, two variables were specified. Informality was defined in terms of seven organizational components: moratorium, symmetry, dualism, multiplexity, expressive instrumentalism, voluntarism, and pragmatical symbolism. The impact of these components on role development was measured by three indicators: Role Scope, Role Types and Role Aspects. Residential summer camps served as a quasi-experimental laboratory for the research. A positive significant relationship was found between the level of informality and level of role development, especially in the long run. Findings are explained by the particular experiences youth undergo in informal socialization contexts, in which trial and error behavior, balanced reciprocity, and normative ambivalencies are institutionalized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frame analysis has been severely criticized for its reliance on fictive and newspaper domains and its static portrayal of social behavior. Published and refereed studies, many of the participant observer vintage, are examined to investigate these charges. Conclusions include: (1) transformations are significant occurrences in Americans' daily lives, (2) societal definitions cannot be validly depicted apart from the emergent aspects of personal and interpersonal histories, (3) a new form of keying, negative keying, a not-reality, is conceptualized, (4) the relationship between Goffma's transformations and Glaser's and Strauss' awareness contexts is delineated. Recommendations for the future study of layered definitions are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Findings and speculations about the effects of physical design on social behavior in planned residential settings have accumulated without the benefit of any explicit theoretical models (Newman, 1972, 1973; Cooper, Day, and Levine, 1972; Cooper, 1975). Recent research about urban neighborhoods has included the formulation and estimation of models of community attachment, but these models do not incorporate any physical design features (Kasarda and Janowitz, 1974.; Hunter, 1975). I attempt here to connect these two areas of research by developing and estimating a model of community attachment that includes the effects of physical design. The sites for the research are federally assisted, moderate income housing developments. Both physical and social features of the sites prove to have significant effects on the level of community attachment in these settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents some of sociologist Neil J. Smelser's recollections of the intellectual and personal dialogues that transpired in his episodes of collaboration with sociologist Talcott Parsons. Reviewing these reflections, Smelser notes a kind of evolution in Parson's and his collaboration from an initial period of closeness in a clearly dominant-subordinate relationship to a period of establishing independence and finally to a more frankly competitive, more nearly equal relationship. To consider these simply as qualitatively different phases, however, would be erroneous, because in fact they developed in the context of a continuing base of intellectual respect and friendship. Smelser first encountered Parsons in 1949, when he was a freshman at Harvard University while Parsons was already a senior professor and Chairman of the Social Relations Department. The occasion was a series of three lectures Parsons gave in Social Relations 1B, the second half of the year-long freshman course offered primarily by Gordon Allport and George Homans. In lectures delivered in the spring of 1949, Parsons made an effort to spell out his current thinking on the major functional problems in society, and the social institutions that it developed in confronting these problems.

Parsons and I were friends and colleagues from 1963 until his death in 1979. I recall, herein, a small part of our personal and intellectual relationship, especially that portion having to do with the creation of The American University. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the type of breach that occurs as a result of what may be called "street remark," a comment in public taking place between the unacquainted. unacquainted. The occasion of concern here is the male to female street remark. But before treating this kind of street remark specifically, we should examine other occasions for street remarks in order to appreciate the context in which the male-to-female street remark occurs. The act of walking past another person in a public place often involves features that are not breaches of civil inattention but constitute mere markers of the act. In addition to the mechanical signals that another persons passing, there is a group of physiological signals that are usually considered as occurring involuntarily or without awareness. Another class of the man-made markers of passage is differentiated from the previous class in that these markers are often contrived in nature.

Critics of Wirth's theory of urban life suggest that he underemphasized the extent of urban social networks that counteract trends toward depersonalization. One argument, by Stone, claims that persons who lack social ties at the neighborhood level compensate by establishing personal relationships in shopping, an activity normally considered highly pecuniary in orientation. A replication of Stone's theory for grocery shoppers shows lust the opposite. IJ anything, persons who lack social ties at the neighborhood level also minimize ‘personalizing’ in their grocery shopping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Longabaugh's category system for coding interpersonal behavior in mother-child dyads as social exchange is revised for use in small group analysis by using a more comprehensive set of content categories based on Parsonian functional (AGIL) theory. The notation for exchange analysis is illustrated with an extract from a group psychotherapy session. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the attitudinal clusters associated with interpersonal violence, intergroup violence within a society, and international violence. Some personality theorists believe in the myth of a violent personality. This ideal-type of person would resort to, or approve of violence to core with others in all kinds of situations. Assertion is made that violence is learned as people come to accept violence as a justifiable solution to some problems and not others. The article reviews data on students of University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, gathered just after the withdrawal of the U.S. from Vietnam and the beginning of the Watergate scandal. Questionnaires were administered to all students taking the required introductory courses in sociology. The findings indicate that those who score highest on parental restrictions, trust in political leaders, physical or emotional instability, and are action-oriented were likeliest to score highest on international violence. The variable of foreign aid, which has a negative correlation, plays an important part in the explained variance of international violence.

Employment among skid row residents had no significant independent association with measures of social integration: number of friends, frequency of visiting, basic conceptions of friendship, helping friends, or to any reference group measure, but retained significance with the percentage of friends in skid row, and intimacy to close friends. The lack of association with reference group measures indicates that working patterns and group identification have become independent phenomena, constituting a partial ship from the former economic functions of skid row. The theory of the disaffiliating effects of skid row living was upheld only for loss of friends outside the area, and acceptance of skid row as one's place of permanent residence. There was no association of residence in skid row and change in the qualitative components of friendship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If Parsons is not guilty of holding an over-socialized conception of man, Wrong's critique does apply to the work of the ‘reality-constructionists’ and ‘symbolic interactionists.’ in underemphasizing Mead's ‘biologic individual’ or ‘I,’ contemporary sociological social psychology manages to evade the Hobbesian problem and, hence, amounts to a largely disembodied dialectic. By way of contract, the compatibility of the Meadian and Freudian perspectives is stressed and the need for further development of a psychoanalytic sociology reaffirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While attribution theory has generated a great deal of interesting research, it tends to be overly deterministic, failing to recognize the social context in which attributions occur. In response to this an attempt is made to place attribution theory in an interactionist framework, with particular emphasis on the conditions under which a target and/or others interested in the target's situation may resist undesired attributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the new definitions of social relations based on several critical dimensions. Social relations are products of several factors, factors that encompass the qualities of social interactants, the nature of interaction itself, and the characteristics of the connections that bind interactants to one another. Sociologists defined the society's primary relations as the result of direct, physically co-present exchange, exchange involving relatively few interactions. In contrast, secondary relations often are characterized as faceless, impersonal, ingenuous, and transitory. Modernization and the social relations it spurs can separate human from human; the move toward modernity enlarges the social stage and brings mediation to interpersonal exchange, often sterilizing the ties that bring social actors together. Recent events in the modernization stream—particularly growth in communication technologies, provide concrete observations to the society that challenges such a premise. Fiber optics, the Internet, rapid satellite transmissions, virtual reality imaging, and other new communication technologies have rescaled and revamped human exchange.

The article emphasizes on need for rigorous understanding of community. Relationships built with the aid of electronic technology are expected to do more to foster categorical identities than do dense, multiplex, and systematic networks of relationships. The article also argues that an emphasis on community needs to be complemented by more direct attention to the social bases of discursive politics. The article refers to challenge to those, exploring the social implications of computer networks to do so with a bit more rigorous understanding of community and its relationship to other possible modes of social integration; to suggest some reasons why the indirect relationships forged with the aid of electronic technology may do more to foster categorical identities than the dense, multiplex, and systematic webs of relationships that the term network would lead one to expect; and to argue that an emphasis on community by itself can be seriously misleading about both social solidarity generally and the political implications of electronic communication in particular, and needs to be complemented by more direct attention to the social bases of discursive publics that engage people across lines of basic difference in collective identities.

The article focuses on intimate friendships in marriage and examines the relationship between desired characteristics of best friends and those of spouses. Popular and scholarly interest in the topic of friendship has burgeoned in recent years. Critics of the evolutionary approach have argued that the theory predicts only sex differences that are already well known. Research in the sociobiological vein has continued to indicate that the same strong sex differences persist, despite the rising socioeconomic status of women. Sociologists had speculated that the increasing rates at which women participate in the paid labor force might produce shifts in preferred characteristics of mates such that men might come to prefer a partner with good provider capacity and women might come to prefer a partner capable of maintaining a home. Goodwin demonstrated similarities between the sexes in desired mate characteristics, using both fixed-choice and free-response measures in two studies, using college students in one and dating agency members in the other.