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This paper offers elaborations on current knowledge about social-movement framing processes and cognitive liberation, especially regarding technical controversies and not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) protest. The social-constructionist lens of the framing perspective also allows refinements in conventional explanations of NIMBY conflicts. Attention is given to the dynamics of emergence, continuity, and change in framing strategies over time in controversy regarding the U.S. Army's chemical-weapons disposal program. I focus specifically on dynamics involved in the development of cognitive liberation, particularly the framing difficulties that occur in the context of cognitive ambiguities produced by an "information haze." These ambiguities create problems for developing and linking the diagnostic, prognostic, and motivational elements of collective-action frames. I also attend to frame transformation, explaining how transformation may be both animated and constrained by a movement's opponent. I conclude that NIMBY is only one possible framing and can be transformed as the context of the dispute shifts. Moreover, framing activities in technical disputes may be particularly difficult due to the role of scientific rhetoric and experts in interpreting risks and shaping understandings of the situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article connects William Julius Wilson's conceptualization of the economic and social consequences of economic restructuring with a macrolevel social control framework to help explain the increase in juvenile homicide rates observed between 1970 and 1990. Recent research in urban sociology posits that the proliferation of female-headed families in American cities is a result of declining economic prospects due to profound changes in the structure of the urban economy. Meanwhile, macro-level theory and research in criminology suggest that an association exists between family structure and rates of lethal violence among juveniles. Among these problems are increasing rates of female-headed families and juvenile homicide. One prominent theoretical account for the rise of female-headed families posits that a general increase in public assistance benefits created an enticement for out-of-wedlock childbearing and a disincentive for marriage. Alternatively, Wilson suggests that declining economic prospects caused by the transformation from a goods-based to a service-based economy rather than liberal welfare policies are responsible for the proliferation of female-headed families. In particular, Wilson posits that declining economic prospects have depressed local marriage markets and increased the reluctance of Black males to take on family responsibilities, which has resulted in increased rates of children born out of wedlock.