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In order to determine the directions which the field of sociology of occupations has taken in recent years, a content analysis of articles on work and occupations in four general sociological journals and two specialized journals was completed for the years of 1976 to early 1982. Not surprisingly, there has been a rapid increase in the number of papers dealing with status and income attainment. Very surprisingly, there has been a near demise of papers on the professions. Another dominant thrust has been the large number of articles on women and sex roles. Satisfaction and alienation at work and attempts at job redesign have also received increasing attention. Papers on other topics have received less concentrated attention. Moving beyond the results of the content analysis, the present work discusses unresolved theoretical issues and potential new directions for the content areas. It is suggested that even for sociologists who do not identify themselves as specialists in occupations, the occupational variable remains a dominant one in sociological analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the applicability of Parsonian "pattern-variables" in defining a constructed type. Specification of boundaries or cutting-off points of role relationships in Weber's three types of authority systems, while an intriguing problem, is a project too great in scope for a short paper. Instead, for this preliminary attempt, a social system has been selected in which a few crucial role relationships define its character. It is also a system familiar to sociologists. The setting selected is the educational institution at the university level. The type to be defined, "the seat of learning," is perhaps the most "ideal" of ideal types. A number of other constructed type educational institutions might be isolated, e.g., "marriage markets," "sources of status," "diploma mills," or, perhaps, "campus playgrounds." Sets of role relationships could be specified to define any of these types. For purposes of illustration, however, the definition of one type will be sufficient. Four steps are involved in defining the constructed type: (1) selection of the crucial role pairs; (2) the definition of the chosen role relationships by use of the pattern-variables; (3) measurement of the pattern- variable choices; and (4) establishment of boundary points for the pattern-variables themselves. The fourth step will not be completed in this paper; it is felt that the necessary methodological apparatuses are already available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concepts "ascribed status" and "achieved status," developed by Ralph Linton, have located properties of social systems which have given sociologists valuable insights into the nature of social structure. Linton defined "ascribed status" as "assigned to individuals without reference to their innate differences or abilities" and "achieved status" as "requiring special qualifies" and "open to individual achievement." Thus, accident of birth determines an individual's "ascribed statuses," and performance or effort or volition determine his "achieved statuses." Unfortunately, as clear as the distinction between these two concepts may appear, they have not been received without confusion. It is the contention of this paper that a significant source of confusion has been the treatment of these concepts as if they were unrelated to social structure. Further, it is our view that this confusion removes the essential value of the concepts; and therefore, their relationship to social structure requires restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tins Is the second of two papers dealing with the relationship between voluntary social participation and happiness. The earlier paper/ which like the present one was influenced by the work of Norman M. Bradburn and his associates on the 'happiness" project at National Opinion Research Center and by the theoretical writings of George C. Homans,2 examined the influence of voluntary social participation upon people's self-reports of happiness and explored the mechanisms through which this relationship was established. Analysis of data from a sample of 600 adults revealed that, as hypothesized, happiness was highly related to social participation? The greater the extent of participation, the greater the degree of happiness reported. This relationship was shown to emerge from the following: (a) positive feelings were directly correlated with social participation, (b) negative feelings were generally unrelated to social participation, and (e) the difference between the scores on the positive and negative feelings indices which Braclburn termed the Affect Balance Score 4--was a major determinant of happiness. That is, the greater the preponderance of positive over negative feelings, the greater the probability that an individual would report being "very happy." Conversely, the greater the preponderance of negative over positive feelings, the greater the likelihood of an individual's being Knot too happy." To explore the stability of these relationships, they were examined under several different control variables. For the most part, the original relationships were maintained within these various subgroups. Before proceeding to the main concerns of this report, it is useful to restate the hypotheses tested in the earlier paper and to explain the reasoning behind them. The first hypothesis—the higher the extent of voluntary social participation, the greater the number of positive feelings —was derived from consideration of Homans' general proposition that individuals tend to repeat those activities that were found to be rewarding in the past and to avoid those activities that were found unrewarding. Hence, if an activity is not rewarding or is punishing, individuals sooner or later will look for some alternative source of reward—if they are free to do so. Since with voluntary social participation men are, by definition, free to look for alternatives, it was hypothesized that a greater extent of social participation leads to a higher level of positive feelings. The second hypothesis—that negative feelings are unrelated to extent of social participation—also follows from the above argument. For as long as they are free to do so, we should expect individuals to withdraw from any social activities that are unrewarding or result in negative experiences. The third hypothesis—the greater the extent of voluntary social participation, the greater the degree of happiness—was derived from the first and second hypotheses and from the work of Bradburn which showed that the difference between the scores on the positive and negative feeling indexes is a good indicator of an individual's current level of happiness. Thus, the earlier paper concentrated mainly on testing these three hypotheses. It also was concerned with the stability of the relationships within each of several control groups and not, for the most part, with differences among groups. In this paper, however, the main focus is on examining the effects of socioeconomic status upon the relationships between social participation and positive and negative feelings, and participation and happiness. A further interest is in "interaction-opportunities" and "investments," two concepts which are utilized to account for patterns of relationship between social participation and the various dependent variables listed above: positive feelings, negative feelings, and happiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is intutively understood that some sense of loss accompanies old age and retirement; the state of explanation with respect to this phenomenon is less clearly settled. At least part of the fuzziness in this area lies in the tension between the "interaetionist" and the "functionalist" interpretations. This paper explores the problem with an eye to these alternative interpretations by examining retired college professors in one southwestern state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For over a decade, debate over the nature of mental illness has continued. Titles of articles and books have been suggestive of the various points of view: the myth of mental illness, personality disorder is disease, disease and the patterns of behavior, the social limits of eccentricity. And the debate continues. In this paper, it will be shown that at least four themes or positions can be culled from the literature and that no single position resolves all the related empirical or theoretical issues. The first approach asserts that mental illness is a type of deviant behavior. A second position takes the basic premise that mental disorders are pathology or disease in the psychological or psychiatric sense and not pertinent to conformity-deviance theory, which is concerned with interactions in a social system. A third approach looks on some types of mental disorder as deviant behavior while other behavioral constellations are defined as illness or medical phenomena. Still a fourth standpoint calls for specifications of the definers of behavior according to their social status and degree of professional training. These four approaches represent some current attempts to answer the question, What is mental illness? In particular, those writings are referred to which tackle some aspect of the conceptual relationship between mental disorder and deviant behavior. It is our purpose in this paper, to describe the several prevalent arguments in terms of their major themes. By doing so, we hope to underline the assumptions basic to each approach, to show how the discrepant views articulate with each other, and to specify some unresolved problems in the ongoing debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tins paper represents a first step in exploring a theory of intraorganizational stratification. In pursuing this objective we will take the rather pronounced status hierarchy in a psychiatric hospital as our point of departure. The main focus is upon the social distance patterns that exist between the occupants of formal positions in the hospital, and the manner in which the manipulation of social distance as reward and punishment and as a status protection mechanism is a significant aspect of interstatus relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The winnowing hypothesis posits that transitions from dating to cohabiting to marital unions are marked by increasing selectivity in the mate selection or matching process. En this paper, we provide comparative estimates of educational, racial, and religious homogamy and heterogamy along a continuum of commitment: sexually intimate dating couples, cohabiting couples, and married couples. Log-linear models, fitted to cross-classified data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth, provide only partial support for the winnowing hypothesis. On the one hand, homogamy with respect to race and religion increases slightly as relationships progress from dating to cohabitation to marriage. On the other hand, each relationship-dating, cohabiting, and married-is marked by substantial homogamy, at least for the traits considered here. And, in the absence of homogamy, each couple type reveals quite similar patterns of educational heterogamy or intermarriage, although upward mobility through partnering is less evident among cohabitors. Overall, however, the rather stringent sorting criteria that men and women use in selecting a marital partner, which manifests itself in marital homogamy, is also used in dating and cohabiting relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the prestige accorded to male and female incumbents in occupations. Respondents were asked to rate the prestige of occupations and the prestige of male and female incumbents in those occupations. Two main findings are discussed in this paper. First, the prestige of male and female incumbents often differs substantially. The size of these differences is strongly related to the sex composition of the occupations. Second, the sex composition of occupations has a significant effect on the prestige of sex-atypical jobholders, even after the effects of perceived income and education are accounted for. The implications of these findings for theories and research on occupational prestige are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between modernization and female crime rates and tests a model which incorporates female participation in various social roles as an intervening variable. Modernization is predicted to have positive, direct effects on female property crime, as well as positive, indirect effects through female role participation. Data from approximately forty countries were analyzed using correlational and regression techniques. The results offer little support for the general model. GNP/cap exhibits positive, direct effects on female theft and fraud but only minor indirect effects. The net effects of the several female role-participation variables are generally small. Differences by type of female crime are examined and several possible explanations for the results are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most studies of subjective anomie assume that all individuals have the same goals, and they explain anomie in terms of differences in the means to achieve goals. This paper examines the effect of variations in the goal of success on anomie. Data are from a Harris survey of 3,001 adults in the continental United States. A multiple regression of anomie on success orientation, plus six social status variables, revealed that success orientation has a significant positive effect on anomie and that, next to education, it is the best predictor of anomie. This finding helps explain both intraclass variations in anomie and the increase in anomie from the 1950s to 1971 found by Fischer(1974). The social status variables did not explain much of the variation in success orientation, and the effect of success orientation on anomie was not mediated by education and income. The relevance of these findings to Durkheim's theory of anomie is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how variations in status crystallization influence the status attainment process in two stratification systems: the kibbutz and the urban population in Israel. The first is an example of a weakly crystallized system; the second of a moderately crystallized one. The findings provide support for the proposition that in weakly crystallized systems status dimensions tend to affect only variables which measure equivalent dimensions, that is, corresponding variables, with minimal radiation of effects to noncorresponding ones. This pattern has been observed in the application of the status attainment model to the kibbutz. In the urban sample the pattern of effects is uneven. While there is a partial tendency of status dimensions to have a stronger effect on noncorresponding variables, the discrepancy between corresponding and noncorresponding effects is small. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article points the weaknesses of Richard Bland and Roy Wallis' commentary about the essay on status inconsistency and participation in social movements. The comment began with observations concerning the status inconsistency method represented in the essay and moved to a broader criticism of the notion of status defense. However, Bland and Wallis missed the point of the essay. For instance, they defined status more narrowly than Zurcher and Kirkpatrick in "Citizens for Decency". Moreover, they accused the authors of obsessively seeking some ulterior motive among anti-pornography crusaders which could explain their participation. Finally, they offered no evidence to demonstrate that overrewarded inconsistents would be expected to engage in resistance to changes in their social environment which might threaten their over-rewarded situation.

This paper extends the analysis of socioeconomic achievement initiated by Blau and Duncan and subsequently developed by both Jencks and Rainwater. The major extensions arc the specification of models for female heads of household in the labor force and the inclusion of several previously neglected predictors of socioeconomic achievement including some which require panel data. Our analysis suggests that a different model is needed for females than for males and that a different model is needed for black females than for white females. The evidence also suggests that the socioeconomic success of women is more fixed by background, education, and occupational factors, and is less a function of individual ability than is the case for men. The evidence supporting this conclusion is particularly compelling for black women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper suggests a new way of applying "Proportional-Reductions-in-Error" related measures (i.e., Gamma, dyx, dxy, and Kendall's Tau's) to link logical forms of hypotheses to types of ordinal measures of association. First, the basic form of associations for ordinal data are examined. Second, the analytical properties of "P-R-E" related measures are investigated. Finally, it is proposed that "P-R-E" related measures be used in testing the logical form of the relationship between variables implied in a hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the consequences of urbanization, industrialization and increasing societal complexity upon the social relations and social roles of certain community members (Winch and Blumberg, 1968). The generalizations are based on primary and secondary analyses of the life styles of widows aged 65 and over, who are located in different types of communities in various societies. The assumption is made that sociological understanding of life styles of widows in rapidly urbanizing countries will contribute to knowledge of the changes occurring not only in family roles, but in other social relations as well. The shortage of data about widows all over the world necessitates the positing of these generalizations as exploratory rather than as final statements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to determine whether the Hollingshead Index of Social Position (I.S.P.) is correlated with class awareness and class identification, two principal components of class consciousness. Comparative data are introduced from the Hollingshead and Redlich (1958) community study of New Haven, Connecticut, and an investigation by this writer (1963) of an urban Pennsylvania community, hereafter referred to as Twin City. Both studies use an objective index (I.S.P.) to estimate positions individuals occupy in the status structure of the community, and both correlate class awareness and class identification with class placement by this index. The interviews for the present study were conducted in a middle-sized Pennsylvania city, with a population of approximately 75,000, in the summer of 1961. The number of completed interview schedules, from which data analyses were derived, was set at 1,811. The social position which individuals and families occupy in the Twin City status structure was determined according to the modification of Hollingshead's three-factor I.S.P. All of the sample households enumerated in the interview schedule were stratified by class through use of this index. The collected data used to determine the I.S.P. for each household consisted of the education and occupation of the head of the household plus the ecological location of the dwelling unit in which the respondent resided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The significance of occupational status and income for suicide is not clear. One study indicates a positive relationship; five reveal a negative relationship; two show a higher suicide rate for very high- and very low-status occupations than for middle-status occupations; and the combined results of a study of three English cities are inconsistent. Although evidence is strongest for a negative relationship, no definitive conclusion can be made. Very likely, the relationship varies depending upon other conditions. In particular, it may vary with employment status; income may be directly related to suicide under conditions of unemployment, but inversely related under conditions of employment, or vice versa. In this paper an attempt will be made to determine whether and in what way employment status may influence the effects of income. In addition, effort will be made to determine whether unemployment is related to suicide at all income levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Often enough members of one social class have been viewed as struggling with members of other classes, as excluding others from membership in their own class, or as aspiring to become members of higher social classes. Whatever the precise formulation of the situation, the general tone of descriptions of interclass relationships has often been one of competition, antagonism, exclusion, tension, or conflict. Yet ordinary experience suggests that most individuals direct some positive affect toward social classes other than their own in any functioning and enduring system of social stratification. This paper is concerned with a measure of part of this affect (here termed status affinity), and it offers a description of some of the antecedent conditions contributing to different affect distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper briefly explores the association between a nationally derived scale of socioeconomic status and the variables of prestige, reward, skill, and functional importance as they were measured and employed by Lopreato and Lewis. These authors suggest that prestige is a "fulcrum variable." It is assumed that prestige has some common underlying features in relation to other variables such as reward, skill, and the functional importance of occupational roles. The investigators also suggest that prestige is the best single measure of this factor. The purpose of the present exploration is twofold. An attempt is made to assess the probable influence of the restricted sample which the investigators employed. Their findings will be evaluated by correlating the prestige ranks which they obtained with the ranks which can be derived from the Duncan Socio-Economic Index. Secondly, the ranks obtained from the Duncan Socio-Economic Index will be correlated with the Lopreato and Lewis ranks with regard to reward, skill, and functional importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the validity of these two postulates in Cohen's theory: (1) that lower class adolescents compare their own life style unfavorably with peers in higher classes; (2) that this unfavorable social comparison leads to feelings of frustration and deprivation which generate a higher rate of delinquent behavior. Specifically, if Cohen is correct, the facts which support the postulate are: (1) lower class adolescents experience greater relative status deprivation; (2) lower class delinquents experience the greatest relative deprivation. But if Williams and others are correct, then relative status deprivation will either be infrequent in the population or distributed in some other fashion in the class structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aptitude, motivation, training completion, and job survival measures were compared for 1,091 blacks, 192 Hispanics, 186 Asian, and 1,785 white recruits who entered Navy paramedical training during 1973. The minority groups were found to have lower aptitude and motivation scores, on the average, than the majority group, but tended to do as well as, and in some cases better than, the majority group on the performance measures. The effect of social status on recruit expectations of the working environment is hypothesized to account for the apparent discrepancy. Based upon these data, it is suggested that the Navy can select minority group personnel for technical training whose chances of remaining on the job are quite good irrespective of their aptitude and motivation scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the relationship between labor force participation by more than one family member and the socioeconomic status of the family, as measured by the Census SES score. The data were derived from a special tabulation of the 1960 Census five percent sample tape. In general, labor force participation by more than one family member was associated with higher SES scores in both white and Negro families. Multiple wage earners in white families were associated with "above the middle" level scores, whereas in Negro families multiple wage earners appear to contribute to barely or almost attaining middle level scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While a variety of social structural factors do influence all youth, it is critical to note that American youth are not a monolithic entity. Obviously, differences in age, race, sex, and socioeconomic status will play a part in what youth think, feel, and believe. Still, as this review of youth-oriented research indicates, the empirical focus, for the most part, has been upon white, middle-class, college students. One result of this research bias has been a tendency to generalize for all youth from data collected from a relatively small, select, youth population. A second obvious outcome is that sociologists have largely ignored the study of poor youth; non-students; blacks, Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, American Indians; youth in the work world; youth in the military; and females. Generally, this review of the social science research suggests that there is consensus among students of youth behavior as to the factors which influence the attitudes and behavior of contemporary youth. At the same time, it must be noted that much of what is pronounced is based on little in the way of empirical research and derived primarily from observations of a limited segment of American youth. Finally, this review of the literature would certainly support the observation that social scientists have provided little in the way of knowledge that would be of value to policy planners, program developers, or those involved in the day to day business of youth socialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following research endeavors highlight some of the ways in which the functional importance of occupational roles is a questionable element in stratification. Ramsey and Smith found that "Functional necessity appears to have a low positive correlation with prestige …. The negative correlation between income and social importance suggests the need for further research on social importance as a basic condition producing stratification …. "Lopreato and Lewis, in a correlational study of social stratification, found that their measure of imputed functional importance had a lower association with prestige than other elements of stratification. These investigators, in a different study, point explicitly to the finding that functional importance has little value for stratification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applying Weber's theorizing on action and stratification, this study examines whether the early 20th-century extinction of half of the medical schools in the United States resulted from actions intended to serve class, status, and party interests by achieving social closure. Analyses reveal closure intentions in the school ratings assigned by the American Medical Association, although not in the recommendations in the 1910 Carnegie-sponsored Flexner report. In contrast to claims that schools failed largely because of economic exigencies, analyses indicate that failures were influenced by the AMA's and Flexner's assessments, as well as by state regulatory regimes and school characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes an interactionist framework for the study of status stratification. This framework returns the focus of status research to how status works, especially emphasizing the symbolic and contextual aspects integral to the concept. By closely examining how status is indicated, how it is employed, and how it is maintained or changed over time, an interactionist approach provides an explanation on how status affects both individual and organizational behavior-an explanation that is currently lacking in status research. In addition, the development of this framework provides an argument against critics of interactionism who question whether this perspective can contribute to the study of social stratification. This article makes evident that status stratification, with its intimate ties to the symbols and contexts, proves to be an area of study ideally suited to the interactionist perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using 1 9S0 PUMS data for Miami Cuban and Bay Area Chinese immigrant males, this study operational lies and tests three theories about the earnings of employees in ethnic economics. The results consistently show chat the allocation of financial rewards in the ethnic economy closely resembles that found elsewhere. Although this finding merits more extensive confirmation in primary data, it implies that ethnic economy theories contribute little to the understanding of contemporary ethnic inequality within the working class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender differences in neighboring are investigated using survey data from respondents in 81 Nashville neighborhoods. Of primary concern is why women neighbor more than men. Secondarily, the effects of life-cycle stage and socioeconomic status (SES) on neighboring are explored. Of these three, gender most strongly predicts neighboring activities, even with full and part time employment controlled. Life-cycle stage and SES are about equivalent in strength, although they significantly influence different neighboring measures. Findings suggest that the definition in American gender roles of women as bearers of emotional and social responsibilities accounts for their more extensive neighboring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the relationship between gender and conversational power by treating as problematic the process through which a social position is transformed into conversational advantage. Using symbolic interactionism, it is argued that conversational power is exercised over the course of a role performance and is affected by the identities of the interactants and the context in which interaction occurs. This argument is evaluated by using conversational data from a same-sex dyadic role-playing exercise and by measures of gender identity. Findings indicate that regardless of a person's sex, the more "male like" his/her gender identity, the more likely he/she is to challenge statements made by alter. Concerning context, the more assertive alter's behavior, the more likely ego is to act in a similarly assertive manner. The relevance of these findings for the broader study of self, society, and conversational behavior is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blau's and Duncan's reconceptualization of social mobility analysis in terms of the status attainment model led to a rapid growth in the number of studies of mobility processes in the United States. Observations of differences in the attainment processes of different segments of the population and theoretical and methodological critiques have produced alternative ways of viewing and analyzing social stratification and mobility. Recent European contributions have tended to be more heavily theory-laden and concerned with social class rather than a continuum of occupational levels. Current developments promise to provide a basis for a rapprochement between the two approaches and further clarification of the relative importance of structural and individual factors in the social mobility process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Kuhnian approach to the structure of scientific research is used to examine the historical development of the status attainment paradigm in sociology. A content analysis of applications, critiques, and alternatives to the status attainment model over the last decade illustrates the "life-cycle" phases of a scientific research area that are suggested by Kuhn. The analysis reveals an extension or elaboration of the paradigmatic research effort throughout early years of the decade. However, the perception of "anomalies" by critics of the research tradition, coupled with the increasing exploration of alternative approaches, suggests the onset of a crisis stage for status attainment research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological models of black and white suburban socioeconomic status persistence/ change are explicated and evaluated utilizing data for 505 American suburbs for which status data were available. It was found that black and white status characteristics persist but the determinants of status change differed somewhat for each group. White status change was related to suburban age and region, while black status change was related to suburban percent black and age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through long suggested, subjective indicators of status inconsistency have seen little empirical use. Data from a sample survey with controls for additive status variables are used to compare objective and subjective status inconsistency with these conclusions: (1) Individuals in an "objective" state of educational-occupational inconsistency are no more likely to feel inconsistent than those whose objective statuses are aligned. (2) When considered in conjunction with vertical status dimensions, neither objective nor subjective status inconsistency is independently associated with measures of social participation; only the subjective measure is independently associated with powerlessness. (3) The joint use of subjective and objective status inconsistency concepts in future work must be carefully justified and must take into account well-substantiated but frequently ignored methodological problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article comments on Kenneth L. Wilson and Louis A. Zurcher's essay on status inconsistency and participation in social movements. They discussed the relationship within a set of four variables which are income, occupation, education and pornactivity. The analysis showed that income levels are insignificant in the explanation of Conpron activity in the case of the Wilson and Zurcher data. On the basis of a national sample, education alone was found to be a predictor of attitudes toward pornography among the three variables considered. The implication of these findings is that active concern about pornography is a matter of culture rather than social stratification and a matter of beliefs rather than status.

To insure the widest possible test of the hypothesis that individuals with lower ascribed or achieved status will demonstrate lower levels of self-esteem than higher status individuals, 972 subjects completed questionnaires which included the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. North Florida residents were sampled using a disproportionate stratified random sampling technique. Seven groups were identified: psychiatric patients, prisoners, black or white college students, city residents, married black residents, and service-oriented professionals. When analyzing data for each group, the results indicated that persons with lower ascribed status (blacks, females, and older Americans) did not, as a group, have lower self-esteem scores than persons with higher ascribed status (whites, males, and younger Americans). However, persons with lower achieved status in the areas of educational attainment and occupational prestige did have lower self-esteem scores than did persons of higher status. Further, having an institutionalized status—confinement at a state psychiatric hospital or a maximum security prison—is correlated with low self-esteem scores. Some possible explanations of these findings are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The defining and, where appropriate, modeling of supervisors, co-workers, parents, teachers, and counselors were correlated with a particular counseling activity. School counselors (N = 81) reported these perceived influences and the amount of time they devoted to talking with youths about the ways to avoid past mistakes. In low socioeconomic (SES) areas, counselors and teachers showed the strongest relationship with this behavior; while in high SES groups, parents provided the dominant association. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Goodman's hierarchical modeling is used to analyze the status inconsistency configurations of 67 active participants in an anti-pornography social movement and 44 persons who actively opposed the movement. The substantive results indicated the need to interpret status inconsistency effects in light of the second-order interaction of all three stratification variables—education, occupation and income. We found that inconsistencies between two of the stratification dimensions changed the association between the third dimension and participation in a social movement in the positive direction. A modification of the over-rewarded/under-rewarded inconsistency hypothesis was advanced as a special case of the general finding. The methodological results indicate that the Goodman hierarchical modeling technique is a promising system for establishing empirical linkages between significance testing and substantive interpretations with regard to the area of status inconsistency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Music may be understood as a structural representation, or symbolic "model," of social interaction processes. Since music is a readily available expressive system in our society, individuals may use it as a socially meaningful symbolic medium within which they manage conflicting affective associations with interaction. Music listening then becomes one means by which individuals may maintain psychological well-being while adapting to complex social structures. Three initial points in this argument were examined, using high and low music listeners. High listeners were found to have more conflicting positive and negative affective associations with interaction than low or medium listeners, as measured by a TAT-type technique. The effect of role playing an affective interaction situation in an experimental design increased listening absorption in music for high but not for low listeners. High listeners were also more likely to describe musical effects in terms of symbolic participation in group processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two measures of extremist political attitudes are used to test the relationship between social participation, social status, and extremist attitudes. The expected relationships are found only for a measure called "support for democratic institutions." Another measure of political attitudes, vigilanstism, was found not to relate to the independent variables. We conclude that people who may adhere to abstract democratic ideals, at the same time may not reject the use of extralegal force to further their political goals. The findings also suggest that the "mobilization function" of social participation will need to be further specified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In reviewing recent trends in delinquency theorizing and research, it is noted that track position, independent of status origins, is highly associated with such behavioral outcomes as youth rebellion and official delinquency. This observation, given its provocative theoretical and policy implications, is subjected to fresh empirical scrutiny through use of self-report delinquency data obtained from 175 seniors (both males and females) attending two high schools in western New York State. Analyses, through use of Yule's Q and first-order partials, indicate that these data are strongly supportive of the recent trends noted. Track position, relative to both sex and status origins, emerges as the strongest predictor of self-report delinquent involvement. Implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Merton has made an important distinction between the "history" any "systematics" of sociological theory, and outlined the valuable functions of the former. Most histories of sociology, however, have been "presentist" or "Whiggish" in perspective; we propose an "historicist" alternative. Within this perspective, Durkheim's response to Spencer is analyzed in three areas: (1) the relation between "individual" and "society;" (2) evolution and social change; and (3) the scope and method of sociology. In these areas, Durkheim's critical style reveals a repetitive theme which is termed "inversion." The essay concludes by re-affirming Merton's distinction and urging that the "historicist" perspective is the most valid and useful approach to the history of sociology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-evaluated class status is shown to vary among white Protestants, Catholics, Jews, and black Protestants. Holding economic status constant, Jews are most likely to select the middle- (or upper-) class label, followed by white Protestants, white Catholics, and black Protestants. Thus, the independent effect of minority status on self-evaluated class status reinforces the ranking directly attributable to the economic levels of each of the four groups. Also, the congruence between self-identified class and objective economic status is closer among Jews and white Protestants than among white Catholics or black Protestants. The hypothesis that affiliation with a minority necessarily reduces class consciousness was, therefore, not supported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diversity of findings on the class-delinquency relationship may reflect differential middle-class cultural dominance in school systems. In predominantly middle-class schools, the minority of working-class youth conform to the majority standards and the relationship does not hold. In more class heterogeneous schools a cross-class cultural diffusion occurs among youth such that objective class status no longer is predictive of delinquency. In predominantly working-class schools a negative class-delinquency relationship is found; in such a milieu, those youth who are committed to conventional middle-class culture only can have acquired such commitments from their middle-class parents. The self-report studies of class and delinquency are reviewed in the light of these hypotheses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hypothesis of status inconsistency predicts greater leftism as an interaction effect of discrepant status dimensions. Inconsistent individuals are objectively low in some dimensions and subjectively insecure in those where they hold a high position. Ensuing anxiety and frustration are likely to be translated into political opposition to the status quo. Though theoretically plausible, empirical investigations of the hypothesis report mixed results. Employing data collected among a sample of 382 lower-class Chilean slum dwellers, a new test of the hypothesis is conducted. Dummy-variable regressions are employed to isolate status additive effects on leftism from inconsistency interaction effects. Neither education-occupation nor education-income discrepancies are found to produce significant changes in the dependent variable. Identical results are obtained when age is controlled for. Limitations of these findings and their theoretical implications, as they add to a growing body of research, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of previous studies have called attention (typically ex post facto) to the finding that schizophrenics tend to have backgrounds with a particular type of status imbalance—their occupational level is lower than their years of education would seem to merit. The data from this study substantiated this finding. Moreover, we found that the greater the magnitude of this type of inconsistency, the higher the proportion of schizophrenia. Since schizophrenics were especially downwardly mobile, however, we tentatively concluded that this type of status inconsistency is not a "cause" of schizophrenia but rather a consequence of that illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature concerned with social mobility is quite extensive. This body of material has to a great extent taken a societal or institutional perspective, with a large proportion of mobility studies focusing on such questions, among others, as: what are the social origins of a particular occupational stratum; what rates and trends can be found over time and place; and, are class boundaries becoming more rigid? Emphasis on such questions is certainly pertinent for the understanding of stratification. Yet, there has been a relative neglect of what should prove to be an intriguing aspect of social mobility—the social and psychological consequences of such mobility for the individuals involved. A basic question to ask is: do individuals who have experienced mobility exhibit variations in their behavioral patterns when compared to individuals who are socially stable? To find and study possible variations in the behavior of individuals who have had different mobility experiences seems an important area of investigation. Several decades ago it was postulated that social mobility resulted in social isolation through its disruption of participation in primary and secondary group structures (cf. Durkheim, 1951:252-254; Sorokin, 1927); mobility was seen as detrimental for interpersonal relations because of its effect on ties within these groups. However, the theoretical and empirical work since these early statements has not shown that such a simple relationship between mobility and participation exists; mobility does not seem always to lead to social isolation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines attitudinal manifestations of anomia and militancy among the Negro populations of three lower-class neighborhoods. Translating these ideas into the present research context, the basic question asked is: What is the relative impact of ecological setting and of the social characteristics of persons (such as social participation and socioeconomic status) in predicting attitudes? The two attitudes studied are anomia, measured by the Stole Anomia Scale, and militancy, measured by a recently published Militancy Scale. The study focuses upon anomia and militancy at two levels of analysis—the neighborhood level and at the individual level. The neighborhood analysis is directed toward measuring the impact of a given ecological setting on the attitudes of those residing in the area. The individual analysis centers around the social attributes of the respondent (the standard socioeconomic indicators, as well as several social participation measures) and their association with militancy and anomia. While sociologists have examined the effect of social context, they have seldom separated the consequences of social conditions from those of a person's own attributes, principally because most sociological data furnish information about social aggregates rather than individuals, (Blau, 1960:179; Coleman, 1969:86-114). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to extend Becker's work in two ways. It first seeks to investigate the relationship between status hierarchy and work milieux among musicians in a different urban setting, New York City. It then treats position in the specialty hierarchy as an independent variable and examines its relations with certain areas of perception of self and profession. A predominate theme in stratification research is that position in the status structure affects one's perception of the structure and perception of one's self in relation to that structure. Of particular concern to us is how position in the specialty hierarchy affects musicians' perceptions of the status system, rewards (from) the profession, and the saliency of identity as a professional musician. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationships between the ecological distribution of heroin addiction in San Antonio, Texas, and measures of socio-economic status and minority group status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]