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- Volume 10, 1984
Annual Review of Sociology - Volume 10, 1984
Volume 10, 1984
- Preface
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- Review Articles
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The Changing Nature of Professional Control
Vol. 10 (1984), pp. 1–20More LessThe traditional view of the professions is that they are largely free of the hierarchical forms of social control characteristic of other kinds of occupations; instead, they are self-regulating, subject only to informal collegial control. As a result of events in the past few decades in the United States, analysts now believe that the traditional autonomy of professions is eroding. This paper reviews two theories that emphasize this process, one focusing on deprofessionalization and the other on proletarianization. It concludes that the available evidence does not support either theory sufficiently to make them analytically useful; it advances an alternate theory that emphasizes the formalization of professional social control. This third viewpoint is based on the finding that the professions—as corporate bodies—have remained relatively autonomous. Antitrust decisions, political pressure to exercise more control over errant members, and the administrative requirement of greater accountability in large organizations employing professionals are all leading to a formalization of the methods by which professions control their members. An administrative elite of professionals who serve as supervisors, managers, chief executive officers, and owners is being formed in order to guide and evaluate the performance of rank and file professionals. The technical standards employed by such professionally qualified administrators are devised by a separate group of professionals—the knowledge elite—who are based primarily in professional schools. Rank and file practitioners are no longer as free to follow the dictates of their individual judgments as in the past, though quite unlike other workers, their work is expected to involve the use of discretion on a daily basis. Stratification in the professions, which has always existed, has become more formal and overt than in the past. This development may lead to divisions within any given profession as a whole that are too deep to contain within a nominally unified corporate body.
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Social Control Through Deterrence: Drinking-and-Driving Laws
Vol. 10 (1984), pp. 21–35More LessThe anti-drunk-driving movement has resulted in a profusion of deterrence-based legislation, providing the opportunity to test the deterrence proposition via quasi-experiments employing high-quality data series. Considerable evidence bearing on this proposition has accumulated to date. Efforts directed mainly at increasing potential drunk drivers’ perceived certainty of punishment frequently have a deterrent effect in the short run. In the long run, however, i.e. over several months or a few years, indexes of drunk driving return to prior levels. This phenomenon may be explained by the very low actual probability of punishment. Efforts directed principally at increasing the perceived severity of punishment have not had the desired deterrent effects, perhaps because of the low levels of certainty that these punishments will be applied. The utility of deterrence-based laws appears to be limited owing to the cost of raising the actual likelihood of punishment to a point that would support a perception of reasonable certainty. Alternative policies based on changing institutions in the fields of recreation and transportation are more promising, though politically problematical. Most promising, in terms of feasibility and effectiveness, are technological measures that prevent driver errors from resulting in crashes or that reduce the forces experienced in those crashes that do occur.
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Organizational Perspectives on Stratification
Vol. 10 (1984), pp. 37–69More LessThis essay reviews recent theory and research on organizations and social stratification, focusing on two dimensions of inequality that are affected by organizations and their environments: (a) how rewards and opportunities vary as a function of organizational attributes and (b) how enterprises differ in their criteria for matching workers and jobs. The effects of reward structures and sorting processes on workers, organizational performance, and interorganizational relations are also considered briefly. Since many hypotheses about labor markets concern links between organizations and socioeconomic achievement, there is a need for comparative organizational research to complement analyses at the individual and aggregate levels. Moreover, the interdependence of career outcomes within and among enterprises is widely recognized but requires explicit study. Future research will benefit immeasurably from the development and testing of hypotheses about how organizations and environments influence labor market processes.
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Organizational Ecology
Vol. 10 (1984), pp. 71–93More LessRecent research on organizational ecology is reviewed. Three levels of analysis and approaches to evolution are distinguished: (a) the organizational level, which uses a developmental approach; (b) the population level. which uses a selection approach; and (c) the community level, which uses a macroevolutionary approach. Theoretical and empirical research is critiqued within this framework. Proposals to develop organizational taxonomies are considered.
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The Economy and Social Pathology
Vol. 10 (1984), pp. 95–119More LessThis review assesses the research of the past decade on how economic deprivation, prosperity, and change influence social pathology. Absolute economic deprivation is associated with high levels of psychological distress, some forms of psychoses, and interpersonal violence, although not with relatively minor forms of crime and neurosis. The mechanisms through which these disorders arise have not been isolated, however. Economic loss, particularly as a result of unemployment, is related to high rates of psychological distress and suicide but not to elevated amounts of psychoses or crime. Some research associates long-term rates of economic growth with rising levels of alcohol consumption, increased utilization of mental health facilities, and higher crime and imprisonment rates, but the reasons for these associations have not been established either. Finally, there is no reliable correlation between absolute rates of economic change and the incidence of any form of pathology. Studies suggest that the relationship between the economy and social pathology is mediated by a number of factors including the stage of the life cycle, gender, social class, levels of social support, and personality. Several promising directions for further research are indicated.
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Economic Development and Community Social Change
Vol. 10 (1984), pp. 141–166More LessThere is growing recognition that economic development in advanced industrial societies involves massive capital migration from one industrial sector to another, from one community to another, and even from one nation to another. Economic development is a continual process of opening new areas, spatially and sectorally, while closing others. Development projects in rural communities provide a timely and valuable laboratory in which to learn how the restructuring of advanced industrial societies affects local social structures. This chapter extracts and reviews what has been learned from studies of communities coping with rural industrialization and natural resource development, especially large-scale projects. Particular attention is given to changes in employment patterns, income, population, agriculture, local businesses, and public sector costs and revenues. The findings reveal an underlying tension between the free movement of capital, on the one hand, and community stability and worker welfare, on the other hand. The authors conclude that local social changesa re integral elements of external processes of economic development. They may be understood by directing attention to the spatial patterns of social, economic, and political inequality and to the mechanisms that generate and sustain unevenness.
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Previous Volumes
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Volume 50 (2024)
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Volume 49 (2023)
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Volume 48 (2022)
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Volume 47 (2021)
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Volume 46 (2020)
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Volume 45 (2019)
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Volume 44 (2018)
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Volume 43 (2017)
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Volume 42 (2016)
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Volume 41 (2015)
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Volume 40 (2014)
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Volume 39 (2013)
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Volume 38 (2012)
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Volume 37 (2011)
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Volume 36 (2010)
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Volume 35 (2009)
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Volume 34 (2008)
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Volume 33 (2007)
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Volume 32 (2006)
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Volume 31 (2005)
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Volume 30 (2004)
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Volume 29 (2003)
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Volume 28 (2002)
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Volume 27 (2001)
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Volume 26 (2000)
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Volume 25 (1999)
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Volume 24 (1998)
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Volume 23 (1997)
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Volume 22 (1996)
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Volume 21 (1995)
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Volume 20 (1994)
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Volume 19 (1993)
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Volume 18 (1992)
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Volume 17 (1991)
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Volume 16 (1990)
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Volume 15 (1989)
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Volume 14 (1988)
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Volume 13 (1987)
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Volume 12 (1986)
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Volume 11 (1985)
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Volume 10 (1984)
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Volume 9 (1983)
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Volume 8 (1982)
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Volume 7 (1981)
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Volume 6 (1980)
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Volume 5 (1979)
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Volume 4 (1978)
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Volume 3 (1977)
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Volume 2 (1976)
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Volume 1 (1975)
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Volume 0 (1932)