Category: Social Psychology & Lifecourse

Political & Economic Sociology / Social Psychology & Lifecourse

election day and attributing blame

By Dena T. Smith In elections, we determine who to vote for via a number of factors: party affiliation, the economy, the character of the candidate, advertising, etc. It’s a complicated process. One key force in determining the outcome of elections is who is attributed responsibility for both the pitfalls and promise of a given state of the nation, state, city or even district.   The process of attribution, generally explored by social psychologists, and usually used to describe blame...

Class & Stratification / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Social Movements / Social Change / Social Psychology & Lifecourse / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

status networking sites

by nathan jurgenson There has been recent news coverage on the relationship between social status and social networking site usage. CNN asked “Does your social class determine your online social network?” “Is there a class divide online? Research suggests yes. A recent study by market research firm Nielsen Claritas found that people in more affluent demographics are 25 percent more likely to be found friending on Facebook, while the less affluent are 37 percent more likely to connect on MySpace.”...

Class & Stratification / Gender & Sexuality / Political & Economic Sociology / Social Movements / Social Change / Social Psychology & Lifecourse / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Organizations & Work

Renegotiating the Gender Contract

by ChristinaBlunt According to a recent article in the New York Times, the single mothers of South Korea are beginning to mount a battle to reclaim not only their rights but also their identities. The social stigma surrounding unwed motherhood in South Korea is particularly fierce. According to the report, in 2007, 1.6 percent of babies were born out of wedlock and of those 1.6 percent 70 percent are given up for adoption. However, nearly 96 percent of the single...

Political & Economic Sociology / Social Movements / Social Change / Social Psychology & Lifecourse / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

Case Closure

by ChristinaBlunt On September 23, the Chicago Tribune reported that Christopher M. Stevens, the convicted killer of Zachary Snider, has been re-sentenced to life in prison without parole after his death sentence was overturned. Stevens was charged with sexually molesting and murdering 10-year old Snider in 1993. However, in 2007, a federal appeals court set aside the death penalty citing the defense’s insufficient presentation of Stevens’ mental illness. Although it is likely that Stevens would again be sentenced to death,...

Social Psychology & Lifecourse / Sociology of Culture

Love on the tracks

by enteringthewhirlpool The juxtaposition of rail and romance is quite an old phenomenon, manifesting itself in films such as Brief Encounter and in popular songs such as “The Enchanted Train”, P.G.Wodehouse’s tribute to the Long Island Rail Road on which, apparently, he had courted his wife. Now it transpires that falling for people on trains has become rather popular on London’s public transport network and numerous websites and newspaper columns have come into existence with the goal of helping couples...

Political & Economic Sociology / Science & Technology / Social Movements / Social Change / Social Psychology & Lifecourse / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance / Sociology of Organizations & Work

Comparing the role of government in self-control problems from behavioural and neoclassical economic perspectives

This post has moved to http://williampaulbell.wordpress.com/2009/09/12/comparing-the-role-of-government-in-self-control-problems-from-behavioural-and-neoclassical-economic-perspectives/ <About>  <Portfolio>  <Academia>  <LinkedIn>  <Twitter>  <Blog> Member of the World Economics Association – promoting ethics, openness, diversity of thought and democracy within the economics profession

Political & Economic Sociology / Social Psychology & Lifecourse

$221,190 Dollar Baby

U.S. department of agriculture has released a report about expected expenditures for raising a child from birth to age 17 in U.S. . Several news sites refer this news as “quarter-million dollar baby” – about a quarter of a million dollar is spent for a child born in 2008 through birth to age 17 (the expenditures vary across family income, region, or household structure- See the report ). The amount of money has been increasing in since 1960 when the...

Social Psychology & Lifecourse / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

Would you pay $14,000 to attend Internet rehabilitation?

By Rachael Liberman When ReSTART, the Fall City, Washington “Internet Addiction Recovery Program,” opened its doors in July 2009, it became the first of its kind in the United States. According to its press release: “Video game and Internet addicts can now find solutions to the addictive behavior that devastates their marriages, careers, schooling, family life and health.” The program, co-founded by Cosette Rae, MSW and Hilarie Cash, PhD, offers a 45-day, “cold turkey” program that includes counseling and psychotherapy...

Science & Technology / Social Psychology & Lifecourse

Weighing the blame for illness: biology versus personal responsibility

By Dena T. Smith Part of MSNBC’s lineup includes an hour-long daytime show hosted by the physician, Dr. Nancy. In a segment of her show on Monday, August 31st, she hosted a panel to address the “war on fat people.” Panel members discussed topics such as the etiology of obesity and how the obese are treated in the US. Articles of a similar nature have appeared elsewhere, including the one below, which was featured in a recent edition of Newsweek....

Political & Economic Sociology / Social Psychology & Lifecourse

Health care and emotions – the politics of preaching

By Dena T. Smith Since his inauguration, President Obama has used just about every forum possible to stress the need for health care reform. We’ve heard the pragmatic arguments: in the current system, we spend too much money on treatment rather than focusing on preventative care or that all the power is in the hands of private interests inflates costs. And we’ve also heard plenty of opposition to government intervention from the right. Two Tuesdays ago, I wrote about the...

Science & Technology / Social Psychology & Lifecourse

Nature or Nurture as a complex interplay: the debate over the depression gene

By Dena T. Smith In the last several decades, the field of medicine has become increasingly dominated by biological thinking. Psychiatry, a sub-field aimed at treating mental illness is largely focused on the genetic causes of a wide range of conditions. This perspective stands in opposition to the notion that environmental factors cause symptoms – that changes in biology and/or neurochemistry are dictated by certain situations and conditions to which an organism is exposed. Depression is one illness category under...

Science & Technology / Social Psychology & Lifecourse / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

The Right to Die

by paulabowles A recent British court case has highlighted the emotive issue of euthanasia, or assisted suicide. Yesterday’s ruling by the House of Lords offers opportunities to not only clarify the legal position, but also places the issue firmly in the public domain. The background to the case involves the personal story of Debbie Purdy and her attempts to shed light on the criterion used by the Director of Public Prosecutions [DPP] with regard to assisted suicide. As a multiple...

Science & Technology / Social Psychology & Lifecourse

Health Care Reform? If it’s not too “costly.”

By Dena T. Smith Health care reform is in the foreground of the American political landscape. Politicians in favor of transformation face staunch opposition and must convince the public and their fellow representatives in congress of both the imminent need and potential effectiveness of a major overhaul.  Classical studies on altruistic behavior inform us that actions aimed at helping others, such as supporting health care reform, are more likely when we experience empathy for the person(s) in need. Estimates as to how many...

Gender & Sexuality / Social Psychology & Lifecourse

Rethinking Sex Education

by theoryforthemasses Public debate about the content of sex education in U.S. schools has been raging for decades.  On one side of the fence are proponents of programs that teach abstinence-only sex education; on the other side are those who advocate for a more comprehensive program that teaches students how to engage in sexual activity more safely.  The educational system has long been the site of this debate.  However, a recent New York Times article explores a program in North...

Race & Ethnicity Studies / Social Psychology & Lifecourse / Sociology of Culture

(Untold) Storytelling

by theoryforthemasses Immigrants’ stories of sacrifice and (re)settlement are often overshadowed by statistics about demographics like educational attainment, income, and family size; the stories themselves remain untold. A recent New York Times article explores the impact of these stories on the children of immigrant families. Each year sociologist and Hunter College professor Nancy Foner teaches a class entitled “The Peopling of New York” wherein she asks students to interview a close relative about recent family history. Given that many of...

Social Psychology & Lifecourse / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

‘Hoodies or Altar Boys?’

by paulabowles Recent research commissioned by the group Women in Journalism has looked at the portrayal of teenage boys in the press. By analysing both national and regional papers, the research team hoped to gain some insight into the representation of youth by the British media. Perhaps, unsurprisingly the overarching theme was one of negativity, with labels such as ‘yob’, ‘thug’, ‘feral’, ‘scum’ and louts cropping up again and again. The only exception to this representation appears to have been...