DOCSLIB.ORG

Introduction 2 Positivism: Scientific Explanations of Violence

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Introduction 2 Positivism: Scientific Explanations of Violence Notes Introduction 1 In Britain, for example, we have had surveys on a national level (see Hough and Mayhew, 1983; Chambers and Tombs, 1984; Hough and Mayhew, 1985; Mayhew eta/., 1989; Kinsey and Anderson, 1992; Mayhew eta/., 1993, Mayhew eta/., 1994; Mirrlees-Black eta/., 1996; Mirrlees-Black eta/., 1998) and on a local level (see Kinsey, 1985; Jones eta/., 1986; Lea eta/., 1986; Lea et al., 1988; Painter eta/., 1989; Painter eta/., 1990a; Painter eta/., 1990b; Crawford eta/., 1990; Jones eta/., 1990; Mooney, 1992). 2 Self-complete questionnaires were used in Manchester's Crime Survey of Women for Women (Bains, 1987) and McGibbon et al.'s (1989) survey of domestic violence for Hammersmith and Fulham Council. 3 This framework is derived from that utilized by Young (1981; 1994) in order to analyse traditional and contemporary paradigms of criminological theory and that of Jaggar (1983) in relation to feminist political theory. However, it should be pointed out that this structure will result to some extent in the cre­ ation of ideal types - we must be aware that there are theorists who lack con­ sistency and others whose work falls between the different theoretical strands. 2 Positivism: Scientific Explanations of Violence 1 Other early biological determinist work on female criminality includes that of Adams (1910), Thomas (1923) and Pollak (1950). 2 In Crime: Its Causes and Remedies, Lombroso did, however, comment on other factors that might be relevant. For example, on women and urban crime: 'women are more criminal in the more civilized countries. They are almost always drawn into crime by a false pride about their poverty, by a desire for luxury, and by masculine occupations and education, which give them the means and opportunity to commit crimes such as forgeries, crimes against the laws of the press and swindling' (1918 ed: 54). 3 Prior to this Wilson worked for the Nixon government: in 1972 he was Chair of the National Advisory Council for Drug Abuse Prevention, the prelude to the modern 'War Against Drugs'. 4 However, as we shall see, contemporary positivist accounts of domestic vio­ lence, those of evolutionary theory and the family violence approach - which includes the work of Gelles and Cornell (1985) - confront the fact that domestic violence is much more widespread than traditional individual positivism would countenance. 5 This is not to suggest that all individual positivist explanations of domestic violence support the view that it is predominantly located in the lower socio-economic groups. Gayford (1978), for example, found no class rela­ tionship in his study. 227 228 Notes 6 As we have seen in discussing Lombroso, the application of the basic tenets of evolutionary theory to criminal behaviour in general is not a new idea. Further, as Janet Sayers has pointed out in Biological Politics, evolutionary theory was frequently utilized in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to justify sex-role specialization. This is particularly evident in the work of social Darwinists such as Spencer (1873, 1884) and feminist essen­ tialists (e.g. Blackwell, 1875; Gilman, 1898; Addams, 1922). 'Nature', as noted in our previous criticisms of traditional classicist thinkers, was at this time commonly presented as having fitted the two sexes for their current social roles - women as child-rearers and therefore confined to the private sphere (i.e. the home) and men as workers in the public sphere. 3 Violence and the Three Feminisms 1 In 1891 it became illegal following the R v Jackson ruling for a husband to beat or imprison his wife. Prior to this a husband had in common law the right to confine and exercise reasonable chastisement of his wife; however, how far this 'right' extended is unclear (see Clark, 1992; Doggett, 1992). 2 At this time, the property a woman owned on marriage or acquired after­ wards became the property of her husband: 'at common law ... a woman effec­ tively had nothing during marriage' (Doggett, 1992: 38). And as Brophy and Smart (1981) note, until the middle of the nineteenth century it was only conceivable to refer to father's rights, never the mother's rights, with respect to legitimate children. Indeed Caroline Norton's husband gave their children to his mistress to look after (Smart, 1989). 3 This is not to imply that there had not been earlier forms of collective oppo­ sition to domestic violence, however, these had taken place more on the level of the community. For example, violence against wives certainly met with disapproval amongst Puritans who saw it as disruptive of family life (Taves, 1989) and it has been pointed out that 'charivaris', a public shaming ritual, was used against wife-beaters (Dobash and Dobash, 1979; Doggett, 1992). 4 In the United States, many nineteenth century feminists campaigned against wife-beating through the temperance movement (Gordon, 1988). S Cobbe, towards the end of her life, became prominent in the anti-vivisection movement, creating The British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection Society in 1898. 6 Chiswick Women's Aid split from the National Women's Aid Federation (NWAF) at their inaugural meeting: according to Dobash and Dobash, the majority of Women's Aid groups wished 'to form a democratic, egalitarian organisation (NWAF) and Chiswick, in the person of Erin Pizzey, wish[ed] to maintain central control, power, publicity and exclusive access to funds donated by the public' (1992: 33). 7 This debate has also been considered in criminology (Heidensohn, 1994); indeed Allison Morris and Loraine Gelsthorpe repeatedly put forward the view (see Morris, 1987; Gelsthorpe and Morris, 1988; Gelsthorpe and Notes 229 Morris, 1990) that a 'feminist criminology' cannot exist because neither criminology nor feminism presents a unified set of principles and practices: Criminology, like feminism, encompasses disparate and sometimes con­ flicting perspectives. The history of criminology well reflects these. In con­ trast, the tensions and conflicts within feminism are seen as indicative of an inchoate, unrigorous and 'indisciplined' discipline. There is no one specific feminism just as there is no one specific criminology. (1990: 2) Thus Gelsthorpe and Morris believe the phrase 'feminist perspectives in criminology' more accurately describes the body of feminist work that has contributed to the subject. 8 It should be pointed out, however, that patriarchy has not been utilized in either political (see Pateman, 1988) or feminist theory in a simple or unified manner (Walby, 1990; Stacey, 1993; Heidensohn, 1994). And there has been debate, particularly amongst socialist feminists, over the usefulness of the term (Barrett, 1980; Rowbotham, 1982; Wilson and Weir, 1986; Messerschmidt, 1993). 9 Of course, the three feminisms reflect the arena of debate in the second wave of feminism of the 1970s, since then massive discussion has occurred with the postmodernist development of a feminism which concentrated on differences between women (Fraser, 1997). That is one which is suspect of the universalising voice of second-wave feminism accusing it of speaking, in fact, for white, middle-class, First World women. The axes of ethnicity, class and sexuality come into play interesecting and fragmenting the universal woman. The problem of going too far down this path is well put by Anne Phillips: The argument suggests a very radical pluralism, in which seemingly endless differences by sex, race, age, class, culture ... all have to be taken into account. An obvious complaint would be that this emphasis leads us away from being able even to think of equality, for if people are so complex and diverse it seems impossible to conceive of them as in any sense being treated the same. (1992: 20) The feminist realist position set out in this book is sensitive to the differ­ ences between women; indeed it goes out of its way to examine differences of attitude and experience by all of the major social axes, but it notes that there is a considerable overlap of agreement and shared experience. Such a degree of consensus is not in essence unalterable over time but changes with the vicissitudes of male-female relationships and the differences in the social construction of what constitutes 'domestic violence'. Lastly, the analysis presented here takes issue with the form of postmodernism that seeks to confine itself to the study of the representation of violence and is seemingly unconcerned with the actual occurrence and patterning of violence in the real world (e.g. Young and Rush, 1994). 230 Notes 10 Indeed this introduction shows Barrett to have retreated from many of her original arguments; for example, she comments, 'although Women's Oppression Today begins from the proposition that marxism and feminism have not been integrated, it is written with a much greater sense of the desirability of this at a political level than I would now express' (ibid.: xxiii). For Barrett, 'the arguments of post-modernism already represent. .. a key position around which feminist theoretical work in the future is likely to revolve' (ibid.: xxxiv). And, as Bryson notes, post-modernism with its emphasis on the multiplicity of experiences and subjectivities that exist can, 'provide a salutary warning against simplistic certainties and over­ inclusiveness ... it can in principle avoid the incipient racism of much femi­ nist thought, whereby all women are seen as subject to the same processes, and the very different experiences of different groups ignored' (1992: 254). 11 Racism both on an individual and institutional level is considered by many commentators to compound the problems of black women experiencing domestic violence. And immigration law exacerbates the situation of immi­ grant women by, for example, forcing them to stay with violent husbands in order to fulfil immigration requirements (Mama, 1989; Kohli, 1992). 12 Walby sees a 'proper synthesis' as including waged work, housework, sexu­ ality, culture, violence and the state (1990: 7).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Supervisor-Subordinate Directional Age Differences And
    Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses Winter 2-7-2013 Supervisor-Subordinate Directional Age Differences and Employee Reactions to Formal Performance Feedback: Examining Mediating and Moderating Mechanisms in a Chinese Sample Gabriela Burlacu Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the Industrial and Organizational Psychology Commons, and the Work, Economy and Organizations Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Burlacu, Gabriela, "Supervisor-Subordinate Directional Age Differences and Employee Reactions to Formal Performance Feedback: Examining Mediating and Moderating Mechanisms in a Chinese Sample" (2013). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 662. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.662 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. Supervisor-Subordinate Directional Age Differences and Employee Reactions to Formal Performance Feedback: Examining Mediating and Moderating Mechanisms in a Chinese Sample by Gabriela Burlacu A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Psychology Dissertation Committee: Keith James, Chair Donald Truxillo Todd Bodner Mo Wang DeLys Ostlund Portland State University 2013 DIRECTIONAL AGE DIFFERENCES IN CHINA i Abstract As a result of changing demographic trends in today’s workforce, employees of all ages can now be found in all career stages. Consequently, the pairing of a younger supervisor with a relatively older employee is becoming increasingly more common.
    [Show full text]
  • Basics of Social Network Analysis Distribute Or
    1 Basics of Social Network Analysis distribute or post, copy, not Do Copyright ©2017 by SAGE Publications, Inc. This work may not be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means without express written permission of the publisher. Chapter 1 Basics of Social Network Analysis 3 Learning Objectives zz Describe basic concepts in social network analysis (SNA) such as nodes, actors, and ties or relations zz Identify different types of social networks, such as directed or undirected, binary or valued, and bipartite or one-mode zz Assess research designs in social network research, and distinguish sampling units, relational forms and contents, and levels of analysis zz Identify network actors at different levels of analysis (e.g., individuals or aggregate units) when reading social network literature zz Describe bipartite networks, know when to use them, and what their advan- tages are zz Explain the three theoretical assumptions that undergird social networkdistribute studies zz Discuss problems of causality in social network analysis, and suggest methods to establish causality in network studies or 1.1 Introduction The term “social network” entered everyday language with the advent of the Internet. As a result, most people will connect the term with the Internet and social media platforms, but it has in fact a much broaderpost, application, as we will see shortly. Still, pictures like Figure 1.1 are what most people will think of when they hear the word “social network”: thousands of points connected to each other. In this particular case, the points represent political blogs in the United States (grey ones are Republican, and dark grey ones are Democrat), the ties indicating hyperlinks between them.
    [Show full text]
  • A Social Constructionist Informed Thematic Analysis of Male Clinical Psychologists Experience of Working with Female Clients Who Have Experienced Abuse
    A SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST INFORMED THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF MALE CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGISTS EXPERIENCE OF WORKING WITH FEMALE CLIENTS WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED ABUSE Omar Timberlake A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of East London for the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology 1 May 2015 Acknowledgements I would like to thank all those who have supported me in my endeavours to complete this research project and the doctorate in clinical psychology. I would also like to thank my mother and grandmother for all their support and my supervisor Pippa Dell for ‘hanging in there’ with me, even when I was a pain. 2 Abstract This research sought to explore how male clinical psychologists talked about their experiences of working with women who have experienced abuse and whether such gender difference in the context of therapeutic work problematized them or had implications for their practice and subjective experiences. Eight male clinical psychologists were recruited and interviewed using a conversational style and co-constructed interview schedules. All participants had experience of working with clients who had experienced abuse and were working in the National Health Service (NHS) in a variety of different settings, which included psychosis teams, child services and learning disability services. The data corpus was analysed using a social constructionist thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) also informed by the work of Michel Foucault (1972), set within critical realist ontology. From the analysis two main themes were generated (Gender difference in trauma work; Male clinical psychologists’ perspectives in the wider context) and six sub- themes (Male clinical psychologist as associated with the abuser; Gender difference as therapeutic; Female clinical psychologists as problematized by gender; Supervision and peer support; Service constraints; Maleness as a minority in clinical psychology).
    [Show full text]
  • Dynamics of Dyads in Social Networks: Assortative, Relational, and Proximity Mechanisms
    SO36CH05-Uzzi ARI 2 June 2010 23:8 Dynamics of Dyads in Social Networks: Assortative, Relational, and Proximity Mechanisms Mark T. Rivera,1 Sara B. Soderstrom,1 and Brian Uzzi1,2 1Department of Management and Organizations, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208; email: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] 2Northwestern University Institute on Complex Systems and Network Science (NICO), Evanston, Illinois 60208-4057 Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2010. 36:91–115 Key Words First published online as a Review in Advance on Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2010.36:91-115. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org embeddedness, homophily, complexity, organizations, network April 12, 2010 evolution by NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY - Evanston Campus on 07/13/10. For personal use only. The Annual Review of Sociology is online at soc.annualreviews.org Abstract This article’s doi: Embeddedness in social networks is increasingly seen as a root cause of 10.1146/annurev.soc.34.040507.134743 human achievement, social stratification, and actor behavior. In this arti- Copyright c 2010 by Annual Reviews. cle, we review sociological research that examines the processes through All rights reserved which dyadic ties form, persist, and dissolve. Three sociological mech- 0360-0572/10/0811-0091$20.00 anisms are overviewed: assortative mechanisms that draw attention to the role of actors’ attributes, relational mechanisms that emphasize the influence of existing relationships and network positions, and proximity mechanisms that focus on the social organization of interaction. 91 SO36CH05-Uzzi ARI 2 June 2010 23:8 INTRODUCTION This review examines journal articles that explain how social networks evolve over time.
    [Show full text]
  • LMX Dyad Agreement: Construct Definition and the Role of Supervisor
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2002 LMX dyad agreement: construct definition and the role of supervisor/subordinate similarity and communication in understanding LMX Barbara Dale Minsky Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Business Commons Recommended Citation Minsky, Barbara Dale, "LMX dyad agreement: construct definition and the role of supervisor/subordinate similarity and communication in understanding LMX" (2002). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 1530. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/1530 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. LMX DYAD AGREEMENT: CONSTRUCT DEFINITION AND THE ROLE OF SUPERVISOR/SUBORDINATE SIMILARITY AND COMMUNICATION IN UNDERSTANDING LMX A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy In The Interdepartmental Program in Business Administration By Barbara Dale Minsky B.A., Brooklyn College, CUNY, 1968 M.S., Brooklyn College, CUNY, 1971 M.B.A., University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, 1994 December 2002 © Copyright 2002 Barbara Dale Minsky All rights reserved ii Acknowledgements This dissertation is dedicated to the memory of my brother, Ira Robert Cossin. He always believed in me, and was supportive of everything I attempted. He would have been very proud of my accomplishment. I would also like to thank several people for their help and support during my quest for a Ph.D.
    [Show full text]
  • Perceived Costs Versus Actual Benefits of Demographic Self
    Perceived Costs versus Actual Benefits of Demographic Self-Disclosure in Online Support Groups Cornelia (Connie) Pechmann Kelly Eunjung Yoon University of California Irvine University of Mary Washington Denis Trapido Judith J. Prochaska University of Washington Bothell Stanford University Accepted by Aparna Labroo and Kelly Goldsmith, Guest Editors; Associate Editor, Chris Janiszewski Millions of U.S. adults join online support groups to attain health goals, but the social ties they form are often too weak to provide the support they need. What impedes the strengthening of ties in such groups? We explore the role of demographic differences in causing the impediment and demographic self-disclosure in removing it. Using a field study of online quit-smoking groups complemented by three laboratory experi- ments, we find that members tend to hide demographic differences, concerned about poor social integration that will weaken their ties. However, the self-disclosures of demographic differences that naturally occur dur- ing group member discussions actually strengthen their ties, which in turn facilitates attainment of members’ health goals. In other words, social ties in online groups are weak not because members are demographically different, but because they are reluctant to self-disclose their differences. If they do self-disclose, this breeds interpersonal connection, trumping any demographic differences among them. Data from both laboratory and field about two types of demographic difference—dyad-level dissimilarity and group-level minority
    [Show full text]
  • Some Remarks About the Dyad Observer-Observed and the Relationship of the Observer to Power
    Clinical Sociology Review Volume 12 | Issue 1 Article 4 1-1-1994 Some Remarks about the Dyad Observer- Observed and the Relationship of the Observer to Power Jacques Van Bockstaele Centre de socianalyse Maria Van Bockstaele Centre de socianalyse Martine Godard-Plasman Centre de socianalyse Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/csr Recommended Citation Bockstaele, Jacques Van; Bockstaele, Maria Van; and Godard-Plasman, Martine (1994) "Some Remarks about the Dyad Observer- Observed and the Relationship of the Observer to Power," Clinical Sociology Review: Vol. 12: Iss. 1, Article 4. Available at: http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/csr/vol12/iss1/4 This History of Clinical Sociology is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@WayneState. It has been accepted for inclusion in Clinical Sociology Review by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@WayneState. Some Remarks About the Dyad Observer-Observed and the Relationship of the Observer to Power Jacques Van Bockstaele Maria Van Bockstaele Martine Godard-Plasman Centre de socianalyse (Paris, France)* The historical research that has accompanied the reappearance of the term of clinical sociology in the United States1 and its wider acceptance, marked by the creation of a research committee within the International Sociological Associa- tion, has revealed, above and beyond a use of the term that goes back to the thirties, roots that go outside of the academical and sociological fields as such. Publications and bibliographies would seem to show that the term itself has not been used in Europe, at last not until very recently. We ourselves proposed the term of clinical sociology in the sixties, as a means of describing the field work we began in 1956.2 Yet, if clinical sociology is defined as the study of the functional problems of society with the goal of social change and help to populations in difficulty, the question may cover a wide and complex field.
    [Show full text]
  • Basic Classical Ethnographic Research Methods Secondary Data Analysis, Fieldwork, Observation/Participant Observation, and Informal and Semi‑Structured Interviewing
    ETHNOGRAPHICALLY INFORMED COMMUNITY AND CULTURAL ASSESSMENT RESEARCH SYSTEMS (EICCARS) WORKING PAPER SERIES Basic Classical Ethnographic Research Methods Secondary Data Analysis, Fieldwork, Observation/Participant Observation, and Informal and Semi‑structured Interviewing Tony L. Whitehead, Ph.D., MS.Hyg. Professor of Anthropology and Director, The Cultural Systems Analysis Group (CuSAG) Department of Anthropology University of Maryland College Park, Maryland 20742 July 17, 2005 © 2005, Tony L. Whitehead. If quoted, please cite. Do not duplicate or distribute without permission. Contact: [email protected], or 301‑405‑1419 TablE of ContEnts INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................... 2 1. SECONDARY DATA ANALYSIS.................................................................................................... 3 2. FIELDWORK IS AN ESSENTIAL ATTRIBUTE OF ETHNOGRAPHY ..................................... 3 3. A CONCEPTUAL MODEL FOR THE ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF CULTURAL SYSTEM: THE CULTURAL SYSTEMS PARADIGM (THE CSP) .................................................................. 7 4. BASIC CLASSICAL ETHNOGRAPHIC FIELD METHODS: ETHNOGRAPHIC OBSERVATION, INTERVIEWING, AND INTERPRETATION AS CYCLIC ITERATIVE PROCESSES ........................................................................................................................................ 9 4.1. THE NATURAL CULTURAL LEARNING PROCESS: THE CHILD AS AN ETHNOGRAPHIC MODEL . 9
    [Show full text]
  • Making the Connection: Using Social Constructivist Theory to Examine Dialysis Social Workers’
    University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Doctorate in Social Work (DSW) Dissertations School of Social Policy and Practice 8-2017 MAKING THE CONNECTION: USING SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY TO EXAMINE DIALYSIS SOCIAL WORKERS’ Charisse E. Marshall University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations_sp2 Part of the Social Work Commons Recommended Citation Marshall, Charisse E., "MAKING THE CONNECTION: USING SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY TO EXAMINE DIALYSIS SOCIAL WORKERS’" (2017). Doctorate in Social Work (DSW) Dissertations. 98. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations_sp2/98 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations_sp2/98 For more information, please contact [email protected]. MAKING THE CONNECTION: USING SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY TO EXAMINE DIALYSIS SOCIAL WORKERS’ Abstract ABSTRACT MAKING THE CONNECTION: USING SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY TO EXAMINE DIALYSIS SOCIAL WORKERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF STRESS Charisse Eudella Marshall, LCSW Richard Gelles, Ph.D Lani Nelson-Zlupko, Ph.D., LCSW Work-related stress is a significant aspect of clinical work and case management. oT date, there are few studies available that explore this professional phenomenon in dialysis social work practice. Since dialysis social work is the only genre of social services that is federally mandated, there needs to be more exploration of the professional stressors that may influence the effectiveness of clinical social work. Informed by a thorough literature review, a sample of 12 (N=12) Licensed Master’s Level Social Workers based in New York and Pennsylvania were recruited using various forms of social media and snowball sampling to explore work-related stress in dialysis social work practice.
    [Show full text]
  • Racial Disparities and Capital Sentencing As Perceived By
    RACIAL DISPARITIES AND CAPITAL SENTENCING AS PERCEIVED BY CRIMINOLOGY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE STUDENTS by HUBERT KANDA LUMBALA Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Arlington in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN CRIMINOLOGY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON May 2011 Copyright © by Hubert Kanda Lumbala 2011 All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I thank the Lord Jesus Christ for I can do all by His strength and grace. I would like to thank and offer my sincere appreciation to my supervising professor, Dr. Alejandro del Carmen. His guidance and knowledge assisted me on this thesis. His dedication to his students shows his passionate and professional character in which he plays an important academic role in the Criminology and Criminal Justice department at the University of Texas at Arlington. I would like to send my appreciation to Dr. Randall Butler and Dr. Sara Phillips for their generous time and encouragement. Their knowledge and support not only contributed to this thesis, but also contributed to my graduate education at the University of Texas at Arlington. Finally, I would also like to acknowledge my mother, brother and sisters for believing in me. I would never have been able to achieve this without their encouragement and prayers. I would like to thank my closest friends for all their support and encouragement which helped me succeed. A special thanks goes to my best friend, Clarisse Mafumba for her kindness, support and unconditional love. I share this accomplishment with each and every one of you.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 1. Introduction to Social Network Analysis
    Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS Social networks are as old as the human species. As small bands of hunter- gatherers spread around the globe, their survival depended on cooperative strategies for pursuing game and finding good foraging grounds. Ties of family and extended kin were crucial to raising the next generations. With increased size and density of agrarian settlements, succeeded by expanding urban civilizations, networks grew increasingly complex and indispensable for merchants involved in long-distance commerce and armies engaged in conquest. Palace and court intrigues ran on gossip, rumor, and favor-trading among political factions. Scientific and technological advances necessi- tated information flows through invisible colleges of experts. Social net- works have a truly ancient lineage yet are seldom noted nordistribute well understood by their participants. People today commonly envision social networkingor as clusters of coworkers going for lunch or coffee, teams of dormmates playing basketball or softball, and bunches of friends chewing the fat. Yes, those small groups are all social networks. To give a formal definition, a social network is a set of actors, or other entities, and a set or sets of relations defined on them. In the three preceding examples, the firstpost, actors are coworkers and the relations are lunchmate and coffeemate; the second actors are residents of the same dorm and playing sports is the relation; the third network is friends gossip- ing leisurely. Applying the definition to diverse social settings, we can easily uncover numerous social networks, some more formal than the three previously described. For example, a college academic unit has a social network composedcopy, of faculty members, staff, students, and administrators.
    [Show full text]
  • The COVID-19 Contagion–Pandemic Dyad: a View from Social Sciences
    societies Concept Paper The COVID-19 Contagion–Pandemic Dyad: A View from Social Sciences Carlos Miguel Ferreira 1,2, Maria José Sá 3 , José Garrucho Martins 1 and Sandro Serpa 1,4,5,* 1 Interdisciplinary Centre of Social Sciences—CICS.NOVA, ISCTE—University Institute of Lisbon, 1649-026 Lisbon, Portugal; [email protected] (C.M.F.); [email protected] (J.G.M.) 2 Estoril Higher Institute for Tourism and Hotel Studies, 2765-273 Estoril, Portugal 3 CIPES—Centre for Research in Higher Education Policies, 4450-137 Matosinhos, Portugal; [email protected] 4 Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, University of the Azores, 9500-321 Ponta Delgada, Portugal 5 Interdisciplinary Centre for Childhood and Adolescence—NICA, University of the Azores, 9500-321 Ponta Delgada, Portugal * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 30 July 2020; Accepted: 1 October 2020; Published: 6 October 2020 Abstract: The objective of this concept paper focuses on the relevance of the analytical potential of Social Sciences for understanding the multiple implications and challenges posed by the COVID-19 contagion–pandemic dyad. This pandemic is generating a global threat with a high number of deaths and infected individuals, triggering enormous pressure on health systems. Most countries have put in place a set of procedures based on social distancing, as well as (preventive) isolation from possible infected and transmitters of the disease. This crisis has profound implications and raises issues for which the contribution of Social Sciences does not seem to be sufficiently mobilised. The contribution of Social Sciences is paramount, in terms of their knowledge and skills, to the knowledge of these problematic realities and to act in an informed way on these crises.
    [Show full text]