Social Problems

Mack, Raymond, W.

doi: 10.2307/799576pmid: N/A

Article PDF first page preview Close This content is only available as a PDF. Author notes * Presidential Address, Society for the Study of Social Problems, Washington, D. C, August 1970. An earlier version of this paper was presented as the Commencement Address at Northwestern University, June 1970. © 1970 Society for the Study of Social Problems, Inc.

Cook, Thomas, J.

doi: 10.2307/799577pmid: N/A

Abstract The contention that Negro-white income differentials have significantly narrowed during the 1959-1968 period is closely examined. Regional differences are pointed out which indicate that differences which existed in 1959 still exist in 1968. Furthermore, differences in earning power for blacks and whites at the same educational and occupational levels observed in 1959 are still present in 1968. These findings strongly question the wisdom of a policy of “benign neglect” as a solution to America's racial problem. This content is only available as a PDF. © 1970 Society for the Study of Social Problems, Inc.

Hartnagel, Timothy, F.

doi: 10.2307/799578pmid: N/A

Abstract The effects of fatherlessness and race on the self conceptions of lower-class adolescent males is explored using the orientation of symbolic interactionism and the semantic differential for measurement. A distinction is made between actual and normative self and the categories of white and black, father-absent and father-present boys are examined. All categories exhibited significant differences between actual and normative self, but the magnitude of differences varies among categories: black father-absent boys have smaller differences than white father-absent boys; no difference between white and black father-present boys. The smaller differences of the black father-absent boys is the result of their more potent actual self conceptions. Several interpretations of these results are discussed. This content is only available as a PDF. © 1970 Society for the Study of Social Problems, Inc.

Ransford, H., Edward

doi: 10.2307/799579pmid: N/A

Abstract Among 312 Negro males interviewed shortly after the Watts riot, dark Negroes were found to be in lower occupational and income positions than light Negroes, even with education (as a measure of skill) held constant. Thus, skin color per se appears to structure opportunity, irrespective of educational investment (college graduates are an exception to this statement). Further, dark Negroes expressed more “anti-white system” feelings than light Negroes with higher proportions willing to use violence, expressing hostility towards whites, and opposed to integration as a goal. However, color is only a strong predictor of “anti-white system” feelings among working- and lower-class persons, among those with no social contact with whites, and among those who feel powerless to exert control through institutional channels. This content is only available as a PDF. © 1970 Society for the Study of Social Problems, Inc.

Hudson, James, R.

doi: 10.2307/799580pmid: N/A

Abstract Most interactions, even between strangers, are completed without altercations; however, encounters between policemen and citizens are often tense and sometimes violent. Complaints of alleged police misconduct filed by citizens with the Philadelphia Police Advisory Board are examined as instances of strained or disruptive interaction. Included among the characteristics describing these encounters are circumstances under which the interaction began, the social status of the citizen, and the social context of the incident. Certain combinations of these conditions seem likely to lead to tense encounters and subsequent altercations. The associations suggested by the complaint data provide hypotheses for testing when information becomes available on a representative sample of police-citizen encounters. This content is only available as a PDF. Author notes * This research was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (Grant #1 RO 1 MH 14997-01). Additional funds for clerical assistance were made available under a Grant-in-Aid from the Graduate School of the State University of New York at Stony Brook. I am pleased to acknowledge the helpful comments of Andrew Collver, Erich Goode, Anne Hudson, Paul Mott, and Eugene Weinstein. © 1970 Society for the Study of Social Problems, Inc.

O'Connor, Gerald, G.

doi: 10.2307/799581pmid: N/A

Abstract The intent of this research was to determine whether an initial detention in juvenile hall, which in essence constitutes a boy's entry into the correctional system, tends to assimilate him into society or acts as a process of further alienation. The major finding was that the combination of a custody oriented institution with a high delinquent oriented boy fostered an alienated boy's response. This appears to be a severe indictment of current initiation into correctional systems, since most juvenile halls are custody oriented; and high delinquent oriented youth are most likely to return to them a number of times. This content is only available as a PDF. © 1970 Society for the Study of Social Problems, Inc.

Chiricos, Theodore, G.;Waldo, Gordon, P.

doi: 10.2307/799582pmid: N/A

Abstract Data from National Prisoner Statistics and Uniform Crime Reports are used to re-examine the relationship between rates of crime and the certainty and severity of punishment in the states of the United States. Recent research by Gibbs and Tittle using similar data to test deterrence hypotheses are extended in two ways: (l) by examining the relationships for three points in time which were previously examined for a single time period, and (2) by relating changes in rates of crime to prior changes in the certainty and severity of punishment. Little consistent support is found for the hypotheses that rates of crime and the certainty and severity of punishment are inversely related. The data for certainty suggest that the relationship with crime rates is somewhat variable over time and among offenses. These findings contrast with the strong and consistent negative associations reported by Tittle. An attempt is made to account for the strength and consistency of the previous findings by exploring the problem of correlated bias that exists in Tittle's measures of certainty and criminality. The inconsistency of findings, both within this study and among recent empirical tests of deterrence theory, indicate that existing sources of data may be inappropriate for use in the testing of deterrence hypotheses. This content is only available as a PDF. Author notes * This research was partially supported by Ford Foundation Grant #67-586. The authors would like to express their appreciation to Charles Tittle, Jack Gibbs, Roland Chilton, and Harry Allen for their comments and suggestions on an earlier draft of this paper. © 1970 Society for the Study of Social Problems, Inc.

Williams, Colin, J.;Weinberg, Martin, S.

doi: 10.2307/799583pmid: N/A

Abstract Current conceptions of deviance have placed less emphasis on the role played by the deviant himself in being assigned a deviant label. To examine the role of the deviant, a sample of male homosexuals who had received less than honorable discharges from the military for homosexual conduct (LHD group) were compared with a sample who had received honorable discharges (HD). It was found that, compared to the HD group, the LHD group was more likely (a) to have been engaging in homosexual sex more frequently before induction, (b) to have experienced more frequent homosexual sex while in the service, and (c) to have had predominately other servicemen as homosexual partners. Further examination of the data showed how these factors specified the manner in which members of the LHD group were discovered. This content is only available as a PDF. © 1970 Society for the Study of Social Problems, Inc.

Waldorf,, Dan

doi: 10.2307/799584pmid: N/A

Abstract Despite the voluminous literature on addiction very little is known about the actual processes of addiction—beginning use, addiction, abstention, and relapse. This paper attempts to contribute to one of these gaps—abstention. A survey of 422 male addicts in six treatment facilities showed that many addicts do have long periods of voluntary abstention outside of jails and treatment programs and that the majority during these abstentions make reasonable adjustments to the working world and square life. Long term abstention is associated with both age and length of heroin use. Education, family compatibility, and criminality prior to heroin use are associated with social adjustments. In turn, the better the social adjustment, the longer the period of voluntary abstention. This content is only available as a PDF. © 1970 Society for the Study of Social Problems, Inc.

Cagle, Laurence, T.;Deutscher,, Irwin

doi: 10.2307/799585pmid: N/A

Abstract Corroborating an earlier study by Wolf and Lebeaux, structured interviews with 24 fatherless families and 44 complete families in a predominantly black area slated for clearance, reveal there was little attachment to the neighborhood despite the existence of family contacts there. However, relocation appears to have been more disruptive for fatherless families. A disproportionate number of them were interested in permanent public housing residence, but follow-up interviews and public housing authority records show they were less likely to achieve their desired housing than complete families. The data suggest that people will tend to behave according to their expressed intentions when the situation is salient, but their ability to do so is subject to external constraints. This content is only available as a PDF. Author notes * Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Washington, D.C., September, 1970. The research on which this paper is based was supported in part by grants from the Ford Foundation and the Welfare Administration. These data were obtained primarily as a pretest and pilot operation for a larger study of public housing and social mobility under the co-direction of Seymour Bellin and Louis Kriesberg. For a full report on the fatherless family segment of the research, see Kriesberg (1970). We thank Louis Kriesberg, David Schulz, and David Westby for their critical comments on the paper. © 1970 Society for the Study of Social Problems, Inc.