Reproduction Of Social Inequalities Research Articles

Contributors

Contributors

Mixed Methods and Multisited Migration Research: Innovations From a Transnational Perspective

This article discusses the use of mixed methods design for transnational migration research. It draws on two currently expanding strategies that can form part of an integrated framework that reveals multiple complementary perspectives: (a) the incorporation of quantitative data and methods in what has been a largely qualitative field and (b) the use of multisited research that investigates individuals and families connected across borders. This framework can be supported by collaboration of researchers across methodologies and state borders, which is addressed as a third strategy. By drawing on one research project that investigates the role of transnationality in the reproduction of social inequalities, this article explores the benefits and challenges of this approach.

SOCIAL INEQUALITY IN EDUCATION ANALYZED WITHIN VARIOUS THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS

The expansion of education and the mass inclusion of generations in certain levels of education have not reduced inequality in education. There have still been numerous causes and forms of social inequality, with far-reaching consequences. The consequences of social inequalities in education are very complex and are manifested in the form of reproduction of social inequality, that is, the self-reproduction of social stratification and the reproduction of economic inequality. Scientists working in various fields deal with the clarification of the problems of social inequality in education and everyone can, from their own standpoint, attempt to discover the basic causes of these inequalities so as to overcome them. In paper we have shown four current theoretical approaches to the problem of social inequality in education: the functionalist theory, radical theory, theory of educational capital and theory of cultural deprivation. Every approach from its own standpoint tries to indicate the relationship between the educational system and social structure, as well as the possibility of overcoming certain social inequality. Based on the analysis of the basic tenets of various theoretical approaches to inequality in education conceptualized the initial hypotheses as the foundation for the functioning of the educational system in the future, based on the principles of meritocracy.

Crítica científica de “Legitimação não tradicional da ação penal”: Defensoria Pública e a tutela de direitos por meio do direito penal – uma recusa

Em “Legitimação não tradicional da ação penal – a tutela de bens jurídicos por outras instituições públicas”, examina-se a questão da legitimidade da ação penal no caso de crimes com sujeito passivo indeterminado e propõe o reconhecimento de uma legitimação supletiva de outras instituições públicas (como a Defensoria Pública) para a promoção da ação penal de tais delitos quando houver inércia do Ministério Público. A análise realizada nesta crítica científica revela uma preocupação com os rumos da Defensoria Pública na esfera penal, que, ao se mostrar incapaz de tutelar bens jurídicos por meio do direito penal, pode se tornar mais um agente impulsionador do poder punitivo do Estado, com a consequente reprodução das desigualdades sociais e da violação da vida e dignidade humanas, justamente o reverso da ideia que motivou sua constituição como mecanismo de defesa dos direitos humanos dos vulneráveis.

Housing pathways, elective belonging, and family ties in middle class Chileans’ housing choices

Much of the research on culture and stratification has focused on cultural consumption. In contrast, this paper addresses the housing field, an important arena for the reproduction of social inequality. Models of housing choice often assume individuals are rational actors functioning in free markets. In contrast, scholars combining the concept of “housing pathways” with a Bourdieusian framework demonstrate that the state shapes housing markets, and families deploy different forms of capital to access housing. Additionally, scholars use the concept of “elective belonging” to understand middle class housing tastes and identities. This analysis of 68 interviews with 77 middle class adults in Santiago, Chile, finds that middle class families’ differential access to family wealth and state subsidies sorts them into distinct niches in the housing market. Further, middle class families that are richest in cultural capital alternatively choose neighborhoods to display aesthetic taste, accumulate social capital, or reproduce cultural capital through children’s education. Some of these patterns reflect the concept of elective belonging while others illustrate traditional strategies of social reproduction. For Chile’s middle classes, extended family is an important source of housing wealth and a key influence on housing decisions

Measuring Cultural Capital: Taste and Legitimate Culture of Czech Youth

The concept of legitimate culture plays a crucial role in the study of the relationship between the differentiation of tastes and the reproduction of social inequalities. Nevertheless, the actual role of legitimate culture in present society is often disputed in light of a supposed crumbling of the privileged structure of the fine arts. Meanwhile, the existing practice of survey research often neglects this institutional dimension of the legitimisation of taste and researchers often withdraw from attempts to develop an empirically-based scale to measure the legitimacy of taste. The aim of this paper is to develop a method of measurement of cultural capital which is based on empirical evaluation of the legitimacy of respondents’ taste. Specifically, this measurement links responses to open-ended questions about favourite cultural goods with institutionalized critical ratings. The particular focus is to answer how this methodologically innovative approach relates to prevalent instruments for measurement of cultural capital (highbrow culture attendance, educational credentials) and how it could inform the study of the change of legitimate culture. The study uses data from a survey of Czech youth cultural consumption (N=524). The results show close ties between the institutional measurement of cultural capital and the Bourdieusian application of Multiple Correspondence Analysis as a mean to identify significant cultural differences. While the feasibility of institutional measurement of cultural capital in survey data could be disputed, it is a useful tool to advance our understanding of how legitimate culture operates in present society.

Increasing Access to Higher Education and the Reproduction of Social Inequalities: The Case of Roma University Students in Eastern and Southeastern Europe

This article explores how elitist elements are preserved within an expanding higher education. It analyzes whether the choice of field of study may be one of these elements and focuses on the case of Roma students in Eastern and Southeastern Europe. The analysis reveals that Roma in the region are not only underrepresented in higher education in general, but also in the STEM fields of study (science, technology, engineering, mathematics). At the same time, Roma are overrepresented in humanities and arts. This has the potential to negatively impact their competitiveness in the job market upon graduation.

Institutional environment for reproduction of social inequality

The article considers the institutional environment of the reproduction of social inequality on the basis of overseas and domestic studies. The institutional conditions for reducing social inequality in the transformational economy were analyzed. The role of social institutions in the formation of the present state of social inequality was studied. Therefore, socio-economic studies nowadays tend to focus on the institutional components of social inequality in different countries. The concept of social stratification is subject to a new interpretation, taking into account the factors of the institutional arrangement to reflect the stratification processes. The main attention was paid to determining the impact of social institutions on the formation and reproduction of social inequality. Therefore, comparative analyses were conducted which were largely focused on the study of the relationship of social inequality and the factors of the institutional environment. Thus, there was determined a list of institutional relations that can establish the basic parameters of social inequality in the society, and also characterize the differences in depth and dynamics of inequality in different economically developed countries. One of the suggested hypotheses is the power resource theory stating that the reduction of the role of institutional capital-intensive (power and property) of actors is possible only under the condition of employees’ heavily influence. The “median voter” hypothesis gained popularity in the countries with a proportional electoral system. It suggests that greater inequality in market distribution of revenues will lead to an increase in the levels of redistribution by the state in the event of inequality growth. When studying institutional factors of social inequality considerable attention was paid to such a social institution as professional unions. Trade unions are powerful participants in salary distribution, guarantors of social benefits, and are able to effectively influence employees. The institute of education performs socializing and educational functions. It also acts as one of the main channels of communication between a stratified system of social positions and individuals of different social backgrounds and abilities. When analysizing the functioning of the institute of education, the focus is made on availability of all levels of education for children of different social backgrounds, as well as their success in learning.

Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Disadvantage in the Context of the Decline of Family Size in Urban Africa

This paper investigates the potential consequences of falling fertility on the reproduction of social inequalities over time. We develop a framework to understand how the fertility decline should interfere on the intergenerational transmission of disadvantages and apply it in the context of Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso. We use data from the Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) of Ouagadougou, which collected retrospective data over three generations (grandmothers, mothers and children). We then use structural equation modeling (SEM) to estimate the models, and finally we conduct a sensitivity analysis to assess the consistency of our results. The results confirm that family size decline has a significant leverage on the intergenerational transmission of educational disadvantages. First, family size of mothers is significantly patterned by their grandmother’s characteristics, particularly education and socioeconomic status (SES). Second, mothers with reduced family size appear to invest more in the education of their children, which should enable them to maintain their educational advantages across generations with respect to poorer and non-educated families. These results remain robust after testing alternative assumptions about SES of grandmothers. Moreover, the findings also confirm that the relationship between educational investment and family size is changing over the course of socioeconomic development. While for recent generations (mothers and children) this relationship is strongly negative, for older generations (grandmothers and mothers) it is weak, albeit positive and statistically significant. This suggests that the meaning of the quantity of children and their participation in the labor force is shifting across generations in Ouagadougou, as in most urban areas in Africa.

Familial Transmission of Educational Plans and the Academic Self-Concept: A Three-Generation Longitudinal Study.

This research investigates the social reproduction of inequality by drawing on prospective longitudinal data from three generations of Youth Development Study respondents. It examines intergenerational influence on the relatively unexplored academic self-concept as well as educational plans, a critical component of the status attainment model. A structural equation model, based on 422 3-generation triads, finds evidence that the sources giving rise to the development of children's (Generation 3) achievement orientations do not only result from parental (G2) contemporaneous influence. Prior influences implicate grandparent (G1) educational attainment and income, grandparental expectations for the G2 adolescent, the G2 academic self-concept and educational plans measured more than twenty years earlier (in G2's adolescence), and G2 educational attainment. A familial culture emphasizing academic self-confidence and high educational expectations may be an important component of "family capital" that supports educational attainment and contributes to the maintenance of social class position in each successive generation.

REFRAMING AS A SOCIO-EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY: A SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH TO CONSIDERATION

The article discusses the sociological under standing of reframing as a specific socio-pedagogical technology, the essence of which is the impact on the cognitive system of students, their cognitive codes. The concept of cognitive code is considered in relation with the concept of cognitive resource as a latent factor of social and class inequality. It is emphasized that the power of this factor is determined by the specifics of education based on the fact that education operates mainly with complex codes, thereby contributing to the reproduction of social inequality, limiting the chances of upward social mobility of those individuals whose cognitive codes do not correspond to the codes of education system. Reframingis considered as a socio-pedagogical technology, focused on the cognitive «pulling up» of students, whose social experience has led to the fact that they need to achieve successin education.

Explaining Scientists’ Plans for International Mobility from a Life Course Perspective

We identify factors influencing young scientists’ plans for research stays abroad by embedding theories of social inequality, educational decision making, and migration into a life course framework. We test the developed model of international academic mobility by calculating a structural equation model using data from an online survey of scientists employed at German universities below the rank of full professor. We find that earlier international mobility mobilises scientists to plan a research stay abroad. This turns out to be a potential channel of social inequality reproduction, as individuals from a high social origin in particular spend time abroad in their early life course. Moreover, scientists’ research contexts play a vital role: Internationalised institutional environments and academic disciplines as well as personal international networks create opportunity structures that ease research stays abroad. Similarly, the current social context matters: Parenthood decreases the likelihood of plans for international mobility among female scientists. This may entail long-lasting gender inequalities. Finally, young scientists striving for an academic career are more likely to plan a research stay abroad than those with exit plans. Our results show that beyond the current context, both past life events and future life goals shape scientists’ decisions about international mobility.

Socioeconomic marginality in sentencing: The built-in bias in risk assessment tools and the reproduction of social inequality

This article develops a sociological analysis and critique of including socioeconomic factors such as education, employment, income and housing in risk assessment tools that inform sentencing decisions. In widely used risk assessment tools such as the Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R) (Canada, US), the Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions (COMPAS) (US), the Offender Assessment System (OASys) (UK) and the Recidive InschattingsSchalen (RISc) (the Netherlands), socioeconomic marginality contributes to a higher risk score, which increases the likelihood of a (longer) custodial sentence for underprivileged offenders compared to their more privileged counterparts. While this has been problematized in relation to gender and racial/ethnic bias, the problem of socioeconomic bias in itself has received little attention. Given the already marginalized position of many justice involved individuals and longstanding concerns about such disparities, and the adverse effects of imprisonment on socioeconomic opportunities, it is essential to evaluate the unintended social consequences of assessing socioeconomic marginality as ‘risk factor’. Elaborating on earlier critiques, I conceptualize risk-based sentencing as a meaning-making process through which (access to) resources and recognition are distributed among offender populations. Through tracing in detail two cultural processes – stigmatization and rationalization – I analyse how risk assessment is likely to produce sentencing disparities as well as to reproduce, and possibly exacerbate, social inequalities more generally.

Sociologia da educação, reprodução das desigualdades e novas formas de dominação

Resumo Jean-Pierre Faguer tem se dedicado à análise dos processos de reprodução e reprodução das desigualdades sociais e já foi professor convidado no Brasil em diferentes ocasiões. Nesta entrevista, o autor, que foi colaborador de Pierre Bourdieu no Centre de Sociologie Européenne, discute sua trajetória como pesquisador, o processo de constituição de seus objetos de pesquisa e alguns resultados de suas investigações, bem como apresenta suas reflexões sobre como a sociologia da educação contribui para o adensamento dos estudos da sociologia do trabalho e da sociologia econômica.

Doubly Disadvantaged? Bullying Experiences among Disabled Children and Young People in England.

Bullying among school-aged children and adolescents is recognised as an important social problem, and the adverse consequences for victims are well established. However, despite growing interest in the socio-demographic profile of victims, there is limited evidence on the relationship between bullying victimisation and childhood disability. This article enhances our understanding of bullying experiences among disabled children in both early and later childhood, drawing on nationally representative longitudinal data from the Millennium Cohort Study and the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England. We model the association of disability measured in two different ways with the probability of being bullied at ages seven and 15, controlling for a wide range of known risk factors that vary with childhood disability. Results reveal an independent association of disability with bullying victimisation, suggesting a potential pathway to cumulative disability-related disadvantage, and drawing attention to the school as a site of reproduction of social inequalities.

Does childhood trauma influence offspring's birth characteristics?

Background: A recent epigenetic hypothesis postulates that ‘a sex-specific male-line transgenerational effect exists in humans’, which can be triggered by childhood trauma during ‘the slow growth period’ just before puberty. The evidence is based on a few rather small epidemiological studies. We examine what response childhood trauma predicts, if any, in the birth size and prematurity risk of almost 800 000 offspring. Methods: Children of parity 1, 2 or 3, born 1976-2002 in Sweden, for whom we could trace both parents and all four grandparents, constituted generation 3 (G3, n = 764 569). Around 5% of their parents, G2, suffered parental (G1) death during their own childhood. The association of such trauma in G2 with G3 prematurity and birthweight was analysed, while controlling for confounders in G1 and G2. We examined whether the slow growth period was extra sensitive to parental loss. Results: Parental (G1) death during (G2) childhood predicts premature birth and lower birthweight in the offspring generation (G3). This response is dependent on G2 gender, G2 age at exposure and G3 parity, but not G3 gender. Conclusions: The results are compatible with the Pembrey-Bygren hypothesis that trauma exposure during boys’ slow growth period may trigger a transgenerational response; age at trauma exposure among girls seems less important, suggesting a different set of pathways for any transgenerational response. Finally, parental death during childhood was not important for the reproduction of social inequalities in birthweight and premature birth.

Beyond Earnings and Social Reproduction: Can College Lead to Good Jobs Without Reproducing Social Inequalities?

College-for-all has become the educational policy in the United States, and it has led to many changes. Post-secondary subbaccalaureate (sub-BA) credentials (certificates and associate’s degrees) are an increasing portion of college credentials, and we examine the implications for the reproduction of social inequalities. We find that despite the growth of sub-BA credentials, many students who enroll in college continue to get no credentials. After replicating prior findings of sub-BA employment and earnings payoffs, using the 2004–2012 Educational Longitudinal Study (ELS) survey, we analyze the AddHealth survey to see whether sub-BA credentials are associated with jobs with nonmonetary job rewards similar to those BAs get (autonomy, career relevance, and so on). Moreover, although BA degrees often reproduce social and academic inequalities, we examine whether sub-BA credentials pose socioeconomic status (SES) and test score obstacles to credential completion, and to employment and earnings within credentials. Beyond the usual earnings payoffs in prior research, we conclude that sub-BA credentials provide ways college students can attain desirable job rewards while avoiding SES and test score obstacles. We speculate on possible reasons and policy implications.

Los problemas de las fronteras humanitarias

This text engages a critical analysis of humanitarian discourses and practices regarding our understanding of migration and the public policies developed in relation to the population movementsacross international borders. It is based on the premise that humanitarianism, even if well intentioned, can have pernicious effects if, eventually, it ends up replacing justice and migrants’ rights. To explore this paradox, the paper sequentially analyzes various problems associated with humanitarian aid: the problem of innocence —the understanding of refugees as victims calls for humanitarian compassion—; the problem with emergency —«rapid response» operations inhibit the contextualized and historical understanding of the root causes of the problems—; and, finally, the problem of compassion —humanitarianism privilegessentiments over rights. The study of these three key features of humanitarianism in Europe and the USA fosters a healthy skepticism of the emerging forms of the legitimation of exclusion. The article also explores alternative political and discursive strategies which allow for new imaginaries to confront migratory processes beyond borders and humanitarianism, breaking up their dynamic of reproduction of social inequalities and placing justice in the horizon of action.

Research and Social Work: contributions to criticism / Pesquisa e Serviço Social: contribuições à crítica

This paper aims at offering contributions to the debate on Social Work research, an imperative process to professionals who deal with the continued and expanded reproduction of social inequality in the mature bourgeois system (broadly characterized as the “social issue”). This is done by considering the several contradictions that currently exist for carrying out totality-oriented research, focused on the wealth of reality itself (in its objective logic). What are the paths to foster the production of genuinely ontological-material studies? What are the main hurdles to that? How the specificities of Social Work research can be located in this controversial context?

Segregación de la formación y carrera docente y su rol en la reproducción social de la desigualdad

We study the segregation of teacher preparation and the teaching career, and its role in the reproduction of social inequalities. We analyze the relationship between the teachers’ social origins and academic credentials, and the type of governance, socioeconomic level and working conditions of the schools where they teach. Then, we model how these different dimensions affect the students’ scores on the standardized test Simce. The results show a strong association between the teachers’ social origin and credentials, and thus a significant segregation in teacher preparation. We also observe a strong association between the teachers’ social origins and academic credentials with the socioeconomic characteristics of the schools where they teach, revealing segregation in the teaching profession. The final results show that students’ scores are heavily affected by the teachers’ academic preparation, and especially by the working conditions in their schools – which are in turn determined by the teachers’ social origins. Thus, the segregation of the teaching career, and the strong association between teachers’ and students’ social backgrounds, constitute a significant mechanism of the reproduction of social inequality.