Social Pecking Research Articles

The odyssey of becoming: Professional identity and insecurity in the Canadian accounting field

Abstract What does it mean to be a professional in accounting? Drawing on a comprehensive set of empirical materials, this paper provides a rich account of how accountants made sense of their professional identities in the context of the unification of three Canadian accounting associations. In a sharp contrast to what prior studies have examined in terms of knowledge, personal trait, and presentationalism, this paper reveals that professional identity is often construed by accountants in terms of self-privileged standing in perceived social pecking orders (identity ranking) and in terms of professional life journey (identity experiencing). Self-privileged standing is about how one is positioned and compared with others; professional life journey, on the other hand, entails not just the past but also the future and is laden with cognition, meanings, and emotions. These two aspects of professional identity are co-constitutive and feed each other for accountants’ identity work, in which the sense of professional security (or insecurity) plays an important role. This paper in its totality highlights the dynamic, fluid nature of professional identity. But more importantly, this paper points to the problematic hollowing out of the very meaning of the term “professional” in the accounting field.

My “Middle Way” Media Studies

I would argue that the problems that contemporary capitalism gives rise to are not the result of the classic exercise of power and hegemony characteristic of the monopoly phase of capitalism but of the “creative destruction” of such a phase. Schumpeter’s famous phrase is reflective of Lash and Urry’s (1987) notion of “disorganised capitalism” or of Robert Reich’s (2007) claim that large corporations have significantly less power now than three decades ago. The consequence is that there is a need to explore an economic “middle way” in debates about the narrative of the relationship between culture and economy, between the Scylla of total explanatory political economy and the Charybdis of tedium-by-case-study. This involves a Schumpeterian emphasis on entrepreneurial or enterprise economics (Cunningham, Banks, and Potts 2008). Schumpeter, in 1962, in Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, argued that Marx had “no adequate theory of enterprise” and failed to “distinguish the entrepreneur from the capitalist” (quoted in McCraw 2007: 349). Schumpeter, his most recent biographer, Thomas McCraw, “told of capitalism in the way most people experience it: as consumer desires aroused by endless advertising; as forcible jolts up and down the social pecking order; as goals reached, shattered, altered, then reached once more as people try, try again.” He knew that “creative destruction fosters economic growth but also that it undercuts cherished human values” (p. 6). Schumpeter’s most recent biographer, Thomas McCraw, says that he elucidated what capitalism “really feels like” (as quoted in McCraw 2007: 349, 6).

Individual discrimination following 24 h of pair contact in one- and seven-day-old Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica)

AbstractThis study examined the capacity of young Japanese quail to discriminate between a familiar cagemate (F) and an unfamiliar conspecific (U). Two tests of discrimination were initially compared: a simultaneous double choice test and a pair test allowing social pecking. Discrimination was more clearly demonstrated in the choice test, which was, therefore, used in the subsequent experiments. One-day-old chicks that had been housed in pairs after hatching spent significantly more time near F than a U stimulus bird and more frequently approached and attempted to interact with F. Seven-day-old chicks that were raised in large groups for the first 6 days, then in pairs for 24 h, subsequently displayed no significant differences in their responses to their recent pair partner versus an unfamiliar chick. On the other hand, chicks that were raised in pairs for 6 days, then housed with a new partner (F) for 24 h, more frequently approached and attempted to interact with F than a U bird. These results show that 24 h of pair contact beginning at hatching or 6 days of age is sufficient for quail to discriminate between a familiar cagemate and a stranger. This discrimination ability is influenced by the chicks' early social experience.

A New Look at Address in American English: The Rules Have Changed

AbstractThis essay replicates the landmark research done by Roger Brown and Marguerite Ford (1961) on forms of address in dyadic encounters in American English-more specifically, on the choice speakers make between the use of an addressee's first name and his or her title plus last name. The results show that many of the rules governing address have changed greatly over the past two generations: the use of first names is more common now in encounters involving two newly-introduced adults, in other adult encounters in which there is a difference between the speaker's and addressee's occupational status and/or a 15-year-or-greater difference between their ages, and in encounters in which the speaker is a child and the addressee is an adult. These changes are linked to Americans’ evolving perceptions of what criteria are important in determining a social pecking order, and to semantic shifts in Americans’ concepts of distance, formality, intimacy, and status.

Girls, pecking order and smoking

Against a background of growing concern about the failure to reduce cigarette smoking amongst young people, particularly girls, this paper attempts to unravel the complex interrelationships between smoking, peer group structure and gender. We were particularly intrigued to explore a recent hypothesis in the literature that suggests that girls who smoke, far from lacking self-esteem, are more self-confident and socially skilled than their non-smoking peers. Sociometric and qualitative analyses revealed that smoking behaviour was indeed shaped by gender, and that the psychosocial processes involved in smoking uptake may be different for boys and than for girls. Peer group structure, consistently described by young people as hierarchical, was closely related to smoking behaviour. Girls at the top of the social pecking order who projected an image of high self-esteem were identified as most likely to smoke, while only a small minority of girls fitted the stereotype of the young female smoker who has poor social skills and low self-esteem. Boys of high social status were less vulnerable, since sport and a desire to be fit to some extent protected them. Our findings raise fundamental questions about the meaning of self-esteem in relation to smoking uptake, arguing instead for an exploration of the term “self-worth”. They suggest the need for health education programmes which are sensitive both to gender and to peer group structures.

The behavioural priorities of laying hens: the effects of two methods of environment enrichment on time budgets

In the first experiment, a comparison was made of the time budgets of laying hens ( Gallus gallus domesticus) in an enriched condition, in which various objects were added to their pen, and an unenriched condition, the same pen but without these objects. Assuming a fixed time budget, greater choices in the enriched condition would increase some behaviours at the expense of others, providing a relative measure of importance. In a second experiment, one group had woodchips on the floor with food and the other had woodchips on the floor without food (available from a hopper). In the first experiment, frequency of dust-bathing decreased in the enriched condition. Hens in the unenriched condition spent more time preening, drinking, social pecking at others and being aggressive which also increased in the second experiment in the hopper food condition. In both experiments, there was no difference in the amount of time feeding and also pecking and scratching even though food was not available in the litter in the unenriched condition. The results of the second experiment show that feeding on the floor alone, i.e., not in combination with environmental enrichment, also reduces aggression, whereas it has no influence on social pecking.

Correlates and consequences of allopecking in White Leghorn chickens

Feather pecking in domestic fowl is considered a serious welfare and economic problem. Although a number of studies have proposed causal explanations for this behaviour, relatively little is known about which forms of pecking result in damage and how they relate to other types of social pecking. This study compared the frequency, consequences and social correlates of feather pecking and other types of allopecking by observing 24 groups of five male and 23 female, White Leghorn chickens between the ages of 10 and 18 weeks. Aggressive pecks were the most frequent type of allopecking observed, followed by allopreens, feather pulls, light pecks and toe pecks. Aggressive pecks usually occurred in the context of feeding while light pecks were most often received while a bird was dustbathing. Birds with damage to their plumage or integument received more light pecks, toe pecks and, to a lesser extent, feather pulls than birds without damage. In general, males delivered and received more allopecks than females. Male dominance rank was not related to any form of allopecking except aggressive pecks. In addition, the frequencies of different types of pecking were not intercorrelated. These results suggest that several forms of allopecking may result in damage. Therefore, future studies on the causes of ‘feather pecking’ should examine damaging forms of allopecking such as light pecks, toe pecks and feather pulling in more detail. Understanding ‘feather pecking’ will require studies of the motivational and environmental circumstances that influence these distinctive forms of allopecking.

In Black and White: Chinese in the Mississippi Delta

In Black and White: Chinese in the Mississippi Delta Jeannie Rhee Editor’s Note: Thispaper is the winner of the 1994 Hughes-Gossett Award for Student Essays. Ms. Rheepresenteda longer version as her undergraduate thesis at Yale University in 1994. Scholars of constitutional legal history have foundmuchcausetocelebratethe Supreme Court of the United States in the twentieth century. Benno Schmidt, for example, argues that by the Progressive era ofthe early 1910s and 1920s, the Supreme Court bravely stood alone breathing “life into the Reconstruction principles that had been left for dead.”1 For Gong Lum and other Chinese in the Mississippi Delta who were seeking reentry into the all white public schools that had expelled their children, orders for desegregation came ironically from the local county district court, a supposed repository ofracist ideology, onlyto be snatched away by the Supreme Court.2 Rather than stand bravely alone in the midst of “rockbottom levels ofinjustice and callousness,”3 the Supreme Court inrealityevincedthe samelevels of injustice, swept up and mired in the hotly contested, tense racial climate of the era. The small communities scattered throughout the Delta could not be described as havens from the storm of racial discrimination that plagued minorities elsewhere. In the heart of the Jim Crow South, racismtowards African-Americans permeated virtually every aspect of life to the extentthat one “simplydidn’t questionit.” Inthe words ofa local matron, “It wasjust the waythat JIM CROW LAW. ? at an early hour M. 1 Joseph Rainey, resldda and Morgan streets, from that corner and Jrunkeness and disturbThey pleaded not guil­ ts were ordered against at 4:43 o'clock the male la Allen, colored, of No. et. died without mediThe coroner was notlae Slate against Andrew d with the murder of»aa called before Judge a preliminary hearing By agreement the ease until Thursday week, was crowded when the aae was called to-day stenographer tn court, le noted this as being a . as Mr. Ilorden should E CITY HALL. r Murphy ProinolPew Appointments— oniniltler Meeting:..·. notified that body that the ion of & aehool building on between Lafayette and Cybid ot M hat of the in the ‘i'asi’ light,’ ! others probably who ar· ottlcu who did not beeom the administration until certain tint’ Governor Ft continued in the chair. Senator Komain and Other uembers ci the Lea ol the gentlemen from th voted against the beint proposition to go behiix were on the platform : participated in the cer dent to the inauguratlot ernor. That was all very way. but it is to be quest the action of the repres attended the Odd Fellow lug will dovetail with ti yesterday. It is said that when V comes tip for considerati· tee an attempt will be i sawmills on the taxable the existing law sawmill from taxation. The saw fostered by wise legislatl to be one of the most lin State, and no industry i prom.se · of continued Whether or not th·· le take kindly to the propthe lumber mills on the cult now to say. Ex-Representative Kin here for a few days enj· He has had to be re-ini ever. When Mr. Knig w Legislature he was cont In public with a dainty II but now he sports a luxt Col. 1. D. Moore Is her* Price in being elected t Col. Moore has had the t meet many of his >1 frit is canvassing for .‘..rnsel usually runs in hard luc get.-: beaten, but he has a ly of winning the fights : ges for others; and he h daily successful when handled any of Mr. Prlci Mr. Price will not be JimCrowlawswereprevalentinthepostReconstruction South,including the Mississippi Delta 118 1994 JOURNAL things were done; everyoneknew theirplace and how to act in keeping with it.”4 Yet it was only thefactthatblacks and whites “knew theirplace” in the social pecking order that allowed the Chinese to attain for themselves a measure of equality. As a nominal group, they posed little threat ontheir own, and facedprejudices onlyas a minority whites associated with African-Ameri­ cans. Toachieve any rights, therefore,the Chinese were compelled to endorse the racial hierarchy. They not only deferred to white supremacy over them, but actively complied with the...

Right hemisphere advantage for social recognition in the chick

Recognition of familiar and unfamiliar conspecifics was studied in pair-reared chicks tested binocularly or with only one eye in use. Chicks were tested on day 3 in pairs composed of either cagemates or strangers. Social discrimination, as measured by the ratio “number of pecks at the strangers/total number of pecks” was impaired in right-eyed chicks with respect to left-eyed and binocular chicks. Male chicks showed higher levels of social pecking than females, and chicks that used both eyes showed higher pecking than monocular chicks. There were no significant differences in the total number of pecks (i.e. pecks at companions plus pecks at strangers) between right- and left-eyed chicks: the impairment in social discrimination of right-eyed chicks seemed to be due partly to a reduction in pecking at strangers and partly to an increase in pecking at companions. It is suggested that neural structures fed by the left eye (mainly located at the right hemisphere) are better at processing and/or storing of visual information which allows recognition of individual conspecifics. This may be part of a wider tendency to respond to small changes in any of a variety of intrinsic stimulus properties.

Declassified Documents: Fragmentations in the Modern Drama

In his review of the recent New York revival of Sweeney Todd, Frank Rich lavishly praises the production for its willingness to explore psychic caverns where civilized people are not willing to go, while further insisting that the original staging had been far less rewarding because it merely emphasized the dehumanizing horror of the industrial age.1 He then goes on to explain that the original Harold Prince production had shown the oppressive British beehive, or the social pecking order. . . . Sweeney was the victim of Darwinian class struggle; he was the wronged representative of 'the lower zoo' rising up against 'the privileged few.' In contrast, Rich finds greater truth in the new production because it replaces the historical trappings of the original version with the need to identify point blank with . . . figures caught up in conundrums of sex and death. The characters' universal internal demons rather than the remote demons of their Dicken-

Early development of aggression in chickens: The relative importance of pecking and leaping

A longitudinal study (employing a multiple separation technique) of chicks' social behavior over the first postnatal month indicated systematic changes in their mode of physical interactions. During the first week or so, intersubject pecking in same-sex pairs was frequent, and was more likely in birds with a home cage advantage (i.e., a prior resident effect). However, there were no sex differences in any of the forms of social pecking (head, body, or feet of the opponent), and all types showed significant decreases over the period of the study. On the contrary, there was a strong effect for sex on rates of aggressive leaping, with males exhibiting more leaps than females. Further, there was a clear increase in leaping over the first weeks of testing, and something of a decline thereafter. These data suggest that in this species the definitive expression of aggressive or dominance behavior may be leaping. Early social pecking (during a period in which this behavior was at its maximum rate) did not predict the subsequent leaping behavior of individuals, but later “leap orders” were highly associated with later “peck orders”.

Mediating factors in chick social pecking: 1. Effects of isolation, imprinting, and peer contact

Two experiments examined the influence of periods of social isolation on rates of intersubject pecking in pairs of domestic chicks. Of central interest was the effect of an imprinting condition wherein single birds were reared with either a red or green Styrofoam object. In the first experiment, imprinted subjects were given social pecking tests in the absence of the imprinting object, while in the second study the tests for social pecking were conducted in the presence of one of the imprinting objects. In the latter test the object was familiar to one bud of a pair, but was novel to the other animal. The results of both experiments showed that the rate of intersubject pecking of the imprinted subjects was intermediate to, and statistically different from both the low pecking rate of chicks reared in pairs and the high pecking rate of chicks reared in total isolation. The presence of a familiar object during tests in the second study seemed to serve as a secure base since chicks that had been reared with that object exhibited more social pecking than did chicks that were unfamiliar with the object. However, regardless of the provision of the object the social pecking of the imprinted chicks again fell on a point intermediate to the other groups. Hypotheses concerning a) intolerance of figureground movement and b) sheer stress of isolation were advanced to account for these results.

Mediating factors in chick social pecking: II. effects of exposure to movement

Mediating factors in chick social pecking: II. effects of exposure to movement

Isolation-induced social pecking in domestic chicks: Contemporary correlates and sequelae

Aspects of the social pecking of domestic chicks in a free response situation were examined in a series of experiments. It was proposed that a dual pattern of responses involving (a) a preponderance of pecks at the head of a conspecific, and (b) heightened emotionality (as indicated by the emission of distress calls) might be taken to reflect an aggressive tendency, and evidence was reviewed that showed that a brief period of isolation was a sufficient condition to elicit such a pattern. The main questions asked in this paper are: (a) whether the gender of a chick had a material influence on the incidence of such social pecking, and (b) whether orders established in pecking exchanges reflected a unidimensional social ordering among chicks. In the 1st set of studies the effect of the sex of subject on rates of social pecking was tested. While an isolation procedure clearly produced the dual pattern of heightened head pecking and calling, reliable sex differences were not in evidence. In a 2nd study, concerned with the generality of social orders as observed in social pecking exchanges, the isolation procedure again was sufficient to produce apparently aggressive reactions but the resulting peck orders between chicks did not predict success in later tests when the same 2 subjects were pitted against one another in either approach or avoidance competitive tasks. These results are discussed in terms of the relationship of infant aggression to adult aggression, and suggestions are made for a revised view of the development of the aggressive behavior of fowl.