Sociology Research Articles

The birth of an organisational field: the institutionalisation of civilian crisis response services in the de-tasking era

ABSTRACT Civilian-led, non-police crisis response services – which attend mental health crises that previously had received uniformed police response in many jurisdictions – have multiplied substantially alongside widespread calls for ‘de-tasking’ of police. Yet, these services inevitably engage in forms of ‘policing’ in both practical and sociological terms, if we understand policing to involve reducing harms and maintaining order under the shadow of police (state coercive) power. Seeing the rapid expansion of these services as the birth of a new organisational field, following organisational and institutional theories, this paper delineates possible futures of these services as they coalesce into increasingly isomorphic forms. The paper then considers the potential bases of legitimacy, organisational ethos and accountability that will develop around these services, and sets out challenges that the organisational field will face if it is to avoid becoming an extension of ‘the police’.

Sociology of E-Learning: A Social Observational Trek at Universities in Freetown, Sierra Leone

Social e-learning is acquiring several solid grounds in University enlightenment right through the universe and Sierra Leone not an exception. Recently, a generous amount of universities globally promote social e-learning in divergent shapes. Despite this extensive embracement of social e-learning in university tutelage, sociological inquiry on social e-learning approbation proposes that it has not accomplished its maximum implicit. This sociological inquiry converses the privileges that prevail and demurrers that obstruct the thriving embracement of social e-learning automation as a social norm of tutelage at designated universities in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The sociological verdicts and observations accommodated are anticipated to reinforce universities evolve their social e-learning approaches. The respondents of this inquiry are university lecturers who are commencing to utilize social e-learning. The resultants denote that social e-learning at greater of the universities is still at its conception pulpit. This sociological inquiry unmasks a multitude of considerations or rationales for the restricted attainments, which are associated to architectural growth, advance and didactical reflections for e-learning. Universities are financing further and upgrading organizational operating system at the cost of Erudition Oversight Customs (EOC) operating system that bolsters instruction and education or scholarship. This sociological inquiry proposes that competent advancement or businesslike programs with underscore on e-learning didactics besides the formulation of social e-learning facilitate constructions should be championed.

Sociological Bout on the ‘Kushlization’ of Sierra Leonean Juveniles: A Freetown Clogging Communal Health Apocalypse

Sierra Leone’s illegal narcotic utilization enigma has augmented considerably amidst the ultimate dual decades [1]. Of specific concern has been the rising drift in narcotic or drug utilization among Sierra Leonean adolescents and juveniles [2]. Frequently utilized narcotics in Sierra Leone include Kush or K2, Marijuana, Tramadol, and to familiar stretch Cocaine. In this sociological inquiry, the researcher discusses worsen narcotic utilization amidst the ultimate dual decades in Sierra Leone, and how it is a grave imminent community health apocalypse. This sociological inquiry intents to scan the rudimentary incentives of the juveniles narcotic abusers and their rapport with their families and to pinpoint dilemmas and necessitates that juvenile narcotic abusers are encountering. The essential insistence is to diagnose the crux mainsprings of narcotic abuse and to entrust the family functional function for neutralization of narcotic abuse in the cultural community. The objective of this sociological inquiry is to diagnose the central root of narcotic abuse, situating attention into ‘Kush’ as the principal narcotic that is being abused amongst adolescents and juveniles addicts. The inquiry methodology entailed a review of books, direct social dialogues, focus cohort social dialogues and internet sites. A random selection was done to choose fourteen addicts who live in the streets of Freetown for questioning. A critical review of narcotic utilization mitigation programs right through the nation is required to secure that they are customized to adolescents and juveniles, a springing critical population for whom these benevolences are indispensable. Invigorating social safety groundwork, narcotic regulative schemes and statute implementation is desperately enforced to resist this imminent communal health apocalypse. The inquiry summarized that to accomplish this, a multi-stakeholder crucial path for cultural community consciousness, jurisdictive transformations to secure punitive measures for suppliers and increased juvenile offenders social contingencies are imperative.

Sociological Probing of Swathed Cultural Health Systems in Yonibana, Tonkolili District, Northern Sierra Leone

In this sociological inquiry, the researcher explored the pursuit for health and healing in Yonibana, Tonkolili District, Northern Sierra Leone, unearthing the swathed forms of medical awareness and practices. This sociological inquiry organizes to pose novel and further questions about the sociology of health and healing. Incipiently, via published work, then via dominant material and social dialogues. The inquiry negotiates the successive intents: a. To portray the intricate health structure of care in Sierra Leone. b. To portray and scrutinize the social pattern of healthcare seeking behavior in an intricate, inequality and manifold healthcare structure. c. To examine social relations of cultural authority, shame and inequity in a manifold healthcare structure. d. To scan expansive social reflections of how both women and men in Northern Sierra Leone appreciate, steer and utilize divergent shapes of healthcare structures. This inquiry depicts that women and men in this district of Sierra Leone trek an intricate tour in search of their well-being challenged by the cultural inequalities and intricacies of district health care structures. The inquiry summarises by depicting that the folks of this district, manifest agency in their health practices, and their health seeking behaviour and actions are adjusted in an effort to facilitate their wellness. Given the gendered and patriarchal context of Sierra Leonean culture, the findings of this study are perhaps surprising that birthing women reported male midwives to be more gentle, calm, and respectful than female midwives, and that nurses who work in rural health posts are perceived to be more respectful than the nurses who work at central hospitals, thus these findings may suggest more need to explore these two themes.

Systemic and Sociocultural Factors Impeding Women’s Political Participation and Leadership Development: A Sociological Inquiry

In pursuing a deeper understanding of the persistent underrepresentation of women in politics and leadership positions, this article adopts a sociological lens to probe the intricate network of systemic barriers and sociocultural norms that continue to impede women’s full participation in the political arena. Gender stereotypes play a critical role in shaping public perception and expectations of leaders, with prevailing biases often favoring masculine traits and devaluing the leadership capabilities of women. Equally, the disproportionate burden of family responsibilities that women frequently shoulder imposes time and energy constraints, thus limiting their capacity to engage fully in political activities and campaigns. Beyond the confines of household obligations, the political culture and infrastructure itself are often unsympathetic to women, with institutional discrimination manifesting in various forms, from gendered political party practices to the lack of supportive networks for aspiring female politicians. The study unearths the subtle yet pervasive ways in which these sociopolitical structures and cultural attitudes intertwine, creating a formidable barrier to women’s political empowerment and leadership ascension. By illuminating these interconnections, the article seeks to advance the dialogue on what specific measures and systemic changes must be undertaken to dismantle these hurdles and pave the path toward gender parity in political leadership.

РАЗВИТИЕ РОССИЙСКОЙ СОЦИОЛОГИИ ФИЗИЧЕСКОЙ КУЛЬТУРЫ И СПОРТА КАК НАУЧНОГО НАПРАВЛЕНИЯ И УЧЕБНОЙ ДИСЦИПЛИНЫ

For over a century, Russian sociologists have been engaged in the study of physical culture and sport, with a particular focus on the mass and professional spheres. Physical education and sport are integral parts of social, cultural as well as socio-political life. Motivation, socialization through sport, education and health improvement, attitudes to physical education, the problems of Olympic and mass sports movement, etc., have come to the fore in different historical periods. All this can be found in the scientific publications of Russian sociologists and other social and humanitarian scientists. In the meantime, the analysis of sociological publications on this topic and their systematization, with the exception of the work of Russian sociologist O. A. Milstein, have not been carried out in a practical manner. In this paper, a scientific analysis of a variety of sources was carried out using two distinct approaches: comparative-historical and problem-chronological. The sources included brochures, articles and monographs, dissertations, and periodicals. Consequently, the principal thematic orientations of sociological inquiry into physical culture and sport in Russia, as well as the distinctive characteristics of sociological research across different historical eras, are elucidated. The institutionalization of the sociology of sport is considered in close connection with the institutionalization of Russian sociology. Moreover, experts examine the teaching of courses on the sociology of physical culture and sport in Russian universities. The process began in the 1920s and was subsequently interrupted. It can be stated that there has been an increase in the number of scientific publications on the sociology of physical culture and sport during the 2000-2020s. Furthermore, a number of textbooks on this subject have emerged during the same period.

“Value-Conditioned Interest”: Secularity, Institutional Support, and the Sociology of Religion in Graduate Departments

ABSTRACT Although religion once played a central role in sociological inquiry, today it has fallen from prominence and now occupies a marginal space in the field. Sociologists of religion suggest that this neglect can be explained by the unusual irreligiosity of academia. However, some are hopeful that changes to graduate training and other institutional interventions can overcome this propensity and encourage more sociological engagement with religion, one of the most influential forces in contemporary society. Drawing on a new dataset of 473 sociology graduate students in the top 25 departments in the United States, we assess how personal secularity and departmental support for religious inquiry predict sociological engagement with religion. Personal secularity is a strong predictor of the decision to study religion and of the overall perception of the relevance of religion in contemporary society. Coming from a department where religion is discussed and faculty pursue research on religion predicts the perception of religion’s relevance for the secular majority. Our findings contribute to the understanding of sociological knowledge creation and how individual and institutional proclivities – together – shape what we deem important enough to study.

Mobilising resilience to symbolic violence with Chinese international research students in Australia: a Bourdieusian perspective

ABSTRACT Psychological studies on international research students’ resilience to mental distress have attracted much scholarly attention. Yet, sociological inquiries into resilience to ‘invisible’ pressures such as power imbalances remain limited. Drawing insights from Bourdieu’s relational sociology, we recast the psychology of resilience to adversities into a sociology of resilience to symbolic violence. To delve into the latter, we surveyed 220 Chinese international Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students across Australian universities using a self-designed instrument and analysed the data through Multiple Correspondence Analysis. Findings revealed that Chinese international HDR students were drawn into a space of forces fraught with the symbolic violence of supervisor authority, English hegemony, and neoliberalism; yet, simultaneously, they ventured into a space of struggles with such forms of symbolic violence by virtue of their agency and reflexivity as well as peer and supervisor empowerment. Such resilience practice was complicated by their capital portfolio and habitual dispositions, which in turn, contributed differently to their perceptions of symbolic violence and resilience to it. We thereby offer diverse stakeholders strategies in building resilience for (Chinese) international research students within and beyond Australia.

Cognitive Foundations of Society: The Concept of Schemata in Cell, Gene, and Tissue Therapies

Abstract Interpreting how people accord meaning to life situations is an old challenge in sociology. Emphasis has been given to values shared within social groups; other sociologists have stressed the discursive or communicative dimensions of society. This paper seeks an alternative interpretation by combining sociological inquiry and insights from cognitive linguistics. It explores the concept of schema, which points to the unconscious identification of patterns in human experiences, enabling people to assimilate concepts such as FORCE, CONTAINMENT, and others. This paper focuses on discourses and views around advanced therapies: medicinal products based on genes, cells, or tissues. These therapies are frequently understood via two alternative schemata. The CURE schema foregrounds therapies’ long-term potential to revert disease and tends to underpin metaphoric reasoning; the IMPAIRMENT schema highlights specific limitations brought about by disease, being frequently associated with metonymic reasoning. Schemata underpin broader initiatives and decisions, including those adopted by regulatory and government agencies. As they constitute basic and socialized understandings, their study enables the identification of the cognitive and linguistic foundations of society.

Quantitative Inquiry in the Early Sociology of W. E. B. Du Bois

Abstract A New Du Boisian Sociology has recently clarified, elevated, and synthesized Du Bois’s sociological contributions. We argue that more systematic and detailed study of Du Bois’s research methodologies, with an eye towards their contemporary applicability, can further strengthen this body of scholarship. Here we begin this effort with sustained attention to Du Bois’s use of quantitative data and methods during a productive and illustrative period around the turn of the twentieth century (1898–1902). This adds a level of depth and specificity to a subset of existing Du Bois scholarship that has more generally noted quantitative inquiry as one aspect of Du Bois’s social-scientific approach of mixed-methods triangulation. We detail how and why Du Bois developed an inductive, theoretically generative approach to his research on race. This orientation appears, at first glance, to be a misfit for contemporary quantitative sociology, which is currently skewed towards deductive theory testing and causal inference. We demonstrate that Du Bois’s quantitative methodology invites sociologists to return to exploratory, descriptive, and theoretically generative quantitative research based on creative syntheses of primary and secondary data that span generations and levels of institutional and geographic aggregation. Such data can, among other possibilities, assess within- and between-race comparisons and intersections of race with factors including class, gender, age, place, and time. Our study also enters Du Bois, as historical precedent, into current debates regarding quantification’s productive role, if any, in social science research on race/racism and other axes of systemic inequality.

Analysis and Forecast of Contemporary Chinese Population

The analysis and projection of current Chinese population dynamics is the main emphasis of this study. This topic is extremely important in terms of demography, economics, sociology, and international relations. With approximately 1.43 billion people, China is the most populous country in the world and a worldwide giant in both economic and geopolitical terms. This study looks at historical, cultural, economic, and policy-related issues in an effort to understand the intricacies that have led China to this demographic prominence. China's population increase may be traced back to its ancient civilization, which cultivated cultural customs and conventions that still have an impact on demographic patterns now. The demographic dividend, a population surge in the middle of the 20th century, signaled a turning point, and the one-child policy that followed, implemented in 1979, produced distinctive demographic contours and long-term repercussions. Fertility rates and generational dynamics have been influenced by the government's evolution of family planning programs, which have ranged from strict measures to more relaxed methods. Understanding and predicting China's population changes is urgent because of the societal and worldwide repercussions of this country's changing demographics. This study sets out on an exploratory trip to understand the complex causes and possible future trends in light of previous studies. This paper wants to contribute to a thorough knowledge of China's demographic evolution and its effects on global society by shedding light on these factors.

Diversity, Dialogue, and the Sociology of Development

The study of development has been fundamental for sociologists since the earliest days of the discipline. Yet, after over a century of sociological inquiry, how much do we know about development, and what is the future of development from a sociological perspective? This special issue highlights how eclectic and inclusive the field of sociology of development has become in recent decades, illustrating the depth and proliferation of our sociological understanding of “development” through new theoretical and methodological approaches and explorations of emerging topics. In this introduction, we examine early sociological contributions to development theories and policies that have been central to sociology of development dialogue, and the questions that set a foundation for future research. In doing so, we argue that a commitment to inclusive creativity and critique of established views not only can shape sociological discussions but also has the potential to impact the institutionalization of knowledge in the policy arena.

Taking Stand‐Up Seriously: Comedy as a Site for Imagining Decolonial Futures

Stand‐up comedy is a rich arena of sociological inquiry that enables social actors to utter bold truths in a way that educates rather than offends. As such, stand‐up comedy can inform conversations around potentially “thorny” issues like racial inequality. This article draws on primary qualitative content analysis of the work of Kura Forrester, a female, Indigenous comedian in Aotearoa New Zealand, to illustrate the potential of comedians and the medium of stand‐up comedy as agents of change. We employ the concepts “parrhesia,” “critical public pedagogy,” and “prefiguration” to argue that stand‐up comedy provides a valuable opportunity to challenge racist stereotypes, encourage critical reflection on “race‐thinking,” and imagine out loud what an alternative, decolonial future in Aotearoa New Zealand might entail.

What value in preserving a fragment of building? A sociological enquiry into the museum preservation of Robin Hood Gardens

ABSTRACT There continues to be much debate as to whether to preserve buildings, and this is particularly pertinent to post-war architecture, especially in the UK. This paper further explores the issue by concentrating on the acquisition of a fragment of Robin Hood Gardens by the Victoria and Albert Museum. The Smithsons’ key work was deemed a failed social experiment in its listing verdict, and the acquisition of the fragment during demolition sparked controversy when exhibited at the 2018 Venice Biennale. Devoid of its context in an exhibition setting, the fragment of building questions the applicability of traditional conservation values, particularly those relating to age or architectural value. This paper aims to demonstrate the value of taking a more sociological approach to this dilemma. It uses theories of collective memory, specifically Halbwachs and Bachelard’s variations, to explore multiple interpretations of the fragment’s physicality. Three frameworks have been chosen for analysis: the changing social housing rhetoric, its listing campaign, and finally the present, a speculative section on what the current interpretations of the past indicate for the future. Through this chronological analysis it is concluded that the Estate’s physicality is reduced to a semantic contribution, representative of our current crisis of collective memory.

Bezrobocie jako współczesna kwestia społeczna – wybrane aspekty socjologiczne i ekonomiczne

Bezrobocie jako współczesna kwestia społeczna – wybrane aspekty socjologiczne i ekonomiczne

Winch’s Idea at sixty-five: Its point and implications for the prospects of sociology

This article demonstrates the underappreciated import and potential of Peter Winch’s The Idea of a Social Science and its Relation to Philosophy, a classic work published 65 years ago. Its aim is not simply to correct misunderstandings of Winch but to rehabilitate the text as indispensable for understanding past and present woes and cementing the future of sociological endeavour. I reconstruct and defend the claims put forth by Winch and then explicitly draw out their implications, which demonstrate the incoherence of the predominant disciplinary self-image that sees sociology as having a method and/or critical thinking prerogative. This problematic self-conception is jeopardizing the coherence and wider relevance of sociology and is responsible for its perennial difficulties in articulating a mode of discourse that can be seen as cogent by the public. A defensible alternative sees sociology as a second-order study of practices that is premised on a conceptually accurate relation to those practices and on answerability to the criteria and abilities of understanding, description, explanation and criticism they afford. This conception can support the reconfiguration of existing forms of sociological inquiry as well as the development of new ones.

Moral narratives of sobriety: a qualitative study of a lived religion framework of Alcoholics Anonymous

This study examines how Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) can be understood as a “lived religion” that seeks to legitimize and moralize certain experiences and beliefs through narratives that are affirmed by the substance abuse recovery community. Through a qualitative analysis of 20 in-depth interviews with both actively recovering and non-actively recovering participants of AA, we identify three distinct moral narratives described by participants related to the construction of spiritual beliefs, individual health, and social belonging that highlight how the structure of AA reifies stories of addiction recovery as morally charged. We contribute to sociology of religion and addiction studies by examining how social and spiritual systems (i.e. systems embodying our complex and multi-faceted social connections to other people and our beliefs and attitudes about powers greater than oneself) orient alcohol addiction recovery within the context of AA support groups. For sociological inquiry more broadly, we show how moral narratives have the power to shift individual understanding of social support, power and self-control, and belonging.

Doing youth participatory action research (YPAR) with Bourdieu: An invitation to reflexive (participatory) sociology

Recent years have seen an increased epistemological and methodological interest within sociology in participatory research. Seen as one mode by which to upturn the apparent antagonism between ‘town’ and ‘gown’, and as a pragmatic way to render sociology more ‘public’, participatory research seems to offer resolutions to some of the field’s more pressing recent concerns. It also appears to provide redress to continuing institutional pressure to establish ‘impact’ for our research. This article offers a close and theoretically informed examination of the assumptions and practices of youth participatory action research, or YPAR, in order to contribute to deepened disciplinary understandings of the possibilities and limits of participatory approaches. Framed by the reflexive sociology of Pierre Bourdieu, we draw upon cross-national conversations through which we have intentionally reflected on moments of ambivalence or discomfort in our own participatory research practice(s). We utilise these to engage critically with some recurring problems in YPAR, suggesting these also have relevance to sociological enquiry more broadly. Our collaborative process of mutual reflexivity, developed through walking and talking together, writing individually and then providing feedback and clarifications, has allowed us to deepen our understanding of the power dynamics at play in participatory sociological enquiry.

American Jewish Chaplains: Adopting an American Form

This article represents the first field-wide treatment of American Jewish chaplains. As fewer Jews, like members of all religious backgrounds in the USA, are religiously affiliated and regularly join or participate in local congregations, Jews and other Americans will likely find ways to address their spiritual–religious needs outside of congregational life, in settings such as hospitals, military, universities, elder care, and other settings where “life happens.” Chaplains are religious professionals who work in these settings. While many people have done the work of chaplains—caring for others, attending to the dying, helping people engage with their spiritual–existential struggles—the evolution of those who consider themselves Jewish chaplains and their wrestling with the term chaplain, itself Christian, is at the center of the analyses offered here. We begin with a brief historical overview and then describe their work today. Our analysis is based on a series of historical and sociological inquiries carried out in 2021–2022. In the face of largely Protestant norms and expectations that shaped chaplaincy, American Jews—who made up the first non-Christian clergy to become chaplains in state and private settings—have engaged with and shifted the concept of chaplaincy and the training required to be eligible for these positions. The case of Jewish chaplains illuminates ways of navigating the seams of Jewishness in American life.

Shaping mindful citizens: Practitioners' motivations and aspirations for mindfulness in education.

Mindfulness meditation has enjoyed growing popularity in the UK over the last few decades and is increasingly found in many educational settings. To date, existing empirical research on mindfulness in education has focused primarily on its efficacy, rather than more sociological concerns. This article draws on qualitative data from a major research study entitled 'Mapping Mindfulness in the UK' to investigate the motivations and aspirations of mindfulness practitioners for promoting and delivering mindfulness in educational contexts. The analysis argues that some of the existing theoretical critiques of mindfulness as a neo-liberalising self-technology are too reductive and do not take adequate account of the views and experiences of practitioners. For participants in this study, mindfulness in education was more than an individualised self-help therapeutic tool, but was instead a uniquely versatile practice, representing multiple possibilities for individuals and society. The research makes significant contributions to several fields of sociological inquiry, including on mindfulness, mental health and wellbeing, and education and citizenship.