Structure Of Social Relations Research Articles

Devolution or Decapitation? Decentralization During Conflict in Ukraine

ABSTRACT Decentralization in Ukraine is lauded as the most successful of the country’s reforms. The devolution of power to local government has not been without controversy; however, as decentralization proceeded during the war in Donbas. This article critiques Ukrainian’s decentralization based on two promises of this reform: the weakening of oligarchic power and the empowerment of Ukrainians. Utilizing a feminist political economy framework, with relational ontological commitments, this paper argues that decentralization has, rather, empowered Ukrainian elites while marginalizing vulnerable groups during the war. To address political disempowerment and/or economic inequality, this paper concludes, decentralization must address the totality that structures social relations.

Взаимосвязь социометрического статуса и параметров социальных отношений военнослужащих

The article presents a theoretical review of domestic and foreign studies on the problem of the content of the structure of social relations. The analysis of the works of leading scientists allowed us to establish that the integral components of the structure of social relations are: values, needs, social roles and statuses. However, there is no unified interpretation of the concept of social relations and their structural elements in social psychology. The content of the structure of social relations of military personnel is of the greatest interest, since the special requirements for the performance of official duties undoubtedly leaves an imprint on the interaction between individuals. We have suggested that the sociometric index has relationships with the parameters of social relations. The empirical study was organized on the basis of the Novosibirsk Military Institute of the National Guard Troops and included three stages. At the first stage, the selection of methods was carried out and the category of military personnel as test subjects was determined. The respondents were 286 people of two categories: cadets and military personnel under contract. The results of the study allowed us to identify 14 statistically significant correlations that contain positive and negative relationships. So the role model of the Hero is optimal for a serviceman, as it is characterized by a desire for victory, respect and trust among colleagues and may have leadership qualities. At the same time, the negative correlations found between the sociometric status index and the roles of Witch, Boy and Girl indicate the presence of a destructive influence on the military team. The results of the study can be used by commanders (chiefs) in the preparation of the personnel of units for the performance of official duties of military service in various conditions of activity.

How Does Social Capital Help Achieve High-Quality Education?

The purpose of this study is to examine how social capital is used to achieve high-quality education at SMAN Sumatra Selatan. This was a descriptive qualitative study with data collected through participant observation. The researcher was involved directly as well as witnessing the research process and conducting in-depth interviews with ten informants. The Miles and Huberman's were applied in the data analysis. The study's findings revealed the presence of social capital in SMAN Sumatra Selatan in the form of trust, networks, and social norms. Cooperation between the Government of the Province of South Sumatra and the Putera Sampoerna Foundation, as well as cooperation with companies, shown trust. The social network formed as a result of the partnership between SMAN Sumatra Selatan and the mass media, as well as education supporting companies. The social norms in the school were represented by four exceptional programs: academic programs, lifetime learning programs, the pathway to leadership programs, and boarding education programs. This school's social capital components included communicating with one another, working together, influencing one another, and being related to one another. They resulted in a structure of social relations that culminated in a high-quality school.

Influence of Reification of Power on Social Change: An Analysis of Elias and Bourdieu

Debates of power, a shared limitation appears in discussing the concept as it takes on a life of its own. It adopts objectivity – this limitation has to do with the reification of power as a thing that exists in society. This reification of power can influence any social change and we must understand how to overcome this limitation. The paper explores the concept of power that how it has changed over the years. Presenting the different views to power. It discusses the influence of power on the process of decision making. The paper further discusses how a society transforms by the structure of social relationships by presenting Elias and Bourdieu work about reification. This article concludes that for any social change we need to transcend reification of power and the role of people is fundamental

Jade and Guanxi in China

This article discusses how the gemstone jade mediates guanxi (‘personal relationships’), and how guanxi mediates jade trade in China. Outlining some affective, spiritual, moral and somatic meanings and efficacies of jade, especially as a gift, the article first discusses how jade materialities, cultural history and ontology influence human interactions with, and through, jade in contemporary China. Secondly, the article presents some more economically instrumental investments in, and exchanges of, jade and discusses why and how a national anti-corruption campaign engendered fluctuations in Chinese jade markets. Finally, the article discusses how guanxi ideally forges personal trust that facilitates transactions of jade, even though some younger jade traders consider guanxi insincere. Studies of guanxi in China’s reform era have conventionally given analytical primacy to how social relationships structure and give meaning to material exchanges. In contrast, this article argues that jade itself can be a catalyst for social relationships that span affect and instrumentality. Combining object–oriented, ontological and institutionalist approaches, the article conceptualises the outlined relations between jade and guanxi as material–social congruity and contingency in the Chinese context.

Gender and asylum seekers- The case of Greece

The present paper focuses on the living conditions in temporary accommodation centers during the period of 22/11/2011 till 20/03/2012 and on the nature of the existing social relationship structures, being shaped at such centers, with special emphasis placed on the dimension of gender (single women or mothers).The existence of gender differences among asylum seekers’ groups cannot be clearly verified due to great social and economic problems, rendering them indistinguishable, while significant contradictions led to different conclusions in the past. Because of the lack of comparative data this research may contribute to the: a) provision of a clear cut picture of the gender dimension within the asylum seekers context, b) identification of the female asylum seekers population needs and the detection of the problems they encounter, c) the evaluation of the effectiveness of services and structures supporting asylum seekers and d) exploitation of results and findings for policy design.

Collecting, modeling, and visualizing network data from educators: A tutorial.

Understanding educators' networks can inform the field of school psychology by offering insight into how the structure of social relationships supports the implementation of school-based programs. However, the difficulties of collecting and modeling network data remain barriers to using network methods in school psychology. To overcome these barriers, we provide a step-by-step tutorial for collecting, modeling, and visualizing network data from educators. We draw on an example from a study designed to understand advice networks among middle and high school educators involved in implementing a system-level intervention to prevent school dropout. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Urban development and tourism planning reality in the province of M'sila: a case study of Bousaada city – Algeria

Tourism is a vital economic resource that can’t be excluded from government economic policies. In many countries, tourism is one of the most important sources of income for the local economy. In addition, urban development specialists consider tourism as a factor activating the city' s urban dynamics, through the creation of new income sources, i.e. the support of urban economy and the development of infrastructures, the creation of specific and quality local services, the establishment and structuring of broad social and cultural relations, etc. The province of M'sila and the city of Bousaada became a known tourist destination that counts high tourist numbers every year since the French occupation. Consequently, it is necessary to understand and identify the tourism reality of this city to assess its current situation. The diagnosis is based on the inventory and evaluation of the various sites and tourist attractions available, both natural and archaeological.

Social support and risk of mortality in cirrhosis: A cohort study

The function and structure of social relationships influence mortality in individuals within the general population. We compared aspects of social relationships in individuals with cirrhosis and a matched comparison cohort and studied their association with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and mortality in cirrhosis. Individuals with cirrhosis and comparators were identified among participants of the Danish National Health Surveys 2010-2017. The surveys included questions on functional (social support and loneliness) and structural (living alone/cohabitating and frequency of contacts with relatives and friends) aspects of social relationships and HRQoL (Short Form-12). We estimated associations of aspects of social relationships with HRQoL and all-cause mortality in individuals with cirrhosis through2020. Of 541 individuals with cirrhosis and 2,157 comparators, low social support (22% in cirrhosis vs. 13% in comparators), loneliness (35% vs. 20%), and living alone (48% vs. 22%) were more frequent in individuals with cirrhosis than comparators, whereas the frequency of contacts with relatives and friends was similar. Except for living alone, weak functional and structural social relationships were associated with lower mental HRQoL in those with cirrhosis. Physical HRQoL was only marginally associated with social relationships. During 2,795 person-years of follow-up, 269 individuals with cirrhosis died. Functional and not structural aspects of social relationships were associated with risk of mortality in cirrhosis. Specifically, the adjusted hazard ratio was 1.4 (95% CI 1.1-1.9), p= 0.011, for low vs. moderate-to-high social support (functional aspect), and 1.0 (95% CI 0.8-1.3), p= 0.85 for living alone vs. cohabitating (structural aspect). Individuals with cirrhosis have weaker functional and structural social relationships than matched comparators. Weak functional relationships are associated with lower mental HRQoL and increased risk of mortality in individuals with cirrhosis. This study investigated the prevalence of weak social relationships in individuals with cirrhosis and their influence on health-related quality of life and risk of mortality. Individuals with cirrhosis were nearly twice as likely to report low social support, loneliness, and to live alone than a matched comparison cohort. Low social support and loneliness (functional measures of social relationships) were associated with lower mental health-related quality of life and increased risk of mortality risk in cirrhosis, when adjusting for known confounders. We hope that these results will make healthcare providers aware of the functional aspects of the social relationships of individuals with cirrhosis, in addition to the traditional clinical management, and motivate further research of interventions to strengthen the social support ofindividuals with cirrhosis.

Reading the Global City: Crisis, Cognitive Mapping and the “Urban Sensorium” in Tom McCarthy’s <em>Satin Island</em> and Ben Lerner’s <em>10:04</em>

“What is the role played by the aesthetics and politics of space,” asks Kanishka Goonewardena, “in producing and reproducing the durable disjunction between the consciousness of our urban everyday life […] and the now global structure of social relations that is itself ultimately responsible for producing the spaces of our lived-experience?” (55). Goonewardena’s account of the “urban sensorium” describes the mediatory, ideological role played by space in this “gap,” informing his adaptation of Jameson’s “cognitive mapping” as a hermeneutics of urban experience vis-à-vis totality. This article considers the mediation of these insights as critical aesthetic strategies in two global city novels written in the post-2008/11 recessionary period, Tom McCarthy’s Satin Island (2015) and Ben Lerner’s 10:04 (2014). The former thematizes the obfuscating ideological function of “depthless” space in the late neoliberal era, while the latter pursues an immanent cognitive mapping project predicated on the interpretation of everyday urban life.

Codes and control: explicating pedagogic communication in classroom practice

ABSTRACT The impact of State policy to combat educational disadvantage with two iterations of DEIS supports has had a positive influence the patterns of achievement among all social groups with some notable improvements across a range of indicators for students in DEIS schools. Notwithstanding these improvements, research and evaluations continue to identify a persistent achievement gap for large numbers of working-class students compared to their more middle-class peers. Research evidences the inextricable links between class, economic circumstances, and student outcomes. In producing these more system-oriented data, the dynamism of underlying processes that produces these outcomes can be often masked. Student-teacher characteristics and classroom interactions become variables or aggregated performance datasets, rather than signifiers to unpack the mechanisms of how students and teachers construct their classroom world. Pedagogic communication, so central to classroom teaching and learning, is largely unexplored from the perspective of its construction, transmission, acquisition, context and how these are framed by structures of social relationships. This paper intends to explicate a core component of the student/school relational domain by examining specifically the patterns of pedagogic communication that frame teaching and learning in one case study school located in a very marginalised and challenging community in Ireland. The findings are stark. Different linguistic strategies for engaging in pedagogic communication are detailed in the data but in all cases, they fail to lead to rich learning experiences and positive student outcomes.

Politeness or Submissiveness: Gender Dichotomy in Everyday Interactions within the Ndebele Society in Zimbabwe

In the traditional Ndebele society of Zimbabwe, there is a marked asymmetry of knowledge and authority between men, women, and children. It implies a difference in the application of negative and positive politeness by them based on their traditionally assigned gender roles. Hence, this study demonstrates how gender roles and relations within the Ndebele society influence the forms and functions of politeness used in daily interactions. The analysis was conducted by using the politeness theory as the theoretical framework, which proclaims that communication is a way that structures social relations. Personal and participant observations were used as sources of data collection. The research revealed that the forms and functions of politeness used in daily interactions within the Ndebele society are influenced by the formal and socially distant relationships between men, women, and children. In this regard, politeness conventions were determined by analyzing the norms, values, and particular power structures of the Ndebele society. Moreover, it was also found that gender dichotomy is developed from an early age and the “I” holds the power dynamics in relationships. So, it was concluded that the forms and functions of politeness in the Ndebele society are determined by one’s position in it. Furthermore, this position implicitly represents the social and power relations within the society, maintaining a patriarchal social structure and habitus. In this respect, the submissiveness of women towards their husbands shows the set pattern of the patriarchal society and its expectations from a woman.
 Keywords: gender roles, patriarchy, negative politeness, politeness, positive politeness, submissiveness

POLA STRUKTURASI PORNOGRAFI DI INDONESIA DITINJAU DARI PERSPEKTIF TEORI STRUKTURASI

This study aims to dissect the structuration pattern between agents and structures in the structural dimension behind the practice of pornography in Indonesia. The analysis is descriptive qualitative with data collection techniques using library data sources and empirical data from various media sources that have been factually documented. Structuring is the stretching or structuring of social relations across space and time based on the principle of duality relations, which means there is a reciprocal relationship and interrelationship between structure and agent. Based on the structuration scheme, the practice of pornography involves three dimensions of structure; namely signification (signification), domination (mastery), and legitimacy (justification) which are interrelated. The three dimensions of the structure that are both a means and a resource for the practice of pornography include; 1) the pattern of marking and meaning of pornographic material; 2) the pattern of global domination and authority of the capitalist economy industry; and 3) patterns of legitimacy and the mobilization of sanctions through cultural norms, artistic ideology, and freedom of expression. Structurally, the agent collaborates with the abstract system/expert system to regularize pornographic material into public consumption on a regular basis, creating practical awareness for the agents. This regularization is reproduced in people's behavior along with culture, discourse on sexuality, art and freedom of expression.

The Role of Cognitive Emotion Regulation for Making and Keeping Friend and Conflict Networks.

We used social network analysis (SNA) to examine how adaptive ER strategies (acceptance, positive reappraisal, refocusing, and putting in perspective) and maladaptive ER strategies (rumination, catastrophizing, self- and other-blame) predict the creation and maintenance of friendship and conflict relationships within a mixed-gender social group. Participants (n = 193, 53% female, M age = 19.4 years, 62.1% White) reported on emotion regulation, friendship, and conflict nominations at two time points. Stochastic actor-oriented models revealed that similarity in endorsement of adaptive ER strategies predicted maintenance of friendship and conflict relationships over time. However, new conflict relationships were more likely to form between those who differed in use of adaptive ER. Finally, more frequent use of maladaptive ER strategies was related to termination of existing conflict ties and the creation of new ones. Deploying social network analysis as a methodology for examining social relationships enables the unpacking the dynamics of multiple social relationships (friend and conflict), identifying the role of ER for structuring of social relationships among group members. Although cognitive ER is an intra-individual process, it fundamentally occurs within a social environment and our results advance the knowledge of how ER contributes to how this social environment is created in a first place.

The Effect of Prosocial and Antisocial Relationships Structure on Offenders’ Optimism towards Desistance

At the end of his career, Carlo Morselli started to be interested in how the structure of social relations could influence offenders’ prospects for reintegration and desistance. This article analyzes the data from his research project on that topic. The impacts of offenders’ relationships have traditionally been discussed from a dichotomous, risk-centered perspective opposing antisocial and prosocial peers. Social network studies allow a step back and a global view of the contexts and processes in which relationships shape trajectories. This article focuses on the ego networks of offenders as they reintegrate with society and sheds light on triadic patterns associated with increased optimism toward desistance. Interviews were conducted with residents of halfway houses (48 men and 24 women), with offenders followed by a community agency (25 men), and with incarcerated youth offenders (24 male teenagers). Structured interviews addressed multiple aspects of the lives of the offenders, including their social relations, prosocial and antisocial. A mixed-method approach was used to understand the influence of social relations in the perception of desistance potential success. First, logistic regressions were used to assess the effect of individual’s and egocentric networks’ characteristics on optimism toward desistance. Second, case studies of ego network sociograms illustrate the results and suggest hypotheses about processes that may explain them. Results show that optimism is higher when prosocial personal networks are denser, and is lower when antisocial networks are open, and as antisocial peers are connected to prosocial ties. The implications of these patterns for offenders’ desistance and network-based interventions are discussed.

Digitalization of Culture. Review of the book “Eine kurze Geschichte der Digitalisierung” by M. Burckhardt

The article reviews the book of the German culturologist M. Burkhardt “Eine kurze Geschichte der Digitalisierung”. Burckhardt considers digitalization not only as a cumulative process of technological change, but also as a value shift associated with the proliferation of digitalization into all spheres of life. Based on rich historical material, the book describes the emergence, design and implementation of various technologies that made digitalization possible. Burckhardt’s key hypothesis is that the transition to the digital age must be viewed in the context of the creation of a new structure of social relations and cultural patterns generated by digitalization. Digitalization should be described as a process that is taking place on acultural level as actively as in the economic or technological spheres. Burkhardt pays special attention to the problem of self-governance of the scientific community and the opportunities that digitalization has provided for it in the last half century. The third important theme in the book is the value of work in the digital age and the revaluation of the work process in connection with the increasing proliferation of digital technologies.

The Political Marginalization as a Communicative Strategy of Power Domination in Political Discourse

The article is dedicated to the study of political marginalization viewed as a communicative strategy, aimed at retention or attainment of political power. Political discourse, despite the perceptible tendency towards personalization of the political communication particularly noticeable in politainment, is defined as a predominantly institutional type of discourse in which the dyad ‘agent – client’ plays an important role. From the traditional standpoint of view, it is believed that agents have discursive power while clients have none. However, as the undertaken research shows, it is quite difficult to draw a distinct line between agents and clients in political discourse. The point is that using the strategy of marginalization, politicians can present themselves as non-politicians (i.e. non-agents), untypical (atypical) politicians, for example women politicians, politicians holding on to minority political views, etc. At the same time, the strategy in question is most likely unrestricted by political forms of marginalization in the sense that it can correspond to the politician’s search for selfidentification with marginal social groups whose rights are infringed upon, including national minorities and LGBT. Furthermore, even those social groups which, in fact, have long ceased to be marginal in the Western world (e.g. women) can be exploited by marginal politicians who prefer to characterize them as people who are not enjoying equal rights with elite, privileged representatives of the society (e.g. men). Thus, the study of marginalization presupposes the analysis of the complex structure of social relationships, unveiling manipulative aspects of marginalization (NB: the politician’s self-representation as the non-politician should almost always be considered as an instance of manipulation) and exploration of linguopragmatic aspects of marginalization.

Behavioural Ecology Traits of Elusive Deep-Diver Whales Unravel a Complex Social Structure Influenced by Female Philopatry and Defence Polygyny

Knowledge of the role of individual associations has provided an insightful understanding of the structures of animal societies, especially in highly social mammals such as primates. Yet, this is unbalanced towards marine mammals, particularly to beaked whales, due to their elusive nature. In addition, information on the fundamental drivers of the social structure of these deep-diving animals is still scarce. Here, the hypothesis of female defence polygyny was tested in Blainville’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) and discussed within the context of marine and terrestrial organisms displaying similar patterns, by (i) estimating residency times to obtain information on the movements into and out of the area, (ii) analysing social networks to assess individual association metrics, (iii) measuring the strength of the associations to assess the existence of preferred or avoided relationships among individuals, and (iv) modelling different social structures to address temporal patterns in social relationships. Using a 9-year photographic dataset derived from the pelagic habitat, individual associations were inferred based on likelihood techniques. This approach allowed to infer on the species’ social structure in relation to age class, sex, residency status, and spatio-temporal patterns, which can be a good practice to be applied for other taxa. Heterogeneity in capture probability and residency times was observed between age-sex classes, with adult females exhibiting long-term site fidelity. This suggests different habitat roles and spatial structuring within this social organisation. Strong and long dyadic associations occurred between adult females and immatures, contrarily to between males, and the best-fitting models of the temporal patterns suggested long-lasting and temporary associations. The present findings unravel a complex social structure stratified by age-sex class and influenced by female philopatry and defence polygyny, like an unimale group mating system, which varies from other beaked whales but is similar to some birds, pinnipeds, or non-human primates.

Logical structure of institutionalized relationship

The ability to form institutional relations is universal across our species. A culturally socialized individual could intuitively recognize the logic of the structural relationship between positions and roles, duties and capabilities for every complex social phenomenon. Institutional thinking that lies at the core of human orientation in the social world implies unity of generative operations for calculation of logical structure underlying any social relationship. From this point of view, it makes sense to talk about the system that covers a maximum range of situations with minimum rules: minimum basic generative operations to derive the logical structure of a wide range of institutionalized relationships. One of such basic generative operations is binary operation merge that recursively combines components in one structure. This article offers, as a heuristic model, alternative binary operations that generate the logical structure of institutionalized relationships universally: symmetric-pair and asymmetric-pair compositions of atomic elements. The proposed heuristic approach is based on a compositional comparison of possible structures that can be generated by simple binary operations on a finite set of elements. Simple binary operations, asymmetry and pair, allow deriving the logical structure of social relations universally such that the entire inference process can be described by a small set of procedures. Social relationship logic is intuitively recognized by the culturally socialized individual as a conclusion regarding deontic power and normative characters of relationship (rights, obligations, requirements) that based on the relational positions of structural elements (social categories, statuses, nomenclatures).

Innovation in the system of social relations

At present, considerable attention is paid to the issues of innovative development of the economy in the Russian Federation. With the development of market relations, increasingly greater attention is paid to those market mechanisms that contribute to the development of the level of production and consumption of economic benefits, as well as an increase in the level of well-being of the country's citizens. Undoubtedly, the innovative mechanism also belongs to such mechanisms. The purpose of the study is to determine the essence of innovation as a market mechanism within the system of social relations, as well as to determine its role and place as an element of the system of economic relations. To achieve the goal of the study, the structure of social relations was built on the basis of their classification “by the subject of regulation”, the functions of innovations as a market mechanism, as well as their interaction with other elements of economic and social relations, were examined, the issues of the formation of an innovative climate were investigated, the factors influencing the demand for innovations in the economy of the Russian Federation were identified.