Inside and Outside the For-Profit Nursing Home: Some External Determinants of Inside Power Relations

This paper offers a conceptual model for understanding how and in what ways externally determined factors affect power arrangements within a for-profit nursing home setting. Specifically, this paper links the activities of nursing homes as profit seekers to federal legislation and the activities of strategically structured interests which seek to socialize their costs. Additionally, it shows how social distinctions and other factors which have their origins external to the nursing home setting have consequences for what takes place inside. The model posits that it is those people who are members of society\u27s more privileged groups (professional white males) who will get access to positions of power in part because members must go outside the organization into the greater society to obtain the certification which will allow them to occupy powerful positions. Consequently, those who have power inside the organization (professional white males) are very similar to those who have power in the greater society. Moreover, observational data indicate that those statuses which members of the nursing home enter with are associated with patterns of interaction and levels of control and authority. Finally, there is an attempt to spell out the implications of such findings and an attempt to show how government and community (non) involvement (could) affect relationships internal to the nursing home

Theory and Research in Social Movements: A Critical Review

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/51075/1/307.pd

Life at the Edge: Precarity and Economic Insecurity in Illinois and the United States

This report examines precarity and economic insecurity in the United States and Illinois. Precarity is a condition that exists when there is little predictability or security with respect to a person’s material well-being or psychological welfare. The author provides an overview of patterns that undergird precarity by presenting trends in economic well-being before, during and after the Great Recession. The Great Recession had a human toll that went beyond the worsening financial status of families. It sapped many Americans of their hope and optimism about the future. It took from them the idea that they could achieve the American Dream. The realities of economic crisis dashed the dreams of millions. It led people to be afraid, angry, worried, and even outraged. It made people feel as if they were living on the edge. In short, it has led to precarity. Precarity has far-reaching social effects. One of these is the decline in the feeling of being part of the national social collective. Another is that it decomposes social bonds. The decline of secure employment has also produced terrified reactions from those who fear that values such as trust, community spirit, and the importance of work are collapsing. Of course, there are also psychological and emotional effects of precarity. Anxiety about slipping in status becomes a general social condition. Another effect is psychological over-arousal or a sense of relative deprivation. And a final invisible effect of precarity is widespread psychological pain. There are also demographic and social effects of precarity. For example, people are less likely to have children when their finances and relationships are insecure. Young adults are less likely to leave the homes of their parents. And, perhaps people are less likely to take reasonable risks that could improve their lives. </div

Political Disaffection and Alienated Politics: Explaining Declines in Support for the American State (Crisis).

This study began by observing that since the mid 1960's, support for America's political institutions has declined drastically, as growing proportions of Americans came to believe that their political institutions were not responsive to their problems, needs, and interests. It then examined two general approaches to explaining trends in support for political systems: (1) political disaffection theories, which posit that such trends reflect either (a) the "spirit of the times" brought about by large-scale historical events which affect the general population in a similar fashion, (b) changes in political personality and culture which result from demographic changes in the society, or (c) levels of satisfaction with politically-relevant issues and policies which have differential effects on various interest groups in the society; and (2) alienated politics theories, which argue that declines in support for the political system reflect the state's inability to engender the belief that its actions (which seek to facilitate capital accumulation for capitalists and corporations) are in the interests of all of the people. These formulations were tested empirically. Spirit of the times and political personality and culture theories were eliminated as viable explanations of the trends because of results which were contrary to their basic predictions. Partial support for political interest group and alienated politics theories was found. In light of these findings, an alternative model was proposed and empirically tested. This model posited that the driving force toward increasingly negative assessments of America's political institutions is increases in levels of economic misery. It argued that the capitalist state generally acts to support the interests of dominant groups; however, under conditions of economic contraction and stagflation (or disaccumulation), even those groups which do not ordinarily experience state policies as deleterious to their interests begin to see the political institutions as ineffective and unresponsive to their needs and interests. Other macro level factors (e.g., level of state indebtedness, welfare spending, and level of subsidy to industry), as well as sociodemographic characteristics, changes in the effects of sociodemographics over time, underdog group consciousness, political alienation, and period effects were also posited as factors which have affected changes in assessments of the state's legitimacy. Though not all relationships conformed to expectations, substantial support was found for this explanation, as findings were consistent with key propositions.Ph.D.SociologyUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/160674/1/8520916.pd

Business Wealth and the Composition of Ownership Teams in New Firms: The Role of Homophily and Diversity

Although there is a growing body of research that suggests a positive association between racial diversity and positive business outcomes, there is a long-standing literature on homophily—the general tendency for individuals in organizations to associate and bond with similar others. But do business organizations benefit from either diversity or homophily? This paper investigates this question. Using data from a nationally representative sample of more than 1,700 business startups from the Kauffman Firm Survey, the multivariate analysis examines the relationship between the diversity or homophily of the founding ownership teams of business startups and their net worth (wealth). The analysis shows that, net of firm characteristics and human capital characteristics, startups with racially diverse founding teams have higher net worth than their homophilous counterparts. The implications of these findings are explored