Clinical Sociology and Preventing Nuclear War

This paper outlines major kinds of social science research, especially sociological, that have relevance for nuclear war prevention and that would be relevant to a variety of clients. Research that has been done as well as work that could be done to help prevent nuclear war are noted. The research topics are related to policy suggestions about lessening the risks of nuclear war. The emphasis is on research relevant to a wide range of US clients and who are not operating in a very short time frame

Assessing Past Strategies for Countering Terrorism, in Lebanon and by Libya

American strategies to deal with terrorist attacks against Americans in Lebanon in the 1980s and by Libya since the beginning of the 1980s are examined. The consequences of the various strategies employed by U.S. government officials over time and the strategies employed by American non-governmental actors and by international organizations are compared. In addition, alternative strategies that might plausibly have been employed are also discussed. Official actions that relied largely on military methods and were conducted unilaterally tended to be less effective, even counterproductive, compared to actions that were multilateral and relied significantly on diplomatic approaches, often aided by intermediaries

In Writing These Reflections, I Realize I Should Re-read Goffman for New Insights on Contemporary Conflict Resolution Issues

Dr. Louis Kriesberg, Maxwell Professor Emeritus of Social Conflict Studies at Syracuse University, wrote this memoir at the request of Dmitri Shalin and gave his permission to post the present version in the Erving Goffman Archives

On Advancing Truth and Morality in Conflict Resolution

Excerpt The editors of this special issue have articulated many dilemmas facing workers in the fields of conflict analysis and resolution. One way they characterize the difficulties, described by Arthur Koestler , is balancing between spiritually-directed, but socially ineffective activism like that of a Yogi or acting like a Commissar disregarding the means used in order to achieve desirable socioeconomic transformations. This matter is often argued . Some people assert that a wellmeaning person\u27s actions often result in undesired effects, while the person ready to act brutally provides widespread benefits. On the other hand, others argue that acting harshly in order to produce good results is doomed to fail and have ill effects

Research and Policy Implications

This article focuses on intractable conflicts and how they are transformed. Specific attention is given to the kinds of questions raised by research on such conflicts as well as the policy implications of selected research efforts

Retail Furrier: Concepts of security and Success

The separation of the artisan function into specialized manufacturing, distributing, and retailing occupations has occurred in most trades. In studying a contemporary example of this process, different occupational values were found to be associated with different occupational situations. retail furriers operating custom fur shops think of the secure furrier in self-oriented terms; those operating business fur shops think of the secure furrier in customer-oriented terms. Because of the nature of success in the United States and the social organization of the retail fur trade, less difference was noted in their characterization of the successful furrier

Careers, Organization Size, and Succession

The analysis is based upon data from a national study of heads of public health and mental health programs at the state and local levels. Consistent with Grusky\u27s findings, heads of large public health and of large mental health departments at the state level tend to have shorter tenure periods than heads of small departments. Although the positions are filled by political appointment, the professional requirements are sufficiently important that the mechanisms discussed by Grusky can operate. furthermore, the kind of career line, itinerant or home guard, also is relevant; this helps the findings that at the local level length of tenure is not inversely related to organization size

Occupational Controls Among Steel distributors

A steel gray market, condemned by the government, flourished in the period following the outbreak of hostilities in Korea. The steel-distribution system was analyzed to understand why some distributors participated in the gray market and others did not. Distributors were typed according to their relationship to the distribution system; each type experienced different degrees of control from suppliers, customers, and colleagues; and the norms prescribed by these agents of control also differed. This analysis then suggested some general observations about the nature of occupational norms and occupational organization