Downward Social Mobility Across Generations: The Role of Parental Mobility and Education

Intergenerational downward social mobility is an issue of growing relevance, but there are still very few studies examining possible risk factors for dropping down the occupational hierarchy. On the basis of unique longitudinal interview and register data from Sweden, this study analyses the roles played by parental upward mobility and parental levels of education in downward mobility. Elements from cultural capital theory (CCT) are investigated as possible mechanisms for explaining the relationship between independent and dependent factors. Whereas the study fails to find support for the role of parental mobility, the parents' level of education turns out to be a powerful predictor of downward mobility. And whereas the measure of cultural capital presents a weak or non-existent relationship with the dependent variable, two attitudinal variables, employed as indicators of habitus and a possible don Quixote effect, do present a significant relationship with the risk for downward mobility. However, while the study hypothesized these attitudes to be mediating mechanisms that might explain the relationship between parental educational level and downward mobility, in the multivariate analyses the attitudinal measures instead turn out to have an independent effect in addition to the parental level of education.Intergenerational Downward Mobility, Parental Mobility, Parental Educational Level, Cultural Capital Theory, Longitudinal Study

Drivkrafter bakom klassresan - kvantitativa data i fallstudiebelysning

I studien görs ett försök att belysa ett kvantitativt datamaterial (Stockholm Birth Cohort Study) med kunskap från en fallstudie. Fallstudien i fråga är idéhistorikern Ronny Ambjörnssons självbiografiska berättelse om klassresan och dess drivkrafter. Ur berättelsen genereras centrala begrepp som sedan analyseras kvantitativt för olika grupper med hänsyn till klassmässigt ursprung och destination. Ambjörnssons berättelse är idéhistoriskt förankrad, men då även det datamaterial som här används i viss mån är socialhistoriskt, bedömdes tillvägagångssättet som fruktbart. Studiens främsta syfte är att öka kunskapen om socialpsykologiska mekanismer av central betydelse för social mobilitet. Faktorer som studeras i relation till social rörlighet är ursprungsfamiljens grad av skötsamhetskultur, föräldrarnas aspirationer för barnet, deras attityder till högre utbildning samt deras prestationsförväntningar på barnet. Jämförande analyser görs för barn från mindre respektive mer privilegierade ursprungsmiljöer, där barnet antingen kom att bli uppåtrörligt eller inte, respektive där barnet kom att befästa en privilegierad samhällsposition alternativt inte göra det. Bland studiens resultat kan för det första nämnas att graden av skötsamhetskultur i ursprungsfamiljen är positivt relaterad till sannolikheten att barnet skall bli uppåtrörligt, detta i linje med vad vi skulle förvänta oss utifrån Ambjörnsson. För det andra visade analyserna att graden av prestationsförväntningar var positivt relaterad till sannolikheten att barn från mindre privilegierade förhållanden skulle bli uppåtrörliga, medan prestationsförväntningarna istället var negativt relaterade till sannolikheten att barn från mer privilegierade förhållanden skulle befästa en i samhällshierarkin privilegierad position.klassresa

Social nedåtrörlighet mellan generationer. En prövning av tre perspektiv.

INTERGENERATIONAL DOWNWARD MOBILITY – A TEST OF THREE THEORIES The study uses the unique longitudinal database The Stockholm Birth Cohort Study (SBC) to test three explanatory perspectives to intergenerational downward social mobility. Support is received for two of the three perspectives, but when analyses are performed for boys and girls separately, the explanations turn out to be gender specific. For girls structural factors are of importance, in the sense that longer family traditions of high education and high job positions are needed for them to follow in the footsteps of their parents, than what tends to be the case for boys. For boys instead, individual factors are better predictors of downward social mobility. Absence from compulsory school and drug abuse are related to downward social mobility for boys, while not for girls.intergenerational; social mobility

Social mobilitet och yrkestillfredsställelse - spelar mamma och pappa någon roll?

In this paper the relationship between intergenerational social mobility and occupational satisfaction is being explored, using data from The Stockholm Birth Cohort Study (SBC). The study tests a hypothesis according to which individuals, when as adults evaluating their occupational status, tend to compare themselves to their parents. No support is found for this perspective. Instead the differences in occupational satisfaction that exist can be explained by occupational status at time of interview, regardless of class of origin. Generally the level of occupational satisfaction among the respondents is very high – only some 12 percent state that they wish to radically change their occupational status.intergenerational social mobility; occupational satisfaction; instrumental attitude towards work; aspirations; rational choice

Det effektiva samhället eller det goda livet? Svenska framtidsstudier om arbetsliv och fritid från 1970- till 1990-tal.

The study analyzes three generations of future studies on work life and leisure, performed at the Secretariat and later the Swedish Institute for Future Studies. The ideal types of Tore Frängsmyr, “The efficient society” and “The good life”, are used as analytical tools. The primary information consists of program declarations and reports from projects in the 1970- 1980- and 1990s. In the 1970s the original plan to produce a final report failed, and the analyses here show that differences in terms of the ideal types here used could explain the failure. While in one of the reports studied, the focus is on how Sweden is to maintain a high export ratio and a prominent position in international competition, the two other reports are written from an explicit Marxist perspective and discuss how the sharp split between work and leisure in modern capitalist societies could be remedied. That is, while the first report is focused on “The efficient society”, the two latter deal exclusively with a version of “The good life”. The final report from the project of the 1980s is characterized by a reserved, but still in some sense accepting, attitude towards the high-technological society. Utopian thoughts of a completely different society are non-existing, but the discussion mainly focuses on ways to make high-technological society as tolerable as possible to humans. In terms of the here used terminology the report can be said to deal with “The good life” within the realms of “The efficient society”. In the final report from the 1990s the point of departure is that industrial society is being replaced by a new post-industrial one. Unlike in earlier projects here studied, the entire discussion of driving forces behind societal development is on the structural level. The possibilities of individuals to shape their future seem small or non-existing. Neither are consequences at the individual level of structural development in focus. It’s is difficult to label the report according to the ideal types “The efficient society” and “The good life” respectively, mainly since it aims at pure description of the development at structural level, rather than it offers a value-based discussion on how to shape future society. Finally in the study the general lack of continuity and cumulativity within future studies is discussed, and a call is made for increased documentation and research of the history of the field.futures studies; work life; leisure; 1970-1990

Utsatthetens olika ansikten: Begreppsöversikt och analys

This paper has two purposes: the first is to give an introduction to and an analysis of the most important concepts for describing social disadvantage in contemporary Sweden – poverty, social exclusion and the concept “utanförskap”. The latter is difficult to give a proper English translation. The closest may be “alienation”, but in a more general sense than the Marxist one. Besides the fact that all these concepts have been used and are being used within academia, they have also been the subject of political struggle. Both of these arenas are treated in the paper. The second purpose is to discuss these concepts in relation to the research project “Causes and consequences of social alienation” at the Institute for Futures Studies. Despite the name of the project we argue that the well established concept of “Social exclusion” is better suited to be used as an analytical tool within the project. While the concept of utanförskap/alientation in contemporary Swedish political debate lacks a proper theoretical definition, it has in the academic sphere first and foremost been used in a social psychological sense, rather than in analyses of external observable factors such as unemployment and economic disadvantage. It is the latter type of analyses that are the focus of the research project.Social disadvantage; Poverty; Social exclusion; Discrimination; Welfare

The political determinants of housing benefits

Housing benefits differ substantially across countries. In this paper, we apply power resource theory, developed primarily in relation to the emergence and subsequent expansion of social citizenship, to housing policy. The purpose is to analyse the political determinants of housing benefits, and particularly the role of left parties and the partisan mobilization of labour. The empirical analyses are based on new housing benefit data for 31 affluent democracies from the period 2001-2018. The results of a series of fixed effects pooled time-series regressions show that the strength of left government is positively associated with the size of housing benefits. However, the positive influence of left cabinets is conditional on the relative size of rental housing and the fractionalization of the party system. Our findings highlight the need to combine actor-oriented explanations of the welfare state with theories about the corporatist power structures of society

The spiritual way to desistance?

Abstract In the years 2001-2019, the Swedish Prison and Probation Service operated religious retreat activities at the high-security prison in Kumla, to which prisoners serving long-term sentences could apply. While the activities were not specifically implemented to reduce recidivism, a process evaluation conducted in 2014-2016 showed that the participants expressed great hope that these experiences would help them desist from crime. The current study examines actual rates of desistance and recidivism among former participants in the religious activities. The study uses data from the Swedish Prison and Probation Service covering inmates released between 2013 and 2019. Propensity score matching is applied. Prior to matching, former inmates who participated in the religious activities were considerably less likely to be reconvicted within three years of release (37 percent) compared to those who did not participate (59 percent). After matching, however, while estimates were still indicative of a recidivistic effect, they no longer reached statistical significance. One interpretation is that given, e.g., their age and type of sentence, the participants already had such a low risk of recidivism as to make further reduction difficult to achieve. Under åren 2001-2019 bedrev Kriminalvården i Sverige en kristen retreatverksamhet på anstalten Kumla, dit långtidsdömda fångar kunde söka sig. Det övergripande syftet med aktiviteterna var inte att minska återfall. En tidigare processutvärdering har dock visat att deltagarna var hoppfulla att deras erfarenheter från retreaterna skulle hjälpa dem att minska återfallsrisken. Syftet med den här studien är därför att analysera upphörande av brott och återfall för tidigare deltagare i klosterverksamheten. I studien används svenska kriminalvårdsdata för alla intagna under åren 2013-2019. Analysmetoden som nyttjas är Propensity score matching. Innan matchning visar resultatet att det var mindre vanligt att de som hade deltagit i retreatverksamheten återföll (37 procent) i jämförelse med de som inte hade deltagit (59 procent). Efter matchning gick resultatet i samma riktning, dock kunde inga signifikanta skillnader konstateras mellan grupperna. En tolkning är att deltagarna i klosterverksamheten, på grund av t ex ålder och typ av straff, redan har en låg risk för återfall, vilket gör det svårt att uppnå signifikanta skillnader

A narrative review on analysing and reporting research conducted using Talking Mats®, an inclusive communication tool

BACKGROUND: Talking Mats® is a visual communication tool which can support people to express their views. Talking Mats has been used in research as a more inclusive data collection tool, however, analysing the varied data produced by Talking Mats is challenging, and there is a lack of guidance on how to analyse and report these data. OBJECTIVE: We sought to provide an overview of ways in which Talking Mats data have been analysed and reported. METHODS: We conducted a narrative review of studies that reported using Talking Mats to collect empirical data, to examine how these studies analysed and reported these data. RESULTS: Studies used qualitative analysis techniques, such as: thematic, content, conversation, and framework analysis. Studies also reported clinical and research case studies and observations of non-verbal communication. Quantitative analyses were used less often, and involved transforming qualitative data into quantitative data (e.g., observing symbol placements). Many studies did not describe their methods in sufficient depth. CONCLUSIONS: We developed the Talking Mats Reporting Criteria to support researchers and practitioners to describe their Talking Mats protocols. These Reporting Criteria were developed iteratively and collaboratively between Talking Mats experts and members of the Talking Mats Research Network. Researchers and practitioners should describe their analytical approach in further detail and report the Talking Mats Effectiveness Framework of Functional Communication