The paradox of victory: social movement fields,adverse outcomes,and social movement success

Theory and Society - Recent work on social movement fields has expanded our view of the dynamics of social movements; it should also expand our thinking about social movement success. Such a...     

A theoretical framework for comparisons of social movement participation

This article attempts to draft a framework for the comparison of movement participation. The standards of comparison I developed at the movement level were the magnitude of mobilization potentials, the composition of multiorganizational fields, organizational characteristics, and action orientation. Utilizing this framework, I compared mobilization campaigns for three different types of activities conducted by three different movements: a campaign conducted by a labor union for, possibly, a strike, a campaign of the Dutch peace movement in a local community for a national demonstration, and campaigns by women's groups in a community for a variety of activities. I explain differences in motivational dynamics and levels of participation in terms of differing movement characteristics. Finally, I discuss the advantages of comparative work on social movements.     

Teaching about near-death experiences: the effectiveness of using The Day I Died

In this article, we reviewed results of research on near-death experiences (NDEs) over the past 3 decades and examined the effect of viewing the hour-long 2002 BBC documentary The Day I Died: The Mind, the Brain, and Near-Death Experiences on accurate knowledge about near-death experiences among advanced undergraduates at a southwestern university. In a quasi-experimental research design, the experimental group completed a 20-item questionnaire before and after viewing the documentary (n = 66; 45 females, 21 males), and the waitlist control group completed the questionnaire as pre- and posttest before viewing the documentary (n = 39; 36 female, 3 male). The two groups' scores at pretest were not significantly different (p > .05). Group by occasion repeated measures ANOVA revealed the experimental group's posttest scores moved significantly in the direction of correctness with a large effect size (p < .001; eta2 = .56), whereas waitlist control group posttest scores remained similar to pretest scores. We discuss two exceptions to the effectiveness of the documentary and recommendations for educators using it as well as for future research.     

Small town renewal

Smalltowners are not as ambivalent about their towns as community developers. This article emphasized the importance of engaging in community analysis — identifying priority problems and needs, and the degree of external penetration; profiling community social, economic, political and value systems while probing the purposes of (re)development. Four distinct orientations — categorical, comprehensive, integrative, and dialogical — are presented. Three orientations were used in an Appalachian town. No one development orientation is the best. Instead, much depends upon how willing; able and how much effort the participants put forth.     

Perspectives on early adolescence

Processes of separation-individuation and mourning are examined in detail for their applicability to the early adolescent phase of development. Similarities and differences are noted, with emphasis placed on the differences in an attempt to achieve greater theoretical precision. Through a series of songs written by a relatively well functioning adolescent girl between the ages of eleven and fifteen, a view of early adolescent development related to affect states is offered for consideration.