Social Causes of Psychological DistressRoutledge, 05.07.2017 - 320 Seiten A core interest of social science is the study of stratification--inequalities in income, power, and prestige. Few persons would care about such inequalities if the poor, powerless, and despised were as happy and fulfilled as the wealthy, powerful, and admired. Social research often springs from humanistic empathy and concern as much as from scholarly and scientific curiosity. An economist might observe that black Americans are disproportionately poor, and investigate racial differences in education, employment, and occupation that account for disproportionate poverty. A table comparing additional income blacks and whites can expect for each additional year of education is thus as interesting in its own right as any dinosaur bone or photo of Saturn. However, something more than curiosity underscores our interest in the table. Racial differences in status and income are a problem in the human sense. Inequality in misery makes social and economic inequality personally meaningful. There are two ways social scientists avoid advocacy in addressing issues of social stratification. The first way is to resist projecting personal beliefs, values, and responses as much as possible, while recognizing that the attempt is never fully successful. The second way is by giving the values of the subjects an expression in the research design. Typically, this takes the form of opinion or attitude surveys. Researchers ask respondents to rate the seriousness of crimes, the appropriateness of a punishment for a crime, the prestige of occupations, the fair pay for a job, or the largest amount of money a family can earn and not be poor, and so on. The aggregate judgments, and variations in judgments, represent the values of the subjects and not those of the researcher. They are objective facts with causes and consequences of interest in their own right. This work is an effort to move methodology closer to human concerns without sacrificing the scientific grounds of research as such. The |
Inhalt
21 | |
SOCIAL PATTERNS OF DISTRESS | 73 |
EXPLAINING THE PATTERNS | 157 |
CONCLUSION | 251 |
Description of Data Sets and Measures | 278 |
References | 289 |
Index | 313 |
Andere Ausgaben - Alle anzeigen
Social Causes of Psychological Distress John Mirowsky,Catherine E. Ross Eingeschränkte Leseprobe - 2003 |
Häufige Begriffe und Wortgruppen
adulthood adults alienation American ASOC survey associated average behavior beliefs Catherine E child consequences correlation cortisol decreases depressed mood depression and anxiety diagnosis drugs economic hardship effect emotional well-being employed employment equity theory experience explain feel gender gap Gove greater groups higher household income husbands impact increases individuals Kessler Kohn learned helplessness levels of depression lives locus of control lung cancer malaise marital Mark Vonnegut marriage married measure mental health Mirowsky and Ross mistrust mothers neighborhood disadvantage neighborhood disorder neurotransmitter nomic norepinephrine normlessness one's outcomes parental divorce parenthood patterns of distress Pearlin perceived control percent personal control problems psychiatric psychological distress reduces relationships response role Ross and Mirowsky sample schizophrenia sense of control sense of personal sense of powerlessness social patterns social support stress stressors studies symptoms things tion U.S. Census Bureau undesirable events Wheaton wives women