The Ephemeral Civilization is an astonishing intellectual feat in which Graeme Snooks develops an original and ground-breaking analysis of changing sociopolitical forms over the past 3,000 years. Snooks challenges the prevailing theories of social evolutionism with an innovative approach which also looks ahead to the twenty-first century. The Ephemeral Civilization builds on the model of dynamic strategy outlined in the author's highly acclaimed companion volume, The Dynamic Society. The Ephemeral Society is divided into three parts - theory, history and future.

The second and expanded edition of this award-winning book provides the most up-to-date and important efforts for improving the quality of life in communities around the world. It focuses on community improvements in relation to the interdisciplinary field of clinical sociology. The first part of the book includes updated analyses of important concepts and tools for community intervention. It discusses the importance of centrally involving community members in all phases of community development activities. Part II includes several completely new chapters and focuses on projects in a number of countries -- the United States, Brazil, South Africa, Canada, the Philippines and France. It covers topics such as establishing human rights cities; involving and empowering local communities; research in communities; the healthy cities movement; and climate change. This edition includes several new gender-focused chapters, addressing local level initiatives based on the recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination and Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), women in prison, and gender factors in climate risk. The appendices include profiles of outstanding practitioners and scholar-practitioners over the last 100 years. This edition includes contributions from well-known scholars and practitioners in clinical sociology and is of interest to sociologists, social policy makers, social workers, and sustainability researchers. The first edition of this book received the Distinguished Scholarly Book Award from the Clinical Sociology Division of the International Sociological Association.

This book has been defined around three important issues: the first sheds light on how people, in various philosophical, religious, and political contexts, understand the natural environment, and how the relationship between the environment and the body is perceived; the second focuses on the perceptions that a particular natural environment is good or bad for human health and examines the reasons behind such characterizations ; the third examines the promotion, in history, of specific practices to take advantage of the health benefits, or avoid the harm, caused by certain environments and also efforts made to change environments supposed to be harmful to human health. The feeling and/or the observation that the natural environment can have effects on human health have been, and are still commonly shared throughout the world. This led us to raise the issue of the links observed and believed to exist between human beings and the natural environment in a broad chronological and geographical framework. In this investigation, we bring the reader from ancient and late imperial China to the medieval Arab world up to medieval, modern, and contemporary Europe. This book does not examine these relationships through the prism of the knowledge of our modern contemporary European experience, which, still too often, leads to the feeling of totally different worlds. Rather, it questions protagonists who, in different times and in different places, have reflected, on their own terms, on the links between environment and health and tries to obtain a better understanding of why these links took the form they did in these precise contexts. This book targets an academic readership as well as an "informed audience", for whom present issues of environment and health can be nourished by the reflections of the past.

"The Blackwell Companion to Sociology" is a milestone collection of new essays by renowned sociologists, covering both the traditions and strengths of the field as well as newer developments and directions.
Contains 31 definitive essays by an international panel of renowned figures in sociology
Covers traditional topics in sociology, such as theory, stratification, political sociology, and the sociology of education and social movements, as well as emerging areas such as immigration studies, the sociology of space and time, and the sociology of intimate relations and religion
Considers the most recent advances in communications, political mobilization, and analyses of the nation-state, reflecting the rapid changes wrought by globalization
Includes a comprehensive list of sociological data resources available on the web.

Authors from the US, UK, Europe and elsewhere have contributed to this all-in-one reference work highlighting the relevance of interdisciplinary and international perspectives, while at the same time representing the scope and quality of sociology in its current form.

The "Chicago School" was the first major school of sociology in the USA, dominating the field for the first thirty-five years of the 20th century. In addition it was central as a training centre for students, going on to train generations of sociologists, and its impact has been enormous throughout this century. Starting with the earliest debates within Northern American sociology, pragmatic philosophy, and the Chicago School itself, this set provides key readings from contemporary journals and scholarly publications, which situate the School, give access to major documents through the edited selections of key studies and texts, and help the reader to understand the critical development of the tradition.

Rapid regeneration of city areas has placed the quality of urban design high on public and policy agendas worldwide. This work examines the achievement of quality in the urban environment, in a planning context. Tracing urban design from its roots, the authors draw on both historical and current practices to examine the key physical, political and economic forces at play and the social pressures and impacts brought about by both failures and achievements in urban design. This illustrated critique of towns and cities draws on examples from across Western Europe, South Africa and USA to examine both public and private sector development practices, controls and fiscal policies within a diverse range of localities. The authors indicate the need for a reinstitution of region-provincial approaches, for closer co-ordination bewteen sectors, and revised fiscal policies in planning and development in order to enhance the quality of urban social experience and environments.

The evolution of digital media has enhanced global perspectives in all facets of communication, greatly increasing the range, scope, and accessibility of shared information. Due to the tremendously broad-reaching influence of digital media, its impact on learning, behavior, and social interaction has become a widely discussed topic of study, synthesizing the research of academic scholars, community educators, and developers of civic programs. The Handbook of Research on the Societal Impact of Digital Media is an authoritative reference source for recent developments in the dynamic field of digital media. This timely publication provides an overview of technological developments in digital media and their myriad applications to literacy, education, and social settings. With its extensive coverage of issues related to digital media use, this handbook is an essential aid for students, instructors, school administrators, and education policymakers who hope to increase and optimize classroom incorporation of digital media. This innovative publication features current empirical studies and theoretical frameworks addressing a variety of topics including chapters on instant messaging, podcasts, video sharing, cell phone and tablet applications, e-discussion lists, e-zines, e-books, e-textiles, virtual worlds, social networking, cyberbullying, and the ethical issues associated with these new technologies.

"Big freeze" conditions, storms, severe flooding, droughts, and heatwaves - recent extremes in weather, with their resultant physical, economic and human losses, highlight the vulnerability of society to changes in the atmosphere. Atmospheric pollution, urbanization, natural atmospheric disasters are causing dramatic changes in climatic environments. This study examines the effects of climate on physical, biological and cultural environments. Specialist contributors from Europe, North America and Australasia examine the impacts of changing climates on the functioning and development of physical biological environments including glaciers, water resources, landforms, soils, vegetation and animals. Weather and climate effects day-to-day activities and lifestyles from the clothes we wear to the buildings we design, and the food and energy we produce. This book focuses on the relationship between climate and a wide range of human activities and responses relating to health and comfort, building design, transport systems, agriculture and fisheries, tourism and social, industrial and legal issues.

One of the most seductive topics in recent years is the field of social capital - the webs of trust, mutual obligation, and cultural knowledge that flow through local information - that yield resources in human-scale associations of individuals. When we ask about the implications for children's learning and performance in the school institution, however, the construct quickly becomes slippery to hold. The 2001 volume provides five papers that offer empirical evidence on the nature and life of social capital across diverse ethnic groups and cultural settings. These fresh studies delve into the resources embedded in Latino and Asian-American peer groups, how immigrant parents' networks and norms variably push their children to achieve in school, and how teenagers' involvement in ethnic-rooted churches contribute social capital. The volume includes three commentaries, authored by David Baker, Patricia Fernandez-Kelly, and Raymond Wong, and a review chapter by the editors.

As we begin a new century, the astonishing spread of nationally and internationally accessible computer-based communication networks has touched the imagination of people everywhere. Suddenly, the Internet is in everyday parlance, featured in talk shows, in special business "technology" sections of major newspapers, and on the covers of national magazines. If the Internet is a new world of social behavior it is also a new world for those who study social behavior. This volume is a compendium of essays and research reports representing how researchers are thinking about the social processes of electronic communication and its effects in society. Taken together, the chapters comprise a first gathering of social psychological research on electronic communication and the Internet.
The authors of these chapters work in different disciplines and have different goals, research methods, and styles. For some, the emergence and use of new technologies represent a new perspective on social and behavioral processes of longstanding interest in their disciplines. Others want to draw on social science theories to understand technology. A third group holds to a more activist program, seeking guidance through research to improve social interventions using technology in domains such as education, mental health, and work productivity. Each of these goals has influenced the research questions, methods, and inferences of the authors and the "look and feel" of the chapters in this book.
Intended primarily for researchers who seek exposure to diverse approaches to studying the human side of electronic communication and the Internet, this volume has three purposes:
* to illustrate how scientists are thinking about the social processes and effects of electronic communication;
* to encourage research-based contributions to current debates on electronic communication design, applications, and policies; and
* to suggest, by example, how studies of electronic communication can contribute to social science itself.

How far have we progressed from the days when showing a film such as Jack Smith 's Flaming Creatures landed the cinema 's programmer, projectionist, and ticket taker in jail? What are some of the hidden clues modern audiences are overlooking in older films that suggest a character 's bisexuality? Which famous actors, actresses, directors, and screenwriters were attracted to people of both sexes? In Bisexual Characters in Film, the first book to focus on the role of bisexual characters in film, you ll find answers to these questions and many more as you explore, analyze, and celebrate 80 years of bisexual movie characters (and the people who have created them) from around the world. A lively, entertaining, and informative commentary, this book examines the treatment of bisexual film characters and shows you how that treatment has been affected by societal forces such as censorship, politics, religious prejudices, homophobia, and sexual stereotypes. Bisexual Characters in Film looks at the contribution of bisexual people (and others who have had lovers of varying sexes) to the body of work available on film today. These include the directors, writers, actors, composers, and designers whose sexual orientation has informed their work. An analysis of the Motion Picture Production Code and its devastating effect on bisexual and homosexual screen images forms an important part of the book. You learn how, specifically, it eradicated gay, lesbian, and bisexual characters from Hollywood films as well as the role of bisexual, lesbian, and gay filmmakers in finally defeating it. Other questions you ll find answers to include: Who, or what, is a bisexual?How were bisexual characters represented in silent film, before the forces of censorship banned them from the screen?What bisexual myths and stereotypes are portrayed on film?What is the role of "camp" in bisexual film?Bisexual Characters in Film is a unique resource for researchers; librarians; film festival planners; the queer media; professors and students of lesbian, gay, and bisexual studies; bisexual activists; and general bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgendered readers. It provides a much-needed view of bisexual representations in a major segment of our popular culture.

The author argues that there are specific turning points in evolution. Structures and behavioral patterns that evolved in the service of discrete functions sometimes allow for unforeseen new developments as a side effect. In retrospect, they have proven to be pre-adaptations, and serve as raw material for natural selection to work upon.

"Love and Hate" was intended to complement Konrad Lorenz's book, "On Aggression," by pointing out our motivations to provide nurturing, and thus to counteract and correct the widespread but one-sided opinion that biologists always present nature as bloody in tooth and claw and intra-specific aggression as the prime mover of evolution. This simplistic image is, nonetheless, still with us, all the more regrettably because it hampers discussion across scholarly disciplines. Eibl-Eibesfeldt argues that leaders in individualized groups are chosen for their pro-social abilities. Those who comfort group members in distress, who are able to intervene in quarrels and to protect group members who are attacked, those who share, those who, in brief, show abilities to nurture, are chosen by the others as leaders, rather than those who use their abilities in competitive ways. Of course, group leaders may need, beyond their pro-social competence, to be gifted as orators, war leaders, or healers. Issues of love and hate are social in origin and hence social in consequence. Life has emerged on this planet in a succession of new forms, from the simplest algae to man--man the one being who reflects upon this creation, who seeks to fashion it himself and who, in the process, may end by destroying it. It would indeed be grotesque if the question of the meaning of life were to be solved in this way.

As the author notes in the preface of this new edition: "I discuss the phylogenetic origin of our behavior and motivations, which provide the basis for our cultural evolution and thus for our humanitarian hopes." In language that is clear and accessible throughout, arguing forcefully for the innate and "preprogrammed" dispositions of behavior in higher vertebrates, including humans, Eibl-Eibesfeldt steers a middle course in discussing the development of cultural and ethical norms while insisting on their matrix of biological origins.

The physical environment--its preservation, protection, and conservation--has become an urgent agenda for international marketers. Many marketing professionals have acknowledged that, in order to succeed, it is crucial that they integrate environmental considerations into their marketing strategies. Green Marketing in a Unified Europe gives marketing professionals insight into the opportunities available to competitively position themselves in the green environment, providing some companies with a much-needed strategic boost.Addressing the issue of green marketing at empirical and conceptual levels, contributors to Green Marketing in a Unified Europe give readers examples of how green marketing can be effectively integrated into international marketing. Chapters reveal green marketing's repercussions on the corporate world, on governments and governmental agencies, and on societies. Marketing professionals learn the specifics of: European green marketing strategies the practice of sustainable development in Europe eco-friendly companies and their practices consumer green environmentalism European public policy and the green environmentThese chapters represent a compilation of current research on green marketing and the European and/or international communities. This information provides marketing professionals and government policymakers with a good research base for developing effective green marketing policies, rules, and regulations in their own countries and companies. Readers learn of opportunities for businesses to competitively position themselves through an environment-friendly philosophy or through a stronger pro-environment stance.Marketing professionals, academics interested in public policy and green/environmental marketing, multinational companies, and practitioners hoping to jump on the "green" bandwagon will find Green Marketing in a Unified Europe an invaluable guide to learning how sustainable development affects policy-making in the European Union. They can then see how green marketing consequently impacts upon their own practices in Europe and in other regions with green marketing policies.

Sexual Coercion in Dating Relationships represents the next generation of research in the area of sexual coercion. This collection of critical analyses of current research and possible directions for future research benefits all researchers, counselors, and educators who need to thoroughly understand research efforts in this field. The clear analyses allow readers to evaluate critical issues and progress in the field to date.Outside of research and feminist communities, sexual coercion is frequently minimized and too often stereotyped. The words "sexual coercion" (synonyms with "sexual aggression" and "sexual assault") conjure in the minds of many the image of a deranged man attacking a woman stranger in a dark place where she should know better than to be walking alone. This and other stereotypes are challenged by the authors of Sexual Coercion in the Dating Relationship.The chapters examine other important issues that have yet received little research attention. For example, one author tests the empirical assumptions inherent in a prominent theory about the causes of sexual coercion. Some of the authors challenge the assumption that only women are pressured or forced to engage in unwanted or nonconsensual sex. Other authors address issues related to the prevention of sexual coercion of women and challenge current conceptions of women's sexuality. Still others identify methodological problems related to research on sexual coercion, such as current methods of identifying attitudes supportive of the use of sexual coercion. All of the chapters challenge current beliefs related to the issue of sexual coercion and are designed to spur researchers and educators forward into new ground.With the publication of this book, readers are forced to re-think their assumptions on sexual coercion with the new statistics and research on these topics: evaluates of a prominent theory of the causes of sexual coercion (the traditional script) examines men's and women's use of sexual influence in their dating relationships, the types of behavior men and women use to influence their partners to engage in unwanted sex, and the associated consequences for the individuals and the relationship compares men's and women's reactions to sexual coercion presents a model to predict women's resistance and evaluates effective, practical measures of prevention for women evaluates attitudes-toward-rape literature and the predictive ability of assessing attitudes critical reviews of current conceptions of women's sexuality and the need to restructure culturally endorsed attitudes in our prevention efforts reviews methodological problems plaguing many current research investigations and the political ramifications of many investigations in this areaBecause this book presents information related to the prevention and experience of sexual coercion, Sexual Coercion in Dating Relationships is helpful in developing long-term research and preventive programs. This sourcebook also helps researchers, expert witnesses, counselors (especially college support staff), and college and university educators provide information to students and others about sexual coercion.

As the elderly population continues to increase, the need for suitable housing will continue to rise as well. This handbook is designed to help individuals and families determine the feasibility of starting a small home business providing residential home services for one or more elderly persons. Persons interested in starting a business of this type will find this unique book a goldmine of important information. Residential Care Services for the Elderly is a valuable decision-making tool which helps readers determine if this type of business venture is appropriate and, if so, how to start and maintain a residential care service for the elderly. Thorough coverage of background and implementation details provides potential operators with a rationale and necessary information. Numerous self-assessment and resource inventories in this practical handbook will guide readers in determining their areas of interests and competencies. Opportunities for networking among state licensing/standards agencies, funding agencies, and a listing of elder care organizations and advocacy groups adds value to this time-saving resource, ensuring a quicker and more likely success. Case studies, detailed guides, and the discussion of positive and negative aspects of being the owner of a small residential care business, based on interviews with people currently running elder care residential services, are also included. All aspects of business operations are covered in Residential Care Services for the Elderly, including sources of funding and potential incomes; emotional and financial cost/benefit factors; parameters of organizing the business including personnel, respite care workers, need for registered nurses, and food service; special needs of clients; details of financial plans with outlines and sample forms; and variables of success and failure. Graduate and undergraduate students taking classes in regard to gerontological business and long-term care related alternatives will also find this statistic-filled handbook a useful reference.

Organizational Culture, Rule-Governed Behavior and Organizational Behavior Management is an introduction to concepts that link organizational behavior management (OBM) with the fields of organizational ecology, cultural anthropology, organizational development, and organizational behavior. This important book can help OBM researchers and managers more precisely analyze complex work environments to develop more comprehensive yet highly focused interventions to improve individual and organizational effectiveness. Organizational Culture, Rule-Governed Behavior and Organizational Behavior Management includes theoretical accounts of rule-governed behavior and cultural practices that expand the OBM's boundaries to include more comprehensive analyses and intervention designs that can lead to more effective and larger scale interventions. Although OBM researchers have long recognized that the relationships between an organization and its environment are important for survival, they have not made organization-environment relations a primary focus of their interventions.In addition, most descriptions of OBM interventions have not included a precise account of how the components of the interventions bring about ultimate performance changes they produce. With this book, OBM researchers will learn how to identify organizational behavior/performance targets that can be changed and adapted to constantly changing competitive environments to improve an organization's chances of survival. It also outlines two theories of rule-governed behavior. These theories characterize and explain how rules and their descriptions work to change or maintain effects of delayed rewards on current behavior/performance relationships. In so doing, they fill in the missing links required to achieve more valid and precise analyses of work environments that can be expected to result in more precise and effective OBM interventions. In Organizational Culture, Rule-Governed Behavior and Organizational Behavior Management, OBM researchers will learn how organizational cultural practices, organizational effectiveness, and rule-governed behaviors in organizations interact in complex ways to determine, in part, the adaptability and long-term survival of organizations.Reading this book will help academics, researchers, and practitioners better understand and predict how people in organizations will react to OBM interventions. All OBM managers including high-level managers, members of boards of directors and their consultants who are attempting to develop more effective organizations, will benefit from these discussions of organizational adaptation changing competitive environments. This essential volume presents organizational culture concepts cast in OBM terms that can be understood by all OBM researchers and practitioners and will be useful to anyone interested in organizational development on a large scale. Professors teaching OBM courses will find this presentation of rule-governed behavior an essential ingredient to every course in OBM.

Based on the belief that older people have good stories to tell, Story Writing in a Nursing Home was developed as part of a volunteer teaching service to a nursing home. Graduate students who were learning to teach this special population conducted story writing activities with older adults and found that even the frail elderly who are confined to nursing centers provided a unique perspective about events that emphasize the lasting verities in life. The idea of a patchwork was derived from one of the lessons taught and was suggested by one of the older participants who said, "We're sort of like a patchwork quilt." The information, memories, and humor the elderly see in situations is worth recording. In addition, Story Writing in a Nursing Home emphasizes the way to develop the mental stimulation that is so important for physical well being. This sensitive and insightful book provides a lesson plan outline and the type of content that was used as an example. It also provides a running commentary in the form of a diary that tells how to begin a teaching program for nursing center residents. Students and professionals interested in implementing a similar program can use these ideas for planning and for organizing the use of student help to better serve the population. Fascinating reading, this book includes stories by frail elderly people, lesson plans, tips on working with administrators in a nursing center, and reasons for providing instruction. Teachers, volunteers, librarians, gerontology/sociology students, and others concerned with the well-being of the elderly will refer often to this instructive volume.

Environmental Practice in the Human Services points to the need for the human services to return to their historic mission of environmental change. It moves beyond the more general conceptual emphasis on person-in-environment toward the development of an environmental practice technology based on an intervention model which prescribes specific micro and macro roles and functions. It may open the way to recapturing the conceptual breadth which characterized the first 40 years of social work as a professional and occupational entity. The "ecological" perspective in social work has fostered an interest in the impact of social environments on service consumers. Environmental Practice in the Human Services tries to rectify the historical imbalance in the human services that has emphasized people-changing methods, giving secondary emphasis to environmental change. It instructs students preparing for practice in the human services, as well as agency practitioners, in the knowledge and skills necessary in environmental practice. Cases in environmental practice are used to illustrate how these skills are utilized in actual practice situations.The book's scope includes practice at the direct service, adminstration, planning, and social policy levels; it integrates micro and macro practice and shows how these two levels of practice are interdependent. This enables human service practitioners to create and/or modify social environments to enhance the functioning of clients being served in human service programs. Topics covered include: important skills in environmental practice, including decisionmaking, negotiating, and leadership community practice and resource coordination social support the impact of organizational environments on practice environmental practice for the chronically disabledAuthor Neugeboren's approach is unique in its in-depth focus on environmental practice, applying concepts of social environment to specific practice roles. This practice-specific content, which provides tools needed for environmental practice, is in contrast to existing texts on the social environment which are very theoretical and not integrated with practice. He includes material from the field of social ecology which has not been included in existing texts. It shows how practitioners and administrators, planners, and policymakers can facilitate and support each other's work.Reading Environmental Practice in the Human Services will enlighten students and practitioners with specific skills for impacting on different social environments to enhance client benefit. It tells how a direct service practitioner can determine which organizational environments are suitable for particular client needs in making agency referrals. It also provides administrators with information about designing, planning, and managing agencies with functional organizational environments which achieve effective services.

The third edition of the highly-acclaimed "Contemporary British Society" is the only textbook to provide comprehensive coverage of all aspects of the social structure of modern Britain. Completely revised and updated, this new edition employs the very latest statistical information and empirical studies, and examines all the new arguments and debates concerning modern British society.

Separate chapters explore the major areas of modern life in Britain - economic organization, employment, patterns of inequality, class, gender, ethnicity, family and households, education, health, media, deviance and politics. New to this edition are chapters on globalization, associations, and leisure.

The emphasis throughout the book is on an accessible, user-friendly, and non-technical approach. It is written in a jargon-free and approachable style; there is extensive cross-referencing and frequent and clear summarizing of arguments; and numerous photographs, diagrams, graphs, drawings and cartoons complement and illuminate the text.

"Contemporary British Society" is written for students of introductory sociology whether they are taking 'A' level or are in the first year of an undergraduate course in a higher education institution. It will also be useful for those taking courses in other subjects, such as social policy, health and town planning, which demand knowledge of particular aspects of British society.

Please visit the accompanying website at: http: //www.polity.co.uk/cbs3

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Based on the presentations and discussions from a national symposium on family-school links held at the Pennsylvania State University, this volume brings together psychologists, sociologists, educators, and policymakers studying the bidirectional effects between schools and families. This topic -- the links between families and schools, and how these affect children's educational achievement -- encompasses a host of questions, each of key social and educational significance. * How far does parental involvement in schools affect children's experiences and achievement at school? * What explains the great differences between schools, families, and communities in the extent of such involvement? * Are these differences a matter of school practices, or do they reflect much broader social and cultural divisions? * What is the nature of the impact schools have on children and their families? * How can family-school-partnerships be fostered in a way that helps children? The chapter authors consider these questions and related issues, present different perspectives, highlight various aspects of the issues, and suggest widely differing answers. This volume's goal is to provide the reader with current information on what is known about family-school-community links, and to provoke new ways of thinking about these links and their implications for children's education and well-being.

An enlightening book, You Bring Out the Music in Me, explores how music motivates, enriches, touches, relaxes, and energizes the elderly in nursing homes. Practicing music therapists explain how music "speaks" to all of us, regardless of our language, culture, or abilities and how it can be used with groups and individuals in nursing homes to encourage relaxation and expression of feeling and increase socialization. The chapters encompass both music therapy practice in gerontology as well as practical ideals and suggestions for activities directors who want to use music in their nursing home activities programs. This readable book includes a history of music therapy, the need for research in the field, discussions of music in groups and music with individuals, and a useful resource list of music materials.