Donald I. Warren

Neighborhood Structure and Riot Behavior in Detroit: Some Exploratory Findings

Participation in the 1967 Detroit riot, counter-riot activity, and withdrawal from riot participation were studied. Data from both pre- and post-riot surveys permitted some comparisons over time. A typology of neighborhoods based on social interaction, reference group orientation, and values provided a framework for analysis. Neighborhoods with high riot activity showed little social interaction but tended to have positive reference orientations. Counter-riot areas showed both extensive informal social interaction, values oriented to the larger society, and positive reference orientations. Neighborhoods where little riot involvement occurred lacked social organization more than other areas. The findings highlight the need for focus on the more immediate social unit, the neighborhood, in the black ghetto.

Status Inconsistency Theory and Flying Saucer Sightings

The analysis is completed. Through a series of propositions and hypothesized links between the reporting of UFO sightings and a particular kind of social position, the utility of social theory as a basis for explaining phenomena presumed to be in the domain of the physical sciences has been demonstrated. Nothing in the data rejects the possibility that some individuals have, in fact, seen objects propelled from another solar system or that all observations are of ill-understood or misperceived terrestrial phenomena. Empirical science, particularly social science, does not address itself to ultimate truth. What has been attempted here is the employment of a sociological theory to account successfully for observed regularity in patterns of UFO sightings. Another and reasonable, though not necessarily mutually exclusive, procedure for organizing social data might provide an equal degree of explanatory consistency. This analysis merely emphasizes the need to utilize such approaches outside the confines of laboratory groups and the more convenient and established domains of social science. Our analysis has presented just one application of sociological theory to the complex interplay among quasi-scientific phenomena, physical science knowledge, and human behavior in society.

Suburban Isolation and Race Tension: The Detroit Case

Following the Ghetto disorders of 1967 white suburban communities surrounding Detroit displayed a high degree of race tension. Using a representative sample of respondents in nine of these communities, perceptions of riot causes and reactions to threats and ameliorative efforts were examined. Socioeconomic status of individuals and communities affected readiness to change and responses to the likelihood of new disorders. But the extent of anxiety about future race disturbances and support for lessening tension was greatly affected by the climate of opinion represented in “high” versus “low” tension suburbs. Steps taken in preparation for new disorders provided a milieu within which all strata of a community were immersed.

IDEOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY AND MIDDLE-AMERICAN RATIONALITY

This article investigates certain elements of causal belief systems and the reasons for respondent irrationality. Connections between a respondents ideology and social action or sense of powerlessness are suggested and avenues of future investigationi revealed. Eugene Litwak is Professor of Sociology at Columbia University; Nancy Hooyman is Assistant Professor of Social Work at the University of Minnesota at Deluth; and Donald Warren is Senior Research Associate at the Center for Policy Research, New York City.

The Linkage Between Neighborhood and Voluntary Association Patterns: a Comparison of Black and White Urban Populations

by Wright and Hyman (1958), Janowitz and Marvick (1956), and Almond and Verba (1965) evidence of significant black underparticipation is reported. Wright and Hyman, for example, found that while 63 percent of white adults belong to no voluntary associations, for blacks nonparticipation exceeds 73 percent of adults. It is interesting to note that in this study, as well as most others, participation in the church and church-related associations is not con-

U.S. National Patterns of Problem Coping Networks: Preliminary Results from 1983 and 1984 Gallup Surveys

Interest in the informal patterns of problem coping has emerged increasingly as societies turn from centralized, formal service delivery strategies toward voluntary sector local community helping resources. The results from the 1983 and 1984 sur veys reflect evidence that individuals shifted somewhat their reliance on public agencies in the direction of using voluntary association peers. Our research reports on a first step in assessing the balance between informal and formal resources for coping with a range of common experienced life-course concerns.