Robert A. Stallings

Media Discourse and the Social Construction of Risk

A sociological approach to the study of risk assumes that risk and safety exist in and through social organization rather than as objective conditions that individuals simply perceive either more or less accurately. A research agenda based on this assumption must identify who influences the social construction of risk and how they do so. This paper focuses on media discourse in the aftermath of a dramatic event. It deals with news accounts of a bridge collapse and of the apparent deterioration of the nations bridges contained in articles published in the national edition of the New York Times. I identify and compare causes of the problematic condition of bridges advanced by experts and other news sources with causes that were conspicuously absent from these news accounts to suggest why some conceptions of risk but not others enter into public discourse.

Promoting risk : constructing the earthquake threat

The risk of a future catastrophic earthquake has never achieved the level of public concern accorded to such issues as crime, health care, economic conditions, or even pornography. This lack of concern might be explained as a function of our inability to control the geophysical processes that produce earthquakes. Yet a sociological theory of risk questions such a direct connection between physical forces and social reality, because human beings, not nature, create beliefs about risks. This examination of one type of risk, the threat of future catastrophic earthquakes, concentrates for the first time on the individuals and actions that result in the creation of risk, that is, the risk promoters and the process of promoting risk. It uses social constructionist theory to study claims-makers, the claims-making process, and the outcome of claims-making activities.

Weberian political sociology and sociological disaster studies

The specialized field of disaster studies seems to be moving farther away from mainstream sociology, to the detriment of both. For sociologists working in this field, application of Max Webers political sociology is proposed as one way to reconnect their research with longstanding concerns of the discipline. Webers political sociology contains a conflict model focusing on structured inequalities of class, status, and power. Its relevance to both contemporary sociology and sociological disaster studies is illustrated through a reexamination of one of the early classic studies of disaster. The paper concludes with an overview of Webers thoughts about the role of values in research and a brief comparison of Webers political sociology with alternative theories.

Sources of Reputation among Public Administration and Public Affairs Programs

Various rankings describing the perceived reputation of public administration and public affairs programs have been published over the years, but to date no empirical efforts explaining these ratings have appeared. This paper examines measures of the quality of research and teaching that are conventionally regarded as indicators of program quality to see which if any are related to subjective assessments of program reputation. Using ordinary least squares regression, three models are estimated to explain the program ratings of samples of NASPAA representatives, university faculty, and public-sector practitioners. Independent program status and faculty research productivity were program characteristics positively and significantly related to reputation as perceived by NASPAA representatives and faculty. Offering a doctoral degree and awarding large numbers of MPA degrees were positively and significantly related to program reputation as perceived by practitioners. These differences in the perceived reputation of public administration and public affairs programs seem to reflect underlying differences in the way research and practice are viewed in these fields.

The Community Context of Crisis Management

Looking back on the decade of the sixties, one can easily suggest that this period launched the Era of the Urban Crisis. Not that social conditions existing in American cities, especially in what came to be known as the inner city, were new or even much different from those in preceding decades. Rather, what had previously been thought of as &dquo;problems&dquo; came to be labeled &dquo;crises.&dquo; Following the outbreak of racial disturbances in southeast Los Angeles and later in Cleveland, Chicago, and elsewhere, problems of race relations were translated into &dquo;the racial crisis.&dquo; This idiomatic alteration was not merely semantic but signaled extensive changes in certain community organizations as well as the emergence of new groups in situations permeated with urgent demands for solutions.

Volunteerism Inside Complex Organizations: Off-Duty Hospital Personnel in a Disaster

Although volunteering in times of crisis has received considerable attention, most studies focus either on emergent groups or on volun tary associations like the Red Cross, and studies of voluntary action within the type of organization referred to as bureaucracy are rare. This paper reports findings from a multivariate statistical analysis of off-duty personnel who reported to work voluntarily at a short-term general hospital treating victims of a major disaster in a metropolitan area. Logistic regression was used to estimate a model that explains differences between employees who participated voluntarily and those who did not participate.

Social movements and dramatic events: Closing a toxic waste landfill

Abstract When closure of a toxic waste disposal facility is preceded by several years of social movement protest directed toward precisely that end, it would appear that closure demonstrates the success of movement activity. Using archival material, this paper examines events in the years before and after the closing of a toxic waste disposal facility at the BKK Landfill in West Covina, California (USA). A more immediate cause of the closure than the efforts of social movement organizations was the escape of toxic gases that found their way into 21 homes adjacent to the landfill, resulting in a prolonged evacuation lasting up to five months for many of the evacuated families. The evacuation dramatized some of the hazards critics had long complained about, drew news media attention to problems associated with the operation of the landfill, and led to a shift in the balance of power among stakeholders in the controversy.

The AIDS Disaster: The Failure of Organizations in New York and the Nation.

Well-documented indictment of governmental and private groups for failing to provide the necessary education and care in response to this disaster. Social hostility to urban poor, ideological preoocupations of Reagan era, and homophobia of lawmakers helped foster epidemic.