William W. Falk

Gated Communities and Spatial Inequality

ABSTRACT: In this article we analyze gated communities as a nexus of social and spatial relations within the context of urban inequality. We apply Tickamyer’s (2000) sociological framework for incorporating space into the study of inequality, which allows us to substantiate the arguments that the process of gating increases urban inequality. The contributions of this article are three: (1) We generate a new systematic theoretical approach toward the study of gated communities, which we consider as middle range theory; (2) We argue that gated communities reproduce the existing levels of social stratification and that they also define a new, permanent differentiation order in the spatial organization of cities in the United States (in this respect we also arrive at six hypotheses, which can be tested in future research); (3) We introduce the term “gating machine,” where the combination of the interests and actions of local governments, real estate developers, the media, and consumers suggest that prevailing structural conditions assure the future proliferation of gated communities.

Stability and Change: Innovation in an Educational Context.

1 Introduction -- Why Study Change in Rural Schools? -- The Federal Role in Education -- Basic Premises of the Rural Experimental Schools Program -- The Research Context -- Research Themes and Issues -- Overview of this Volume -- 2 The Research Context -- Elements of the Rational Approach to Change: The Stages of Change -- Elements of the Natural-Systems Approach to the Study of Change: The Systems Framework -- System Linkage and the Systems Framework -- 3 Methodology And Research Procedures -- The Context of the Study -- General Approach to Data Collection -- Strategies for Measurement and Analysis -- 4 On The Brink Of Change: The Federal Level And The Local Level -- Assumptions Underlying the Experimental Schools Program -- The Ten Rural School Districts and Their Readiness for Change -- 5 The Beginning Of Change: The Planning Year -- Federal Expectations for the Planning Period -- The Products of the Planning Process: An Overview of the ES Program -- The Assessment of Effective Initiation -- Whose Plan? -- 6 The Implementation Of Planned Change In Schools -- Measures of Implementation at the School Level -- A Descriptive Analysis of the Scope of Implementation in Schools -- Variations in Implementation within Districts -- Social System Characteristics: The Variables and Their Measures -- The Effect of System Characteristics on Implementation -- 7 Further Exploration Of Implementation In Schools -- Comparing the Contributions of Structure, Culture, and Input Variables to School Change -- Explaining Joint Contributions of Structure, Culture, and Input -- How Does the Structuring of Authority Affect Implementation? -- How Does System Linkage Affect School Implementation? -- Conclusions -- 8 Comprehensive Change At The District Level -- Measuring Implementation at the District Level -- How Comprehensive Was Implementation? -- Factors Related to Implementation -- Conclusions -- 9 The Continuation Of Change -- Our Approach to Investigating Continuation -- Factors Affecting the Outcomes of Change -- 10 Conclusions And Implications -- Contributions to a Theory of Change in Organizational Settings -- Implications for the Design and Management of Educational Change Programs -- References -- Appendix A Site-By-Site Descriptions Of The Ten Es Projects As Implemented And Continued -- Appendix B Instruments -- Appendix C Correlation Matrix Of Independent Variables -- Author Index.

HURRICANE KATRINA AND NEW ORLEANIANS' SENSE OF PLACE: Return and Reconstitution or “Gone with the Wind”?

This paper explores some implications of Hurricane Katrina, especially as it affected, and will continue to affect, African Americans. Our observations stem largely from our ongoing examination of the demography of African Americans, including motivations to leave the South historically, and recent changes generating a significant “return migration” of African Americans to the South. The specific case of Katrina-related migration requires examining issues of race and class—including the destinations to which Katrina’s victims were displaced and key features of the place to which they might return. We leave for others the evaluation of ongoing political debates concerning responsibility for who did what, and why. Our focus is on New Orleans as a place, and what prospects exist for reconstituting that place in light of past, present, and prospective demographic trends. We first review recent work on place and identity, and describe the general features of past migration patterns of African Americans—both from the South and back to the South. We then identify important features of New Orleans as a distinctive place on the U.S. landscape, in part by comparing New Orleans with other southern cities using the 1% Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) sample of 2000 U.S. Census data. Finally, we assess the prospects of the reconstitution of New Orleans as a place resembling what it was prior to Katrina, by examining the intersecting factors of race, class, and ethnicity in shaping how, and by whom, the city may be resettled. We project that the city will be smaller, more White and Hispanic, more affluent, and more tourism0 entertainment-oriented than its pre-Katrina reality. Given the difficulty of making such projections, we conclude with an analysis of various demographic portraits of what the racial composition of New Orleans may become, depending on (1) its future size, and (2) relative rates of return migration by White and Black New Orleanians.

The Cost of Being Black in the Black Belt

Explanations of earnings differentials typically center on individual differences that affect the status attainment process or on the opportunity structure of local labor markets. Less attention has been paid to the fact that the quality of both the labor force and labor market vary significantly by region, resulting in substantial regional differences in earnings. Using 1980 Public Use Micro Sample data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census, this paper examines the impact of region on black earnings in the South, with a focus on blacks living in the Black Belt. The use of regression standardization techniques to decompose earnings differences reveals that there are large differences within the South, the largest component of which is related to regional characteristics and not the quality of the labor force. This finding is analyzed in the context of dependency theory which posits that peripheral regions (like the Black Belt) are characterized by economic development which lags behind development in other areas.

Who is Headed South? U.S. Migration Trends in Black and White, 1970–2000

This research examines inter-regional migration patterns in the United States by native-born whites and blacks over the final four decades of the 20th century. Our primary research question is whether regional changes in the United States have made the South a more favorable destination than it once was, especially for blacks. Using samples of census data from 1970 to 2000, we analyze white/black differences in primary (an original move) and return migration to the South, as well as in the selectivity of migration. We observe increasing rates of black (compared to white) migration to the South. Additionally, patterns of selectivity within this growing black migration stream suggest that younger, more educated black women are an important component of this regional population shift.

Racial Differences in the Impact of Military Service on the Socioeconomic Status of Women Veterans

This article investigates the impact of military service on the socioeconomic status of African American and white, non-Hispanic women veterans of the post-1973 U.S. allvolunteer force. Earnings and family income are used as measures of socioeconomic status. Data from the 1990 Public Use Microdata Sample L were used in this analysis. This data set is a .45 percent sample drawn from the 1990 Census. Using semilogarithmic regression, we found that, overall, African American women veterans did not differ significantly from their non-serving counterparts, controlling for several factors associ ated with socioeconomic status. White, non-Hispanic women veterans, however, suffered an earnings and family income penalty relative to similar non-serving women. The data suggest that this veteran disadvantage may be due to the interaction of military service. child-bearing patterns, and educational attainment.

THE IMPACT OF MILITARY PRESENCE IN LOCAL LABOR MARKETS ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN

This article uses Public Use Microsample (PUMS) data drawn from the 1990 census to explore the relationship between military presence, defined as the percentage of the local labor force in the active-duty armed forces, and womens employment and earnings across local labor market areas (LMAs) in the United States. Comparisons of local rates of unemployment and mean womens earnings are made between those LMAs in which the military plays a disproportionate role in the local labor market and those in which military presence is low. Results suggest that women who live in labor market areas with a substantial (5 percent or greater) military presence have, on average, lower annual earnings and higher rates of unemployment than their counterparts who live in nonmilitary LMAs. The argument is made that through the interaction of several socially situated conditions—including gender, family, labor markets, human capital, and place—the military emerges as a source of inequality in labor market outcomes for women working on or around military installations.

Homemaking as an occupational plan: Evidence from a national longitudinal study

Abstract This paper asks a deceptively simple question: “Who expects to become a homemaker?” This question is asked because while we know a good deal about vocational choices, these choices are almost exclusively restricted to a traditional conceptualization and definition of the labor force. One consequence of this is to omit from consideration the choice to be a homemaker, a choice which Lopata London: Oxford University Press 1974) Oakley (New York: Pantheon 1974 and Stevens and Boyd Social Forces 1980 59 186–199 have all suggested can be conceptualized as an occupational outcome. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 and comparing black and white respondents, we show that young women who expect to be homemakers (at age 30, the item available to us) are disproportionately represented by fathers with lower occupational status, nonemployed mothers, rural residences, nonacademic track placement, and lower scholastic performance; and as expected, race differences are found. Furthermore, these differences again occur when we examine our items on self-concept, locus of control, and certain life importance items.

The Stability of Status Orientations among Young, White, Rural Women from Three Southern States.

Abstract This paper reports the results of a panel study of young, white, rural women from Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas ( N = 138). The study was primarily concerned with how social origin variables affected early educational and occupational orientations and how early states of these orientations affected the orientations themselves at a later point in time. The results indicated that mothers education had a greater effect than fathers education, but in either case the effect is mediated by intervening influences such as early aspirations and expectations. These young women held very traditional status orientations (with 60% projecting the occupations of beautician, nurse, stenographer, or school teacher), and their orientations were quite stable between their sophomore and senior years in high school. Since there has been so little work reported on the status attainment process for women, and rural women in particular, this study does offer a limited insight into this phenomenon.

Women's marital-familial statuses and work histories: Some conceptual considerations

Abstract Although vocational psychologists and sociologists have a long history of researching occupational choice, their theoretical postures have almost always been shaped in light of information on males, with little consideration for females. This article is an addition to others which attempt to correct this shortcoming in the literature. The article reviews the dominant conceptual schemes used to study occupational choice, considers potentially female-specific variables, and provides a typology for the analysis of womens marital-familial statuses and work modes.