Contemporary Ethnography

Substantial changes in parish norms and liturgical practices since Vatican II (Dugan, 2018; Elledge, 2006; McGuinness, 2001) may have played a role in Catholics' changing Eucharistic beliefs. The preliminary data presented here suggest that Catholics may be more likely to believe in the Real Presence if their parish offers Eucharistic adoration, if parishioners witness others genuflecting frequently, and if consecration bells are rung during the Mass. Additionally, previous Traditional Latin Mass attendance correlates with stronger Real Presence belief. These findings highlight practices that merit further investigation regarding how parish experiences may predict belief in the Real Presence.

Establishing contacts and gaining permission to conduct ethnographic or qualitative research can be time-consuming and stressful processes. Gaining access can be especially challenging when representatives of prospective research sites see their work as being sensitive and would prefer to avoid outside scrutiny altogether. One result of this dynamic is that many organizations that exert a profound influence in governing populations and regulating individuals’ access to basic needs are relatively invisible to the public and shielded from meaningful public accountability. Therefore, it is vital to effectively study secretive or guarded organizations and fill out the empirical record, which in turn could create the conditions for greater public awareness and debate. To that end, this paper draws on our collective research experience and the scholarship of others to present nine strategies that we have found to be especially effective for securing access to secretive organizations.

A wealth of evidence points to the positive outcomes experienced by immigrants who can speak the dominant language in a receiving country. But most scholarship treats language acquisition as a variable that affects labor market opportunities, whether conceptualized as human or social capital. We argue that analyzing language as a noneconomic resource that can flow through social networks is important not only for understanding immigrant integration, but also for gaining insight into the nature of social capital. Using qualitative data from recently resettled Burundian and Burmese refugees in Michigan, United States, we explore the experiences resulting from linguistic isolation at the household and community level, demonstrating how linguistically isolated refugees experience language as noneconomic social capital, in that language provides access to necessary information and constitutes an act of social power. Our research suggests that the linguistic resources of communities (both...

This article explores how parents and school personnel perceived and experienced parental involvement at a school serving a low-income mainly black population. The first author recorded detailed field notes (n=70) and conducted in-depth interviews with parents (n=20) and school personnel (n=20) over a three-year period. Despite rhetoric of inclusion, the school's policies and practices restricted parents to predetermined and acceptable roles of parental involvement. Ideologies of colorblind racism undergirded school policies and practices, thereby maintaining current social hierarchies of white privilege and racial minority disadvantage. This colorblind approach to parental involvement created barriers to the development of authentic relationships and, therefore, the development of a positive, mutual, and respectful relationship between student families and school personnel.

This article explores how parents and school personnel perceived and experienced parental involvement at a school serving a low-income mainly black population. The first author recorded detailed field notes (n=70) and conducted in-depth interviews with parents (n=20) and school personnel (n=20) over a three-year period. Despite rhetoric of inclusion, the school’s policies and practices restricted parents to predetermined and acceptable roles of parental involvement. Ideologies of colorblind racism undergirded school policies and practices, thereby maintaining current social hierarchies of white privilege and racial minority disadvantage. This colorblind approach to parental involvement created barriers to the development of authentic relationships and, therefore, the development of a positive, mutual, and respectful relationship between student families and school personnel. Naming racism and recognizing its impact on the school environment are important first steps towards change. ...

His interests include organization-environment theory, and he is currently researching interorganizational relations in the manpower training system. He has also been studying small businesses in the inner city, focusing on civil disorders, absentee ownership, and ecological succession in the inner city.

Using secondary data from a census of 421 police academies nationwide continuously operating between 2002 and 2018, we assessed continuity and change in core areas of basic law enforcement training (BLET) of new police hires. Despite decades of concerns expressed by national-level commissions, scholars, and practitioners about the substance of police academy basic training, ours is the first study since the 1980s that examines the content of basic training at multiple police academies during an extended period that included two eras of policing: community oriented and evidence based. Results showed continuity throughout time in total required hours of BLET, including required hours of core curriculum training, and a disproportionate distribution of total training hours allotted to areas central to the crime fighter persona of the early 20th century professional era. Policy Implications: This assessment revealed strong empirical evidence of long-term resistance to change in police basic training based on continuing overemphasis of traditional aspects of basic training (e.g., use of lethal weapons) over other parts (e.g., community-oriented policing). Our results, combined with recent qualitative analyses of police basic training revealing a primary

This contemporary feminist ethnography draws on in-depth ethnographically-anchored lifestory interviews with loved ones and uses digital media (such as ArcGIS) to expand the ethnographic collection around the globe. Members of the FRC conceived of the WomenWeLove Project as an opportunity for the lesser-told stories of six ordinary women from different places to take center stage. By digitizing the stories, researchers and participants are able to join in the use of public digitalizations (like the #MeToo movement) to connect through empowering ethnographic efforts. Their stories are contextualized within and across one another as a complex study of women’s lives in geopolitical heterosexism and patriarchy. The name of the project, WomenWeLove, both honors those we are writing about and acknowledges love as methodologically salient. It is unusual to conduct studies of any kind within the context of such close researcher/participant relationships. At the intersection of ethnography a...

In this article I consider how music can expand the creative possibilities of autoethnography. Likewise, I also explore how autoethnography can offer musicians a means to reflect on their creative work in culturally insightful ways. In order to 'play out' these disciplinary considerations, I craft an autoethnographic narrative that centers on my own creative practice as a conductor. Moving between description and action, dialogue and introspection, my narrative reveals some of the complexities of reflecting and writing about music in this way. While this narrative is grounded in

Drawing on the theoretical concept of collective memory and migration, and politics of belonging, this article explores performative belonging enacted in the series of holidays and commemorative rites organized by young Russian immigrants in Israel’s major metropolis. Our ethnography is based on 18 months of participant observation at the cultural association Fishka in South Tel-Aviv. As part of our field work, we documented public celebrations of Jewish and Russian-Soviet holidays organized by Fishka as acts of public performance seeking to elevate the prestige of Russian culture in Israel. These events reinforced visibility of Russian Israelis in Israel’s cultural capital and helped reach out to other urban communities, both native and immigrant. The article discusses the unique contribution of these bicultural young adults to Tel-Aviv’s diverse and dynamic urban scene. Our main argument is about the importance of collective memory in migration, whereby holidays and commemorative ...

Drawing on the theoretical concept of collective memory and migration, and politics of belonging, this article explores performative belonging enacted in the series of holidays and commemorative rites organized by young Russian immigrants in Israel’s major metropolis. Our ethnography is based on 18 months of participant observation at the cultural association Fishka in South Tel-Aviv. As part of our field work, we documented public celebrations of Jewish and Russian-Soviet holidays organized by Fishka as acts of public performance seeking to elevate the prestige of Russian culture in Israel. These events reinforced visibility of Russian Israelis in Israel’s cultural capital and helped reach out to other urban communities, both native and immigrant. The article discusses the unique contribution of these bicultural young adults to Tel-Aviv’s diverse and dynamic urban scene. Our main argument is about the importance of collective memory in migration, whereby holidays and commemorative ...

Personal safety during fieldwork is seldom addressed directly in the literature. Drawing from many prior years of ethnographic research and from field experience while studying crack distributors in New York City, the authors provide a variety of strategies by which ethnographic research can be safely conducted in dangerous settings. By projecting an appropriate demeanor, ethnographers can seek others for protector and locator roles, routinely create a safety zone in the field, and establish compatible field roles with potential subjects. The article also provides strategies for avoiding or handling sexual approaches, common law crimes, fights, drive-by shootings, and contacts with the police. When integrated with other standard qualitative methods, ethnographic strategies help to ensure that no physical harm comes to the field-worker and other staff members. Moreover, the presence of researchers may actually reduce (and not increase) potential and actual violence among crack distri...

Seafarers who call into ports usually hope for, or anticipate, a visit from people who provide them with welfare services—from SIM cards and mobile top-up vouchers to religious or nonreligious reading materials, and free transport to the nearest seafarers’ center or shopping mall. In seafarers’ centers, seafarers can normally use free internet facilities, enjoy drinks from the bar, avail themselves of remittance services, and if they wish, practice their faith in rooms/chapels dedicated to religious observance. While port chaplains are usually the people that seafarers associate with welfare services, port chaplains are not alone in providing these services—there are also paid staff and volunteers working in seafarers’ centers. This worldwide community of welfare providers displays the patina of a homogeneous bloc, sharing the same functions, activities, and end-goals in their everyday pursuits in ports and seafarers’ centers. However, this belies a more complex and sometimes fractu...

This study explores the interplay between victim and perpetrator identities in the construction of successful criminal personas. Through detailed interviews with individuals who transitioned from victims to perpetrators within criminal contexts, the research identifies three critical themes: "Influence, Charisma, and Respect," "Adaptive Leadership and Strategic Management," and "Morality and Power-Driven Relativism." The findings reveal that victim identity significantly contributes to the development of traits essential for criminal success, such as resilience and empathy, which enhance leadership and authority. Furthermore, the strategic manipulation of these identities allows criminals to navigate complex social dynamics and maintain control. The study emphasizes the importance of understanding the duality of victim and perpetrator identities in the broader discourse on criminal selfconception, highlighting the nuanced psychological and relational aspects that underpin successful criminal careers. This research extends existing theories on criminal success by incorporating the dynamics of victim identity, offering a more comprehensive framework for analyzing criminal behavior and identity formation.

This article reconceptualizes subcultural resistance based on an ethnographic examination of the straight edge movement. Using the core values of straight edge, the author’s analysis builds on new subcultural theories and suggests a framework for how members construct and understand their subjective experiences of being a part of a subculture. He suggests that adherents hold both individual and collective meanings of resistance and express their resistance via personal and political methods. Furthermore, they consciously enact resistance at the micro, meso, and macro levels, not solely against an ambiguous “adult” culture. Resistance can no longer be conceptualized in neo-Marxist terms of changing the political or economic structure, as a rejection only of mainstream culture, or as symbolic stylistic expression. Resistance is contextual and many layered rather than static and uniform.

This article explores how the practice of Jewish rabbinic law within the combat ranks of the Israel Defense Forces can be used as an ethnographic medium through which anthropologists may better contextualize the social and political tensions that characterize Jewish religious nationalism in Israel. We argue that national religious combat soldiers rarely turn to rabbinic legal tracts, or to the overlapping levels of military and civilian rabbinic leadership in their immediate efforts to resolve the everyday ritual dilemmas of their service. Rather, these dilemmas are primarily addressed and (always imperfectly) resolved on the small-scale intra-unit level. Through this ethnographic window into the religious and ritual aspects of military life, this article ultimately argues that the experience of political piety in Israel (and perhaps the wider Middle East) hinges not so much upon the power play between opposing religious and secular institutions but rather in the daily ambivalences ...

This research documents attitude changes reported by police recruits as they moved through the series of experiences and adventures associated with their early careers. Questionnaires were administered longitudinally to newcomer's in a big-city department and concentrated upon the motivation, commitment and satisfaction of patrolmen. The analysis indicated that recruits entered the department highly motivated and committed to their newlyadopted organization. However, their motivational attitudes declined swiftly. Some evidence is presented which suggests the less motivated patrolmen are perceived by their relevant supervisors as better policemen than their more motivated peers. Commitment attitudes also dropped over time, although expressed commitment remained relatively high compared to several other occupational samples. A positive association was present between superior evaluations of performance and commitment attitudes. Need satisfaction remained fairly constant across time and a positive relationship was detected between evaluations of performance and reported satisfaction. These findings denote the speedy and powerful character of the police socailization process resulting in a "final perspective" which stresses a "lay low, don't make waves" approach tp urban policing.

Research in organizational socialization is typically more concerned with settings where recruits are treated harshly than with setting where they are treated well. This paper concerns the latter, and argues that such settings allow recruits to import skills, knowledge and values. What is imported is called a "culture of orientation." Three quasi-ethnographic illustrations spell out these ideas and suggest answers to: (1) How cultures of orientation are forged (e.g., MMA prograris at Harvard and MlT); (2) How cultures of orientation are carried within an organization (e.g., police sergeants in American agencies); and (3) How cultures of orientation serve as problem-solving devices when new skills are learned (e.g., windsurfing as practiced by surfers, skiiers, and

In ethnographic research and analysis, reflexivity is vital to achieving constant coordination between field and concept work. However, it has been conceptualized predominantly as an ethnographer's individual mental capacity. In this article, we draw on ten years of experience in conducting research together with partners from social psychiatry and mental health care across different research projects. We unfold three modes of achieving reflexivity colaboratively: contrasting and discussing disciplinary concepts in interdisciplinary working groups and feedback workshops; joint data interpretation and writing; and participating in political agenda setting. Engaging these modes reveals reflexivity as a distributed process able to strengthen the ethnographer's interpretative authority, and also able to constantly push the conceptual boundaries of the participating disciplines and professions.

This article invites readers inside emotional and relational dynamics of coming out as gay in an alcoholic family system. Taking an interpretive approach to research, focused on how participants make sense of and make meaning from their lived experience, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” offers a longitudinal and narrative ethnographic account of family secrecy and disclosure.

Anonytnotis yet intimate ititeractioti increases oulnerahility as it extends individual trust. This instrumental focus is, however, embellished by an expressivity, generic to conversation on CB, which infuses the linguistic form as well as the topical content of the messages. The "lo-codes," for example, are designed to be more efficient than everyday language. Yet such terms become stylized and extended through contrived usage. " 10-4" becomes "big 10-4," "4-roger," or "10-roger-40"; "break" becomes "breaker-breaker," "breakety-broke," or "breaketybroke-broke." Thus, the expressiveness of the specialized dialect recasts these technical terms. A good example is the elaborate introduction and farewell:

Course administrators hold a unique position in academe—one that requires high levels of emotion management as part of the job. This research utilized a collaborative autoethnography to explore how workplace emotions were experienced in the basic communication course. The experiences were presented through vignettes written and analyzed by seven course administrators from programs across the United States. Four themes emerged from the vignettes: (1) acting perpetually positive, (2) (un)catching emotion, (3) rushing for time, and (4) switching roles. Each theme highlighted the multiple, and sometimes competing, responsibilities/expectations embedded in the administrative role. This research offers a discussion of each theme and informs five recommendations for managing emotions and emotional labor within course administration.

This study explores the multiple and distinct cultures of oilfield masculinity uncovered during an embedded ethnographic study of masculinities onboard a remote UK offshore drilling platform. Oilmen revealed shifting interpretations for how risky and dangerous oil work “should be done.” Changes led to the construction of three distinct masculine cultures intertwined with positive safety behaviors and one culture intertwined with negative risky behaviors. Tracing the trajectory of Connell’s hegemonic masculinity theory, no singular “hegemonic” or dominant masculinity existed in the oilfield. Also, unlike some existing oilfield research, masculine reformations and subsequent divisions and associations between local cultures were triggered by factors independent from shifts in workplace policies. Rather, and linking with emerging research exploring “manhood acts”; oilmen consciously reformulated their masculine identities, embodying self-awareness and self-reflection for reimagining pr...

Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in two day care centers—the Green Mountain Child Care Center in College Town, Vermont, and the Rocky Mountain Christian Day Care in Coalville, Wyoming—the authors demonstrate differences between centers serving different segments of the population. The authors rely on Annette Lareau's (2003) concepts of “concerted cultivation” and the “accomplishment of natural growth” as a way to describe these differences. The authors then reflect on the potential consequences of different styles of child care for the skills, attitudes, and orientations developed by young children.

Rats were made iron deficient between 10 and 21 days of age by restricting their customary access to nonmaternal sources of iron. The depression of cytochrome c and myoglobin concentrations in skeletal muscle and of cytochrome c in intestinal mucosa became comparable to and, in some instances, was more profound than the concomitant 34% mean decrease in hemoglobin concentration. These condi tions did not interfere with normal gain in body weight. Thus, tissue heme protein deficiency was one of the early manifestations of iron depletion during a period of rapid growth. Earlier and more stringent iron deficiency in newborns was also pro duced by treating the mothers with an iron-chelating agent starting at 16 days of gestation to 21 days postnatally. This treatment reduced the rate of growth of the young and resulted in a more marked diminution in the concentration of hemoglobin. There was little additional effect, however, upon cytochrome c in skeletal muscle or intestinal mucosa in comparison with the mildly iron-restricted group. A significant depression was also observed in heart muscle and in kidney. The concentration of cytochrome c in brain was least affected. The rapid rate of growth and differentiation that characterizes most organs during the newborn period is probably a predisposing factor to a more widespread and rapid tissue heme protein depletion than that ob served in adult animals.

Every Christmas season children's hospitals in the United States are flooded with gift donations. Businesses, service organizations, and the public deliver carloads of new toys, puzzles, games, books, electronics, sports equipment, art supplies, cosmetics, blankets, and clothing for sick children. The practice is so common and widespread that donors rarely ask whether they may donate, what types of donations are welcome, and when and where they should deliver their donations. Based on ethnographic observations of holiday gifting at University Children's Hospital, a nationally ranked pediatric hospital on the West Coast, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the implicit cultural beliefs that guide holiday gifting practices. Eschewing the popular rhetoric of American hyper-consumption and hedonism, I use a Durkheimian framework to argue that holiday gifting in children's hospital is a sacred ritual. The data presented describe the wide-ranging variety of donors-from Boy Scouts to nightclub strippers-who journey to the hospital bearing gifts. Drawing on sacred conceptualizations of childhood and gifting in American culture, I argue that children's hospitals are more than medico-scientific institutions. They represent sacred unifying spaces and the heart of their local communities where individuals and organizations come to privately and publicly reaffirm their moral commitments to society through holiday gifting.

Co py ri g h t a n d m o r al ri g h t s fo r p u blic a tio n s m a d e a v ail a bl e in ORCA a r e r e t ai n e d by t h e c o py ri g h t h ol d e r s. Relying on the kindness of strangers: Welfare-providers to seafarers and the symbolic construction of community

It is a pleasure to introduce this symposium on Dignity at Work by Randy Hodson. Early in my career, Hodson's work was very influential, demonstrating to me that it was possible to incorporate information on real organizations into what were theoretically unsatisfying status attainment type models. This book reverses the flow of incorporation, showing that it is possible to take the rich, contextualized observations of workplaces and investigate general processes across ethnographic accounts. The work uses 81 book-length ethnographies, describing 108 workplaces or workgroups to develop two databases. The first is a consistent quantitative database of events and processes described in the ethnographies. The second is a set of illustrative quotes from the ethnographies to illustrate the concepts captured in the variable coding. This project is ongoing, and at last count there were 193 ethnographies available for analysis in an easily downloadable SPSS file at http://www. s o c i o l o g y. o h i o-s t a t e. e d u / r d h / Workplace-Ethnography-Project.html Most scientific specialties rely on a consistent approach to method in order to advance theory. In sociology we are no different, but we face an extraordinarily diverse field of study with a rich variety of theoretical agendas and substantive interests. The combination of scientific methodological consistency with rich field diversity tends to lead us toward methodological and theoretical balkanization. This book represents a project (which includes at the point of writing 18 articles, thesis, and dissertations, in addition to Dignity at Work) that bridges methodological and theoretical divides in sociology. Methodologically, it demonstrates a way to make ethnographic material support empirical and theoretical generalizations beyond

Most qualitative research in organisations is based on interviews. Interview studies can illuminate the experience of the people studied. However, interviewees retelling and restructuring their narratives in accordance with the agenda of the researcher may not be the most appropriate means of understanding why and how people act the way they do. This chapter demonstrates how video recordings of real-time interactions between homeless individuals and service providers can illuminate the many organisational dilemmas that affect the relationship between professionals and clients. Video recordings demonstrate the way professionals and clients actually interact – and manage the dilemmas – in specific situations. Their body language such as expressions of anger, leaning towards a person, being silent, etc. add to their verbal expressions and qualifies the analysis. The chapter’s analysis reveals that it is difficult to reconcile the role of male clients’ weakness (being homeless) with stereotypical perceptions of masculinity and strength. The chapter pays particular attention on caring, parent-child relationships, and other ambivalent relations and positions that challenges both clients and professionals. For instance, clients with a background in Greater Middle East are particularly challenged, as they find it more difficult than their Danish counterparts to accept the passivity, care, and the childish role attached to their position as homeless. Even though social workers emphasise that clients should take responsibility and have control over their situation, they often reproduce a practice that takes the clients’ lack of responsibility for granted. The analysis thus demonstrates one of the greatest forces of ethnography, namely why people actively reproduce the practices from which they explicitly distance themselves.

A few years ago, Michael Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi (1988) asserted that the systematic analysis of criminal careers fails to offer much that would help shed light on criminal behavior. Although the author acknowledges the danger of taking the career analogy too literally (pp. 120-121), in this outstanding book on commonplace thieves, Neal Shover demonstrates that Gottfredson and Hirschi were mistaken. Great Pretenders examines the lives and perspectives of the men who are, in essence, the common laborers in the field of property crime. Enjoying, at best, only modest success in their criminal endeavors, Shover's persistent thieves are "pretenders" in the sense that they continue to "pursue criminal gains despite knowing, in reflective moments, that a time of reckoning most certainly will follow" (p. xiii). The key to understanding the path of these criminal careers, according to Shover, lies in seeing "crime as choice." Though sporadically pursued, not terribly lucrative, and inevitably leading to eventual arrest and punishment, these crimes are committed by persistent thieves as they choose options offered in a world limited by their lower-class backgrounds and the criminal subculture within which they interact. Grounding his discussion primarily on ethnographic data collected during more than three decades of involvement with thieves in prisons and on the street, Shover also makes use of his sizeable collection of published autobiographies to create a document that revolves around the voices of thieves as they describe their perspectives and experiences. These pathetic, moving, funny, and defiant accounts are linked and contextualized by Shover's amusingly written and insightful analysis. The first substantive chapter is devoted largely to biographical sketches of six thieves. These stories illustrate the author's contention that criminal careers are constituted by a series of choices made at particular "turning points" in the thief s life. Chapter Two specifies features of the male, working-class cultural world that limit the range of options from which the thief realistically can choose. Of key importance are economic precariousness, a relatively unrestrictive family experience that affords early autonomy, the valuing of independence from situations in which one is "told what to do," an egalitarianism that has the ironic consequence of limiting one's aspirations since "getting ahead" may be seen as traitorous, and an intense desire to be "noticed and respected." Chapter Three continues the theme of limited options by focusing on the historical changes in criminal opportunities

His major theoretical interests are in the areas of commitment, resocialization, and non-verbal communication. He is currently doing field research on commitment and intensive resocialization. SOCIAL ROLES VARY in the degree to which their constituent tasks are &dquo;closed&dquo; or &dquo;open&dquo; in character. At one extreme are roles such as assembly-line worker, where precise definitions communicate when the task starts, one's progress in it, and when it ends. At the other extreme are roles such as student, where the tasks are highly open or never-ending. The role of student, in particular, involves learning to think and learning the &dquo;facts&dquo; of various fields. The infinite expandibility of these tasks places no practically determined restrictions on the amount of time occupants can dedicate to the role. Like politicians, housewives, and other entrepreneurs, students' work is never done. Indeed, students are counselled that people only stop learning when they die. Death is not, students lament, in sight, but learning demands are. This paper seeks to explore how people cope with roles that are open or never-ending in their demands. In particular, it AUTHOR'S NOTE: The author acknowledges the invaluable assistance of Mr. Jeff Hart (Boston College) in the development of the idea of fritter. Special thanks are due Ms. Susan Wilcox for assistance.

We analyze the relations between ethnographic data and theory through an examination of materiality in research practices, arguing that data production is a form of material theorizing. This entails reviewing and (re-)applying practice-theoretical discussions on materiality to questions of ethnography, and moving from understanding theory primarily as ideas to observing theorizing in all steps of research practice. We introduce “pocketing” as a heuristic concept to analyze how and when ethnographic data materializes: the concept defines data’s materiality relationally, through the affective and temporal dimensions of practice. It is discussed using two examples: in a study on everyday architectural experience where ethnographic data materialized as bodies affected by architecture; and in a study on digital cooperation where research data’s materialization was distributed over time according to the use of a company database. By conceptualizing data’s materiality as practice-bound, “p...

Based on ethnographic research in three Danish prisons, this article explores meanings of violence among prisoners, as they are narrated in the context of the prison-based cognitive-behavioral program Anger Management. The empirical data shows that the prisoners’ and instructors’ perspectives and understandings of violence diverge in significant ways. We find that these discrepancies result in disputes and misunderstandings, where prisoners’ experiences of violence are devalued and rendered illegitimate in a treatment context where violence is considered unacceptable and a result of faulty thinking. Drawing on anthropological theory on violence as contextual, trivialized, and embedded in narratives of self, we propose a framework that enables reflections on violence more attuned to the prisoners’ own narratives and reasoning. Such nuanced understandings of violence could provide more durable ways of altering violent repertoires.

Many studies have utilized institutional ethnography (IE) to reveal the social relations that govern how things are put together at the frontline of work, particularly in the public sector and education. The focus has generally been on restrictive practices associated with accountability regimes of new public management. Less analytic attention has been paid, however, to discovering ways in which workers are finding how it can be otherwise. Revisiting the data from a longitudinal study, originally conducted as an IE, provided an opportunity to trace the influence of affect in relation to teachers’ practices. Grounded in empirical data, this article makes a case for the methodological innovation of tracing the work done by affect, as part of an IE, in order to reveal possibilities for resistance.

, Francisco (2016). "Justicia(s) espacial(es) y tensiones socio-ambientales. Desafíos y posibilidades para la etnografía de un problema transdisciplinario", Etnografías Contemporáneas 2 (3), pp. 24-54. RESUMEN En este trabajo ponemos en diálogo algunas de las discusiones sobre la noción de justicia espacial con algunas de las llamadas etnografías contemporáneas. En la primera parte presentamos una discusión acerca de las formas en que han sido abordadas algunas dimensiones de la justicia espacial. Posteriormente, destacamos algunas de las principales líneas de investigación que pueden identificarse en torno a la temática de la justicia espacial vinculadas al medioambiente. Finalmente, subrayamos algunos aportes y desafíos metodológicos en torno a las "prácticas etnográficas", identificando sus desarrollos y dificultades en clave comparativa. Para esto, subrayamos algunos ejes a través de los cuales la etnografía viene respondiendo a los desafíos de la complejidad contemporánea en la que espacio y sociedad se encuentran imbricados. Palabras clave: justicia espacial, etnografías contemporáneas, metodología ABSTRACT "Spatial Justice (s) and socio-environmental tensions: Challenges and possibilities for an ethnography of a transdisciplinary debate" In this article we discuss some of the debates which address the concept of spatial justice in relation to contemporary ethnographies. First, we present a discussion about the multiple ways in which the different dimensions of spatial justice have been studied. Secondly, we highlight some of the main themes of research regarding the notion of spatial justice and the environment. Finally, we highlight some contributions and methodological challenges in relation to "ethnographic practices" identifying developments and limitations from a comparative perspective. Hence, we emphasize some of the aspects in which ethnography is responding to the challenges of the complex contemporary world in which space and society are interwoven

Since the late 1990s, literature on the contributions and significance of the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory (ASL)-the moniker bestowed on scholars engaged in sociological inquiry at Atlanta University between 1895 and 1924-to the discipline of sociology has increased. Examinations into the school's theoretical offerings, impact on the development of the discipline, and significance in topical areas including, but not limited to, criminal justice, race, and religion are more readily available now than ever before. One area that remains fertile for further examination is the ASL's methodological offerings. Although the literature includes a number of favorable examinations of the school's methodological sophistication, a comparison of the school against its contemporaries does not currently exist. This query fills that gap. We expand the literature by offering a comparative analysis of the articulation of the methodological practices of the ASL, as presented in the yearly 706519S REXXX10.

In this article we review ethnographic research on the Internet and computer-mediated communication. The technologically mediated environment prevents researchers from directly observing research participants and often makes the interaction anonymous. In addition, in the online environment direct interaction with participants is replaced by computer-screen data that are largely textual, but may include combinations of textual, visual, aural, and kinetic components. We show how the online environment requires adjustments in how ethnographers define the setting of their research, conduct participant observation and interviews, obtain access to settings and research subjects, and deal with the ethical dilemmas posed by the medium.

Summary Interdisciplinary contributions to social work have supported the profession’s development as a helping profession. Indeed, drawing from other disciplines has been a way to hone intervention approaches. This article analyzes the history of social work’s use of anthropological theory about “culture” in order to critically examine the profession’s positioning as a “recipient” of theories. At a time when evidence-based practice is a dominant ideal, this paper offers an opportunity to step back and interrogate a key concept, culture, that is often evoked as interventions are tailored for various populations. Findings While social work has substantially debated and revised how it approaches culture difference, the core conceptualization of culture as a relatively static set of shared values and traits remains ill-suited to the complex negotiation of diversity in social work practice. The limitations of the culture concept are symptomatic of an exchange relationship with anthropol...

This study aims at presenting a methodological discussion that might assist researchers in identifying the problems encountered by women in a working life dominated by men. Gender has a long debated and studied theme in organizations. Similarly, the discrimination based on gender differences is still on the agenda of working life and it involves a lot of factors that are worth researching. In this study, the author will present information about organizational ethnography that might be applied by the researchers studying gender in organizations.

Recent events, particularly in the United States, have highlighted strained police-citizen relations and the importance of citizens viewing police as legitimate and trustworthy. Perceptions of unreasonable police officer conduct, particularly related to demeanor and physical force, are often at the center of public complaints. The present study used survey data to explore the attitudes of 577 Australian police recruits regarding behaving disrespectfully toward, and using force against, citizens. Over all, recruits’ attitudes were positive, likely reflecting present screening processes. However, some variation was evident and predicted by selected police culture dimensions, including cynicism and police authority, as well as officer characteristics and background factors. Further, attitudes more supportive of disrespect and force were, in turn, predictive of the code of silence for such behavior, measured through hypothetical unwillingness to report colleagues’ behavior. The implicat...