Summary Twenty years later …In 1996, a group of Utrecht and Nijmegen based sociologists compiled a study on social segmentation in the Netherlands in 2015. In their contributions, they formulated testable predictions for 2015, based on the most up-to-date theories, models, and data. In this issue of Mens & Maatschappij, authors look back at and test these predictions, using data collected since 1996. Key findings are summarized in this contribution.
Summary Do people perceive a conflict between the young and old? A study on the influence of social identification, competition, and contactIn this study we ask to what extent the Dutch population perceives a conflict between the young and old and how we can explain this. We use Social Identification Theory, Realistic Conflict Theory, and Contact Theory to derive hypotheses. These are tested with newly collected data on a representative sample of the Dutch population which are analyzed with Structural Equation Modelling. A considerable part of the population perceives conflicting interests between the young and old, but fewer people see a real conflict. In line with Realistic Conflict Theory people who experience incompatible interests between age groups in the labor market also perceive a larger conflict between young and old. We do not find that people who identify stronger with a certain age group (Social Identification Theory) or who have a more age-homogeneous network (Contact Theory) perceive more conflict. A weak economic position seems to be a predictor of experiencing all kinds of conflict in society, including one between age groups.
"Dieser Beitrag stellt eine neue empirische Untersuchung zu den Veränderungen der Chancengleichheit im Bildungssystem in der (alten) Bundesrepublik vor. Sie beruht auf den Daten der Lebensverlaufsstudie am Max-Planck-Institut für Bildungsforschung in Berlin (Geburtskohorten 1919-21, 1929-31, 1939-41, 1949-51, 1954-56 und 1959-61), die eine exakte Rekonstruktion der Bildungsverläufe der Befragten erlauben. Hinsichtlich der sozialen Herkunft zeigt sich eine zunehmende Chancengleichheit über die Kohorten. Dies gilt für den Wechsel zu einer weiterführenden Schule (Jungen und Mädchen) sowie für den Abschluß einer beruflichen Ausbildung (Mädchen), nicht dagegen für die Wahl zwischen Realschule und Gymnasium. Hinsichtlich der regionalen Unterschiede zeigt sich ein Abbau des Stadt/Land- Gefälles bei der Wahl des Schultyps nach der Grundschule. Die Unterschiede zwischen Nord- und Süddeutschland bleiben bei dieser Entscheidung jedoch bestehen. Bei der beruflichen Ausbildung von Mädchen kehrt sich das Stadt/Land-Gefälle sogar um: Es sind in den jüngsten Geburtskohorten eher die Mädchen aus Großstädten, die keine Ausbildung abschließen." (Autorenreferat)
Interorganizational collaboration in the public sector. A case study on a network of organizations around criminal youth.Recently, the municipality of Amsterdam initiated the 'Top600 approach' in which more than 30 organizations should cooperate in order to get 600 young violent offenders back on the right track. This article describes the intended and the existing collaborative relationships and investigates which factors affect whether collaboration has come about. Hypotheses are derived from previous American studies on this topic. A social network analysis shows that there are three times as many collaborative relationships between the organizations as intended. And most of the factors that played a role in the American context, also influenced the degree of interorganizational collaboration in the Netherlands (Amsterdam). A history of collaboration and common organization goals – factors that exist regardless of the Top600 approach – are playing a major role. Among the specific policies of the Top600 approach especially the making of agreements on cooperation is effective. Finally, for the frequency of contact and for mutual respect, understanding and trust it is not clear whether they lead to collaboration or whether they are a consequence of collaboration. Most likely they mutually reinforce each other. 1. Inleiding
AbstractWhether educational attainment compensates for or reinforces family disadvantages in political participation is currently a debated topic. Previous research has shown a consistent relationship between social origin and political participation in Western societies: individuals originating from low-socioeconomic-status families participate in politics less than those from high-socioeconomic-status families, which violates the democratic requirement of equality of political voice. In this paper, we investigate whether secondary education compensates for or reinforces the political inequality shaped by social origin. We used a German representative sample of 1012 identical twins aged 21–25 and applied family fixed effects regression models, which allowed us to control for measured and unmeasured social and genetic confounding. We found a positive effect of educational attainment on participation, which is most likely causal. Family disadvantage resulting from low parental education is compensated for by children finishing the academic track (Gymnasium) as opposed to the lower vocational track (Hauptschule). At the same time, family advantage originating from high parental occupational status is reinforced for children completing the academic track. We found no advantage nor disadvantage, compensation nor reinforcement, related to parental income. We conclude that compensation and reinforcement of family disadvantage may remain unnoticed if components of parental SES are not distinguished.
Partners choose each other on the basis of many characteristics. Social status is one of them. A person's social status can be ascribed, e.g. derived from the position of her or his parents, or achieved, e.g. derived from her or his own occupation. According to the status-attainment hypothesis, during the nineteenth century achieved status increased in importance and ascribed status decreased, especially in regions that experienced more modernization. In contrast, the romantic-love hypothesis predicts that modernization caused a decrease in the importance of both ascribed and achieved status. This paper tests these claims. We use data on all the marriages that took place in all the municipalities in six (of eleven) Dutch provinces between 1813 and 1922. These couple-level data are supplemented with municipal-level data on several dimensions of modernization. We find that men's occupational status did indeed become more important and the occupational status of their fathers less important in the second half of the nineteenth century, when modernization accelerated. In general, modernization is positively related to partner selection based on achieved characteristics and negatively related to partner selection based on ascribed characteristics. However, especially in larger cities, some support is also found for the romantic-love hypothesis.
