Suchergebnisse

A review of new res techniques & approaches to the study of soc instit's is presented. Although for a while soc sci appeared to abandon the search for causality & conditional predictability, the main thrust of empirical studies continued to be on this, as evidenced by the upsurge of work on soc indicators which reflects a convergence in public policy & application of soc sci. The use of historical materials for developing conditional generalizations continues to be debated, but some scholars are demonstrating that substantial contributions are possible. New methods of analyzing SM have been applied to instit'ized org's. The relations between org's & environment is increasingly being examined. Many recent studies of instit'ized modes of supplying health & welfare services describe unacknowledged ways in which treatment, care or service may create or maintain the condition they are supposed to reduce or eradicate. Studies of the following major instit'al sectors proliferate: kinship & the fam; soc stratification; educ; econ instit's, pol'al instit's, religion, interrelations of instit's, instit's & change. Sociol'ly relevant res on econ processes have dealt with pol'al conditions, nat'l & internat'l; SC; ethnic discrimination; the status of women; advertising; etc. Studies of instit'ization & change in military affairs abound for the 1960's & have dispelled some of the oversimplified generalizations re the "military-industr complex." Intense controversy over the soc role of org'ed religion appeared in the closing yrs of the 1960's. The search for specified invariant patterns of societal change continues, aided by improved methodology but plagued by inadequate data. An emphasis upon process, it might seem, would be necessary in studies of conflict & conflict-resolution; but this is not true for existing studies, although the processual approach has gained ground recently. M. Maxfield.

Because values, defined as generalized criteria of desirability, are deeply involved in all of the specialized areas treated in this volume, much of the needed analysis is implicit in other articles. There remains a need to render explicit the first-order tasks for making data on values a viable part of societal self-awareness and self-direction, in an age of Great Societies. Values are important causal compo nents in individual conduct and in the functioning of social systems. To develop adequate indicators for the needed analysis will require major efforts and much ingenuity. Yet practicable methods already are available for the systematic empirical study of values. Because of the lack in the past of standardized measures and comprehensive reporting, the existing data are scanty, fragmentary, and diffuse. Yet cau tious and imaginative use of existing information has added to our knowledge of distinctive value patterns in the United States, and some illuminating comparisons have been made with other societies. Better data and more explicit analysis of value problems will enhance effectiveness of goal-achievement, widen the scope of awareness in decision-making, and provide enhanced capacities for sensing limits and hazards in current societal trends and policies. That new problems thereby will be created is inevitable, and not undesirable.

Among the recent trends observed in res on soc instit's are: (a) Greater attention to the study of instit'al strain, tension, deviance, conflict & power rather than to consensus, equilibrium, or integration. (b) A tendency to shift the focus of interest from structure to soc change. (c) An emphasis on systems rather than isolated units or aggregates. (d) An emphasis upon comparative analysis rather than study confined to a single community, group, or society. A renewed effort is discerned to avoid discursive treatment & to seek systematic & formalized analysis & exposition. 'Instit's' are perhaps less often than formerly conceived as fixed, concrete soc structures & more often as continually changing sets of statuses & roles, which, in turn, represent problematic soc bargains that must incessantly be redefined. A general delimitation of the field is offered & recent res methods & techniques are discussed, under reference to a variety of authors & their works. An overview of the sociol'al literature on instit's follows, which excludes, with few exceptions, textbooks, & is arranged under the following headings: (1) instit'al components: norms; (2) characteristics of singular instit'al sectors (kinship, fam, soc stratification, econ, pol'al, educ'al & religious instit's); (3) interrelations between instit's; (4) synoptic studies & comparisons of total societies; & (5) instit's & S-cul change. It is concluded that 'the best of the recent work in this area of soc sci indicates that developing standards of acceptable analysis are antithetical to those diffuse descriptions of soc instit's in which vagueness of conceptualization & res design formerly gave Everyman a free hand to be his own sociol'st.' M. Maxfield.

Relations of values to unconventional warfare may be analyzed at three levels: decision-making and policy at the national level, generalized public opinion, formation and use of special military forces. The main American values are not incompatible with unconventional warfare at the opera tional level, but conflicts of values do result in uncertainty and ambiguity in national policy. Certain common beliefs and stereotypes about unconventional warfare are in need of crit ical examination. American value systems tend to stress ethical individualism and active mastery of life. Values of technical competence and achievement would be important in the behavior of the highly selected and specially trained American forces which would participate in unconventional warfare. Convictions concerning the justice of the nation's position, coupled with group involvement and the values attached to teamwork, are important in the behavior of American forces. Understanding of the complex national value pattern can aid in determining basic policy concerning unconventional warfare.