Volume 36, Issue 3

This paper examines the dynamics of traditionalization in spouses’ division of labor in the course of marriage in West Germany. We tackle the question as to whether and to what extent norm-oriented sociological theories and economic resource theories explain men’s relatively decreasing involvement in housework with an increase in the duration of marriage. Men's relative contribution to housework clearly declines in the course of marriage. An increase in their relative involvement is the exception. Using event-history and panel analyses and longitudinal data from the Bamberg Panel Study of Married Couples findings indicate that economic action theories with their gender-symmetric predictions cannot really explain why couples tend to divide their household chores more traditionally with increasing duration of marriage. Consistent interpretations arise when taking normative considerations into account. We suggest the idea of shifting normative frames in the course of family formation to recognize the co-existence of egalitarian gender and traditional fairness norms in the household context.

In the investigation and verification of sources of artifacts, artifact research focuses mainly on methodical and situational aspects. Usually research does not focus on the respondent and his or her mood states. This paper investigates the question if and to what extent actual mood states influence answers (judgments) in surveys. In doing so, we do not assume a general effect, but rather we analyse respondent behavior as dependent on the centrality and type of questions. The inquiry is based on a secondary analysis of three surveys in which data on mood states were collected. The results show considerable effects of centrality (ego-centrality) on the question of response behavior.

The article results from an ethnographic reasearch project at the interface of the sociology of childhood, the sociology of the body, and medical sociology. It asks how models of the course of children’s development structure the practices of prevention programs and thus contribute to configuring and constituting children’s developmental processes. The article analyzes the constructional logic and the practical application of pediatric prevention instruments in using so-called somatograms - graphic representations of height and weight development - as an example. The theoretical perspective focuses on the normalization of childhood. By analyzing graphs as well as fieldnotes and interviews with parents, the article elaborates different practical purposes of the instrument. Besides documentation and evaluation of individual developmental processes as a diagnostic measure, the situated effects of the conduct of preventive check-ups are described. Thus it is shown how medical check-ups in children contribute to the normalization of childhood and constitute an educational context. The final thesis is that somatograms mediate between professional and everyday knowledge of parents and thus help to compensate socially for the incomprehensibility of other parts of the examination.

By considering the precarious professional position of writers in modern society, this article raises the question, as to what mechanisms make an individual into an author. The general answer is: the mode of acknowledgment by the reading public and/or by one’s writing colleagues. As empirical evidence shows, novice writers find a promising path to acknowledgment by associating in exclusive groups. These function not only as a medium of socialization but also compensate for the organizational deficiencies in the writing profession. Affiliation in groups as well as collective appearance in the literary public are interpreted as strategies in the field of literature. With reference to Bourdieu’s theory of the literary field and its historical evolution the strategies of two influential German literary groups, the George-Kreis and the Gruppe 47, are compared. Although pursuing strictly opposing strategies both groups succeed in acquiring “symbolic gains” which enable them to find not only acknowledgment but also to establish dominance in the literary field. The main conclusion of the analysis is that the “reversed economy” of the literary field rewards exclusive as well as inclusive strategies: by-passing the market by (temporarily) de-coupling production from demand (George-Kreis) can be just as successful as controling the market by erecting a cartel-like compound economy including authors, critics, and publishers.