My dissertation examines how individuals respond to workplace social comparisons. I measure the explicit set of referent others that individuals compare themselves against in order to evaluate their own level of performance. I examine how the social context of these comparisons impact discretionary performance related behaviors by examining how an individual’s position within a social network and the structural characteristics of an individual’s reference group influences the experience of discrete emotions. Specifically, I examine how malicious envy and benign envy mediate the relationship between social comparison and workplace behavior in a field setting. Results indicate that social network structure plays a significant role in motivating both productive and counterproductive responses to social comparison. Whether or not an employee responds to upward social comparisons by increasing their own work effort or engaging in deviant behavior is influenced by the experience of benign and malicious envy, which is in turn influencedby the network structure of reference groups. Furthermore, social network position plays a moderating role in the occurrence of workplace deviance by either enhancing or limiting the opportunities an employee has to engage in deviant behavior.

The purpose of this doctoral thesis is to describe and analyse how school children are constructed into being pupils at risk. The research questions focus on what governing practices and techniques are used for and how power relations are expressed in a pedagogical practice. An ethnographic case study was conducted. Empirical data was collected during one year’s time comprising documents (pupils’ written material, teachers’ logbooks), classroom observations, and interviews with teachers as well as interviews with pupils and their mothers. For analytical purposes the material was divided into three main fields: What is said – speech, What is written – text and What is done – action. This was analysed by applying some central terms derived from Michel Foucault: governmentality, genealogy, pastoral power, regulation and examination processes. How pupils’ deviate behaviour is currently interpreted and dealt with in a pedagogical practice was of particular interest here. The outcome of this study suggests that teachers are part of a normalisation process, steering each other on the basis of conceptions and ideas rooted in the power and knowledge generally applied to the ”good school” of today. In Foucaultian terms this could be described as a process in which teachers constitute themselves as moral subjects. The teachers’ own conviction of governing ”the good school” can, however, be contrasted by their deeply rooted conceptions of pupils. Pupils are compared and categorised on the basis of judgments of what normality is. These normalising judgments can be understood in the light of the schools’ task and function in society. This task and schools’ function are not quite visible in the pedagogical practice and conceptions of deviance become more comprehensible. The predominant conception is that pupils should be responsible subjects equipped with internalised self-regulatory techniques. Whenever this does not appear to be the case, a need for various kinds of expert knowledge is created with the intention of directing pupils and parents towards what is conceived as normality. While schools’ and teachers’ failure is temporary, judgements of pupils’ deviance prevail throughout their school years. Pupils’ own strategies are not of relevance for the pedagogical practice. An ensuing effect of this is the construction of risk zones by the very pedagogical practice that considers children irresponsible objects. This doctoral thesis results in a suggestion as to how we could benefit from the challenging power constituted by pupils.

En vue de présenter la spécificité du processus d’intégration sociale des immigres dans le pays d’accueil, notre recherche propose l’analyse du cas des immigres roumains en France. Nous considérons l’intégration sociale un processus social et tant que tel, avec des caractéristiques et des dimensions spécifiques et, en même temps, parte dans un système complexe qui implique la présence et interdépendance de plusieurs phénomènes En conséquence, nous avons analysé l’intégration sociale par rapport à ses dimensions intrinsèques, mais aussi en relation avec des phénomènes comme la migration et la transgression des règles. Tous ces phénomènes sont analyse en utilisant des méthodes adaptées, au niveau macro méso et microsocial. L’intégration sociale des immigrés roumains en France, notre principale approche dans cadre de notre étude, est analyse en prenant en compte les dimensions suivantes : structurelle, culturelle, relationnelle, identitaire, dimension de la satisfaction et des plans d’avenir. A ce propos, une recherche de terrain a été faite en France, centrée sur des les villes de Paris, de Nice, de Bordeaux, de Montpellier et de Strasbourg. Ensuite, pour mettre en évidence la relation entre migration et intégration sociale nous avons réalisé, dans le cadre de notre projet, une étude sur l’émigration des Roumains. Cette étude a été faite en Roumanie. Enfin, en observant le forte l’intensité de la relation directe entre le processus d’intégration sociale et l’image négative associée à une catégorie d’immigrés roumains, nous avons introduit dans le cadre de notre projet de recherche une étude sur les formes de la transgression des règles existante chez les immigrés roumains. / In order to present the specificity of social integration process of the immigrants in the host country, our research propose to analyze the case of Romanian immigrants in France. We consider social integration as a process that has its own characteristics and dimensions and, in the same time, as part in a complex system where more interdependent process are involved. In consequence we construct our research project based on this perspective. We analyze firstly the social integration process according with its own dimensions and secondly in relation with the migration and the rule transgression processes. Social integration and these two others social processes that could influence the first one, are each analyzed at macro, meso and micro-social level. The intensive study on social integration, the main study of our research project, is oriented on the analyses of its dimensions: structural, cultural, relational, identity, satisfaction and future plans. This study is based on field research realized in France, more exactly in the towns of Paris, Nice, Montpellier, Strasbourg and Bordeaux. Then, in order to identify the relation between migration and social integration, another study on emigration was run in Romania. Observing the important relation between social integration process and the negative image of Romanian immigrants, we introduce in our project a new research oriented in analyses the forms of transgression of rules.

This work will offer sociological theory about deviance, positing that deviance is part of larger social processes. Specifically, it will examine the illicit arts and antiquities trade, arguing that networks of legitimate status-role positions facilitate illegitimate behaviors. This theoretical framework is developed out of the notion that deviant actions may be the result of a social economy, and not the result of individual or psychological concerns. The work will use an exploratory methodology and attempt to explain or answer several research questions. This is tested by using qualitative, open-source data describing the context and means of participation in the status-role positions. The intent is to highlight specific cases and explain how the alternative theory of deviance may be more suitable to explain this type of phenomena.

Substance use is a significant problem among middle school students in the United States. Research indicates that the early use of substances increases the likelihood of negative outcomes including long-term use and abuse. Both parenting and peer variables exert strong influences on children's decisions to use or abstain from substances. As children age, peers begin to exert a stronger influence, but parenting practices can significantly reduce peers' harmful influences. In this study, three waves of data (collected at the end of 6th grade, and the beginning and end of 7th grade) from a large multi-site study were used to examine the role of peer deviance as a mediator of the influence of parental monitoring on substance use among an ethnically diverse sample of over 2,500 middle school students. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the longitudinal interrelations among parental monitoring, peer deviance, and substance use among middle school students, and to investigate potential group differences by gender and family structure. The hypotheses that peer deviance and substance use would influence one another over time were upheld. The two variables were interrelated such that peer deviance produced increases in substance use over time, but so too did substance use produce peer deviance over time. The prospective relation between substance use and peer deviance was stronger than the converse relation, suggesting that substance using peers seek one another out. Parental monitoring was associated with decreases in substance use over time, but its influence was small. Parental monitoring was more strongly associated with decreases in peer deviance. However, parental monitoring's effect on substance use was not mediated by peer deviance over these 3 waves in that parental monitoring at Wave 1 did not predict substance use 1 year later. Contrary to hypothesis, substance use was not associated with changes in parental monitoring over time, although peer deviance was associated with less monitoring. In general, parental monitoring was more closely linked to peer deviance than it was to substance use. This study found no convincing evidence to suggest group differences in the overall pattern of findings according to gender or family structure.

This work deals with the topic of lapse rate modelling in the field of Life Insurance. First, the theoretical apparatus is established: the linear models and their extension, generalized linear models. Furthermore, we describe the process of model selection and evaluation. In the second part of this work we describe the influence of various individual as well as macroeconomical parameters on the lapse rate. We summarize the findings of previous works in this field. The last part introduces models in statistical software R based on generalized linear models and describes the process of their selection and evaluation. Outputs from these models are interpreted and compared to the ratio analysis results.

The aim of this study is to, in view of theories about deviance and social control, examine how cannabis users are experiencing and relating to their own use and the society’s perception on this use. Qualitative interviews with six users or former users of cannabis were performed.  Sociological concepts of deviance and normality, social control, roles, role distance and stigma were used to analyze the results. The study shows that the cannabis users experience deficiencies in the Swedish drug policy. They feel like the picture of cannabis as a dangerous substance is unanimous in society and that it is not accepted to question it. They also believe that issues related to narcotics are being handled inadequately in Sweden and that this may lead to people suffering from addiction not seeking help. The cannabis users in this study also felt like other people perceived them as addicts and junkies, while the users themselves separated use and abuse. Lastly, we discovered three different strategies to deal with the attitudes and norms in society. These strategies were: resistance and questioning, hidden use and secretiveness, adapting social circle and adoption of different roles.

Abstract The culture of law enforcement is an all or nothing proposition with no gray area where membership into this society is concerned. You are either “on the job” or you are not. Even references among officers to “the job” indicate there is only one job. Likened to a secret handshake, that initial phrase if answered correctly opens the door to instant fraternal acceptance, get out of violation passes, and the many other assumed privileges of brotherhood. Manning (1980) describes the powerful mystification of policing as the “sacred canopy”. He further asserts that “the police role conveys a sense of sacredness or awesome power that lies at the root of political order, and authority, the claims a state makes upon its people for deference to rules, laws and norms” (Manning, 1980, p. 21). These elements make policing unique to all other American occupations. The sacredness of the profession creates social autonomy protected by the officers’ code of silence. Operating in this vacuum apart from public accountability fosters an environment for behavior outside of laws the institution is charged with enforcing. My research shows the process of occupational socialization ushers officers into a state of becoming blue, or the enculturation of expectant behavior and actions. I confirm that assignments into the Special Operations Group (SOG) facilitate a subculture separate and apart from the institutional ideals (Librett, 2006) and encourage a darkening of the shade of blue identifying officers with a labeling of deviance. While previous research identifies the code of silence as a by-product of the policing culture, my research identifies it as fundamental for maintaining the covenant of the dark blue fraternity.

Surveillance studies suffer from a near-total lack of empirical data, partially due to the highly secretive nature of surveillance programs. However, documents leaked by Edward Snowden in June of 2013 provided unprecedented proof of top-secret American data mining initiatives that covertly monitor electronic communications, collect, and store previously unfathomable quantities of data. These documents presented an ideal opportunity for testing theory against data to better understand contemporary surveillance. This qualitative content analysis compared themes of technology, privacy, national security, and legality in the NSA documents to those found in sets of publicly available government reports, laws, and guidelines, finding inconsistencies in the portrayal of governmental commitments to privacy, transparency, and civil liberties. These inconsistencies are best explained by the risk society theoretical model, which predicts that surveillance is an attempt to prevent risk in globalized and complex contemporary societies.

Student Number : 9208006A - PhD thesis - School of Social Sciences - Faculty of Humanities / The term ‘ducktail’ was originally used to denote a hairstyle. In the Post World War Two period, ‘Ducktail’ became associated with a rebellious white youth gang subculture, which rose to prominence in the major urban centres throughout South Africa. Societal responses to the subculture’s identity resulted in the generation of a moral panic which demonised the movement branding it as – amongst other things – the ‘eendstert euwel’ [ducktail evil]. The major aim of this thesis is to account for the way in which members of the subculture constructed and practised their class, racial, ethnic, gendered and generational identities whilst highlighting how society responded to them. The relationship of conformity, conflict and control that emerged between the ducktails and more conventional members of society such as the authorities and academics is plotted. This relationship sets the context for the final part of the dissertation, which explores the moral guardians and rule creators that became involved in the designing of youth policies. Particular attention will be given to how the ‘problem of youth’ brought religion, working mothers, morality, the state of the nation and the preservation of white supremacy under question. In this process, the National Party government formulated policies to monitor, shape and construct an appropriate form of South African whiteness.