Browsing by Subject "Norms"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    The globalization of childhood: the role of law and norms in the global abolition of the death penalty for child offenders.
    (2010-07) Linde, Robyn Michele
    This dissertation examines how an idea that begins in one part of the world becomes a global norm that almost all states in the international system obey. It investigates the processes of normative development and global diffusion through the study of a single norm: the prohibition of the death penalty for child offenders under the age 18. The dissertation traces the life cycle of this norm from its origins to its rapid global spread in the 1960s and 1970s to the present, when it has been internalized by most countries while also strongly contested by a handful of others. Through case studies of the death penalty policies of China, Ethiopia, France, Japan, Kenya, Pakistan, Tanzania, Tunisia, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as through institutional case studies of UNICEF and Amnesty International, I argue that abolition of the death penalty for child offenders diffused as a key part of a globalized childhood. This globalized childhood originated in parts of Europe and the United States and spread via the colonial powers of Britain and France. In the last few decades of the 20th century, international law addressing children homogenized state policies, further crystallizing the norm against the child death penalty. By considering how states incorporate a specific norm into their domestic value system and legal framework, I explain how such factors as state structure, international pressure, domestic-level actors (such as NGOs and social movements) and law produce human rights change and catalyze international transformation.
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    On the role of social norms in the expression of self-interest.
    (2010-06) Kim, Anita
    The present studies are designed to enhance our understanding of the possible role that social norms play in the expression of self-interested or value-oriented thinking when evaluating social policies. The power of self-interest has long been afforded the front seat when explaining human behavior in a number of intellectual domains, but the direct effect(s) of self-interest on policy evaluations has been unclear. Previous work has examined the role of clarity and cognitive accessibility of self-interest in understanding how self-interest is expressed, and I introduce another variable that may play a role in the expression of self-interest: social norms. I hypothesized that the accessibility of social norms for how to think about a policy vary, inhibiting or facilitating the expression of self-interested thinking or value-oriented thinking. I also hypothesized that the perception of social norms has an independent effect on people's thoughts surrounding a policy, such that a norm of self-interest will cause people to behave in more self-interested ways, and a norm of values will cause people to behave in more value-oriented ways. Study 1 tested whether a perceived social norm causes people to express self-interest or value-oriented thinking in accordance with a manipulated norm. Results partially supported this hypothesis, with participants presenting more value-oriented comments when cues indicated value-oriented thinking was desirable, presenting more self-interested comments when cues indicated self-interested thinking was desirable, and participants rating themselves marginally more concerned about self-interest when the cue indicated self-interested thinking was desirable and participants believed they would share their answers with a fellow student. Study 2 tested the independent effects of cognitive priming and salience of social norms on participants' thoughts surrounding a fictitious policy proposal. Results were mixed, which was likely due to unexpected effects of the priming and cue manipulations in the chosen domain. Findings and implications are discussed, as is the existence of a norm of self-interest.
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    Revisiting Impartiality: Social Media and Journalism at The BBC
    (Symbolic Interaction, 2013) Belair-Gagnon, Valerie
    This article contributes to the literature of news production studies by providing a powerful example of how processes of deliberation bring change to journalism. It explores the reconstruction of impartiality using the single case-study of social media in the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) international journalism. In this case-study, symbolic interactionism and mesostructure analysis enable us to explore social organizations and social processes, placing them in larger embedded contexts (structural, historical, and mode of action) and extended temporality. Following D. L. Altheide’s (1996) ecology of communication framework, this study on BBC impartiality demonstrates that in the newsroom, techies have responded strategically to the logic of their environment. Techies have joined in the process of the new symbolic architecture of impartiality, which has transformed news agenda-setting. This new logic, ushered in by techies, has shaped editorial decisions at the public broadcaster. This article discusses how social media have contributed to the nature, organization, and consequences of communication activities of the BBC.