Browsing by Author "Monahan, Brian"
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Item COVID-19 and U.S. Disputes Over Authority, 2020–2021: Implications for the Constructionist Analysis of Social Problems(Sociological Forum, 2022-09-25) Best, Joel; Monahan, BrianCOVID-19 is very different from the cases typically studied by constructionist analysts of social problems: it emerged quickly, spread widely, and affected many aspects of social life. As such, it offers important opportunities to reconsider the constructionist model. We focus on three issues—metrics, masks, and vaccines—where COVID-19 disputes about authority led to different alliances among several categories of claimsmakers. Our point is that COVID-19 discourse seems far messier than most of the narratives presented by constructionist analysts, and we identify several lessons from this unusual contemporary case that might help us strengthen existing social problems theory.Item Disaster Resistant Communities Initiative: Assessment Of Ten Non-Pilot Communities(2002) Wachtendorf, Tricia; Connell, Rory; Monahan, Brian; Tierney, Kathleen J.Item From Ground Zero To Ground Hero: Status Appropriation And The FDNY(Disaster Research Center, 2001) Monahan, Brian; Gregory, CarolDisasters and emergencies are often characterized by heightened levels of structural ambiguity and uncertainty; conditions which may create an opportunity for symbolic figures or groups to emerge and ascend to a position of acclaim and high status. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, one group, the Fire Department of New York (FDNY), emerged as an idealized symbol of America at its best. In the face of great uncertainty and unknown risks, firefighters came to be perceived as transcending their instrumental actions and vocations to set a standard of readiness, response, and resolve. Drawing on the microprocesses outlined by Klapp in his work on symbolic leaders and Gusfield's conceptionalization of status groups, a multilevel model is created with three goals in mind (1) extend the explanatory power of previous work by combining macro and micro levels of analysis; (2) provide a framework for discerning why some groups emerge over others; and (3) offer theoretically-informed empirical model that is both testable and predictive to the extant research on this topic.