Doctoral Dissertation Research: Social Structure and the Male Urban Life Course

调查研究一直表明异性恋和同性恋男性的亲密生活和二元安排的变化，包括伴侣的变化率，情感承诺的期望，以及接受非一夫一妻制的做法。 然而，这些差异的途径还不太清楚。 理论和研究通常将同性恋和异性恋男性的偏好视为个人的固定“特征”，当取向在生命过程中发展和变化时。 以社会建构主义的生命历程的角度来看，这个项目探讨了机会和关系历史的结构背景如何影响亲密取向和职业生涯的发展，以及如何在这些机会和限制的方向构建。 该项目收集了纽约市100名21至49岁的异性恋和同性恋（黑人和白色）男性的生活史。 生活史方法跟踪从基线取向到现在的亲密实践和二元安排的连续性和转折点。 它还探讨了这些过程中的种族差异。 该项目没有对同性恋和异性恋男性进行概括，而是捕捉了结构和过程的动态相互作用，从而有助于对通常从个人主义或生物学角度看待的行为进行更多的社会学理解。

Survey research has consistently demonstrated variation in the intimate lives and dyadic arrangements of heterosexual and homosexual men, including rates of partner change, expectations of emotional commitment, and acceptance of non-monogamous practices. However, the pathways to these differences are less well understood. Theories and studies often treat preferences of gay and straight men as fixed "traits" of individuals, when orientations develop and change over the life course. Taking a social constructionist life course perspective, this project examines how structural contexts of opportunity and relational histories affect the development of intimate orientations and careers, and how orientations are constructed in response to these opportunities and constraints. The project gathers life histories of 100 heterosexual and homosexual (black and white) males between 21 and 49 years of age in New York City. The life history method tracks continuities and turning points in intimate practices and dyadic arrangements from baseline orientations to the present. It also explores racial differences in these processes. Rather than make generalizations about gay and straight men, the project captures the dynamic interplay of structure and process, and thereby contributes to a more sociological understanding of behavior that is often viewed from individualistic or biological perspectives.