SGER: A Real-Time Sociological Study of How Organizations Apply New Law

本项目侧重于“行动中的法律”而非“书本上的法律”，考察了新工作场所法实施初期雇主实践和政策的演变。组织社会学和法律社会学的理论强调，法律的最终效果在解释和实施阶段显著地形成，尽管这些阶段没有像立法和司法过程那样频繁地被研究。在印第安纳州引入一项前所未有的新法律，为研究法律意义的演变和法律遵守提供了一个不寻常的机会。这个奖项是通过美国国家科学基金会探索性研究小额资助机制颁发的，因为时间是至关重要的：数据收集必须在最初实施阶段迅速开始，在解释转变和记忆消退之前。要研究的具体法律是印第安纳州参议院第219号法案，该法案要求雇主尽可能为女雇员提供吸母乳的私人空间。与许多塑造就业条件的制定法规相比，sb219的实施将不受现有政策的影响，使研究人员能够研究组织在缺乏现状的情况下如何应对法律。该项目将包括访谈和调查以及档案数据分析。本研究具有理论和实践意义。该项目将对组织如何处理和实施新法律的知识状况做出根本性贡献。此外，在这个项目中研究的新法律涉及许多被认为对美国社会很重要的思想：对家庭决定的社会支持，公共权利和私人权利之间的冲突，以及工作生活和家庭生活之间的紧张关系。更好地了解组织如何处理这些主题，以及它们如何过滤法律，对于将来更有效和适当地制定法律是必要的。

Focusing on "law-in-action" rather than "law-on-the-books," this project examines the evolution of employer practices and policies during the initial stages of implementation of a new workplace law. Theories from organizational sociology and the sociology of law emphasize that the ultimate effects of laws are significantly shaped at the interpretaton and implementation stages, though these stages have not been studied as frequently as the legislative and judicial processes. The introduction of a new, unprecedented law in Indiana creates an unusual opportunity to study the evolution of legal sensemaking and compliance in context. This award is made through the NSF's Small Grants for Exploratory Research mechanism because timing is critical: data gathering must begin quickly, during the initial implementation stage, before interpretations shift and memories fade.The specific law to be studied, Indiana Senate Bill 219, requires that, to the extent possible, employers provide private space for women employees to pump breast milk. In contrast to many enacted statutes that shape conditions of employment, the implementation of SB 219 will be uncomplicated by pre-existing policies, enabling the researcher to study how organizations respond to laws in the absence of a status quo. The project will involve interviews and surveys as well as archival data analysis. This study will have both theoretical and practical implications. The project will make fundamental contributions to the state of knowledge regarding how organizations approach and implement new laws. Also, the new law studied in this project relates to many ideas deemed important to American society: social support for family decisions, the conflicts between public and private rights, and tension between work life and family life. Greater understanding of how organizations approach these topics, as well as of how they filter laws generally, is necessary for more effective and appropriate law making in future.