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

该项目重点关注“行动中的法律”而不是“书本上的法律”，审查新工作场所法实施初期阶段雇主做法和政策的演变。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被显著塑造，尽管这些阶段没有像立法和司法过程那样频繁地被研究。印第安纳州一项新的、前所未有的法律的出台为研究法律的意义建构和遵守的演变创造了一个不寻常的机会。这个奖项是通过国家科学基金会的探索性研究小额赠款机制颁发的，因为时机至关重要：数据收集必须在最初的实施阶段迅速开始，在解释改变和记忆褪色之前，要研究的具体法律，印第安纳州参议院第219号法案，要求雇主在可能的范围内为女性员工提供私人空间，以泵母乳。与许多制定的法规形成鲜明对比的是，SB 219的实施将不受现有政策的影响，使研究人员能够研究组织如何在缺乏现状的情况下对法律作出反应。 该项目将涉及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。该项目将对有关各组织如何处理和执行新法律的知识状况作出根本性贡献。此外，在这个项目中研究的新法律涉及到许多被认为对美国社会很重要的想法：家庭决定的社会支持，公共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问题，以及他们如何过滤法律一般，是必要的，在未来更有效和适当的法律制定。

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.