Few research studies focus on middle class Blacks. This paper analyzes historical and contemporary perspectives of the group and illustrates how social mobility and social change influence the economic and political competitiveness of Blacks. Approaches and techniques for studying Blacks as part of the larger society are suggested. (VM)

The theoretical orientation of this study of the extended, black, middle-class, is two-fold: (1) the socialization of children in black families differs from other families because of their nonsupportive wider environment, and (2) the extended kin network facilitates upward mobility. To test these hypotheses, 305 black parents were questionned…

A factual account of a 10-minute conversation between a husband and wife about their daughter's application to college depicts marital problems. Closer examination reveals the tensions facing the middle class family and the significance to them of academic competition, higher education, comparative generational success, and social acceptance.…

This paper explores the hypothesis that parents consider preschool education to be more important for boys than for girls. To test this hypothesis, the following questions were examined: (1) Are boys disproportionately enrolled in nursery school? and (2) Do parents emphasize different reasons for enrolling boys and girls? The effect of social…

Asserts that the urban-high-school film genre (in which a classroom of socially troubled, low-achieving students is transformed by the singular efforts of an outside middle class teacher or principal) reinforces the "culture of poverty" thesis, representing the fantasies that suburban middle class America has about life in urban high…

The initial part of this paper summarizes the bases for the assertion that the most immediate, overwhelming, and stubborn obstacles to achieving quality and equality in education lie as much in the character and way of life of the American Negro as in the indifference and hostility of the white community toward blacks. A discussion of prenatal…

Questionnaire data were obtained from 149 enlisted men in the United States Navy. The job scope/satisfaction with the work itself relationship was examined for the study's total sample and for subsamples created by grouping individuals on the basis of their belief in the Protestant ethic (middle-class work norms and values). Job scope may be…

Used the Continuum of Criminal Offenses to examine how the "law-abiding" community, representative of middle-class values, would rate the seriousness of selected criminal offenses and how they would then handle offenders. Results showed crimes rated as being more serious were dealt with more sternly in sentencing. (Author/JAC)

Aspirations of adults from urban communities were ascertained and analyzed. Adults in nondeclining communities showed differences regarding "most frequently expressed aspiration," compared to counterparts in declining communities. No significant difference in economic aspiration was noted, but almost twice as many from the nondeclining community…

Using Inglehart's construct of materialism/postmaterialism, between 1975 and 1978 data were collected from Ball State (Indiana) University students regarding their value priorities. The majority of students were found to have mixed values, but the trend was toward materialism. (GC)

Education as a lifelong process is not the same as schooling measured by years of attendance, the level of academic standards, and one's performance there. Schooling should provide the following functions, which comprise part of becoming educated: socialization, sorting, custody, knowledge and skills training, and encouragement of creativity and…

Examines a late nineteenth-century Milwaukee (Wisconsin) publication for children and young people as a reflection of German-American middle-class culture of the time, showing how the spirit of the 1848 revolution and the experience of the American Civil War shaped German-American intellectuals and how the ideals of freedom and equality dominated…

A middle-class adolescent peer group was examined, using ethnographic techniques, to describe the group's relationship to adults and to uncover the adult reference group after which the group modeled itself. Although this group was organized to help poor people, it modeled itself after middle-class adult managers. (Author/GDC)

This report studies the Oakland, California black elite. They have historically fulfilled the role of intermediary between the black masses and the white power structure. The aim of the report is to deterimne how the Afro-American elites of Oakland define their position and those of black Americans generally. It also analyzes the blacks'…

This document provides a comparative study of life styles and social attitudes of middle income status whites and blacks in Northwestern Detroit, Michigan. One hour personal interviews were conducted with 213 white and 18l black families to gather information on areas such as leisure patterns and values, family life patterns, neighborhoods,…