In-depth, unstructured, interviews with 20 non-Amish public officials, farmers, and business people in Fillmore County, Minnesota, examined attitudes toward the local Amish population, including Amish religious beliefs and practices, taxation and school issues, Amish impact on the area economy, and prejudice toward the Amish as a group. Data were…

Research indicates that living in company towns created a population lacking in initiative and self-determination. In one community that was a company town until the mid-1950s, key-informant interviews indicated high levels of dropping out, illiteracy, teen pregnancy, poverty, and dependency. However, a survey of high school students revealed no…

The Rurality Index measures community access to resources for resolution of local problems; includes physical, population, educational, and financial elements; and assesses community connections to the larger society and the global economy. Analysis found that U.S. metro counties were heavily skewed to the least rural end of the scale but…

To address social problems in rural areas, it is important to combine the generalist model of social work, which stresses intervention at the individual level, with a sustainable social development model that directs intervention efforts toward social institutions and cultural practices. Curriculum implications for social work education are…