This report is based on data and insights obtained during a study tour of the United States and Canada. The purpose of the tour was to combine attending three conferences on social work and social welfare held in Montreal, Canada in the summer of 1984 with visiting various institutions in Canada and the United States. In the first section of this…

Describes class exercises where undergraduates construct and test mathematical models using data and issues related to social security. The students collect data and forecast economic and demographic variables that determine future tax rates. They then discuss government policies that are derived from their models. (MJP)

Maintains that the education of children who are cared for by public agencies is now a national issue. Describes the work of the Manchester Teaching Service (England), which has been at the forefront of national development and change. Concludes with a case study that illustrates the philosophy and purpose of the agency. (CFR)

Examines the Peace Corps' early efforts to recruit black volunteers and the consequent culture clash between their expectations of Africa and its reality. Sexism, social stratification, and cultural stereotyping often underscored the differences between black Americans and Africans. Nonetheless, volunteers generally credited the experience as a…

Describes an undergraduate seminar where each student's central task was to select a specific social movement/social change organization, collect data on it, and write a 20-page sociological analysis. The results were disappointing, with most students presenting a historical chronology accompanied by a compilation of facts. Discusses possible…

Explores the career trajectories of young people (16-19 years) in Great Britain cared for by local social service agencies. Examines four areas: (1) educational attainment, (2) student perceptions, (3) further education, and (4) factors associated with career trajectories. Includes recommendations for public policy and practices. (CFR)

Presents a simple diagrammatic technique for conveying the idea of Ricardian equivalence or policy neutrality in the provision of public goods. Includes several diagrams illustrating basic positions regarding the relationship between voluntary public contributions and taxation. Provides a brief explanation of the illustrated concepts. (MJP)

Ten separate 1890 Land-Grant Universities and Tuskegee Institute cooperatively conducted a 10-state southern regional research project, "The Isolation of Factors Related to Patterns and Levels of Living in the Rural South," which elicited household and demographic data on 2,580 rural families. The 10 contiguous southeastern states which…