Describes several distinguishing characteristics (drawn from personal experiences) of social work in rural areas experiencing rapid growth. Applies implications of these concepts to social work. (Author/AH)

For rural women in America to gain some measure of empowerment, they must first have an opportunity to reinforce among themselves their common perceptions of what is happening to them in this culture. Those perceptions, while accurate, deviate from those commonly represented by the media in an urban, male-normed society. Group work is essential…

Suggesting rural development research is not an academic specialty in the traditional sense and that its frame of reference should be development, this article maintains such research should emphasize identification and assessment of consequences for people and communities of programs and policies undertaken in the name of rural development.…

Rural sociology confronts a continuing crisis of identity because of its failure to develop a sociology of agriculture. Despite an initial focus on agriculture, rural sociology became deflected to the analysis of rurality. Several neo-Populist and neo-Marxist developments in the sociology of agriculture hold promise for a revised rural sociology.…

Examines the need to reconsider spatial conceptualizations and categories such as urban-rural and core-periphery in light of two recent trends: migration out of cities and the geographic redistribution of economic activities. Suggests that these trends and related policy issues would be better articulated in a regional or local economy framework.…

While educational institutions in rural America present unique characteristics and offer opportunities for administrative excellence, educators have tended to overlook rural resources and the possibility of implementing educational programs in community life, which in turn, would reflect the heritage of rural culture and values. This paper…

Librarians tend to view themselves as agents, advocates, or promoters of educational and cultural processes, and these functions are important; but rural librarians can and should play a broader role in the community, including a role in community development activities. As information specialists, librarians have access to critical resources for…

The South can move out of the shadows of the harsh economic realities of the last 15 years and into the sunshine of developing new strategies to take advantage of the region's strengths. These strengths include a vast wealth of natural resources; a Sunbelt location; and most important, a huge reservoir of undeveloped human capital. The road to…

The post-World War II American pattern of general urban growth, rapid suburbanization, and central city decline has now given way to reduced urban growth outside the Sunbelt, increased growth in nonmetropolitan areas, greater self-sufficiency for suburbs, and continuing depression in the central cities. Implications of these changes are discussed.…

Demographic, economic, and educational indicators, especially as shown in the Marion County Youth Study, suggest that strategies that deal with the problems of rural youth and which assume mobility to metropolitan areas may be outmoded and inadequate. Outmigration is, however, faced by many rural youth and its success is dependent upon formal…

Prejudice built up against the rural citizen and his situation is exemplified in the stereotyping inherent in the pejorative terms "pastoral", "bucolic", "hick", etc., and romantic turn-of-the-century debate over whether "modern degeneracy" should be considered urban- or rural-centered. Such holdover…

Migrations to the Sun Belt, exodus from urban areas, the aging of the baby-boom generation, and single-parent families are significantly altering the needs and priorities of America's schools. (Author/JM)

This paper addresses problems associated with rurbanization, which is the invasion of rural areas by affluent urban and surburban people seeking a "country" lifestyle. There is a distinction between lifestyle--which reflects an individual's values, attitudes, and affluence--and culture, which is a design for living adapted to a group's…

This essay is based on a federal analyst's 26-year career in government, particularly the Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement. It addresses rural living and quality of life as well as changes that have occurred over the past two decades and planning for the future. The special training needs of rural educators…

There are five basic types of rural communities as far as school issues are concerned; rural schools vary not only to the extent that they are small, but also according to the type of community in which they are located. "Stable rural" communities are our classic rural community--prosperous, peaceful, traditional, and mostly white. In…