Compared personal and social problems and ambitions of Italian, Spanish, and Greek adolescents living in Germany with those of German adolescents. Found that family and religion played more important role for foreign adolescents than for Germans. While parents appeared to have same importance for all adolescents, emotional relations with siblings…

Dropping out from postsecondary schooling is widely considered a social problem. The two kinds of dropout behavior differ, since postsecondary enrollment is voluntary and high school enrollment is compulsory. This statistical study shows that the decision to enroll in college constitutes an experiment that might result in leaving college early.…

Discusses the inadequacy of two positions used to explain the high rates of social problems among Blacks: genetic inferiority and the culture of poverty. Offers an alternative perspective based on the effects of racism and patterns of racial oppression. Asserts that Black institutions must foster an Afrocentric world view among Black males. (MW)

Analyzes the use of fantasy to represent the nuclear family and current social and economic changes affecting the family in four recent children's films: "An American Tail,""Follow that Bird,""The Boy Who Could Fly," and "Pee Wee's Big Adventure." (eight references) (CLB)

Contends that for social workers to be prepared to practice in postindustrial society, social work education must teach practice perspectives that view the whole of social problems and that concentrate on the rehabilitation of victims of these problems. Discusses theoretical constructs, values, basic assumptions, practice principles, and…

Argues that adult educators should promote "feminine" values and devalue power, domination, consumerism, aggression, and violence. Suggests that conventional ways of thinking about development and literacy education perpetuate an unjust status quo. (SK)

Rural problems are obscured by constructions of "idyll-ized" rural life as the spatial expression of self-supporting, happy, problem-free existence in a market economy. (British) Rural Lifestyles study findings suggest that rural problems are associated with a wide range of experiences of marginalization (economic, political, cultural)…

Child caregivers are in a particularly strong position to be child advocates, as they have the most current and effective information about child development. Advocacy is a fundamental responsibility of NAEYC, which is exploring ways to increase its advocacy activities. Effective advocacy requires a variety of individuals with an extensive range…

Uses the Public Arenas model to examine the historical roots of the greenhouse effect issue as communicated in scientific literature from the early 1800s to modern times. Utilizes a constructivist approach to discuss several possible explanations for the rise and fall of global warming as a social problem in the scientific arena. (PA)

Explains how the growing trend toward having children but failing to marry is a sign of impending disaster for U.S. society. It argues that, although cultures differ, those that survive do so by being built on a foundation of marriage and examines why this is so. (GLR)

Examines infant mortality rates in the District of Columbia and explains the causes. Comparisons are made between infant deaths in the district and in the United States as a whole, infant mortality rate differences by socioeconomic class and between blacks versus whites, and the influence of low rates of prenatal care and illegitimacy. (GLR)

McKinney et al. assert that most studies of child development focus on European-American middle class children and do not consider the ecology of children's development. They recommend that researchers include diversity and context in the research agenda. Fabes et al. respond by advising researchers how to evaluate the importance of social…

This paper examines how and why individuals with mental retardation were seen as a public menace between 1900 and 1920. Degenerationism is presented as a phenomenon that supports God's creation of humans in a civilized state, that explains human pathology as a medical/psychiatric degeneracy, and that characterizes degenerates as atavistic…

Contemplates the meaning and misunderstanding of the works of West Virginia author, Breece Pancake, who took his own life at age 26. Pancake used a "realistic" representation of a place to create an effect in his fiction, not to develop a regional image. Contains comments from other Appalachian writers concerning Pancake's work. (KS)

The author's experiences in community service at a Quaker summer work camp 30 years ago taught him more about himself than about the community in which he helped. National service needs to include an organizing orientation that allows the strengths of both participants and community members to flourish. (SLD)