This digest discusses empowerment for older adults, examining the aging of the population and the adverse effects of societal attitudes toward aging on the self-esteem, locus of control, and emotional health of older adults. The Social Reconstruction Syndrome (SRS) is discussed as a model for interventions to offset the adverse effects of social…

The psychometric properties of the Autonomy and Relatedness Inventory (ARI)--a measure of the quality of primary intimate relationships--was assessed. This 30-item instrument was designed to assess both positive and negative dimensions of any type of dyadic relationship. Cross-sectional data from in-home interviews with 213 mothers with 5- and…

This document contains the final report on the Life Skills for Adolescents Project in northwestern Texas. The report is in the form of a process evaluation of progress toward achieving the project goal of enabling adolescents leaving substitute care to be better prepared to manage their own lives. The report describes the efforts of the project…

Interactions between learning styles, gender, and life cycle stages of graduate students were investigated. Six learning styles were identified through use of the Grasha-Riechmann Student Learning Styles Scales: avoidant, collaborative, dependent, competitive, independent, and participant. Life cycle stages were based on Levinson's theory of the…

The amorphous nature of nonverbal study can benefit from the unifying yet pluralistic perspective of the humanities and liberal arts. Those who teach, write, and create under the broad rubric of the humanities appreciate the complexity of human life and try to honor the subtle and the special in human actions and creations. When addressed from…

The proliferation of critics and critical approaches has produced a trend toward fragmentation and isolation among the practitioners involved. A suggestive counter-trend indicates that there is intense curiosity among critics to watch colleagues encounter texts, grapple with the preliminary questions of stance and method, and share the experience…

The relationship between characteristics of academic disciplines and intellectual traits of undergraduates was studied. Subject matter areas were structurally reflected in the university as department or major field groupings. A total of 2,278 students, graduating in either 1969-1970 or 1979-1980, were administered the 14 scales of the Omnibus…

The philosophy of phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty, who views the individual and society as contributors to a dynamic, ambiguous process, is applicable to educational philosophy. Merleau-Ponty's concern with free men and their relationship to the world centers on his concept of self, others, intersubjectivity, and morality. The self's contact…

Case material from an anthropological field study of 57 blind adults in Tel-Aviv is used to illustrate the contradictions that blind Israelis face in the current transitional period from traditional segregation and dependent roles to an indeterminate type of integration and independence. (Author/JW)

Examined the construction of parent-adolescent separation from the perspective of late adolescents. Study one included factor analysis of 34 separation-related items by 391 college students. In the second study, 199 college students completed related measures. Results indicate ways in which late adolescents define and achieve separation.(Author/BN)

Challenged by the rise of the New Right and the Reagan Administration, liberal theorists are reformulating liberalism. Individualism, at the heart of liberal theory, has been attacked for destroying the sense of civic obligation and community spirit. Some critics of liberalism called communitarians are described. (MLW)

Contends that academic freedom in terms of its common and constitutional meaning is clearly and narrowly bounded. Focuses on the academic freedom of individual college and university faculty members based on the Constitution. Finds that court decisions favor the institution rather than the faculty member. (MLF)

This article reviews the impact of learning disabilities on self-esteem, discussing: how self-esteem develops, how it suffers when learning disabilities are present, and how to contribute to a learning-disabled child's self-esteem by helping the child feel more capable, more significant, more powerful, and more worthy. (Author/JDD)

Discusses the issues of ethics, equity, and values in the use of computers in education. Conceptual foundations of computer software are described; responsibilities of the software author, marketer, and user are reviewed; and the conflicts between personal property rights and individual liberty are explored. (LRW)

Asserts that inadequate attention has been paid to the problems of the young soldier entering army life in Israel. Delineates some areas of friction and vulnerability between the worlds of the youth and the military. Describes the systematization of these encounters into groups, creating the "Binary Model," which helps in locating and…