Disagrees with several points in Mike Males's teenage pregnancy article in the March 1993 "Kappan." Males emphasized that family formation among teenagers mirrors larger societal trends. Recent evidence shows otherwise. The economic and societal costs of early childbearing are worsening; 60% of teen families live in poverty. Providing adolescents…

Discusses relation of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) to problems of unwed motherhood. Shows that extension of AFDC to unwed mothers was unintended development and has been demise of residential homes for unwed mothers. Urges renewed attention be given to public support of maternity homes as means of socializing young mothers and…

Presents findings from a study comparing the income status of children with that of adults and elderly people in 1969, 1979, and 1989. Proposes that as the United States embarks on a major change in social policy involving low income families, policymakers need to be aware of the declining economic fortunes of children and the causes of this…

Outlines the rationale for promoting comprehensive development in troubled communities. Argues that such approaches employ strategies that address the social, physical, and economic needs and circumstances of community residents. Looks at historical and current approaches and examines the experience of the Ford Foundation's Neighborhood and Family…

During the 1990s, poverty rates in the United States remained relatively stable despite a robust economy. This paper reviews the research and theoretical and conceptual developments during the past decade, including how the poverty line was developed; the causes of the virtually unchanged poverty rate; and the consequences of poverty for children.…

Proposes a theory of information poverty based on four concepts that serve as the basis for defining an impoverished life-world: risk taking, secrecy, deception, and situational relevance. A conceptual framework that links the world of the information-poor, the outsiders, with a world of insiders, is developed. Contains 64 references. (Author/LRW)

Reviews three books on welfare reform: "The Poverty of Welfare Reform" (Joel F. Handler); "The Politics of Welfare Reform" (Donald F. Norris, Lyke Thompson, editors); and "Living on the Edge: The Realities of Welfare in America" (Mark Robert Rank). (JOW)

To develop Wales as a "learning country," clear definitions of poverty, social partnership, and cultural diversity are needed. Addressing these questions can lead to a broad enabling vision of learning for all. (SK)

Data from the 1994 Los Angeles Survey of Urban Inequality (n=4,025) showed that, although neighborhood poverty influences volunteer participation, blacks participated in more voluntary associations than other groups, Asians the least. Evidence supports the ethnic community theory in that blacks in black communities participate in more…

In a previous paper in this journal (Headey et al., 2000) a comparison was made between three so-called 'best cases' of welfare regime types, the 'Liberal' US, 'the 'Corporatist' Germany and the 'Social-Democratic' Netherlands. The main conclusion was that the Social-Democratic welfare state performed best on nearly all social and economic…

Predispositions toward teaching are comprised of more than merely a person's age, gender, content specialization, and ethnicity. This study went beyond examining the basic demographic information of alternative-route teacher candidates to include individuals' views of schooling, childhood, teaching, and curriculum. The purposes of this study were…

This article examines the experiences of 43 adolescents living in Denver, Colorado, from 1994 to 1996--the 2-year period following the peak of the youth violence epidemic. Where the dominant theories explaining inner-city violence tend to focus on disadvantaged communities, this study sampled youths from 5 neighborhoods with varying crime,…

This paper reviews the relations found in the literature among poverty, maternal depression, early intervention, and child developmental outcome and a theoretical model is suggested. Mother-child transactional processes have been found to be impaired under conditions of poverty and maternal depression, leading to non-optimal outcomes in children.…

The purpose of the current study was to assess a structural level explanation of racial disparity in child maltreatment. Using data from Florida counties (1998-2001) and the 2000 census, the effects of poverty, concentrated poverty, and female-headed families in poverty on Black, White, and the difference between Black-White rates of child…

This brief essay outlines the progression over the last 20 years of ecological theories of interpersonal violence. The period between the present and the early 1980s began with a revival of cultural explanations of violence that paralleled the introduction of the neo-conservative social science and then witnessed a rediscovery of deficits-based…