Proposes four categories of children in difficult circumstances: (1) abandoned or orphaned; (2) independent, maintaining family contact; (3) working, living with families; and (4) living with economically deprived families. Suggests that rapid urbanization, family environment, global economy, and educational deprivation contribute to difficulties.…

Determines the barriers encountered by African American women holding senior-level administrative positions in higher education. The author identifies their challenges as they advanced to their current positions and discusses the support systems utilized. Results show racism and sexism were perceived as impediments to progress, mentoring was key…

Examines research on the fundamental contexts for social contact: the family and networks of social support. It focuses on the processes and dynamics within these systems of relationships that are considered vitally important to normal and abnormal mental and emotional development. (GR)

Seeks to identify and describe certain familial factors and child characteristics that may impact the likelihood of an incident of childhood sexual abuse occurring, provide a comprehensive demographic portrait of families with a child who has been sexually abused, identify children most vulnerable to abuse, and heighten understanding of this…

Examined how female African Americans worked toward upward social mobility via community college attendance, highlighting the role of interpersonal relationships in the process. A 5-year ethnographic study found that: all kinds of supportive relationships were considered important, unsupportive friends and faculty were generally ignored, and…

Data gathered during a 20-year longitudinal study of New Zealand women were used to describe the extent and timing of pregnancies within the cohort up to age 20; and to examine the extent to which the risk of early pregnancy was related to a range of social background, family, individual, and peer relationship factors measured over the course of…

Examines the relationships among social status, proximate family settings, student responsibility for school outcomes, and self-concepts of 460 South African high school students. Reports that social status, family settings, and student responsibility had modest to strong associations with self-concept development including gender-related…

Investigated the problem of teen night drifters in Hong Kong, examining teens' social background, subculture, reasons for drifting, services needed, and problems faced. Results from interviews indicated that most drifters were different from homeless or runaway youth. Although they still lived with their families, they were alienated or detached…

Studied high-ability, high-achieving students in an urban high school over 3 years. Identifies factors that enabled these students to achieve, including belief in self, supportive adults, high-achieving peers, challenging classes, personal characteristics, and family support. (SLD)

Investigates inter-relationships among offending by three generations of relatives and the concentration of offending in families. Also investigates how far criminal relatives predict a boy's delinquency. Results indicate that offenders were highly concentrated in families, with the most important relative being the father. Possible links in the…

Surveyed 7th graders at the beginning and end of the school year to examine factors in three domains (intrapersonal, interpersonal, and personal competencies) influencing the increase in alcohol use throughout 7th grade. Factors from all three domains significantly predicted increases in alcohol use. Lack of parental monitoring and perceived ease…

This article discusses current statistics about women and work and external barriers to achievement. Barriers include parental influences, media stereotypes, stereotyping in school, sexism in colleges and universities, and the burden of responsibilities females shoulder at home. Recommendations to help gifted girls address external barriers are…

A qualitative study of 5 highly creative kindergartners and 5 low creative kindergartners in Korea, found that the mothers and fathers of highly creative children had consistent child rearing styles. The mothers of highly creative cases provided rich home environments to foster creativity and encouragement compared to low creative cases. (Contains…

The National Council for the Social Studies suggests that social studies programs should provide for the study of culture and cultural diversity (NCSS 1994). Within the NCSS culture strand is the expectation that students can predict how data and experiences may be interpreted by people from diverse cultural perspectives, compare and analyze…

The last century, in particular the latter half, saw radical shifts in the roles and expectations of women in society. This article investigates the views of 14- to 16-year-olds in the year 2000 on work and family roles, exploring both their general views on gender roles and their own personal aspirations for the future. In general the young…