Mike Davis's book presents a history and current sociology of Los Angeles from a socialist perspective, arguing that inequalities in the distribution of power and wealth underlie the area's serious, growing problems: ethnic fear and discrimination, social disinvestment and withdrawal by the "haves," and an epidemic of youth violence. (SV)

Explores the exercise of institutional and ideological power over rap music and fans, how artists and fans respond to that context, and the complex relationships between rap's political economy and the sociologically based crime discourse that frames it. Rap's poetic voice is a political expression of the Black experience. (JB)

States the American Psychological Association Council of Representatives' resolution on homelessness. Authorizes executive officers to stimulate research about homelessness, recommend action to government officials, advocate public funding, disseminate accurate information, and encourage and endorse appropriate legislation. (JB)

Considers alcohol and other drug abuse among homeless women and the impact of public policy decisions on this group, their dependent children, and the family unit. Examines barriers to treatment including legal rights conflicts (women's versus children's), criminalization, and treatment approaches. (JB)

Describes the development and implementation difficulties with the California Wellness Foundation's initiative to improve children's environment, how children's participation helped resolve initiative difficulties, and the development of several pilot projects. Articles describing research conducted in various parts of the planning project and the…

Reports on research conducted in poor Puerto Rican households in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) that shows the complex relationships between household members' survival strategies, residential mobility, home-school connections, and students' learning. Results from five families show that household stability is the strongest factor affecting students'…

Argues how the nation's inner-city population exodus and economic decay is a result of modern liberal social policy. Three failures of liberalism regarding inner cities are examined: the failure to nurture the sources of economic growth; the failure to understand urban neighborhoods; and the failure to appreciate the importance of a strong moral…

The pool of candidates for urban superintendencies is dwindling, and those who take the jobs are likely to serve for only 2 or 3 years. This book explores contemporary conditions surrounding the urban superintendency and looks at the lives of 17 superintendents who were in office in large cities at the start of 1993. All were members of the…

A survey considered young people's attitudes toward crime and violence and community service. The survey was based on a sample of 2,023 public, private, and parochial school students in grades 7 through 12, including a representative sample of urban students. The majority felt safe in their communities, but many did not always feel safe.…

This report is the second in a series on What the 1990 Census Says about Minnesota. A group of urban specialists gathered to examine a set of metropolitan areas that share important features that were thought to be related to central-city decline as evidenced in Minnesota's Twin Cities, Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Six cities were identified as…

Fifteen of the lowest-income neighborhoods of Cleveland (Ohio) are the focus of this report. These areas encompass most of the traditional, new, and emerging poverty areas identified in a previous report. Several indicators of investment patterns have been chosen for this report. They fall into the general categories of housing and land, economic…

This paper is a preliminary report on a study that explored the ways in which African American male adolescents cope with the interpersonal assaultive violence that takes place in their urban communities. Participants were 27 African American male adolescents, aged 13-19, who live in and/or spend the majority of their non-school hours interacting…

In an ethnographic reflection on 10 years experience working in the high schools of inner-city New York, issues of school safety, discipline, and violence are explored. The central proposition is that the mentality that relies on paramilitary security measures and technological devices, such as metal detectors, to achieve safe schools is only an…

Contributions to this book are based on presentations at a conference hosted by The Urban Institute in April 1994 to consider the challenges of achieving self-sufficiency for the nation's poor. Achieving long-term self-sufficiency for society's members is a fundamental social goal, but the problems involved, particularly those of finding enough…

This volume, successor to the 1973 volume "Racism and Mental Health," presents a range of perspectives on mental health, prejudice, and discrimination. Contributors are of multiracial, multiethnic, and gender-diverse backgrounds. They use their existential experiences to analyze pressing mental health and mental illness issues. Contributions…