Reviews impact of recent agricultural trends in South Dakota. Outlines Kubler-Ross' stages of grief/adaptation that farm families must negotiate as they cope with the trauma of the loss of their farms. Indicates service providers must overcome farmers' mistrust for human welfare services and reach out to this vulnerable population. (NEC)

Examines issues regarding current farm finance situation from a public policy perspective: origins and causes of current situation, available policy options for dealing with the problems, and impacts of policy options. (NEC)

Notes three features of current community service satisfaction research that hinder its progress: weakness of study designs, lack of standard service and disregard for how user satisfaction varies with service use. Makes recommendations regarding the content, reliability, validity, and analysis of useful measures of service satisfaction. (SB)

Draws on evidence concerning rural population, families, schools, churches, and communities to conclude that the conceptualization of rural as "different from urban" has no contemporary empirical support and that differences among rural areas are greater than rural-urban differences. Offers suggestions for refocusing social work practice on the…