Views suicide as an historical indicator of social factors related to urbanization and urban life. Discusses historical and contemporary problems with data collection, especially in terms of race and sex of victims and underreporting among particular groups. Suggests theoretical approaches to the study of suicide in contemporary society. (GC)

Uses a timeline approach, beginning with the arrival of blacks in America, to explain geographic location of blacks within the city, housing patterns, economic and social conditions, and how all of these affected educational arrangements for blacks in urban America. (Author/JM)

Explores the ways in which producers of contemporary urban graffiti resist the increasing segregation and control of urban environments, and shows how graffiti participants undermine efforts at control. Data come from four years of field work in Denver (Colorado) and research in other cities. (SLD)

The movement to reform the Chicago (Illinois) public schools faces a host of problems in the classroom and a sea of social ills outside the classroom. Without support from the African American community and largely cut off from the reform process, neither significant progress nor progressive change can be made. (SLD)

This is a selective, descriptive, annotated bibliography of 22 books, a few basic ones and the rest the most recent available. The emphasis is on good books. It is of projects in the United States. The publications are in the English language. The time span covered begins with Ebenezer Howard's work on the garden city and goes up to 1975 with a…

Provides a psychotheological interpretation of rap music by African-American male artists and of its audience, examining the music and its social context. Common themes include despair over acute psychosocial and physical needs, intensity and violence as a means of personal integration, ontological insecurity, and desire for transformation and…

Reviews the association between material deprivation and child abuse and considers the implications of this association for preventive strategies. It is concluded that communitywide strategies aimed at supporting all care providers are more likely to succeed than those based on at-risk groups. (SLD)

Presented in this document are a selection of articles written by professional educators which offer insights into education as a social institution. In a section on educational issues, some of the subjects addressed include: curricula, integration, decentralization, staffing, school financing, bilingual education, test analyses, career education,…