Recently, a United Nations study of 30,000 10- to 14-year-olds in nine countries ranked U.S. students next-to-last in their comprehension of foreign culture. Senator Robert Stafford of Vermont pointed out that the impressive array of witnesses before the committee indicated the need to increase geography literacy among young people. Senator…

Sexual abuse can have negative consequences for children during the time of abuse as well as later in life. An important research question concerns the cycle of sexual abuse, specifically the likelihood that individuals who were victims of sexual abuse as children will become sexual abusers of children in adulthood. At the request of Congress, the…

Through an analysis of the Supreme Court's post-1973 rulings, argues that the Court has not repudiated any doctrine that it had adopted before 1973 but has exhibited a reluctance to extend previously announced legal principles to claims for new remedies. Available from Duke University Press, Box 6697 College Station, Durham, NC 27708. (Author/IRT)

Argues against corporal punishment in schools; rebuts claims in earlier article regarding level of public approval for corporal punishment, number of times imposed, and its use and acceptance by states and school districts. Uses social-science research and case law to illustrate negative impact of corporal punishment and policymakers' decreasing…

As a result of the growing use of social science research and statistics in the legal process, a number of interest groups have sought an understanding of how these factors affect the outcome of judicial decisions. In this chapter, the authors present a historical overview of the judicial use of social science research and statistical data. The…

Begins by examining legal realism and then looks at significant school and race cases of the 1970s to demonstrate the pragmatic and contradictory ways the Supreme Court has employed social science evidence. Available from Duke University Press, Box 6697 College Station, Durham, NC 27708. (Author/IRT)

Questions assumptions by Schoenfeld and Zirkel in a study reviewing gender discrimination cases against institutions of higher education. Critiques the methodology used in that study, cautions about the overall utility of "outcomes analysis," and reports more promising routes of empirical legal research. (15 references) (MLF)

Reviews some recent lower court cases concerned with unconstitutionally-segregated schools and the development of remedies that involve four issues: busing, White flight, magnet schools, and compensatory education. Available from Duke University Press, Box 6697 College Station, Durham, NC 27708. (Author/IRT)

This paper examines three ways in which sociological scholars have conceived of legal impact. The first, decision-specific research, is rejected largely because of its narrow focus and its lack of theoretical and practical significance. The author then sketches the outlines of an emergent, philosophical-historical approach to impact research,…

The House Committee on Science and Technology, Subcommittee on Science, Research and Technology, sponsored an American Association for the Advancement of Science seminar (July 28, 1981) and 6 days of hearings (September 9-17, 1981) on "The Human Factor in Innovation and Productivity." These hearings were designed to increase knowledge…

This report summarizes a survey into the governance, use, and support of the behavioral and social sciences in the United States for the last 40 years. The document contains sections which deal with: (1) some major aspects in the history of the relationship between the federal government and the behavioral and social sciences; (2) major fields of…

Eight papers examining different aspects of the effects of court decisions on education are contained in this book, the second of two volumes. The papers were solicited from scholars in the fields of law, political science, sociology, and education in conjunction with a 1979 conference held in Madison, Wisconsin. The conference was called to…

Findings of a project to review Alaska statutes for evidence of sex discrimination is divided into 14 sections. An introduction provides an overview of the project scope, history, organization, and research procedure. A section on insurance looks at gender-based insurance rates and conversion and continuation of health benefits. Under the category…

Highlights of 18 papers on problems of midlife women are provided by 29 experts invited to testify before the Subcommittee on Retirement Income and Employment of the U.S. House of Representatives' Select Committee on Aging. The papers address the following areas of concern: (1) work and education, (2) displaced homemakers, (3) economic inequality,…

An analysis of Census Bureau data on registration and voting by black citizens over the past two decades shows the positive influence of the 1965 Voting Rights Act on electoral participation. After the passage of the act, there was more than a 50% increase in the number of black registered voters. Of black and white citizens participating in the…