Recent years have seen a proliferation of student action research both nationally and internationally. Going by various names--participatory research, action research, participatory evaluation--student action research is research that (a) is conducted by youth, within or outside of schools and classrooms, with the goal of informing and affecting…

This article takes up the proposal, originally postulated by George Miller in the US (Miller, 1969) and later taken up by Harry Kay in the UK (Kay, 1972), that psychologists should work through non-psychologists to help alleviate social problems. Specifically it evaluates a reading intervention programme devised by educational psychologists and…

A clear assumption in much of the current theory about cultural studies in composition is that the classroom is an appropriate and necessary site for teaching strategies for social resistance. Students who learn to challenge their culture through reading and writing critically about its artifacts and codes will carry these empowering skills into…

More specifically than the general concept of "development," the use of entertainment media as a tool for social intervention implies the purposive utilization of the mass media to engineer specific changes in knowledge, attitudes, or practice. Thus, this type of use of the entertainment media is inseparable from the notion of "what…

This document describes current and recently completed projects at the University of Chicago's Chapin Hall Center for Children, an interdisciplinary research body which considers the needs of children and ways to meet those needs through public policy. The descriptions of current funded projects are divided into three sections: (1) "Exploring…

The essays in this collection discuss the "image" as both product and process. Representing such diverse disciplines as rhetoric, composition, clinical psychology, journalism, photography, communication, education, and sociology, the essays describe how images function and how they are linked with language and explore the role of images…

Although not every American is touched directly by violence, it is hard for anyone to escape the problems of violent crime completely. This book, designed for the education of young readers, discusses violence and explores reactions to it. It is stressed that violence is not a new problem in the United States or in the world, but rather a…

Homelessness affects people of all backgrounds, races, and religions. Whether the number of homeless people is 300,000 or 3 million, as some estimates claim, there are too many people in America who struggle to find shelter daily, making homelessness one of the most serious problems facing the nation today. This discussion, designed for the…

The purpose of this paper is twofold: it reviews current national research on adolescent suicide and successful intervention/prevention programs and it surveys the 17 Nevada school districts to determine the presence of successful suicide intervention/prevention programs in the state. Findings include the following: (1) the popular…

Noting that family violence is a global and pernicious problem, this report summarizes a symposium--sponsored by the Baha'i International Community's office for the Advancement of Women, in collaboration with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women--on meeting the challenge of and raising…

This book is guide for young people who want to be advocates and for those who consider themselves advocates and want to become more effective. Numerous examples are given of those individuals who have become advocates for an issue and brought about change in society. Various activity sheets are included in the book to help students discover their…

Primary prevention strategies (prevention at the community level) for disadvantaged populations are discussed. A number of factors in Canadian society have placed additional stress on many poor and working class families. These include issues of housing, unemployment, lack of education, and social changes with adverse effects on the disadvantaged.…

This study guide is designed to be used by any group of people interested in examining and strengthening the ways in which politics works tody. An argument is made that politics suffers because U.S. society largely has lost a strong sense of public life--a challenging, diverse, and dynamic arena beyond one's immediate family and friendship…

Interactive theater typically involves the presentation of a short skit tied to a socially relevant issue such as teenage pregnancy or the use of illegal substances. Interactive theater, with some cautions considered, holds much promise as an educational tool to be used by a school counselor. Cautions requiring consideration include: thorough…

As pressures within university communities continue to mount to provide validation of outcomes and maximize use of scarce financial resources, forensic teams can establish their own validity while helping communities in their time of need. As society begins to splinter and its problems fester, forensics can offer American communities the very…