The Internet has had a profound effect on education and social interaction patterns. Educators struggle to stay abreast of technological advances and navigate the maze of positive and negative aspects of students using the Internet. A new use for the Internet is the relatively recent phenomenon called blogging. Blogging is a widely used means of…

Young people are concerned with making and keeping friends, and they invest a great deal of energy in group social life to do so. This book charts the interactions of young people both in and out of school and the role of peers and friends in strengthening social attachments and in establishing social identities. It describes how social identities…

This book guides job seekers in using communication approaches that will generate useful information, advice, and referrals that lead to job interviews and offers. The book provides guidance on how to do the following: organize effective job networks; prospect for job leads; write networking letters; make cold calls; join electronic networks;…

This book is the third in a series of six pocket-sized books written for career changers and laid-off workers. Each book is written at a 7th- to 10th-grade reading level and contains examples, hands-on self-discovery exercises, and step-by-step advice for a successful job search. This book identifies steps for finding the unadvertised jobs--80-95…

This study examined older adults' quality of interpersonal relationships and self-concept through semi-structured interviews with 39 70-year-old people in Malmo, Sweden. The gathered data is described on individual and group levels. Findings indicate that the elderly in this group have frequent contacts with their children and siblings. They…

This practicum was designed to bring together first and third generations in a caring, supportive, mentoring classroom atmosphere. The study was conducted in a co-educational K-5 public elementary school with 90 percent white enrollment. The subjects were from three fourth-grade classrooms, each with 28 heterogeneous students. Volunteer, retired…

Although health is a key element in one's experience of middle adulthood as a time of productivity and personal fulfillment, research on psychosocial factors predictive of mid-life health is sparse, especially for women. Psychosocial variables are not only highly salient to health, but also are potentially modifiable by women themselves. This…

This "issue report" contains three articles centered around the concept of "social capital", and the role of the schools in community revitalization. "Social captial" consists of organizational networks of communication and shared values that provide collective support for adults and youth in a community. In "Social Capital and the Rebuilding of…

Although social support has been operationally defined, a lack of conceptual clarity has made measurement modest and unreliable. To investigate the feasibility of measuring social support from a qualitative rather than a quantitative perspective, and to consider negative social interactions in the assessment, 130 college students were administered…

An association between disturbed interpersonal relations and poor adjustment has often been found among college students. In particular, students' roommates have a substantial effect on their university experiences. To test the effectiveness of preventive intervention in improving roommate relationships, 79 college students participated in a…

Land-grant institutions have a role in creating engaged citizens, and public deliberation is a valuable tool to accomplish this mission. Meeting this challenge requires a network of institutions, agencies, organizations, and groups with similar missions working toward a common goal. This article describes a study conducted at a land-grant…

The Master Teacher in Family Life model, developed by the University of Massachusetts Cooperative Extension, is intended to provide natural leaders within poor communities with information that will enable them to improve the quality of life in their neighborhoods. Building on strengths from within the community, the program trains leaders to: (1)…

Effective rural education depends on active community involvement. This ethnographic case study examines three models of community organization as an explanation of how community action occurs. The three models are: (1) individuals interacting in formal and informal groups; (2) networks of "weak ties" effective for diffusing information and…

Despite the recent increase in interest about the homeless population, the last large-scale systematic studies of the older skid row man were completed more than two decades ago. A more sophisticated and comprehensive instrument for measuring the physical health, mental health, social needs, and social interaction of this aging heterogeneous…

The University of Tennessee's management training and development efforts are described. The program is designed to improve the performance of academic and nonacademic department heads (middle managers) and includes an 8-day workshop called the Institute for Leadership Effectiveness. In addition to the attention given to the formation of networks,…