Discusses present problems and progress relating to Southern school desegregation. (DM)

Changes in aggregate levels of subjective powerlessness of the American public regarding politics and government have been surprisingly slight since 1952. The increasing level of education during the postwar era has been working against the spread of powerlessness. (Author/RM)

This article criticizes the generally held assumption that psychological test scores are trait measures. Reasons for the continuing belief in this fallacy, as well as the social consequences of its general acceptance, are discussed. Suggestions for avoiding the test-trait fallacy are made. (EB)

A serious obstacle to releasing the creativity of minority groups for future problem solving is the attitude of white middle-class males, particularly in colleges and universities, who think they are advancing the cause of minorities when they are not. Advances made by minorities are reviewed, along with their resources and some recommendations to…

Examines the following theories proposed by social psychologists to explain popular resistance to affirmative action strategies: (1) the naivete explanation; (2) the symbolic racism theory; and (3) the "realistic" group-conflict theory. Argues that social psychology ignores the public's perception of Blacks as members of a social underclass. (FMW)

An analysis of newspaper reports, political policy papers and social science investigations, uncovers a coherent world of beliefs concerning minority-majority relations. These beliefs, centered around stable but vague notions of culture, nation, state, democracy, and human rights, reveal a society profoundly troubled by the idea of diversity,…

The effects of the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas decision of 1954 reached some 160 million people and had implications for about 40 percent of all school children in the United States. The impetus for social reform emanating from this decision extended beyond school children and the public school arena to the civil rights movement…

Public opinion regarding the nature and importance of goals for elementary and secondary education in the state of Idaho was the focus of this doctoral dissertation. Two questions were posed. First, when educational goals were grouped into four different domains (intellectual, personal, social/political, and productive), would the response of…

Aspirations and expectations held toward marriage by a sample of Negro and white adolescent girls from 3 all-rural East Texas counties were compared. The primary objective of the study was to determine (using Chi-Square analysis techniques) the extent to which racial differences existed in desired age of marriage, desired and expected number of…

The author contrasts the fragmented nature of immigrant groups upon their arrival in America with the social and cultural unities found among ethnic groups years later. He explains this change--the process of "ethnicization"--as a consequence of two factors: ascription and adversity. (Author)

Author states that he would "...look with favor on the idea of passing a law the aim of which was to protect people's sensibilities from being outraged by the impact of things generally felt by ordinary people to be indecent." (Author)

The growth in cynicism about universities is discussed. None of society's institutions depends more than universities on the public belief that their purposes are more public-spirited and less self-interested. (MLW)

Americans believe in the importance of a college education, but it is difficult to raise money among alumni and communities are less responsive than in the past. Three sources of resistance include: changed set of economic expectations and presumptions, attitudes of Baby Boomers, and the erosion of international competitiveness. (MLW)

Discusses development inadequacies of recent scholarship on professionalism. In the last four decades historians and social scientists have developed increasingly negative opinions of and approaches to the professions. They falsely attribute historical trends to the ascendence of professions in American society. (PS)