Group bilingualism, the contact situations which lead to it, and the role of language in maintaining ethnic boundaries are examined. Emphasis is laid on minority languages in the United States, Canada, Europe, and South Africa. The insistence of these groups on maintenance bilingual education rather than the acceptance of transitional assimilation…

Outlines the history of the Vancouver Sikh community and documents current patterns of family recruitment and family relationships. Contends that modifications in traditional family life reflect a concern for economic advancement and competition. (Author/GC)

This historical study of divorce practice has only recently begun. Using Worcester County, Massachusetts as a test case, a preliminary hypothesis that explains the increasing frequency of divorce in terms of basic changes of American life, particularly the increased economic independence of women brought about by industrialization, is presented.…

Sketching trends in marriage, divorce, and children's lives, the author predicts that leading topics of family researchers in the 1980s will include family violence, the quality of marital and parent/child relationships, divorce and remarriage, fertility, dual career families, and family demography. Adapted from "The Wilson Quarterly," Summer…

The increase in suicides by firearms in all sex-ethnic groups accompanied marked increases in the availability of firearms, which is a preferred, socioculturally accepted method of suicide. Studies suggest that suicides may be prevented by decreasing the availability of the most common methods of suicide to suicidal individuals. (Author)

Explores the problem of health care utilization from both the structural and personal perspectives. Analyzes traditional health care beliefs and practices, and the interplay between these beliefs and practices and the modern health care system. (Author/RLV)

Analyzes the major patterns of change within historical social and political systems and the cultural conditions which account for variations in the patterns. The purpose is to provide a theoretical framework for analyzing the relationship between ideas or culture and social structure. (KC)

The biological and the cultural aspects of human play are inextricably linked and mutually influence each other. (LH)

Statistical data from the U.S. Census Bureau Survey of Income and Education reveals societal patterns of language shift. The data can confirm the adequacy of theories of the causality of language shift. Examination of the data indicates geographic regions where language shift has occurred and is likely to occur. (PMJ)

Socal and educational trends are examined with an eye toward planning for the coming decade. Among the trends examined are: inflation; declining birth rates; differential fertility and increasing minorities; off-campus educators, including industry, the military, and professional associations; and adult and continuing education. (JMD)

Reports on certain social and economic indicators that provide a "modestly comprehensive" view of literacy activities, in order to extract an account of the current state and trend of the value and volume of the nation's literacy. Attempts to get a more basic than usual view of literacy, seeing it primarily as an economic activity. (Author/GT)

Notes certain disquieting trends that affect the publication and the reading of children's books; discusses a number of reasons why children read, including for information, to please adults, for instant gratification, for illumination of self, for escape, and for reassurance and deep satisfaction of a vicarious triumph. (GT)

The new heroes and heroines who reject middle-class values and rewards are seeking fulfillment outside the mainstream and subtly altering the American profile. (LBH)

Author traces the evolution of problems in American education since the second world war, stating that: "As a group of people, we are prone to apply simplistic solutions to complex problems, to engage in crusades, to romanticize, to look for heroes." (Author/RW)

Examines the theoretical framework of psychologist Lev Vygotsky with regard to communication tools, cognition, and socio-cultural effects on these tools. Reports the results of several studies of students' word meanings of division by adapting Luria's instruments for alternative assessments. Discusses the implications of socio-cultural diversity,…