This booklet is a basic introduction to the people, history, and culture of Somalia. It is designed primarily for service providers and others assisting Somali refugees in their new communities in the United States. Somalis have a long tradition of going abroad to work or study, and today, about 1 million Somalis live scattered around the world.…

The key dimensions of issues related to the integration of successive waves of immigrants are outlined. It is argued that a federal immigrant policy is needed, in which the Federal Government would assume some of the cost burden of public services to immigrants that states and localities now shoulder by themselves. Requiring the Federal Government…

Sources of the crises faced by young black men lie not in the young men, but in society which portrays them as stereotypes. Social conditions are at the root of the following problems of black males: (1) lowered life expectancy; (2) risk of criminality; (3) poor economic conditions; (4) inadequate education; (5) drugs and gang violence; and (6)…

This report first outlines the status of early childhood care and education in Minnesota, including the effects of an inadequate child care system on families and society. Issues of quality, cost, and availability of care are then addressed and are the basis of the recommendations for a coordinated child care system. Recommendation 1…

This monograph used a qualitative orientation to examine the inadequacy of public assistance income in New York City as it affects material conditions among welfare families, their attempts to mitigate the negative consequences of income inadequacy through coping strategies, and the broader social environment within poor communities. The data…

This conference paper discusses the current situation of racial differences in housing in the Chicago (Illinois) area with regard to the ramifications of the "Miliken v. Bradley" (1974) case. The Miliken case closed the door on busing and school desegregation plans crossing school district lines and in many cases, crossing municipal…

Variation in rates of officially reported child maltreatment in urban neighborhoods is related to structural determinants of community social organization: economic and family resources, residential instability, household and age structure and geographic proximity of neighborhoods to concentrated poverty. Furthermore, child maltreatment rates are…

This report, the third annual publication of Iowa Kids Count, proposes that, by building upon effective system of support, and moving decision-making to the family and community level, solutions to the problems confronting today's youth can be found. The first section of this report summarizes the framework paper developed for the Kids Count…

The work presented here deals with troubling issues about schools. The starting point is research on Australian schools, particularly a recent study on disadvantaged schools, but the discussion is equally addressed to readers in other countries. There are three key reasons why social justice matters to everyone connected to the school system, and…

Through a study of six-year-olds who were successfully becoming literate, this book explores literacy and literacy learning among poor Black urban families. The ethnographic approach examines the experiences of four families whose lives and aspirations make it clear that literacy is an integral part of the children's daily lives, and that the…

The Willow Creek School Division in southern Alberta (Canada) invited leaders of various community agencies to serve on a task force to examine how changes in the local society were affecting children. The division serves approximately 2,700 rural-based students in several small rural communities. The task force was composed of the leaders of a…

What has been learned about making cities better since civil disturbances first arose in American cities is summarized, and guidelines are offered for constructing an urban agenda for improvement. In some respects the country has made real progress since the Watts riots, but in other areas, conditions are unambiguously worse, with increasing…

This document provides a detailed synopsis of the book "Within Our Reach: Breaking the Cycle of Disadvantage" (L. B. Schorr). Specific kinds of intervention programs can alter the stunting conditions in which many poor children are raised. It is not necessary to change everything in order to make a difference, and policymakers do not need to wait…

This publication represents the first report tailored to a non-specialist audience from an extensive case study in the Philippines, one of five country studies selected as the first project of the Urban Child Program of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) International Child Development center. The Philippines study focuses explicitly on…

A college-level applied sociology course in which students use sociological theory or research methodology to solve social problems is described. Guidelines for determining appropriate projects are: (1) the student must feel there is a substantial need for the project; (2) the project must be approachable through recognized sociological…