Examines the relationship between the human population explosion, resource depletion, drought, malnutrition, and disease. As a sample study, mortality trends in Rajasthan State in India in the 1980s were analyzed to correlate the increased death rate with the drought of 1987. It is demonstrated that drought-induced malnutrition was the root cause…

Examines the possibility that parent-child relationships contain horizontal qualities paralleling comparable qualities in child-peer relationships. Argues that these qualities allow children to experience and practice horizontal skills later used with peers. Focuses on reciprocity and shared power, especially in parent-child play and control…

Investigates the effects of tutor gender in interaction patterns in postgraduate university seminars and focuses on the discourse patterns of two of these classes. The female tutor used more minimal responses and called on students more often by name and gaze than the male tutor; she occupied less floor-space than the male tutor, and her speaking…

Extraordinary Asian American educational achievement has often been credited to a common cultural influence of Confucianism that emphasizes education, family honor, discipline, and respect for authority. In this article, Min Zhou and Susan Kim argue that immigration selectivity, higher than average levels of premigration and postmigration…

A simulation called "Star Power" provides an invaluable means to help students understand structural social inequality. This paper explains how Star Power achieves this goal and provides suggestions on how to inculcate the following points that are both central to sociology and difficult to adequately convey to students: 1) Students see how those…

Crisis in the context of a school has many unique features related to the social structure and sense of community within schools. A school crisis exposes children and staff to threat, loss, and trauma that undermine the safety and stability of the entire school. Crisis intervention has as its explicit aim the goal of providing immediate support to…

Addressing educational change through systems design allows disciplined inquiry into the complex and emerging social structures of this dynamic system. One such method, narrative story, provides a way to examine the historical and current-lived practice of those engaged in the educational system. As a design conversation, it encourages the…

This paper describes the use of a simple survey followed by discussion in an online sociology course to create a setting in which undergraduate students may learn about inequality from the study of everyday life. The method described in this paper relies on the common experience of a gendered household division of labor and on the use of…

National educational reform must be interpreted from a broader sociopolitical vantage point. Following the introduction, "The Change Process and Educational Reform" by Val D. Rust, the four papers in part 1 are devoted primarily to conceptual issues related to educational reform. They include: (1) "Problems of Educational Reforms in a Changing…

Students' non-participation in tutorials seems to be more widespread in certain cultural environments than others. This paper investigates the usefulness and effectiveness of tutorials as pedagogical tools and cultural links. It is postulated that the conflict results from face-considerations and the students' definition of tutorials within an…

Founded in response to the needs of children left homeless in Italy in the wake of World War II, Boys' and Girls' Towns have become international communities of children and adolescents separated from their families or homelands because of domestic violence, famine, war or other forms of social upheaval. The towns have been less subject to many of…

This paper presents a reconceptualization of multicultural education for the 21st century through a critical analysis of the current status of multicultural education. Based on Milton M. Gordon's theory of racial and ethnic group relations and assimilation, the paper identifies three ideological systems for viewing…

Significant social, demographic, and economic changes have occurred in the North Central states since 1960. This document examines structural and policy variables related to distribution of income, during the years 1960-80 in the 397 counties defined as agriculture-dependent in 13 North Central states. Personal income distribution has been…

A study examined policies addressing minority student retention in higher education at the national, state, and institutional level in order to clarify how the discourse surrounding minority student retention in higher education is related to social and political purposes and existing power arrangements. The study proceeded by critically examining…

Education serves as a backdrop and a disguise, masking the transformation of this country from an industrialized blue-collar dependent system to a technocratic system dependent upon fewer, but highly educated workers. This movement has tremendous implications for race relations in this country. An in-depth study of the history of school reform…