The motivation/immersion model of literacy centers on the individual and isolates literacy from context. A community development approach regards literacy as a function of social structure; based on this model, literacy education programs are respectful of the culture and idiom of the community. (SK)

Suggests that the heterogeneity of human personality characteristics increases with age. Examines reasons for this phenomenon in terms of individual differentiation, social structure/allocation, and behavioral genetics. Develops a model synthesizing various study designs that prevent variation and covariation errors from occurring in life course…

In the context of societal racism, sexism, and classism, career assessment of women and minority groups should take into account sociostructural realities and their psychological effects. Factors include the objective and subjective realities of the economic, social status, and social power domains. (Contains 33 references.) (SK)

Examines the role of information and theories of "life in the round" through a study of ways in which inmates at a maximum-security prison for women in Neuse City (North Carolina) redefine their social world to survive incarceration. Findings from ethnographic research and interviews with 80 women at the prison revealed that a life in the round…

Sense of community (SOC) is central to an individual's psychological wellbeing (Sarason, 1974). Eleven participants, mainly from the North West of Western Australia, took part in semistructured interviews investigating Australian Aboriginal notions of community and SOC. Five key themes emerged from the data. These included: kinship structure,…

At the dawning of the 21st century, the term "social justice" is appearing in numerous public texts and discourses throughout the field of education. However, and as Gewirtz argued in 1998, the conceptual underpinnings of this catchphrase frequently remain tacit or underexplored. This article elaborates Gewirtz's earlier…

When literacy specialist Jennifer Allen agreed to meet weekly with five boys who wanted to share their out-of-school writing with her, the weekly all-boys lunch-time writing group was born at Albert S. Hall elementary school in Waterville, Maine. She had intended to run the group as a writers' workshop and teach mini-lessons. But from the…

The authors describe what happened when feminist teaching came head to breast with mothering. The authors' attempt to impact student responses to feminist theorizing in a third-year social psychology class met with transgressions when a colleague, who had been invited as a guest-lecturer to speak about social structure and violence against women,…

Defiant behavior in two- and three-year-olds is a natural expression of a young child's growing autonomy, and, although frustrating to adults, is a natural phase of a child's socio-emotional growth. L.S. Vygotsky's socio-historical theory of the development included a discussion of "crisis" periods, one of which he felt occurred at age three. The…

National identity politics in France have taken an interesting turn since the 1980s, a period accentuated by social movements led by youth of immigration who self-asserted in terms of ethnonational origins. Now French-born or -raised youth, stigmatized by those origins, self-identify as French, although they are not so perceived in French society.…

This paper proposes a new analysis of consumption inequality using relational methods, derived from network images of social structure. We combine structural analysis with theoretical concerns in consumer research to propose a relational theory of consumption space, to construct a stratification indicator, and to demonstrate its analytical…

Substantial urban growth fueled by a strong economy often results in heavy traffic thus making streets less hospitable. Traffic calming is one response to the pervasiveness of the automobile. The issues concern built environments and involve multiple actors reflecting different interests. The issues are rarely technical and involve combinations of…

To explain how interpersonal behavior in relational contexts usually reproduces but sometimes modifies macro structural patterns, I outline a conceptual framework within which to understand existing theories and evidence and to develop new ones. Actors create and enact structure by means of several types of shared cultural schemas ("ordering…

Using longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample of mothers, we specify the conditions under which the neighborhood context shapes the experience of mastery. In so doing, we extend the work of others who have shown that neighborhood perceptions influence one's sense of personal control over and above the effects of sociodemographic…

Introduces a general theory of sociobiology which a biology teacher would find useful as a basis for course development. (LS)