Explores the greater emphasis on the role of education in federal social and economic policy and how it came about. It is suggested that changes in the relationship between class, race, and the state in the 1930s and 1940s set in motion a dynamic that made education the chief instrument of social reform two decades later. (GR)

A graduate student in environmental education reflects on her experiences traveling throughout the United States on a converted school bus with 20 other people in an effort to gain insight into social issues and problems. This experience helped her realize how listening to others, respecting their opinions, and discovering common goals promotes…

Presents four articles addressing various aspects of violence in the context of children's everyday life: video game violence, gun play, violent children's television programming, and war play. Proposes possible developmentally appropriate solutions. Urges teachers, parents, and the community in general to actively work to provide a safer, saner…

Examined the subsequent life and development of teenagers under probation who abused alcohol and drugs. Suggests that regardless of the social environment in which they grow up, children, both boys and girls, are in a risk zone if they use alcohol and drugs, and there is an enormous gap in their social adjustment compared with children that do…

Identifies and explains some of the tensions felt, from a Hispanic perspective, between Hispanics and Blacks. The authors present an overview of the Hispanic experience in the U.S.; contrast this experience with that of Blacks; and discuss civil rights, political representation, and immigration issues. An analysis is made of these tensions…

Attempts to identify how perceptions by black men of problem severity may be influenced by social, economic, and familial factors, working from the assumption that problem severity determines when stress becomes distress. Perceptions of 583 black adult fathers show that stress coping is not as problematic as expected. (SLD)

Examines poverty rates among families with children in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Compares the United States' rates to each of these countries to highlight the role of sickness insurance, child allowances, child support, income-tested social assistance, unemployment…

Social work is inadequately focused on an individual deficit view of social problems. Consideration of global social problems such as environmental degradation and poverty requires fundamental shifts in thinking about economics and our cultural history. Possibilities for social work intervention, based on transformational thinking about the…

Discusses Missouri v. Jenkins and the U.S. Supreme Court decision that the state of Missouri had no obligation to endlessly fund remedies to correct specific past school discriminations. An appendix discusses educational remedies for school segregation and what social science research says about their development and effectiveness. (GR)

Examined the effectiveness of the Wisconsin Learnfare experiment that requires teens to attend school regularly as a condition of receiving family financial aid. Findings from state social services data reveal that, despite a $1.5 million "savings" attributed to the program between September 1988 and December 1989, tremendous family…

A pooled cross-section time series model is used to evaluate the effect of the 1977 Canadian firearms legislation on the provincial homicide rate between 1969 and 1989. Results agree with most studies that indicate no significant effect of this legislation on homicide rates. (SLD)

Offers an overview of the position of African-American males, the problems they face, and the consequences for the nation and the African-American community. Looks at underclass status, racism, joblessness, national demographic changes, low educational expectations, intermarriage rates, participation in higher education, and career achievement.…

Schools are trying to do too many good things simultaneously. To improve, they need to simplify, reduce the overload on students and staff, and concentrate on a small group of key ideas. Instituting magnet districts, each with a separate theme, might eliminate confusion in trying out new ideas. (SLD)

Whether law schools should remain institutionally neutral concerning fundamental political and moral issues facing society is examined. The discussion looks at the purposes of the university in the modern world, the core of knowledge needing preservation, areas of inquiry no longer valid, new priorities for inquiry, and faculty role. (MSE)

Maintains that, as socioeconomic systems fail to address inequity, the power and wealth of the rich increase at the expense of the poor. Discusses social inequities and violations of human rights in Guatemalan society. Describes a simulation based on Guatemalan textile factories. (CFR)