Family stories, told and retold, become important vehicles in shaping the lives of family members. Knowing and understanding family narratives can aid students in understanding their families' histories, communication patterns, and meanings. The stories are a cohesive element for holding the family together, and may also capture the essence of the…

After a discussion of the circumstances that led to the unification of the two German states, this paper then evaluates the challenges to political education in Germany after unification. Beginning with the focus by the media and politics on the effects of East German political changes on the two German states, the revolution in East Germany and…

A random sample of the 7,996 volunteer adult 4-H program leaders in Nebraska were sent a questionnaire to determine how the 4-H leaders felt about the contribution of the 4-H program to family strengths such as appreciation, sharing, good communication, commitment, and sharing values. Of the 334 Family Involvement Questionnaire responses, 315…

The necessity of balancing the need for togetherness and the need for separateness in intimate relationships has been well documented in family research. To investigate cross national differences in the value placed on autonomy versus togetherness in close relationships, 2,079 college students from Hungary, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, the…

This document summarizes discussions at an invitational workshop on the role of culture in development in Nigeria. The discussion centered on encouraging those elements of traditional African culture that contribute to the national development and on identifying a national Nigerian culture. The following broad topics were discussed: (1) the…

Of the many specific situations in which the exercise of suasory influence may be necessary to assure that a decision making group meets its analytical responsibilities, five appear to be particularly important. These are circumstances in which (1) a group is violating accepted procedural norms, (2) an authority figure or high status group member…

This study developed an index of communal school organization and used this measure to focus on specific features of high schools as social organizations. The philosphical and social perspectives of the school as a community are explored, focusing on the school as a social organization consisting of cooperative adults who share a common purpose…

Data focused on illegal alcohol and marijuana use were collected in 1981 from 4,859 high school students living in two rural counties in southern Georgia. The sample consisted of over 85% of all students in grades 8 through 12 within the two counties. The data were used to test a facilitative-constraint model developed from selected components of…

Results are presented of an intensive search of U.S. newspapers and periodicals on the joint custody of children after divorce, where both parents have continued responsibility for parenting and where the children spend part of each week, month, or year with both of the parents. Areas of concern addressed by these materials include the following:…

Research has increasingly been oriented toward non-cognitive objectives, such as social relationships, anxiety, achievement motivation, and attitudes toward school. Sociometric techniques have been used as a graphic representation of choice of partner, with an intuitive interpretation, the teacher having no objective standards for assessing the…

A comparative case study of seven universities initially focused on: (1) whether and how program evaluation systems differ from other systems approaches, such as management information and program budgeting; (2) desirable degree of overlap between evaluative recommendations and administrative action; and (3) limitations of program evaluation. Site…

The perceived self-concept of 144 preservice and inservice teachers was studied in order to ascertain the level of professional group identity present in educational personnel. Eight characteristics of a "profession" were isolated, and a survey was administered to determine the item ranking order established by experience and by inexperienced…

Provision of training for an interdisciplinary rehabilitation team in a center serving mental patients was investigated. An autonomous service delivery rehabilitation team was formed and provided training in cooperative function. Findings indicate that the experimental team became a particularly cohesive functional unit, and that their support of…

In a longitudinal field experiment, 42 groups were assembled on the factors of individual ability and attitude similarity resulting in a 2 x 2 crossed ANOVA design. These groups then worked on six projects which spanned a three-month time period. For each project, measures of group performance and group cohesion were taken. Analyses showed that…

Since English, the official language of the Republic of Guyana, was perceived by the country's Ministry of Education as a major tool for Guyanese unification, this investigation studied Guyana's use of the schools, particularly the English language curricula, to aid in the unification of the country. Accordingly, a review of American English…