A model and instrument based on leadership as social control theory (LASC) to assess leadership qualities of high school principals was developed in this study. The LASC model, based on symbolic interactionist and functionalist paradigms, attempts to explain the process by which leaders reduce conflicts between individual and organizational…

Warns that methods of molding "good students" (e.g., teacher-dominated decision making, lack of student participation/response, and solitary classwork) ensure conformity, docility, passivity, and dependence. Recommends coaching, rather than lecturing, for skill development; Socratic dialogue; environments that reduce fear of failure; and learning…

Assigned subjects as groups or individuals to communicator role in Prisoner's Dilemma. Also assigned conciliatory, tough, or individualistic styles to subjects in representing constituents in the interaction. Conciliatory style was successful in all-conciliatory groups. Conciliatory members of mixed groups were unsuccessful in moderating their…

Examination of 390 Black American adolescents demonstrates that males and females experience very different structured forms of social support. Females report more frequent contact with network members, who were both male and female, slightly older, and met in private settings. Males report larger groups of intimate friends, who are overwhelmingly…

Argues that adjustment to nursing homes is influenced by peer group and staff-patient interaction. Concludes that both staff and residents place demands and expectations on newcomers' conduct, and staff define successful and unsuccessful adjustment so that patients are constrained in the range of socially acceptable behavior they are permitted to…

Presents a structural framework for the sociological analysis of special education. Describes special education as one of the ways in which schools perform their reproductive task by differentiating children and allocating them to different educational treatments. Employs the framework to analyze the different histories of special education in…

Reviews an article by James G. Carrier on a social control theory of special education. Argues that Carrier ignores empirical data, and that special education programs in the United States develop cyclically, in response to specific social pressures--not, as Carrier contends, in response to a generalized movement toward a contractualist society.…

Examines some of the mechanisms whereby the state utilizes the schools to disseminate the ideology of state capitalism. Focuses particularly on the way influential foundations, often in conjunction with government agencies, have sponsored surveys on the direction American schooling should take. (Author/RDN)

Postulates that the use of competition and directed cooperation to maintain orderly classrooms discriminates against those less able to compete. Suggests the use of group projects to foster cooperation and enhance student discipline and morale. (CJM)

Teachers in too many schools are confronted with too many students who have become disengaged from classroom learning. Re-engagement in classroom learning is the key to maintaining positive behavior. This issue of the quarterly newsletter of the Center for Mental Health in Schools includes the following features and regular segments: (1) Beyond…

Calls for greater accountability in higher education have prompted responses from most faculty and administrators that self-regulation is the answer. This paper takes a quantitative approach to examining how administrative behavior is regulated, applying a social control perspective to the issues of sanctioning, detecting, and deterring deviance.…

The Chinese conception of life's values is so different from that of western peoples that they have failed to develop modern technique and scientific knowledge. Now that they have come to see the value of these, rapid and fundamental changes are taking place. When modern scientific knowledge is added to the skill which the Chinese already have in…

Evaluations of school curricular drug control efforts show they are only modestly successful because they are based on an inaccurate theory of drug taking. Social control theory is suggested as a better model of drug taking and drug resistance. Asserts strong bonds to school decrease the likelihood of interaction with delinquent peers and thereby…

Presents a history of critical approaches to literacy from a neo-Marxist perspective; discusses the social, cultural and ideological work "literacy" has performed in the service of the "dominant discourse"; and highlights literacy's hegemonic function in Australia, Great Britain, and the United States. Argues that literacy…

Used path analytic techniques to analyze differential social control theory as predictor of drug use among fifth-eighth grade students (N=860). Found that peer non-use expectations had largest effect on drug use and were directly influenced by parental, peer, and school attachments. (Author/CM)