ERIC Number: ED059125
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1970
Pages: 111
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
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People and Power. A Study of Crisis in Secondary Schools.
Wittes, Simon
The study reported here is based on the belief that the social discontent that is frequently in evidence stems in part from individuals being trapped in dehumanizing organizational mazes which apply bureaucratic rules in an attempt to control human behavior in light of organizational needs. This investigation, therefore, set out to discover the relationship between organizational decision-making in the school and student's feelings of apathy, impotence, and alienation. Specifically, it investigated the relationship between school power structures and student belief in internal control, and how this is mediated by other variables. The book begins with an overview of the problem of school disruption and its contributing forces, followed by a review of relevant literature, and the conceptual background for the hypotheses tested. The sample consisted of ten disrupted secondary schools, and the measure of power used relies on the mean judgments by students of the amount of influence/control exercised by various groups in their school system. The findings are interpreted as evidence of an interactive association between the differentiated power structure, student alienation from peer group, and belief in internal-external control. The book concludes with implications for school organization and practices, and suggestions for further research. (Author/JLB)
Descriptors: Activism, Decision Making, Demonstrations (Civil), Dissent, Educational Research, Educational Sociology, High Schools, Organizational Climate, Peer Relationship, Power Structure, Racial Factors, School Districts, School Organization, Secondary Schools, Socialization, Student Alienation, Student Attitudes, Student Participation, Student School Relationship
Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, P.O. Box 1248, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 ($2.00)
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Authoring Institution: Michigan Univ., Ann Arbor. Center for Research on Utilization of Scientific Knowledge.
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