Americans are said to have a love affair with cars. Recent magazine articles have addressed automobiles as objects of status and desire and how particular cars have become American icons. The popularity of "Car Talk" on National Public Radio and television shows like "Monster Garage" and "Overhaulin'" also suggest…

Diversity in higher education, most everyone would agree, is a positive. Janet Galligani Casey, who serves in the capacity of visiting associate professor at Skidmore College in New York, agrees with it, but she thinks that sometimes all the talk about it hides complicated realities, especially for the working-class student. This article describes…

The article, based on a study carried out in 2003, discusses Russia's migrant children's orientations toward acquiring higher education in the Russia Federation. The focus of this study was to determine the educational factors that motivate migrants to relocate to the Russian Federation. Immigrants in Russia make up more than 5 percent of the…

This article presents an online roundtable discussion participated by E. S. Balabanova, A. O. Grudzinskii, S. M. Guriev, A. P. Zaostrovtsev, Z. V. Kotel'nikova, M. G. Kolosnitsyna, A. E. Krukhmalev, O. V. Lylova, I. B. Nazarova, V. M. Nilov, A. A. Ovsiannikov, L. E. Petrova, N. E. Pokrovskii, E. G. Pugacheva, O. N. Rimskaia. The participants…

The article explores some of the theoretical perspectives on widows, followed by empirical findings on the issue in Tehran. Widowhood transition being pursued by drop in relations, is observed and examined from various dimensions, with the hope of improving the quality of life of the widows. Some of the socio-economic effects of widowhood as…

On April 5, 1991, Spanish was made the sole official language of Puerto Rico, a move that replaced the 1902 Official Languages Act, which had put English and Spanish on an equal footing on the island, in name if not in practice. This paper analyzes this language status policy decision in terms of both its linguistic and extralinguistic purposes…

A brief history of Afro-Hispanics in the United States and a more detailed discussion of the Black Cuban population among the recent Mariel Harbor immigrants are provided in this paper. The U.S. Cuban population is contrasted with other Hispanic groups in terms of the former's higher educational and economic level, but changes resulting in the…

Presents an overview of social class theory and its measurement by discussing several stratification theories, clarifying definitions of terms, tracing the measurement of social status as a construct, and evaluating the utility of various measurement scales. Suggests that each dimension of social status be separately identified and investigated.…

A conceptual framework for studying the role of social support in explaining family caregivers' psychological well-being is developed in this paper. In particular, the framework presented emphasizes the importance of conceptualizing caregiving as a social status, and drawing upon the broader literature on status acquisitions, social support, and…

This book explores how women have been portrayed in various forms of American popular culture over the years. In an introductory section, it is suggested that popular culture has generally used women to represent a social mythology that is built around women's subordinate status, a position that current feminists reject. Chapter 1 reviews books…

Individuals may be stigmatized (discredited) if their attributes make them less than what is expected for the social categories into which they are placed. A tentative typology of situations can be developed, based on their potential for producing the stigmatization of old age. In daily situations that do not demand excessive physical or mental…

Author described the background to the present discontent and the changes the students want in Japan. (Editor/RK)

The effects of early childbearing on a woman's later social and economic status are examined in this paper. Previous research has documented an association of early motherhood with lower educational attainment, marital instability, higher subsequent fertility, and later economic poverty. However, these associations have not been tested in…

When a woman is widowed, she automatically becomes a member of a community of isolated women who lack social status, economic power, and visibility in literature and the mass media. Literature by and about widows indicates four major reasons for this situation: there is no general recognition of the distinctive problems widows must face; except in…

Article investigated the change in the characteristics of graduates who became teachers during the period, 1860-1955, as a means of providing an unusually long historical record of the pattern of recruitment to school teaching in Scotland. (Author/RK)