How do people experience engagement? We explore this question by interpreting stories of engagement, stories associated with projects undertaken in conjunction with the W. K. Kellogg Foundation's Leadership for Institutional Change (LINC) initiative. The stories convey a sense of what it means to be and feel engaged: it is a resonant experience,…

The employed woman often finds herself struggling to maintain multiple roles as wife, mother, and worker. Programs serving employed women's needs are a limited commodity in the United States, particularly in rural areas with a relative absence of human services. One approach to program planning in this area is through the examination of the…

The racial composition of participants in a Florida crisis intervention agency's programs indicated that, among the population at risk, black youth were overrepresented in State delinquency and child welfare programs and underrepresented in the agency's intervention services. This practicum was designed to enhance the agency's ability to reach…

This report's central theoretical assumption is that adolescents are in risk of problem behavior if they are not sufficiently equipped with the social and psychological competencies to cope with culturally and socially defined developmental tasks specific to their ages. The first chapter describes the socio-structural factors which have changed…

The "Friends" machine-readable data file (MRDF) is a part of the larger "High School and Beyond" (HS&B) class of 1980 survey which was administered in 1980 to a national sample of over 30,000 sophomores and 28,000 seniors from 1,015 high schools throughout the United States. The "Friends" film includes data from…

While research with divorced adults has revealed a positive correlation between their social support networks and their adjustment after divorce, there has been little direct examination of the influence of the child's support network on the child's adjustment to parental divorce. The relationship of social network variables to child adjustment in…

The phenomenon of adult functional illiteracy in the United States is examined, and strategies are considered for addressing the problem. Reasons for the failure of existing programs (schools, adult education, and volunteer tutoring) to close the literacy gap are explored; among these factors are the relative growth of underserved populations,…

This course, one of 16 sequential courses comprising phase one of a part-time Bachelor of Arts degree program in Australian Studies, surveys different forms of community, ranging from closely knit, cohesive groups to institutionalized groups, their characteristic forms of social control, and their methods of social organization. The concept of…

Uses path analysis and data from 2,829 Washington State residents aged 55 and over to study effects of rural or urban residence on social integration/loneliness. Finds rural residents not more highly integrated into social networks than urban counterparts and not lonelier. Discusses implications for existing social relations stereotypes of the…

Three hypotheses were investigated among 121 maltreating and adequate mother/child dyads: that (1) there would be qualitative differences in the supportiveness of mothers' networks; (2) differences would be related to differences in child attachment to mother; and (3) differences in mothers' approaches to relationships might have influenced their…

A study examined the role of paraeducators as liaisons to the local community. Phase 1 of the study involved interviews with four paraeducators and three teachers, each of whom was part of a rural teacher/paraeducator team that used the paraeducator's background in the community to enhance school activities. Phase 2 involved five group sessions…

Adolescent drug use in the United States remains higher than that of any other industrialized country. To explore this problem, demographic and psychosocial variables from a survey of 346 pre- and early adolescents were used to predict membership in clusters of students with varying substance use attitudes and expectancies. Cluster analysis…

There are clear signs that community learning is the way to a more sustainable future for Australian communities, especially rural ones. There are also indications that policymakers now recognize that the people who live in communities should play an important role in determining the future of their own communities. Policy must use the best…

Written for faculty of color in order, to address challenges specific to that population, this document discusses the challenges associated with pursuing higher education as a profession. It offers advice about building a career within the academy. Contributors to this volume explore how they have brought new scholarship into the academy, offered…

Studied high school students' (N=31) perceptions of significant adults as well as possible relationships between facets of alienation. Results showed parents were the adults most frequently named as significant. Teachers were not often chosen. There were no differences in adult relationship patterns between alienated and nonalienated students.…