This anthropological project studied what correlation existed between type of society and esteem of senior persons. Results indicate that, among traditional societies, maximal socioeconomic complexity corresponds with maximal senior power and positive treatment, but as societies modernize technologically, senior esteem declines as younger persons…

Describes a study of three New York high schools (rural, suburban, and urban) that developed a model of high school social organization in order to provide a school-specific focus for examining school violence and crime. (JG)

Notes that racism, like casteism, is structural. The manifestation and tools of racism are systematic discrimination in the interest of sustained racial privilege. (Author/AM)

Reviews and partially reformulates the sociological literature on the persistence of ethnicity in American society. Ethnicity, it is concluded, is basically a manifestattion of the way populations are organized in terms of interaction patterns, institutions, personal values, attitudes, life styles, and presumed consciousness of kind: it is the…

This response to Drash et al. discusses these issues: the historical context of total habilitation of the retarded; the need for a clear conceptualization of intelligence and social adaptation; and the obstacles of society, the profession, attitudes, and the human service structure to the intensive pedagogic matrix required for total habilitation.…

The effect of class position on mobility, perceptions, and behavior in society is investigated using a game based on the STARPOWER simulation. Two versions are used, one representing an achievement-oriented society and one a society based on ascription. Results of the games and the value of simulation as a research method are discussed. (LRW)

Examines elementary school children's concept of authority with regard to the age and social position of command-giver and the type of command given. Shows that children's evaluation of adult and peer authority were based on a combination of age and position in the social context. (HOD)

Replies to a review of another article he wrote which presented a framework for the sociological analysis of special education. Clarifies the distinction between substantialist and contractualist ideologies, and argues that the latter is the basis for special education differentiation. Rebuts the allegation that Marxist sociology has been…

A study of nearly 30 urban elementary schools indicates that school composition (including race and socioeconomic background, school social structure, and certain social climate variables) explains more than 83 percent of between-school variance in reading achievement and 65 percent in mathematics achievement. (Author/GC)

By viewing housework as simply a way in which men oppress women, much understanding of how different cultures mediate between the natural and civilized worlds is lost. Simply rejecting housework as a valid task may also move societies further into the world of consumerism and control by large corporations. (IS)

Outlines the conceptual framework of the Political Economy of Adult Education Project. From a materialist perspective, this analysis considers the ways a society is connected to the global means of production and the ways in which adult education provides differing opportunities for various social classes. (SK)

This article presents a competence-oriented experiment on the comprehension of ideas in modern literature. Comprehension is defined as being indicative of competence as opposed to qualification. Participants were 117 students from various educational programs in a Swedish gymnasium course on modern literature and society. Students were exposed to…

Summarizes and assesses some recent observations on youth culture as a factor in social change and points to the need for a systematic analysis of the inter-relations of social change and new generations. (Author/SF)

This study investigated the effects of repression-sensitization communication network change, task change, and situation change on leadership continuity. Twenty-four 5-man groups, homogeneously composed of either repressers or sensitizers, participated in a wheel network, a completely-connected network, and a leaderless group discussion (LGD)…

Arguing that for a range of reasons educators have neglected to address organizational issues in the sustained manner in which we have addressed the behavioral issues, the author advocates that changes should be made in the institutional structure of society rather than in the minorities. (Author/JM)