This digest addresses the decline in the willingness of U.S. youth to participate in service to the community or nation and suggests service learning as a possible remedy for the decline. There are long-term benefits of service learning: (1) helping to build community support for education; (2) facilitating a closer bond between school, community,…

Appropriate and inappropriate uses of the strategic planning concept are identified, and significant literature on the subject is reviewed that gives both conceptual and practical guidelines. Included is a series of very simple to more complex planning models that colleges and universities can adopt or modify, depending on their circumstances, to…

This document comprises a collection of workshop papers addressing the issues of doing research on the complex social and human problems faced in any community from an Asian American perspective. The following topics are discussed: (1) the nature of community research; (2) the pros and cons of pure basic and applied research; (3) the nature and…

Identifies components of a comprehensive assessment of an educational institution's external environment; i.e., demographic trends, social indicators, economic trends, political change, technological advances, changes in the workplace, advances in information technologies, and value shifts. (DMM)

Reviews socioeconomic impacts of rapid growth on rural areas in the western United States. Concludes that costs of development exceed benefits for some groups. Calls for research and policy initiatives to identify appropriate strategies to manage the growth and decline which are characteristic of changing rural areas. (LFL)

The extent to which claims to educational rights are actually fulfilled in a society depends on a variety of conditions. There are eight conditions that can contribute to a society's falling short in the implementation of those rights. The conditions include: (1) complacency--failure to take steps toward ensuring that the right is honored in…

In order to explore attitudes toward female and male suicidal behaviors, psychologists (N=38), social workers (N=45), registered nurses (N=44), and lay persons (N=41) were asked to complete the Suicide Opinion Questionnaire (Domino et al., 1982). Half of the questionnaires for each group referred to a female target person and half referred to a…

Comparison of conversational adjustments made in response to listener feedback by 22 community-based and 22 institutionalized adults with mental retardation found that community-based subjects used certain sophisticated repair strategies more often than did institutionalized subjects. However, neither group was able to clarify their conversation…

Urbanism's impact on the personality may be stronger than previously thought. Finds that urban residence has a strong positive effect on tolerance. Migration also promotes tolerance, regardless of the size of the destination community. (DM)

Comparison of the hospitalization experiences of 36 people with mental retardation under a managed care program model with those not enrolled (n=50) found that patients in the care coordination group had shorter hospital stays, fewer readmissions, and were less severely ill upon admission. Costs of care coordination were partially offset by…

Using consensual qualitative research (C. Hill, B. Thompson, & E. Williams, 1997), the purpose of this study was to explore the impact of domestic violence on the working lives of women currently in shelter. Several emergent categories suggested that domestic violence has a profound effect on women's working lives, including their ability to…

This chapter discusses the continued need for--and civil rights implications of--research on community colleges and Latino educational opportunity.

This report presents the results of an achievement and enrollment study of the law and public service magnet program at the Northeast Law and Public Service Magnet High School (Kansas City, Missouri). Achievement test scores for students in the program were at or slightly above those of the district as a whole for the 1990-1991 year. It also was…

Humanistic geography is similar to ethnography in that both are concerned with describing actions and events in terms of their meaning to those experiencing them; humanistic geography is particularly concerned with understanding subjective social space: space as perceived by members of particular human groups. A humanistic geography case study,…

Of the empirical research on agency utilization, examinations on the usage of community based organizations (CBO's) such as Community Action Programs, Opportunities Industrialization Centers, and Urban Leagues, have been minute. This study of CBO's revealed significant relationships relative to the use of program services by 575 respondents…