Current economic and political problems and the unclear nature of human services delivery systems create problems for the application of an ecological perspective in planning services for children with emotional disturbances. During conservative periods, the ecological approach, which emphasizes the role of environment, is generally replaced by…

Social work is inadequately focused on an individual deficit view of social problems. Consideration of global social problems such as environmental degradation and poverty requires fundamental shifts in thinking about economics and our cultural history. Possibilities for social work intervention, based on transformational thinking about the…

This paper suggests a framework for viewing learning disability as a risk factor, noting the importance of the specific type of learning problem, multiplicity, severity, age at identification, and chronicity. Learning disability is viewed in interaction with other risk factors, developmental stages, gender, and contributions of internal or…

Describes the cumulative impact of rapid population growth, industrial and military activity, agriculture, and motor vehicles on California's environmental and social fabric. Discusses these problems in California as a forecast for the nation and test to consensus-based U.S. representative government. (Author/ MCO)

This book was developed to highlight the risks that confront societies, and to indicate the most promising avenues for preemptive policies and actions. The document contains chapters on: (1) the emergence of change; (2) analyzing demographic factors; (3) assessing the future of urbanization; (4) reassessing nuclear power (including an analysis of…

Describes Ocean Thermal Energy Conservation (OTEC) as a method for exploiting the temperature difference between warm surface waters of the sea and its cold depths. Argues for full-scale demonstrations of the technique for producing energy for coastal regions. (TW)

Discussed are the costs of deriving energy from the earth's natural reserves of salt. Argues that, as fossil fuel supplies become more depleted in the future, the environmental advantages of salinity power may prove to warrant its exploitation. (TW)

Four predictive models offering an ecocultural perspective on the educational and personal-social development of children at risk for learning disabilities and other learning problems are proposed: main effect, additive, multiplicative, and compensatory. Preliminary results favor the compensatory and additive models. Both risk and protective…

In 1987, a record 126,000 automobiles rolled off assembly lines each working day, and close to 400 million vehicles are used on the world's roads today. Prior to the 1970s the automobile's utility and sustainability were hardly questioned. A decade of oil price increases and worries about future fuel availability slowed automobile use somewhat,…

This document presents the position that renewable energy sources offer a timely alternative to dwindling oil supplies and to environmentally damaging coal combustion, although public support and financial backing need to be strengthened. An expanded use of renewables and a greater commitment to energy efficiency are the most cost-effective and…

From their experience in the National Science Teachers Association's Project for an Energy-Enriched Curriculum, the authors discuss short-range and long-range energy problems and the multidisciplinary responses that education must make to these problems. Energy/environment/economics topics should be infused into the curriculum and vocational…

This discussion focuses on potential solutions to the degradation of rainforests in Southeast Asia caused by indiscriminate logging, inappropriate road-construction techniques, forest fires, and the encroachment upon watersheds by both agricultural concerns and peasant farmers. Vignettes illustrate the impact of this degradation upon the animals,…

Claims that the exploration of geothermal energy has a somewhat marginal role to play today in the overall world energy budget. Discusses the applicability, however, of geothermal heat to some national and local energy developments. (TW)

Suggests that wind energy for electrification will prove to be an appropriate technology with very positive socioeconomic benefits, especially in developing countries. Provides examples of projects conducted by a Danish wind research laboratory. (TW)

Children are a part of an ecosystem composed of several institutions. What happens in any part of the ecosystem affects many or all other parts. Strategies to improve the education of disadvantaged children are most likely to work if they are based in this ecological perspective. Approaches to developing ecologically sound solutions are proposed.…