Purpose is a concept receiving increasing attention in the developmental sciences. Making sense of your place in the world and finding meaning--a process fundamental to purpose--support positive development in adolescence and beyond. Using traditional ethnographic strategies, this article examines the development of purpose among a small group of…

THE EDUCATIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL ASPIRATIONS OF RURAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WERE STUDIED IN RELATION TO SOCIAL, CULTURAL, AND ECONOMIC FACTORS. QUESTIONNAIRES WERE ADMINISTERED TO AND COMPLETED BY 3,535 RURAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS. SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION WAS GATHERED BY PERSONAL INTERVIEWS WITH 992 STUDENTS. COUNSELORS, ADMINISTRATORS, AND…

The study assessed the stability or change in the residential orientations of rural Mexican American youth living near the Texas-Mexico border, examined changes in the local social and economic environment, and made some predictions as to their effects on the students' dispositions. In the springs of 1967 and 1973, questionnaires were administered…

THE PURPOSES OF AN INVESTIGATION WERE TO TEST THE PROPOSITION THAT RURAL NEGRO AND WHITE YOUTH HAVE SIMILAR LEVELS OF SOCIAL ASPIRATION AND TO EXAMINE POSSIBLE IMPLICATIONS THAT CAN BE DRAWN FROM THE FINDINGS. THE RESEARCHERS HYPOTHESIZED THAT NEGRO AND WHITE YOUTH HOLD GOALS OF SIMILAR LEVELS IN REFERENCE TO INCOME, OCCUPATION, EDUCATION, AND…

Conducted in a rural area in the province of Chiriqui in Panama, this exploratory study identified the participation in, and perception of, development by rural youth. Twenty-eight young men and 8 women, between 15 and 28 years of age, were divided into 2 subgroups: campesinos--those who worked in the Asentamientos (a system of collective farming)…