Analyzes historical and contemporary cases where outstanding achievement resulted despite the lack of a strongly supportive environment. It concludes that personal strengths of the individual are the key factor in overcoming deficiencies in environmental support. Models of Feldman, Piirto, Tannenbaum, and Gagne are applied to the development of…

This article describes and evaluates information gained from a programme of workshops that took place during the late 1990s for approximately one hundred black women who originated from the African diaspora and worked in the social housing sector. The programme was designed to utilise group working in order to promote feminist thinking and…

The personal developmental levels of students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds were studied; and the hypothesis that students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds would be less mature than other students in the developmental levels of autonomy, purpose, and interpersonal relationships was assessed. The effects of participation in…

Although gifted children have been the subject of investigation for 60 years, little information is available on gifted adults, particularly in regard to life satisfaction. To investigate life satisfaction in adults who as children were labeled as gifted, 298 adults, with a mean age of 27, completed a Likert-type instrument measuring degree of…

A study investigated the process of giving interpersonal feedback in two continuing human relations groups to determine (1) the proportion of feedback perceived as useful for personal and interpersonal development, (2) the relationship between giving feedback that is perceived as useful and receiving that feedback, and (3) the relationship between…

This workshop manual is intended for use by counselors, psychologists, and community and social workers. It may be used as an adult developmental activity, for black women 18 or older, at the secondary and post-secondary levels, as part of a women's cultural studies program, or as a continuing education offering. Chapter 1 of the manual provides a…

The Developmental Supervisory Competency Assessment System presented in this guide has been developed for use in the diagnostic analysis of the competencies of school personnel in instructional supervision. The system, intended for voluntary use by individual supervisors interested in professional self-improvement, combines self-assessment…

Encounter groups represent an attempt to apply group methods for the enhancement of personal awareness and the acceleration of personal growth among "normal" people. The extent to which an individual's moral values are modified by disclosure and discussion of these values in an encounter group setting was investigated with a group of nine…

This paper discusses some generic humanistic principles and conditions of learning which should undergird a field based educational and staff development process designed to enable teachers in a variety of situations, circumstances, and schools to improve themselves personally and professionally. (Author/JD)

One- and two-career married couples, though existing on comparable total family incomes, may be experiencing very different marital situations. The marital agreements of one- and two-career couples were compared to examine the relationship between marital adjustment and the one- versus two-career situation. Married college students and their…

The objective of this survey study was to find some tentative answers to the question of how well educational programs are meeting the needs of students. The study design included several unique features intended to increase both the validity and the practical applicability of the results. The first feature was to establish an empirical framework…

This document is one of a series by the Youth Development Center at the University of Minnesota dedicated to the interdisciplinary discussion of youth problems. The topic under discussion includes two questions: (1) What do young people need to cope with the problems of a complex society and themselves? (2) Where and in what ways can opportunities…

In order to develop a model human development course for the community college, attitudinal and factual information was obtained from 120 practitioners at colleges identified as having operational human development instruction programs. The questionnaire allowed the group to react to a series of 86 items representative of HD courses'…

This forum identified some of the factors influencing the emergence of identity during the critical childhood years. To help a child develop a healthy identity which is both favorable and realistic, he must be taught almost from birth about his own individuality. The many aspects of total identity include family, physical self, sex, ethnic and…

Medical and non-medical group mental health approaches are discussed. In the medical approach groups are set up for the treatment of the psychopathology of the members and group therapy or group psychotherapy methods are utilized. The clients are selected by the therapist who determines what kind of group would be most beneficial for the patient.…