Purpose: To examine substance use differences among African-American adolescents living in rural and more urban areas in Iowa and Georgia and factors thought to be related to those differences. Specifically, negative affect and perceived availability were examined as mediators of the relation between community size and alcohol, tobacco, and drug…

This report covers the first phase of a three-phase research program entitled "Developing Model NYC Programs for Rural Youth". The report contains three sections. The first section, "An Experimental Rural Youth Program for the North Central States" contains a detailed description of the general framework of a program for rural…

A positive relationship has been found between access to telecommunications capabilities and improved economic development. However, the deployment of systems that deliver toll-free Internet access favors urban regions. This research examines Internet service providers' (ISP) operations in rural portions of Texas, Iowa, Louisiana, and West…

This study of 174 students graduating from 11 small rural high schools in Iowa found that students felt themselves well prepared by their schools, that 80 percent went on to postsecondary education, and that most of these achieved a degree. Results are discussed with regard to the influence of the rural school and community in facilitating…

Supporting a "structural relational" view of small business success, data from 423 small business owners in Iowa suggest that links between owner characteristics, social relational processes, business structure, and success operate differently depending on urban-rural location and owner sex. Female owners had more professional training…

Social workers in rural midwestern areas such as Iowa must consider distinctive characteristics of the poor in those areas to help clients within the framework of family and community. Characteristics of rural poor include presence of father in family, residence in small towns with a single industry, presence of high numbers of female elderly,…

Rural school consolidation in Iowa in the early 20th century was not simply an attempt at educational reform, but was also an attempt to transform the rural social geography of the region. Since consolidation of corporate power had resulted in economic progress in the cities, it was thought that re-centering rural life around country towns could…

As part of an ongoing investigation to determine the locational behavior of single-family-housing residents on the metropolitan fringe, a pilot study was conducted which simulated residential choice by asking respondents to rate the economy, convenience, and desirability of rural housing descriptions relative to a standard suburban residence. Four…

The 16 chapters in this five-part book, each by different authors, trace the effects of welfare reform (mandated by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996), upon poor people in rural areas of the United States. The book begins with an introduction called "As the Dust Settles: Welfare Reform and Rural…