Grandparenting and grandparents themselves come in many guises--young and full of vigor, old and ailing, filled with joy or burdened with concerns. For the first time in history a large number of grandparents are living long enough to get to know their grandchildren. Grandparents today are diverse in culture, financial status, health, emotional…

Discusses asexual reproductive technologies (in vitro fertilization, cryopreservation, artificial insemination, sperm banks, genetic engineering, ovum transfer, cloning, ectogenesis, surrogacy) and suggests that theoretical implications of technologies may bring dramatic social changes in the family. Outlines symbolically representational…

If technology is the single most important factor in explaining the organization of modern societies, it is likewise the key to understanding the modern personality. The technological personality is the psychological counterpart to the technological society.Technology indirectly destroys the basis of a common morality and so leaves human…

Explores evolution of group process in social change movements, including the evolution of the new left, the cooperative movement,and the women's liberation movement. Proposes a group-process model that encourages people to share power and live their visions. (Author/NB)

Contends attempts by radical behaviorists to create better society are marked by analytical and philosophical shortcomings. Argues the allegiance of behaviorism to ideology of technocracy serves primarily to reinforce existing societal structures. Suggests, although behaviorism is being used mostly to preserve the regnant social order, it is…

Argues that Erikson's concept of identity was originally proposed as something constructed to a significant degree by the individual, i.e., an Instrumental Identity. With the decline in instrumentality in a consumer/service-oriented society, Erikson's original concept fits less well. A new conceptualization of identity, that of Existential…

The author provides a brief history of participatory research and presents this methodology as an alternative system of knowledge production. Benefits of participatory research are listed and continuities and ambiguities are treated. The author also discusses links between participatory research and contemporary social movements. (CH)

The author states that there are inherent contradictions and assumptions in community development (CD) theory and practice. Contradictions spring from a tendency to apply CD on an inappropriate level and for incorrect purposes. Assumptions spring from CD's Western cultural origins. (CH)

Describes the activities and roles of women in El Salvador and Nicaragua, both historically and at present. (GC)

Volunteering is a vital and widespread activity in the United States; in fact, volunteers perform many essential community functions. Those who believe that most volunteers are women with time on their hands, that volunteers just do "charity work," and that volunteers are a source of cheap labor who can replace paid professionals and…

This book is based on the assumption that we need to have a much better understanding of the process of educational change itself before we can expect reasonable returns from our innovative programs. It is a cross-cultural analysis of the process and dynamics of social change in general, and educational change in particular. The book is divided…

Discusses aspects of the changing economy and the ideological challenge facing the welfare state. Explores implications of these transitions for both the delivery and future character of human services. (JAC)

Argues that to understand the changing social characteristics of Cuban exiles over 20 years of migration, one must understand the changing phases of the Cuban revolution. Explores Egon F. Kunz's theoretical framework for refugee migration in relation to Cuban exodus data. (GC)

Discusses legal divorce in Poland. Several changes in family law have been introduced to protect the welfare of children. Yet, because of the difficult conditions of everyday life in Poland, the effects of divorce often prove a burden for the divorced person with children and for the extended family. (JAC)

The distinguishing mark of the "New South" is not stable economic prosperity for the wage-earning population and their families, but rather the absence of institutionalized, public racial segregation. (Author/GC)