This article focuses on how 4-H youth participants are building social capital, or connections among individuals and community members, through their 4-H experiences. These experiences can be seen through the lens of such 4-H delivery modes as the traditional 4-H club, after-school programs, and school enrichment programs. In addition, other…

The author's students interviewed people over 50 years old about play when they were young. Their answers capture the many themes that come up in response to the following two questions: (1) Do you think the play of children today is different from when you were growing up?; and (2) If so, how do you think it has changed? In the past, when both…

In this study, the authors tried to understand the types of dilemmas that adult leaders of youth programs encounter in their daily work with young people. The dilemmas come from an in-depth longitudinal study of ongoing experiences in twelve high-quality urban and rural programs for high school-aged youth. Transcripts from 125 interviews with the…

Early childhood experience is often crucial in establishing the cognitive and affective structures of the child. In particular, the preschool experience of the lower class child establishes patterns of responsive behavior and ways of relating to the authority structure of the school which are not conducive to academic learning and prevent the…

Problem: Various demographic and familial risk factors have been linked to runaway behavior. To date, there has not been a systematic investigation of the impact of size of community on runaway behavior. This study will compare runaways from smaller cities and rural areas to their urban counterparts. Methods: A convenience sample of 602…

This report presents questionnaires that were used in three phases of a longitudinal study of career aspirations and attainments among low income youth and of their mothers' aspirations for them. The subjects were interviewed in 1969, when they were in the fifth and sixth grades, in 1975, and in 1979. Participants were members of three low income…

CLASSROOM AGGRESSION, DEFINED IN THIS STUDY AS MARKEDLY UNACCEPTABLE AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR OCCURRING HABITUALLY OR FREQUENTLY IN SCHOOL, IS EXAMINED IN RELATION TO SEX, GRADE, AND URBAN-RURAL STATUS. THE WRITERS STATE THAT NEUROTIC, PSYCHOPATHIC, AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR PATTERNS HAVE THE FOLLOWING FOUR FOCAL CAUSATIVE AREAS--(1) SCHOOL, (2) HOME AND…

Although communities are making progress in establishing comprehensive systems for serving youth, they still face challenges. Enabling conditions that have allowed innovative youth councils to develop systems of youth development, education, and employment include: (1) youth opportunity grants; (2) established intermediary organizations; (3)…