Students' perceptions of personality needs and environmental press as a function of program separation

A sample of 1,877 high school seniors completed the Activities Index and High School Characteristics Index. The student responses were used to identify personality needs and environmental press differences across program and degree of program separation variables.It was concluded that: (1) College preparatory students perceived high personality needs for intellectual endeavors, while vocational students had needs for the tangible and concrete. (2) The personality differences across degrees of program separation suggested the physical proximity of the two program groups affected students' interpersonal relationships. (3) Several of the environmental press were exactly opposite the students' perceived personality needs. (4) The nonsignificant needs-press relationships suggested that high school environments were not facilitating the personality needs of students. (5) Comprehensive high schools seemed the most viable administrative configuration for servicing the diverse needs of today's high school students.     

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and the Health of African Americans

The author contends that the disproportionately high rate of HIV/AIDS infections among African Americans should be approached from a social and political perspective, and should not be viewed as merely a result of individual behavior.