Personality characteristics of black youth: A cross-cultural investigation

The view that black youth frequently manifest disordered personalities and negative self-concepts is examined through a comparison of the responses of black and white female adolescents from differing cultural and social class backgrounds to an Adjective Check List. While dissimilar from white female adolescents in many important respects, black subjects scored high on indices of personal adjustment and did not describe themselves in negatively valued terms. In fact, black girls from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, who are generally portrayed as particularly prone to pathology and negative self-evaluations, describe themselves in more favorable terms than black and white subjects from middle class backgrounds. Moreover, U.S. and Jamaican black subjects describe themselves in surprisingly similar fashion, and differ in similar respects from their white American counterparts, thereby providing some evidence for the impact of a common cultural heritage on black personality cross-nationally.This study was supported by NIMH Grant RO1 MH26104.Received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Current interests are cross-cultural research and psychotherapy research, especially the impact of race on psychotherapy process and outcome.     

B. reviews and notes of recent bibliographies

i. Oman and Southeastern Arabia: A Bibliographic Survey. By Michael Owen Shannon. Boston, Mass., G.K.Hall & Co., 1978. pp.xvi, 165. $18.00.

ii. Türk Dili ve Edebiyati Ansiklopedisi: Devirler/Isimler/ Eserler/Terimler. Istanbul, Dergah Yayinlari, 1977. TL600 (for 2 vols.).

iii. Arab‐Israeli conflict: a historical, political, social and military bibliography. By Ronald M.De Vore. Oxford, Clio Press, 1976, pp.273. £10.45.

Conflict in the Middle East from October 1973 to July 1976: a selected bibliography. By Michael Rubner. Los Angeles, Center for the Study of Armament and Disarmament, California State University, 1977. pp.83. $3.00.

The Palestine Question: a select bibliography. Compiled from the holdings of the Dag Hammarskj?ld Library, United Nations. New York, United Nations, 1976. pp.63. £3.25 (Distributed in the U.K. by H.M.S.O.).

iv. Middle East Contemporary Survey: Volume I 1976–77.

Edited by Colin Legum. Tel Aviv, Shiloah Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, University of Tel Aviv, and New York and London, Holmes and Meier, 1978. pp.xxiv, 684. £32.50.

v. The Modern Middle East: A Guide to Research Tools in the Social Sciences. By Reeva S.Simon. Boulder, Colorado, Westview Press, 1978. pp.xv, 283. £6.10.

vi. Gustav Meisels, Reference Literature to Arabic Studies, a bibliographical guide. Tel Aviv, University Publishing Projects Ltd., 1978. pp.xiv + 251.

vii. Saudi Arabia (World Bibliographical Series Vol.5).

Compiled by Frank A.Clements. Oxford and Santa Barbara, Clio Press, 1979. pp.xiv, 195. £16.75.

viii. The Records of the British Residency and Agencies in the Persian Gulf. IOR R/15. (India Office Records: Guides to Archive Groups). By Penelope Tuson. London, India Office Library and Records, 1979. pp.xix, 188. Pl.6. Index. £21.95.

ix. Modern Syria: An Introduction to the Literature. Compiled by C.H.Bleaney. Durham University, Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies (Occasional Papers Series, no.6). 1979. £4.00.

x. The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition: Encyclopédie de 1'Islam. Nouvelle édition. Index to Volumes/aux [sic: read ‘des‘] Tomes I‐III. Compiled by/Établi par H.& J.D. Pearson. Edited by/Publié par E.van Donzel. Leiden, Brill/Paris, G.P.Maisonneuve & Larose S.A., 1979. pp.viii, 195. 60 guilders.     

Remarks by the Honorable John E. Keefe at Seton Hall University School of Law

These remarks are based upon a presentation given at Seton Hall University School of Law's Seventh Annual Health Law Symposium on February 12, 1999.     

Industry, occupation, and disability insurance beneficiary work return.

This article uses the New Beneficiary Data System to describe the first job held after award of Disability Insurance benefits, in terms of occupation and industry. It examines work activity within sectors of employment, and looks at the issues of whether work return in certain industries and occupations varies according to the demographic characteristics of the beneficiaries. The article also presents data on sector-specific employer accommodations that can aid in sustained work return. Postentitlement work was fairly evenly distributed across occupational and industrial sectors. Persons with higher levels of educational attainment were found to be in white-collar employment sectors. There were noticeable differences in the availability of employer accommodations across postentitlement occupations and industries.