Education for Modernity: The Impact of American Social Science on Alva and Gunnar Myrdal and the “Swedish Model” of School Reform

This paper directs itself to the impact of American social science on the writings of Alva and Gunnar Myrdal on the role of education and social science in modern industrial democracy. After a brief sketch of the Myrdals' role in the development of Swedish welfare reforms and of their intellectual contacts in the United States during the 1930's, the paper outlines four theoretical dilemmas of modernity to the solution of which education and social research was seen to contribute: the relationships between facts and values, the individual and the collective, child rearing and social change, and theory and practice. The paper concludes by tracing the articulation of these themes in the Social Democratic Party school reform proposals of 1948.     

Ideology and personality: Aspects of identity formation in adolescents with strong attitudes toward sex-role equalitarianism

Middle-class adolescent boys and girls with strong attitudes for and against the sex-role ideology of the Women's Movement were administered a Q-sort to study two aspects believed to be related to identity formation: flexibility-rigidity and independence-dependence. A significant positive relationship was found, more strongly for independence than for flexibility and more strongly for girls than for boys. More favorable attitudes toward sex-role equalitarianism were associated with flexibility and independence. The strength of the associations varied with the nature of the Q-sort: ideal self, self as ideal member of opposite sex, and self as ideal to each parent.This article is based on the dissertation by Dr. Kirsch in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy Degree at the Graduate School of Education, University of Marylandm, College Park, MarylandPsychotherapist in private practice in Potomac, Maryland, with special interest in psychology of women. Received her Ph.D. in human development from the University of Maryland, Graduate School of Education, in 1974.Received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Boston University in 1955. Diplomate in clinical psychology (ABPP). Interest is adolescent development with emphasis on innovative programs for optimal growth as well as treatment services.Received his Ed.D. in human development from the University of Maryland in 1961. Current interest is in developing preservice education programs for Middle School personnel.     

The place of women in European royal succession in the middle ages

When in 1997 Professor Michael Bennett announced his rediscovery of Edward III’s succession charter of 1376, the general press proclaimed that succession to the English throne had for the first time been made a male preserve, and that before that date there had been no barrier to a woman occupying the throne, citing, for example, the case of Matilda, daughter of Henry I. But is this correct? By examining examples from both Britain and continental Europe from c.1100 onwards, this paper seeks to establish the true position of women in the succession to European thrones before ‘effective’ female rulers – those who ruled independently of husbands or regents – became a regular feature of the political landscape from the late fifteenth century onwards.