In the United States, as elsewhere, the causes of serious crime are hotly debated

and many reasons for it suggested. Among these are unemployment, drug-abuse,

poverty, inadequate police enforcement, ineffective courts, racial discrimination,

consumerism, television, and "a general decline in middle-class values." Surprisingly, a

major study of crime in the U.S. carried out by North-western University in 1982

found that "the number of poor people in a city is only marginally related to property

or violent crime." In other words, American cities with a higher rate of unemployment

and poverty do not necessarily also have a higher crime rate.

Many experts are coming to believe that only grass-roots efforts to improve

community life overall will have a lasting effect. Many communities across the nation

have started their own campaigns against crime, encouraging their citizens to

participate in crime-prevention programs and to report crimes. Several civil rights

groups actively support such "self-help" campaigns. In some neighborhoods, citizens

participate in "neighborhood watch" programs and organize groups to patrol the

streets.

Changes

The Civil Rights Movement, which had fought its most bitter battles in the 1960s,

also led to action and protest in many other areas. Women who had taken part in many

of the nationwide civil rights activities became more aware of, and involved in

changing, their own situation, and the biases and prejudices with which they were

faced. On the average, they earned less than men. Their average educational level was

lower, and in some cases they were discriminated against in both law (for example,

divorce cases) and financial matters (for example, getting a loan). The Constitution (in

the 14th Amendment) might say that all "persons" had equal rights and protection

under the law, but in practice, men were often "more equal." Why, for example, were

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fewer women enrolled in the medical and law schools of the nation's universities?

And why, for that matter, were women in the military usually found in secretarial or

nursing roles?

Progress in many areas can only be judged state by state, for the states control

such important areas as marriage and divorce laws, and most work legislation.

The proposed Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) failed to be ratified by enough

states, and many believe that some women did not really want full equality under the

law. They feared, perhaps, that divorce laws which treated men and women equally

would often leave women with the children and very little else. Others argue that the

ERA failed because too many men used such fears as an excuse to protect their own

Interests. Despite the failure of the era, the fact that many women are taking their

convictions to court has had a deep effect not only on how women are being treated

but also on the attention their demands have received.

Overall, two major trends can be seen. First, there are now more laws which

specifically protect women against discrimination. As a result, there have been a large

number of law suits in which women claim, for instance, that a man was given a

position although a woman was equally or better qualified. During the last decade,

career opportunities for women have markedly improved as a consequence.

Secondly, there has been a gradual, but general, improvement in how women are seen

and treated in society. No one today, for example, seems surprised to see a woman

driving a truck, working as a policeman, or as a high school principal. Finally, the move

to complete equal rights under the law has also led to a better understanding of some of

the worst forms of sexual discrimination. For example, most American cities now

have special health, psychiatric, and legal staff to aid in rape cases. Many support

houses for abused women, and cases involving sexual harassment are being more

actively prosecuted in many parts of the country.

Despite a series of recessions, the civilian labor force grew by 37 percent between

1970 and 1984. Between 1982 and 1985, more than 10 million new jobs were created.

Reflected in these figures is a sharp rise in the proportion of women who work. In

1950, about two-thirds of American women were housewives; ten years later, about

one-half were. More than two-thirds of the women between 25 and 44 are employed,

and some 55 percent of married women with children work outside the home today.

The proportion of women in the total labor force, presently about 44 percent, is expected

to continue growing until the year 2000.

Over 70 percent of all American households (some 84 million) in 1982 were

"families." Households with only one or two members increased from 46 to 55 percent

of all households between 1970 and 1982, while households with five or more

members dropped from 21 to 12 percent. Today's Americans marry later, have fewer

children, and divorce more readily. However, almost three-fourths of those divorced

later remarry. More Americans are also raising children alone. Between 1960 and

1983, the number of "single-parent" households increased by 175 percent, one-person

households by 173 percent, and households composed of unmarried couples by 331

percent. The most striking change contained in these figures is the increase in families

with a female head and no husband present. The number of unwed mothers, too,

jumped from half a million in 1970 to almost 3 million in 1982. While fifteen years

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ago, 40 percent of all households consisted of husband, wife, and children,

that figure has dropped to 28.5 percent.

These changes have caused concern among many Americans. Some feel that

traditional values are eroding and that the center of American life, the nuclear family,

is in danger. Others, however, believe that such developments reflect a liberalization

in American life. For example, they point out that changes in divorce laws in many

states have made it easier to be divorced. They also claim that the once strong social

taboos against unmarried couples living together, or against "illegitimate" children,

have broken down and are things of the past.

There are several other significant forces which are transforming American

society today. For example, the "baby boom" generation (the some 27 million

Americans born between about 1946 and 1964) is becoming middle-aged. For the first

time in American history, there are now more people who are 65 and over than

teenagers. By the year 2030, one in five Americans will be over 65, compared with

slightly more than one in eight today. This aging of the population will have

considerable impact on American society, its institutions, services, and economy.

This look at several fundamental ways of describing Americans has shown,

above all, that what America is today, is very much different from what it was even a

few decades ago. The once dominant picture of America and Americans as mainly

British in ancestry - with just a few other European nationalities, and a small number

of "minorities" - Protestant in religion, and having its largest cities and centers of

power along the East Coast, is badly out of date.

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ASSIGNMENTS

1. Give English definitions to the following explanations:

a) sameness; exact likeness

b) a person’s ancestors considered as a group or as a continuous line

c) easily seen or understood, evident

d) Spanish-speaking Americans

e) facts, figures, information

f) questioning of a selected sample group of people to analyze public opinion

g) an official counting of a country’s total population, with other important

information about people

h) concentrated condition

i) belonging to another country or race, foreign

j) a person who has left his/her country to escape from war, oppression

k) to force the acceptance of; to put a tax, duty on

l) to treat cruelly, to cause to suffer, to trouble continually

m) relating to a Protestant movement which strictly follows orthodox beliefs

n) financially successful, flourishing

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o) region that forms the margin of settled or developed territory

p) born of parents not married to each other

2. Translate the words and word-combinations from English into Russian and

from Russian into English rapidly without any stops:

To define; markers; р с в е

од т ннос ь, р ов ое с с в о; д е т ов ат в ли ят to

т од ход т йс в ь, ь;

estimate; quota system; г олод , г олод ани е turmoil; попр к (кзак

; ав а онопр к у to

ое т );

hinder; т р мос ь; to eliminate; willpower; to shift away; с оли ч

е пи т т ный; пад е е

ни ,

с же е homicide; marginally; пос у ь, запи с ат я; harassment.

ни ни ; т пат ыв ьс