ABSTRACT
It has become a cliché to talk about the speed and rapidity of social and technological change in modern times but these changes have implications for us all, particularly for young people growing up in ever shifting social settings. There are now greater public concerns about personal and community health, for example, the current AIDS epidemic and ecological pollution. There are also increases in stress-related illnesses and increases in drinking and drug taking. Yet running alongside these stress-related patterns are trends towards greater longevity and more active healthy lifestyles of senior citizens. There are ever higher divorce rates and changes in family living patterns, including many more single-parent units. There has been a clear emergence of feminism, and some moves towards sex role equalities, with a higher percentage of women in the labour market (though not absolute equality in the domestic sphere). Migration and settlement of large numbers of British West Indians and Asians and the presence of a sizeable migrant work force from the European community have focused attention on the extent of cultural diversity.
