ABSTRACT
The description and analysis of El Progreso has revealed a set of characteristics which it shares with economically disadvantaged urban communities throughout the developing world. These characteristics indicate the marginality and the attendant poverty of its inhabitants, the results manifested in the economic deprivation and substandard quality of their homes, and the crowding and poor nutritional and health status of the families. The impact of such a powerful environment have been demonstrated here among the people of El Progreso, and particuarly their children, by this study, and may be seen elsewhere in the world by the work of other researchers. The El Progreso project, described in the present volume, has indicated the extent to which this has not occurred. It has delineated the extent to which social, cultural, and economic disadvantage can affect deleteriously the development of an entire generation, especially when acted out in the context of fear and instability which characterizes the policitcal system of the cou.
