The Dimensions of Adolescent Alienation.

Changing conditions confront American society with the problems of general discontent, rebellions, and riots. Large numbers of alienated individuals do not represent a new social problem. Rather present conditionssocial, psychological, and culturalare making possible the manifest emergence of dispositions that were previously latent. From the Klansmen in the southern mill town to the black militant in the urban ghetto, to the student activist at the university, individuals are taking positive, but often destructive, actions as means of allaying their alienation. Alienation has become a crucial problem for educators at all levels. The assumption here is that the time for discussions and global essays on alienation and polemical attacks on the alienating effects of the school is past. This piece will, first, broadly define alienation and then break the term into distinct categories. The result, hopefully, will assist educators in understanding the dimensions of alienation.