http://tags.library.upenn.edu/tag/society+adolescents PennTags Feed http://tags.library.upenn.edu/makerecord/voyager/1557 http://tags.library.upenn.edu/makerecord/voyager/1557 <p class="MsoNormal">Phyllis La Farge&rsquo;s book <em>The Strangelove Legacy</em> examines how anxiety of nuclear threats from the Cold War impacted children and adolescents.&nbsp; La Farge utilizes prior research dating back to the early years of the Cold War and presents studies of her own from the 1980s.&nbsp; The findings from the studies are surprising, showing significant percentages of students across periods confident of inevitable nuclear war and disheartened by prospects of surviving such an event.&nbsp; For example, a study from 1962 showed that 45 percent of junior-high students expected a war (p. 25).&nbsp; Similarly, a study from 1984 reported that 29.5 percent of high-school seniors often worried about the chance of nuclear war, while another 39.9 percent responded that they sometimes worried (p. 27).&nbsp; The numbers show the immediacy of nuclear concerns and demonstrate that &ldquo;mutually assured destruction&rdquo;, which left unalleviated society&rsquo;s angst, wasn&rsquo;t the best international policy.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">La Farge&rsquo;s work also indicates that since the beginning of the Cold War concerns of nuclear war have actually increased.&nbsp; Surveys show that in 1955 only 27 percent of high school respondents thought the world would be destroyed in nuclear war.&nbsp; In 1984 a similar survey found 89 percent said they thought the world would (p. 34).&nbsp; This increased concern shows how nuclear accumulation failed to alleviate global disagreement and kept the public in a state of panic.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <em>The Strangelove Legacy</em> illustrates that inherent in the stalemate that stems from nuclear proliferation is a constant fear of conflict.&nbsp; The plot of <em>Dr. Strangelove</em> stems from that alarm in society in an exaggerated manner that illuminates the irrationality behind perilous security.&nbsp; The findings of <em>The Strangelove Legacy</em> bolster the message of <em>Dr. Strangelove</em>; defense guaranteed by retaliation is counterproductive. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>