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From Iago to Fredo, Judas to General Hospital, acts of betrayal fascinate us. Eventually we all encounter this universal experience of human interaction, but despite its ubiquity, being betrayed can turn our lives upside down and leave us feeling suddenly frail and alone. Betrayal only arises out of sharing something of yourself with another, and its impact speaks to the great tragedy of human relations: at bottom, other people are unknowable.

While most attempts to study betrayal only consider its moral or psychological dimensions, Gabriella Turnaturi here examines betrayal as an act embedded in social relationships whose meanings change over time. For example, adultery is one of the most recognizable forms of betrayal, but a wide gulf exists between its role in Madame Bovary and in The Ice Storm. Therefore, Turnaturi contends, in order to examine the many meanings of betrayal we need to understand its context in a specific time and place. Born from the unpredictable possibilities of human interaction, betrayal emerges as a sociological event in this thought-provoking meditation on the stab in the back.

Human Relations in Interracial Housing was first published in 1955. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions.

No phase of this country's domestic or foreign relations holds greater potential power for harmony or conflict than our racial attitudes. Yet there is probably no area of social relations in which we have had fewer facts and more assumptions on which to base our thinking and our efforts at constructive action. This sociopsychological study adds considerably to our knowledge of actual racial attitudes in the United States and some of the factors that affect them.

The study examines the racial attitudes of people living in public, interracial housing projects in four cities: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Hartford, and Springfield, Massachusetts. Based on interviews with more than 1000 white and Negro residents, it sought information that would help answer such questions as these: What is the effect of Negro-white residential proximity on race relations? Does living nearby reduce or intensify any already existing prejudices? What is the nature of the contacts that develop among members of the two races?

The findings show in great detail the effects of residential proximity and suggest the underlying reasons for the role that such proximity plays. They reveal, further, the effects of the contact experience itself and the perception of the social climate in the community regarding such contact.

The research forms an important sequel to the investigation reported in the book, Interracial Housing, by Deutsch and Collins, confirming some of the basic findings in the earlier study as well as providing new insights.

Psychologists, sociologists, social workers, housing officials, and community leaders will find solid evidence here on a subject that has been sparsely documented up to now.