In Boston a number of factors contributed to the prolonged community resistance to school desegregation and busing to achieve it. First, for ten years prior to 1974, Boston residents had been assured that their children had a right to attend neighborhood schools and that this right would never be abridged. Thus, the court order to utilize bus transportation in desegregation constituted a "disruption of expectations," a phenomenon which social scientists say is a cause of participation in social movements. Second, the anti integration movement in Boston had a strong organizational base. Politicians involved had extensive support networks and resources, including office space, phones, and personnel provided by the City Council. A third factor was the assignation of responsibility for the desegregation problem and its resolution to supra city institutions, especially the Federal government. These three factors interacted to encourage white parents to believe that the schools had not been intentionally segregated, that the court order would be rescinded because of its unfairness, and that the cause of restoring constitutional rights to whites would be successful. The absence of a significant white pro integration movement was a fourth factor in the resistance. Finally, a climate of tolerance for the anti integration movement's activities existed in the city, with public elected officials, police and other law enforcement agencies failing to support desegregation. (Author/GC)