Exploring structure-effectiveness relationships in nonprofit arts organizations

The authors examined nineteen nonprofit performing arts organizations, investigating the distribution of influence among organizational members, the grouping of volunteers and staff in organizational structures, and the effectiveness of the organizations. The organizations' effectiveness was assessed using multiple performance indicators. The analysis revealed five groupings or configurations of influence, which correlated to the organizations exhibiting the highest and lowest levels of organizational effectiveness. The authors conclude that a variety of structures are associated with good performance but structural dysfunctions are associated with organizational failure, and that members' commitment to an organization's structure is an important element of success.     

On shifting ground: First-time parents’ ideal world of paid work and family time

We examined first-time fathers’ and mothers’ perspectives about their ideal world of support in the context of dominant social ideology, ethno-cultural ideals, and the pragmatics of their everyday family, workplace, and socioeconomic circumstances during their first 18 months as parents. Twelve Canadian-born and six Chinese immigrant couples participated in individual in-depth interviews. We conducted a three-part analysis: fathers’ perspectives, mothers’ perspectives, and couples’ perspectives. Fathers focused on fulfilling dual fathering ideals of ‘time with family’ and ‘providing for family’; mothers emphasized fulfilling a mothering ideal of ‘caring for children'. Examining couples’ perspectives revealed a more nuanced understanding of their shared focus on ‘caring for family'. Parents in this study found the current social ideal of the ‘new’ father, who is both financial provider and nurturing co-parent, appealing, yet difficult to achieve. Couples wanted informal (i.e. family and social network) support, along with formal (i.e. workplace and childcare) support to enable them to provide family care and financial stability for their family. Findings contribute to understanding family and paid work experiences and decision-making among couples as new parents. We offer insights into the complexity of intersections among social ideals, personal expectations, family care, and paid work for fathers and mothers.     

Urge to Gamble in Problem Gamblers Exposed to a Casino Environment

Cue-reactivity has received increased attention in addiction research, though not for gambling in particular. We examined cue reactivity in 18 problem gamblers by accompanying them to a gaming casino and measuring their subjective urge to gamble over a 1-h period. Half of the sample was additionally exposed to a gambling-specific negative mood induction (NMI) manipulation via guided imagery. Overall, about two-thirds of the sample reported moderate to high-gambling urges during the casino exposure. Additionally, the NMI reduced cue-reactivity. Finally, gambling urges in both groups decreased over the course of the exposure sessions. These findings suggest that a majority of problem gamblers experience the urge to gamble when exposed to gambling cues and that the intensity of these urges decrease with time, especially in the presence of a gambling-relevant NMI. Cue exposure should be studied further as a potential tool in the treatment of problem gambling.     

Alcohol Use and Prior Substance Abuse Treatment in Relation to Gambling Problem Severity and Gambling Treatment Outcome

Recent research has made it clear that problematic gambling is often accompanied by problematic alcohol use. Unfortunately, little is known about the nature of this association, especially as it relates to gambling treatment outcome. The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of current alcohol use level and previous substance abuse treatment on the symptoms of a large cohort of pathological gamblers as well as on their response to treatment for pathological gambling. The sample included 464 men and 301 women recruited at six gambling treatment programs in Minnesota. Gambling treatment patients were assessed on a number of gambling problem severity and related clinical variables using the Gambling Treatment Outcome Monitoring System (GAMTOMS). Patients with frequent alcohol use had greater gambling involvement at baseline than infrequent alcohol users. Patients with a previous history of substance abuse treatment had more severe psychosocial problems, ostensibly resulting from their gambling behavior, than patients without past substance abuse treatment. A MANOVA with repeated measures showed that neither pretreatment alcohol use, nor past substance abuse treatment exerted significant effects on gambling treatment outcome. While the level of pretreatment alcohol use and a history of substance abuse treatment are markers for greater gambling problem severity, treatment outcome for pathological gambling was not adversely impacted by these variables.     

Introduction to the Special Issue on ‘‘Relations Between Gambling and Alcohol Use’‘

It has long been recognized that gambling is an activity that is often combined with alcohol intake. Not only do the behaviors of drinking and gambling frequently co-occur, alcohol use disorders and pathological gambling are also commonly co-morbid conditions in both clinical and non-clinical samples. This article introduces a special issue of the Journal of Gambling Studies focusing on cutting edge findings on the relations between gambling and alcohol use behaviors and their associated disorders. We set the stage for the following series of six novel empirical papers and integrative commentary by reviewing the theoretical pathways through which alcohol use and gambling disorders may be linked. We conclude by describing some of the novel contributions of each of the empirical studies from within the context of these theoretical models.     

A Review of the Empirical Literature About Child Development and Adjustment Postseparation

This article provides a substantial review of the empirical data that have steered the work of child custody experts for the last 30 years. Child custody evaluators who are designated the responsibility of designing parenting plans postseparation for children exposed to family breakdown must be capable of sifting through the literature to select valid and reliable data to support their recommendations and plans. This article provides a review of this literature and discusses the methodological impairments in this body of knowledge.     

Horns and dilemmas: Jewish evacuees in Britain during the second world war

Although only a short‐lived experience, evacuation during the Second World War has left a profound impact on millions of people in Britain. In some ways British Jewry shared the common problems of evacuation created by class differences and a fundamental clash between town and country. Nevertheless, Jews, because of their particular religious needs and a strong tradition of anti‐Semitism in Britain, had unique experiences as evacuees during the war. Indeed evacuation had a profound importance for the shaping of post‐war British Jewry ‐ scarring those who suffered anti‐Semitic hostility but also assimilating many at the cost of their religious and cultural identity.     

WHITE, BLACK, AND HISPANIC FEMALE YOUTHS IN CENTRAL CITY LABOR MARKETS

Data from the 1% 1980 Census Public Use Sample are used to estimate the determinants of employment and wage rates for out-of-school female youths residing in central cities. Separate analyses are performed for white/Anglo, black, and Hispanic youths. Independent variables include individual, family background, and local labor market characteristics. The authors find that central city female youths have employment and wage rates substantially below their male counterparts. Their employment rates, however, are responsive to many of the same forces as for other sociodemographic groups in general, and central city male youths in particular. For Anglo females, wage rates are also responsive to many of the effects found for other groups, although they do not follow Anglo male youths in gaining from the "minority threat" effect. On the other hand, the wages for minority females are unresponsive to the usual variables. That is, these workers receive the minimum wage in an essentially undifferentiated manner. Thus, the triple disadvantage of being female, minority, and from a poor household is very much in evidence within 1980 census data.