Attitudes toward gambling among adolescents

It is well documented that attitudes toward gambling are a good predictor of problem gambling during adolescence. However, so far, little is known about what factors are associated with adolescents' gambling attitudes. This study used cross-sectional data (N = 2055, response rate 70.4%) from a representative sample of 17-year-olds in Norway to investigate the relationship between demographic, personality, motivational and social variables and gambling attitudes. Overall, adolescents' attitudes toward gambling were slightly negative. A multivariate analysis revealed that more favourable attitudes toward gambling were most strongly associated with family/peer approval of gambling. In addition, significant associations were found for gender (males more favourable); Sensation Seeking (positive association); Agreeableness (negative association); and family/peer gambling history (positive association for lifetime gambling, negative association for problematic gambling). Although a variety of individual-level and social factors are associated with more favourable attitudes toward gambling, it appears that family and peer approval of gambling are most important.     

Energy Conservation and Attitudes toward Technology

An exploratory survey of a small suburban community near LosAngeles investigated the attitudes and values underlying acceptanceof technological applications, examined the relationship ofgeneral attitudes toward technology to conservation attitudesand behavior during the energy crisis of 1973–1974, andcontrasted college students with the surrounding community intheir regard for technology and energy conservation. Two distinctdimensions of attitudes toward technology utility and affect–weredefined and found to relate to belief in the reality of theenergy crisis and preferred solutions, but not to reported conservationbehavior. Moreover, in contrast to popular images, no strongantitechnology sentiment was found among the college sample     

Attitudes toward Poverty during Undergraduate Education

Abstract

The commitment of social workers to serving economically disadvantaged clients has been questioned in an era of growing political conservatism. This empirical study examines perceptions of the causes of poverty of three groups of undergraduate social work students. Results confirm that students appear to develop beliefs about poverty that are consistent with desired professional values. Beginning, intermediate, and advanced BSW students rated structural explanations as the most salient and accorded the least importance to factors related to personal client deficiencies. However, a rise in fatalistic interpretations of poverty along with an increasingly external locus of control orientation characterized students who had completed their social welfare policy course. Strategies for enhancing curricula are suggested.     

Attitudes toward poverty among exit students of undergraduate social work programs in eight Latin American countries

What is the attitude of Latin American undergraduate social work students toward poverty? An earlier study from Europe and other countries worldwide found that most graduating social work students who participated in the research were clear about the socio-structural causes of social problems such as poverty. Still, no data on this topic is available for Latin American countries. The aims of this study were: (1) to describe and to compare eight Latin American graduating undergraduate social work student groups regarding their attitudes toward poverty, as measured by two scales: Causes of poverty scale and Ways of dealing with poverty; and (2) to discuss some of the implications of the study for social work education and practice. Using a quantitative transnational-comparative design, a total sample of 525 nonrandomly selected, graduating undergraduate social work students from eight Latin American countries responded to a self-administered questionnaire. An individualistic attitude to understanding and to dealing with poverty emerged in the majority of the student groups. Multivariate procedures and inferential analyses demonstrated variations across the student groups. Implications for social work education and practice are discussed.     

Attitudes of Mexican Americans toward irregular immigration

This inquiry focuses on the attitudes of 314 Mexican Americans toward issues relating to current US immigration policy. Telephone and personal interviews were conducted in Hidalgo and Travis counties, Texas, with Mexican-Americans. Virtually all respondent groups oppose an increased rate of immigration, consider illegal immigration to be an important problem, support stricter enforcement of immigration laws, and believe that undocumented workers take jobs no one else wants. Half of the respondents identify illegal immigration as a regional rather than a personal problem. At the same time, the data suggest significant differences in both direction and intensity of attitudes between Mexican Americans of different generations, income, occupational levels, and region. There is general opposition to the requirement of a national identity card, but widespread support for penalizing employers of undocumented workers and for granting amnesty to undocumented workers. These findings allow an examination of the extent to which the Mexican American leadership, which has been overwhelmingly opposed to the Simpson-Mazzoli bill, accurately reflects the views of the Mexican American people. The leadership and the population at large agree on 2 of the 3 issues, amnesty and the national identity card, but disagree on employer sanctions. 1st, it may be that the leadership holds the kinds of jobs for which undocumented workers are unlikely to compete, so they may not feel threatened. 2nd, they may feel that instituting employer sanctions will create incentives for employers to discriminate in their hiring practices against all Latino-looking job applicants. Non-elite Mexican Americans who support employer sanctions may believe that the only way they can compete for jobs is to make it impossible for elites to be hired. Both groups appear to fear that, regardless of the specifics of immigration reform, Mexican Americans are likely to encounter increased discrimination in the job market.     

Attitudes of street kids toward foster care

Forty-seven kids who frequented drop-in centers in three Western cities were interviewed to determine their attitudes toward statements related to foster care. While the teams indicated that they believed foster parents care about children and want to help them, many did not want to risk foster care. The major reason for remaining on the street is their perceptions that conflict within their family cannot be resolved. These teens have chosen to develop their own family from other street people rather than risk further rejection. The need for early family intervention is stressed.     

Student Knowledge of and Attitudes toward Psychotropic Drugs

Abstract

Expanding social work roles in medication management and psychoeducation, especially in mental health, clearly require that students possess an enlarged knowledge base and a set of enlightened attitudes regarding psychotropic medications and their use. This article reports the results of a survey that investigated the knowledge of and attitudes toward psychotropic medications among a population of social work students. If the survey results were scored like a school exam, then the average student surveyed scored a “C !.” The article also suggests that both personal and professional experiences in the mental health field apparently influence knowledge of and attitudes toward psychotropic drugs. It is recommended that social work course content be expanded to include relevant information on psychotropic drugs.     

Attitudes toward Asylum Seekers in Small Local Communities

The admission and geographic distribution of asylum seekers has a central place in public discourse in Western countries, amid mounting asylum applications and dire humanitarian crises. Receiving countries usually distribute the newly arriving asylum seekers across the entire country, in particular for small remote communities. Incidental opposition actions by local residents against the siting of Asylum Seeker Centres (ASC) has created the perception of strong and widespread resistance in the public sphere. This article aims to assess this alleged backlash by examining attitudes toward asylum seekers in small local communities. Using data from three representative surveys conducted among residents in the vicinity of four ASCs in the Netherlands, the regression analysis shows a strikingly high willingness to host an ASC, in opposition to popularly assumed public opinion.