Heroin use and criminal careers

The relationship between heroin use and crime has been the subject of continuing debate. While the principle focus of this debate has been the causal nexus between heroin and crime, a related controversy exists regarding the nature of addict criminality. Some have argued that heroin addicts are impulsive and opportunistic criminals, while others maintain that addicts are sophisticated criminal entrepreneurs. The present study based on career history interviews with 30 hard core street addicts, suggests that both positions may be relevant at different times in the addict's career. These addicts clearly identified a preferred main hustle, but did find it necessary to deviate from their main hustle at various times in their careers. This paper seeks to identify those conditions under which addicts are likely to maintain and, conversely, deviate from established patterns of criminality.This research was supported in part by DHEW Grant No. 1 R01 DA01827 from the Division of Research, National Institute on Drug Abuse. Views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. I would like to thank Carl Klockars for his meticulous guidance through various drafts of this paper.     

Examining links between cocaine use and street‐based sex work in New South Wales,Australia

We examined potential links between cocaine use and street‐based sex work in New South Wales, Australia, following reports of increased cocaine use among injection drug users (IDU). Police data on prostitution and possession/use of cocaine was analysed using time series analysis. Interviews with key informants and IDU were also conducted, and data on cocaine use from ongoing monitoring systems targeted at IDU were analyzed. There was a clear increase in cocaine use among IDU which occurred in 2001. This occurred at the same time as an increase in prostitution offenses. Qualitative data suggested a greater number of primary heroin users were engaging in street‐based sex work, which was driven in part by the increases in cocaine use among this group. Subsequent reductions in cocaine availability led to decreased cocaine use and possession offenses, along with reductions in prostitution offenses.     

A Comparison of Hispanic and Anglo Calls to a Gambling Help Hotline

Prevalence studies have found that problem gamblers tend to be non-Caucasians. Nevertheless, information on non-Caucasian gambling patterns and problems is virtually non-existent. Data collected during years 1992–1998 on Hispanic (N = 209) and Anglo (N = 5311) problem gamblers calling the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling Hotline for help is examined to provide information on one such non-Caucasian group: Hispanics. A sharp difference in the number of Hispanic and Anglo callers was found during this six year period (3.8% Hispanic and 96.2% Anglo). Differences were also found in the likelihood of Hispanics calling about their own problems, having gone for previous help, and types of gambling activities. Similarities were found between the two groups regarding age, marital status, and the three most cited problems caused by gambling: problems with family, inability to pay bills and going into debt. Anglos were significantly more likely to engage in illegal activities for gambling money and problems with job. Group differences caution against using Anglo based prevention and treatment programs with Hispanics populations.     

Russian Social Science in Transition: Applied Political Research and Social Criticism

One means by which the Soviet state maintained hegemony was through control over the production and movement of information. This function created ambiguity, on the one hand, and contradiction on the other, as sociological inquiry progressed within the Soviet system. This circumstance extended to both the appropriate subject matter and the methodology of sociological research. While sociology practiced in the West operated more or less within broad boundaries of free inquiry, such was not the case for most of twentieth century Russia. This paper explores this history of permissible sociological research in Russia, and then turns an eye on the more recent developments in sociology in light of the new Russian state. In particular, the development of democratic processes in Russia have led to a concomitant growth in research centers, institutes, and consultancies, all of which have significant practical and applied objectives for the sociological product. A listing of Russian research centers on the web is included.     

Gambling swindles and victims

This article focuses on clever confidence schemes designed for gambling swindles. Victims of these schemes are sought out for their character and investment potential by con men working together. The big con schemes involve considerable planning and time in order to beat a carefully selected, wealthy victim; perhaps in a simulated casino setting. In contrast, the short con scheme may be carried out by a team or mob using a suburban street corner, or at a traveling carnival. Gaffed (rigged) game equipment may be used along with proven methods, and a well-rehearsed story or pitch by the operators.Until his recent retirement, Robert J. Snyder served as a career law enforcement officer for one of the largest policing agencies in the United States. The focus of his career was on gaming and gambling, especially carnival games and confidence schemes.Mr. Snyder also participates in training law enforcement officers and in providing expert witness testimony for court proceed ings on carnival and gambling confidence schemes. He currently heads Bob Snyder and Associates, Inc., a consulting firm based in Los Angeles, specializing in Gaming/Gambling issues for governmental agencies and private industry.     

Reflexivity and the Sociology of Practice

Reflexive theories offer an alternative perspective on sociological intervention and an interpretation of current social conditions that open up new possibilities for the theoretical, professional, and societal recentering of sociological practice as what I will call the sociology of practice. From a reflexive perspective, sociological knowledge and everyday knowledge are related through a process of mutual transformation in ways that foster a convergence of theoretical and applied issues, redraw the boundaries between sociological and the extrasociological activities, and require new forms of lay–expert engagement in which lay knowledge plays a substantive role. Discursive models of engagement are typically advocated, but I argue that an interventive model of lay–expert engagement organized as the sociology of practice optimizes the possibility that engagement will meet reflexive criteria. The sociology of practice is recentered as a substantive body of knowledge relevant to the work of all sociologists and essential for ameliorating social problems.     

Privacy and privilege: Patients', professionals', and the public's rights

Conflict between the individual's right to privacy and the public's right to know is increasing as insurance companies and other third parties are demanding more information about patients and clients and data banks are storing it for retrieval and later use. Social workers are ethically bound to protect the privacy of their relationships with patients and clients and the confidentiality of their communications. But there are situations in which the obligation to society is deemed greater than the individual's right to privacy, and even in states in which their patients' and clients' communications are granted privilege by law, the social worker can be required by law to divulge confidential information or risk being held in contempt of court. This paper will discuss the individual's right to privacy, privilege and its exceptions, and present examples of court decisions related to these issues.     

“Queer's” Near Absence in Academic and Student Service Websites

This essay studies several Websites that deal with mainly U.S. universities' LGBT/Queer student services and/or LGBT/Queer academic programs, and it considers the terminology such programs apply to name themselves. Notably, the term queer is almost absent on many of these sites, especially sites that are non-academic and provide student services. Drawing on Annamarie Jagose's Queer Theory, the author suggests that the term queer may be too threatening, too ambiguous, and too masculine to be useful in naming these programs and services. While numerous specific university sites have been explored, the essay focuses on the listings of services and programs found on two sites: University of Illinois-Chicago's site College/University Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Centers/Programs at http://www.uic.edu/org/lgbt and John Younger's Website University LGBT Programs: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Studies in the USA and Canada at http://www.duke.edu/web/jyounger/lbgtprogrs.html.     

A social comparison perspective of treatment seeking by the homeless

The homeless will readily list ailments they claim to have, yet they will also claim that such ailments are not a problem and do not warrant treatment. In an attempt to understand this apparentparadox, data from a sample of homeless individuals were re-analyzed from a social comparison perspective. It was hypothesized that increased entrenchment in homelessness (increased isolation from nonhomeless environments and further involvement in the homeless environment)—operationalized by longer time spent on the street and a greater number of street friends—would lead homeless individuals to alter their perceptions of what constitutes a problem worthy of treatment. Results supported this hypothesis, in direction, and in almost all tests conducted. The involvement of adaptation level theory in such a social comparison process and the implications for intervention and treatment are discussed.     

Making Minorities: Cultural Space,Stigma Transformation Frames,and the Categorical Status Claims of Deaf,Gay, and White Supremacist Activists in Late Twentieth Century America

This article compares the efforts of movement activists in three dissimilar groups to replace a stigmatized status with a valued one by portraying their groups as resembling established minorities (claims of contiguity in cultural space) and as differing from groups stigmatized as deviant (claims of distance). The most common claims assert similarity to African Americans, and frequently incorporate civil rights themes (exemplifying frame diffusion). Tactically, these minority status claims exploit both the resonance of cultural pluralism and state recognition of minorities. Strategically, minority status framing enables stigmatized groups to claim legitimacy without changing — simultaneously asserting both normality and difference.     

Snarls,Quacks, and Quarrels: Culture and Structure in Political Process Theory

Political process theories of social movements have relied on a set of oppositions between culture and structure that has limited their capacity to capture the supraindividual, durable, and constraining dimensions of culture. The solution is not to abandon an emphasis on objective political structures in favor of potential insurgents' subjective perceptions of political opportunities, but rather to probe the (objective) resources and constraints generated by the cultural dimensions of political structures. Such a perspective would pay closer attention to the cultural traditions, ideological principles, institutional memories, and political taboos that create and limit political opportunities; and would link the master frames that animate protest to dominant political structures and processes.     

Lying about running: The functions of talk in a scene

The running scene rests upon a system of beliefs (a code) about the qualities of running performances. Membership in the scene entails the interrelated use of conversational forms and the presentation of a team identity. The forms consist of nomic talk, ritualized lying and code truth telling. Within each form, the runner may lie about or manage information regarding running performances in order to construct, maintain or attack the system of beliefs. The lie, then, plays a major role in the scene as a device of social interaction.     

Bonding to Youth Clubs and Delinquency

Youth clubs and their relationship to delinquency has received surprisingly little attention in the literature. The applicability of social bonding theory, a prominent sociological theory of delinquency, to the experiences of youth in their clubs is the primary focus of this research. The reliability and validity analysis of indices specifically created to assess club bonding suggest the legitimacy of this approach. Belief in the rules and the regulations of the club is found to be negatively correlated with delinquency. Surprisingly, weekly involvement in the club is found to be positively associated with delinquency. Implications for practice and/or intervention are discussed.     

The epistemology of “addictive disease”: Gambling as predicament

This research examines the relative perception of gambling as a disease in the context of drug use/abuse, and other excessive behavior patterns, for example, workaholism. A sample of 144 adults provided subjective perceptions of disease status of 80 representative items drawn from the literature. A subset of these items represented the class of addictive diseases. These items were subjected to principal components analysis to reveal the presence of clusters or constellations of perceptually similar entities. Gambling was perceived to beless of a predicament (i.e., a potentially dangerous situation; Shaffer, 1987) than substance abuse or substance dependence, particularly if the substance was illicit, such as cocaine or heroin. Gambling was not perceived to be characterized by the underlying construct of dependence, a dimension associated with the abuse of illicit substances. Another analysis revealed that when gambling and substance abuse and dependence were perceived against ause of substances background, licit and illicit, gambling was more likely perceived as a permissible activity than a predicament which might lead to abuse and/or dependence. This same result characterizes the perceptions of alcohol use, cocaine use, chemical use, and heroin use. While individuals may recognize the potential danger of drug abuse, illicit drug use per se is not perceived to lead to drug abuse, dependence, or addiction as often portrayed by the government and media. Against a background of excessive behaviors, for example, workaholism, gambling emerged as more similar to these behaviors than abuse or use. The implications of these findings are discussed. The clinical implications of an epistemology of addictive disease were also discussed.Preparation of this article was supported, in part, by a contract (#2322905893) from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.Special thanks are extended to Thomas Cummings, Sharon Stein and Norman Zinberg for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article.     

Mead,Contemporary Metatheory,and Twenty-First-Century Interdisciplinary Team Work

George Herbert Mead is reintroduced here as an exemplary practice-minded scholar. His work at Hull-House inspired practitioners to interpret and advocate for the poor and oppressed. Mead pioneered an approach to cross-cultural boundary work that was used to help clients interpret their experiences, to mediate between clients and social institutions, and to represent clients' needs to a nonsympathetic middle class. Contemporary sociological practice occurs in a fragmented, divisive society reminiscent of late nineteenth-century Chicago. Mead's notions of universe of discourse, international mindedness, and the democratic assumption are wedded to those of metatheorists and developed as a metatheory for use. Four metatheoretical tools—translation by membership focus, by metaphor, by map, and by model—are recommended to sociologists committed to interdisciplinary, multitheory service.     

Attributional asymmetries in the perception of moving,static, chimeric and hemisected faces

Recent research on asymmetries of facial recognition, emotional interpretation and expression was extended in three studies of facial personality attribution. Male and female judges used 10 adjectives to compare the bilateral aspects of 24 female faces, presented on video. Static (and live) chimeric images elicited more marked differences in personological attribution to the two sides of the face than did moving chimerics. Chimeric and hemisected moving images elicited a similar extent of differential attribution. Cross-validation data indicated that, as hypothesized, left face tended to be seen more often as receptive, intuitive, feeling, pleasant, happy and right-face as outgoing, active, thinking, strong. Aspects of facial asymmetry and its measurement are discussed.This study was supported by the Social Science Research Council (HR 5413). The authors are grateful to the University of Surrey Audio-Visual Unit for technical assistance. Reprint requests may be directed to the authors.     

From migrant enclaves to mainstream: Reconceptualizing informal economic behavior

The informal economy has developed in sociological theory to refer to clusters of illegal or quasi-illegal activities, usually unreported, by which people in some immigrant or ethnic communities earn income outside regular businesses and jobs. This article first extrapolates a set of characteristics beyond the legal status of such activities that define the informal economy. These provide a richer framework for future research and the basis for identifying informal economic activity in other sectors of the legitimate mainstream economy. In fact, informalization seems to have gone from marginal activities to a mainstream movement to make large sectors more fluid, network-based, and less regulated—the informalized economy. Its characteristics are identified. They overlap with the first set but differ principally in terms of extending Merton's proposition that different social structures exert different pressures to engage in non-conforming behavior. The article concludes with policy implications for fostering greater entrepreneurship in marginal migrant communities, and it suggests new ways for economic sociologists to study network transactions in modern corporations of informal economic activity through generative sociology.     

Social Class,Cultural Repertoires,and Popular Culture: The Case of Film

This research examines two different conceptions of the relationship between social class and familiarity with popular culture in the United States. Specifically, it focuses on differences between members of the upper-middle class and members of the lower-middle class in terms of their film viewing practices. The data for this analysis was obtained from a survey of 364 individuals randomly selected from two neighborhoods in a medium-sized city, one predominantly upper-middle class and the other predominantly lower-middle class. Members of the upper-middle class view more art films, as well as more classic films and blockbuster films, than members of the lower-middle class. These differences are largely attributable to the fact that members of the upper-middle class view more films both in theaters and on videocassettes than members of the lower-middle class. Moreover, these differences are reduced, but not entirely eliminated, by the fact that members of the lower-middle class view more films on television than members of the upper-middle class. Finally, these differences in the film-viewing practices of the members of these two social classes, as identified by their neighborhood of residence, obtain even controlling for a series of demographic and socioeconomic background variables.     

The roots,significance, value and legislation of gambling

In this highly personal account, Reverend Moody traces his exploration for over three decades of many facets of the underlying nature of gambling in society and in human nature. He makes the case that much of the appeal of gambling comes from the excitement of playing with chance, and discusses how different types of gambling — lotteries, wagering, and continuous betting — meet a variety of needs and pose diverse levels of risk to gamblers. He notes distinctions between controlled and uncontrolled gamblers, and the tendency for controlled gamblers to play on the edge and risk loss of control. He notes difficulties in preventing the excesses that can occur to individuals who gamble. He points out the problems with legislatures legalizing gambling for ulterior purposes, such as to raise tax revenue, rather than to cater to the demand for gambling from punters. This can lead to situations where commercial gaming interests are not directed to act in the best interests of the general public because potential problems that may arise with available gambling are ignored or deemphasized. Finally, he points out the tensions amongst various interest groups who deal with gambling and notes those forums which have evolved in recent years that provide greater opportunities for dialogue among the various entities who deal with gambling and public policy issues.Gordon Moody was ordained a Minister of the Methodist Church in 1942. In recognition of his work on gambling, he was awarded the M.B.E. (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) by the Queen in 1969. In 1980, the Open University conferred on him the Honorary Degree of Master of Arts. (See obituary, pp. 3–7). This issue is dedicated to his memory.     

Effects of gaze on hiring,credibility, attraction and relational message interpretation

Two competing models of the social meaning and effects of eye gaze exist. One holds that different levels of eye gaze have clearly identifiable meanings that will yield main effects on such communication outcomes as hiring and interpersonal evaluations. The other holds that deviant levels of eye gaze are ambiguous in meaning and that interpretation depends on contextual cues such as the reward value of the violator. An experiment required 140 Ss to serve as interviewers during a structured interview in which six confederate interviewees sytematically varied three levels of eye gaze (high, normal, low) and two levels of reward (highly qualified, highly unqualified for the advertised position). Results favored a social meaning model over a violations of expectations model: Subjects were more likely to hire and rate as credible and attractive interviewees who maintained a normal or high degree of gaze than those who averted gaze. Interpretations given to higher amounts of gaze were more intimacy and similarity, more immediacy and involvement, and more composure, informality and nonarousal.

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

—Guillaume de Salluste

—T.S. Eliot