Practical Treatments Considering the Role of Sociocultural Factors on Problem Gambling

Reviews of problem gambling (PG) literature increasingly recognize the ways in which different ethnic groups are affected by gambling behaviors, yet discourse, which considers sociocultural factors within PG, remains limited. Literature on this topic is influenced by large inconsistencies amongst research studies, overlapping terminology, and variability in the validity of research studies, making conclusions difficult to draw. Despite these discrepancies, this paper explores how sociocultural factors influence PG among diverse cultural groups and provides specific practical implications for treating PG disorders in culturally diverse populations. Notable factors that exacerbate PG behavior cross-culturally include substance abuse, low socioeconomic status, lack of social activities, and geographic location. Culturally sensitive treatment options such as Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy have been identified as effective treatments for PG with culturally diverse populations. This paper extends current thought by providing practical treatment recommendations that consider the subtle nuances of diverse populations. It explains how treatment providers and behavioral addiction professionals can increase their understanding and skills when conceptualizing PG clients from a diverse background.     

The reality of net capital gains and annual profit on NZ primary producing businesses: data from a recent survey of all farm types

ABSTRACT

Annual net cash returns and net capital gains provide farmers with their actual and potential monetary rewards, respectively. This article reports on a national farm survey showing both actual and potential returns, on average, are not as high as might be imagined. This is supported by the findings of earlier studies and has implications for rural societies and their associated economies. Data on income, expenses and profit is presented as is data on farm value changes over the life of each farm. The information is adjusted for inflation to provide ‘real’ data. The profit and net capital gain figures are divided into groupings based on a range of criteria such as total farm capital, and labour compliment as a reflection of farm size. Statistically significant differences occur for some groupings such as farm type and farm size.     

A Fair Globalization: Creating Opportunities for All∗

Much has been written recently about the supposed decline in the sovereign power of nation-states due to global economic processes and the emergence of supranational governing institutions like the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, NAFTA, the EU, etc. This has posed what some consider a problem for still largely nation-state-centric social theory in terms of making sense of what appears to be a major transformation in global governance patterns and institutions. This article argues that the apparent transformation in global governance is less historically revolutionary than evolutionary with the key being a shift in power relations among capitalist class factions at all levels of governance. Toward substantiating this claim, the article focuses on what some argue to be the (re)-emerging global political-economic significance of subnational city-regions as a result of the apparent geographic rescaling of global governance downward from dominant inter-nation-state relations. Of importance is that this apparent (re)emergence of sovereign actors at the subnational city-region scale is largely the result of this contemporary new regionalist discourse essentially rendering itself a reality. It is therefore a highly contested, and contestable, phenomenon, even in the overwhelmingly neoliberal context of the United States.

Recientemente se ha escrito mucho sobre la supuesta decadencia en el poder soberano de los estados-naciones, debido a los procesos económicos globales y el surgimiento de instituciones de gobierno supranacionales como la Organización Mundial del Comercio, el Banco Mundial, el Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, (NAFTA, por su sigla en inglés), la Unión Europea, etc. Esto ha planteado lo que algunos consideran un problema para una teoría social todavía en gran parte estado-nación-céntrica en términos de tener sentido lo que parece ser una transformación mayor en las tendencias de gobierno e instituciones globales. Este artículo sostiene que la transformación aparente en la gobernanza global es menos revolucionaria históricamente que evolutiva, siendo la clave un cambio en el poder de las relaciones entre las fracciones de la clase capitalista y todos los niveles de gobierno. Para corroborar este argumento, el artículo se enfoca en lo que algunos sostienen que es el (re)surgimiento del significado económico-político global de las regiones-ciudades subnacionales, como resultado de un aparente redimensionamiento geográfico de gobierno global descendiente de las relaciones inter-naciones-estado dominantes. Es de importancia que el (re)surgimiento de los actores soberanos en la escala de región –ciudad subnacional, se debe mayormente a este planteamiento regionalista nuevo contemporáneo, básicamente presentándose a sí mismo como una realidad. Es por eso un fenómeno altamente controvertido y discutible, incluso en el contexto abrumadoramente neoliberal de los Estados Unidos.

由于全球经济进程以及诸如世界贸易组织、世界银行、北美自贸区和欧盟等超国家治理机构的兴起而导致人们认为民族国家的主权权力受到削弱，近来已广为述及。这对在很大程度上仍以民族国家为中心的社会理论提出了一个亟需考虑的问题，如何理解全球治理模式和制度中的重大变迁。本文认为，全球治理中的显著变化与其说是历史革命性的，不如说是渐进性的，关键是各治理层次上资本家阶级各派系的权力关系的变化。为了证明这一主张，本文聚焦于一些人士所认为的（重新）兴起的次国家城市-地区的全球政治经济意义， 认为它是支配性的民族国家间关系下降为明显的全球治理地理再调整的结果。重要的是，在次国家城市-地区层次上主权行为体的明显（重新）兴起，很大程度上是当代新地区主义话语实际上使自身成为现实的结果。因此它是一个高度争论的和可争论的现象，即使是在美国压倒性的新自由主义语境下。

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Student Self-Assessment as a Teaching Tool: A Pilot Study of the Sequential Criterion-Referenced Educational Evaluation System

Abstract

This report discusses the use of a student self-assessment system (Sequential Criterion-Referenced Educational Evaluation) in social work education. It reports a pilot study which examines the system's reliability and validity. The results support the utility of this repeated assessment in social work education.     

Squirrels in suburbia: influence of urbanisation on the occurrence and distribution of a common exotic mammal

Urbanisation is widely considered to promote the establishment of non-native species, but there is limited empirical evidence of the ecological factors driving their responses. The grey squirrel Sciurus carolinensis (Gmelin 1788) is native to North America, but is widespread in the UK and is starting to spread across Europe. It is regarded as one of the world’s worst invasive animals due to its adverse impacts on native biodiversity. We use the non-native grey squirrel population in Sheffield (UK) as a case study to assess which factors limit its distribution and abundance in urban environments. In 2010 the city-wide population of adult squirrels peaked at an estimated 6539 in autumn (0.46 squirrels/ha), with maximum local densities of 8.29/ha. These densities appear to be slightly lower than those recorded in urban environments in the species’ native range. Grey squirrels occurred more frequently at urban sites with larger amounts of green-space in the surrounding region. Local habitat characteristics were, however, more powerful predictors of urban grey squirrel occurrence and abundance than regional availability of green space. Canopy cover, seed bearing trees and supplementary feeders, provided for garden birds, positively influenced grey squirrels. The potential for grey squirrels to connect city dwellers with nature thus appears to be highest in urban locations that have considerable capacity to support native biodiversity. The beneficial impacts of supplementary feeding on grey squirrel populations is notable given concerns that squirrels can adversely influence bird populations. These habitat associations also imply that grey squirrels typically respond negatively to urbanisation, which challenges arguments that urbanisation favours exotic species.     

Exploring the Impact of Social Axioms on Firm Reputation: A Stakeholder Perspective

This study proposes a model of how deeply held beliefs, known as ‘social axioms, moderate the interaction between reputation, its causes and consequences with stakeholders. It contributes to the stakeholder relational field of reputation theory by explaining why the same organizational stimuli lead to different individual stakeholder responses. The study provides a shift in reputation research from organizational‐level stimuli as the root causes of stakeholder responses to exploring the interaction between individual beliefs and organizational stimuli in determining reputational consequences. Building on a conceptual model that incorporates product/service quality and social responsibility as key reputational dimensions, the authors test empirically for moderating influences, in the form of social axioms, between reputation‐related antecedents and consequences, using component‐based structural equation modelling (n = 204). In several model paths, significant differences are found between responses of individuals identified as either high or low on social cynicism, fate control and religiosity. The results suggest that stakeholder responses to reputation‐related stimuli can be systematically predicted as a function of the interactions between the deeply held beliefs of individuals and these stimuli. The authors offer recommendations on how strategic reputation management can be approached within and across stakeholder groups at a time when firms grapple with effective management of diverse stakeholder expectations.