From the attic of theAmerican Journal of Sociology: Unusual contributions to American sociology, 1895–1935

This study examines articles published in theAmerican Journal of Sociology (AJS) from its inception in 1895 through 1935 in a search for contributions that have escaped the attention of most contemporary sociologists. The articles reviewed here provide a glimpse of a less well-known, and sometimes more unseemly, side of American sociological history. My primary focus is on the criticism of the emergent discipline, the extraordinary diversity of thought found in the earlyAJS, and antiquated or prescient ideas, particularly in the fields of deviance, race, and gender.     

Strong laws of large numbers for dependent heterogeneous processes: a synthesis of recent and new results

This paper surveys recent developments in the strong law of large numbers for dependent heterogeneous processes. We prove a generalised version of a recent strong law for Lz-mixingales, and also a new strong law for Lpmixingales. These results greatly relax the dependence and heterogeneity conditions relative to those currently cited, and introduce explicit trade-offs between dependence and heterogeneity. The results are applied to proving strong laws for near-epoch dependent functions of mixing processes. We contrast several methods for obtaining these results, including mapping directly to the mixingale properties, and applying a truncation argument.     

Utility Theory and Adolescent Drug Abusers in Hong Kong

Bauman (1980) showed that the perceived costs and benefits of drug abuse predicted adolescents' subsequent marijuana abuse. The purpose of this study was to replicate the Bauman study with Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong, adding further analysis of individual items of perceived costs and benefits of their drug usage. A total of 77 youth at risk (aged 12–21) were interviewed with a structured questionnaire and their attitudes toward drug abuse, stress level, coping strategies, and parents' marital status were obtained. Congruent with the utility theory, results indicated that the more positive their attitude toward drug abuse, the more likely their involvement in drugs and the higher the observed stages of abuse. However, there was no significant difference between the drug abusers and non-users in some antecedent variables including stress levels in most areas of the adolescent lives, in most stress coping strategies, and parents' marital status. Results are discussed in relation to prevention of adolescent drug abuse.     

Adolescent and parent alliances with therapists in Brief Strategic Family Therapy with drug-using Hispanic adolescents

This study examined the relationship between alliance and retention in family therapy. Alliance was examined at the individual (parent, adolescent) and family level (within-family differences) for families that either dropped out or completed family therapy. Participants were 31 Hispanic adolescents and their family members who received brief strategic family therapy for the treatment of adolescent drug use. Videotapes of first sessions were rated to identify parent and adolescent alliances with the therapist. Results demonstrated that Completer cases had significantly higher levels of alliance across all family members than Dropout cases, and Dropout cases had significantly higher unbalanced alliances than Completer cases. Clinical implications are discussed.     

Trends in US Army child maltreatment reports: 1990–2004

We present the victim rates and severity of child maltreatment in US Army families by the sex of the child and parent from 1990–2004. Neglect rates decreased from a high point in 1991 to a low in 2000, but by 2004 the rates had increased to about the 1991 level. During two large‐scale deployments of the US Army to the Middle East (1991 and 2002–2004), the rates of neglect increased. Neglect rates were highest for the youngest children and decreased as age increased. Physical abuse rates decreased from 1990–2004, but the decline was slowed during 2001–04. Physical abuse was more severe by male offenders. Emotional abuse showed wide fluctuations in rates. Emotional abuse rates were similar for boys and girls up to age 11, but the rates for older girls were higher. Sexual abuse had the lowest rates throughout the time of this report, decreasing from about 0.5/1000 to about 0.1/1000. The rates of physical abuse and neglect were generally higher for boys than for girls up to the teenage years when the rates reversed. Male offenders were more likely to maltreat children (even excluding sexual abuse) than were female offenders and offenders of both sexes were more likely to abuse male children. We provide suggestions for practice, prevention and research in child maltreatment. Published in 2008 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gambling on sport: Policy issues

The most significant public policy issue associated with sports betting is legalization. Supporters of legalization rest the bulk of their case on the economic benefits the state can experience. They also assert that legalization will have a major negative impact on the extent of illegal gambling. Those who are against further legalization, particularly amateur and professional sports leagues, the horse race industry, and legal bookmakers, point out that sports wagering is not very profitable and is very risky for the operator. Furthermore, legal wagering will be unable to compete effectively with the price of illegal operations. It is highly likely that the recently introduced federal legislation, S.474, Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, prohibiting further legalization of sports betting will be enacted.