Social Density of Gambling and Its Association with Gambling Problems: An Initial Investigation

The role of social factors in pathological gambling has received relatively little systematic research. The goal of the current study was to examine the relationship between a target individual’s gambling behavior and the gambling behavior among that individual’s parents, siblings and five closest friends. The specific aims were, first, to apply a novel brief assessment to study the social density of factors relating to pathological gambling; second, to replicate previously observed findings involving the social aggregation of alcohol and tobacco use; and third, to examine social density findings among the three domains. Participants were 128 frequent gamblers from the Athens, Georgia area, 79.7 % male with a mean age of 34.2 (SD = 11.7). Participants were assessed using the Diagnostic Interview for Gambling Severity for gambling severity, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test for alcohol abuse, the Fagerstrom Test of Nicotine Dependence for tobacco use, and the novel Brief Social Density of Gambling, Alcohol, and Tobacco Assessment. Significant relationships were observed between participants’ and friends’ activity within all domains: gambling (ps = .001), alcohol use (p < .001) and tobacco use (p < .001). Relationships with friends’ activity across domains were less strong. Distinct patterns of associations with parents and siblings were not observed. Thus, social aggregation was observed across the three domains of potentially addictive behaviors, generally with specificity within domains and with friends, not biological relatives. Methodological considerations and potential applications of these findings are discussed.     

Exploratory Evaluation of a School-Based Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Program

Internationally, efficacy studies of school-based child sexual abuse prevention programs display a series of methodological shortcomings. Few studies include adolescent participants, recording of disclosures has been inconsistent, and no studies to date have assessed presenter adherence to program protocols or summated the costs of program implementation. A pretest–posttest waitlist control design was used to evaluate the Tweenees program delivered to grade 6 (n?=?88) and grade 7/8 students (n?=?117) compared to a control (n?=?185). Outcome measures included a knowledge/skills questionnaire, systematic coding of disclosures, and video interaction analysis of lessons. Costs were calculated per student, class, and school. Adolescents made small knowledge and skills gains indicating a program ceiling effect. Implementation analysis suggests low levels of adult control facilitated disclosures. Program costs were relatively inexpensive. Recommendations are made for future research.     

How Creative Contributions Emerge Over the Lifespan

The starting point for this article is, What are the hegemonic models of man and woman that educational practices are orientated toward in gypsy communities (models that are often in conflict with mainstream schooling institution's models of socialization)? We do not find the collectivism/individualism approach for explaining socialization in minority cultures helpful, for it can lead us to misunderstand the continuous process of change through which communities challenge existing power relations and thereby change society. The alternative proposed here is the analysis of the role of multivoicedness in the process of cultural change, hybridation, and resistance. A set of conversations with members of a Spanish gypsy community give us a “text” where multiple voices contribute, showing a mixed culture where “traditional” voices are in a constant dialogue with “modern” voices. Minority culture cannot be interpreted as a “traditional” culture, for minority culture includes voices of the hegemonic culture in various different forms and provokes hybridation as differentiation, creating a complex framework for children's socialization.     

Sampling hidden populations: lessons learned from a telephone-based study of persons recently diagnosed with HIV (PRDH)

This paper describes a flexible, multi-stage, nonprobability sampling process used in a study of persons recently diagnosed as HIV-positive (PRDH). From July 2007 to June 2008, we used venue and chain-referral sampling strategies to recruit PRDH in the US. We sought equal distributions (n = 20) of eligible PRDH from four self-identified subgroups: gay or bisexual men (GBM), heterosexual men (HM), heterosexual women (HW), and male-tofemale transgender women (TGW). We categorized 30 sampling venues as websites, health clinics, or other networks. For 359 volunteer respondents, website venues proved more productive compared to health clinics and other sources. Website venues were most efficient for sampling recently diagnosed GBM and HW. Passive sampling methods were less effective in recruiting HM and TGW. Sampling approaches should be flexible and tailored to reach sub-categories within hidden populations. The sampling process itself produced valuable knowledge about social networks of hidden HIV populations.     

Looking for Joan of Arc: Collaboration in the Rise and Fall of Heroes

This article adapts Actor Network Theory to illustrate the construction of heroes and their abandonment. It focuses more specifically on the rise and fall of an iconic New Zealand private training enterprise, Carich, and its founding entrepreneur Caron Taurima. Drawing on media, web sources and interviews, the study reflects on the uncritical way heroes are constructed and makes comparisons with the story of Joan of Arc. It shows how the notion of ‘Carich‐as‐a‐successful‐business’ was encouraged and developed by human and non‐human actors, how revenues were inflated, and how the business founder’s personal charisma superseded hard financial questions. The article problematizes the roles of various actors, particularly hero‐seeking media, politically‐correct Crown agencies, and those supposedly objective umpires of business acumen who offer national awards to ‘outstanding’ entrepreneurs.     

Public housing and the politics of stigma

This paper considers the problem of stigmatisation towards tenants residing in public housing. It draws on the findings of a research panel investigation set up to explore the opportunities available for activists and campaigners to address stigma and engender a more positive understanding of public housing and its contribution to ameliorating economic disadvantages. The deliberations of the panel highlighted that, even within a forum sympathetic to the goal of addressing stigma, many conceptual, strategic and practical differences arise and need to be worked through. The paper reviews these challenges through a discussion of recent academic literature and a commentary on the contributions made by participants in the panel discussions. It concludes with the argument that the problem of stigma needs to be contextualised in a wider political setting that takes account of the contested aspects of the policy process and the role that powerful interest groupings have in agenda‐setting, alongside material factors such as poverty. The stigmatisation of public housing tenants is best understood as a symptom of systemic forms of inequality and asymmetrical power relationships. These difficulties also apply to campaigns to tackle the problem. Supporting forums that allow these power relationships to be interrogated is the first step towards change.     

Interactions among fungal endophytes, grasses and herbivores

The interaction between two species often depends on the presence or absence of a third species. One widespread three-species interaction involves fungal endophytes infecting grasses and the herbivores that feed upon them. The endophytes are allied with the fungal family Clavicipitaceae and grow systemically in intercellular spaces in above-ground plant tissues including seeds. Like relatedClaviceps species, the endophytes produce a variety of alkaloids that make the host plants toxic or distasteful to herbivores. A large number of grass species are infected, especially cool-season grasses in temperate areas. Field and laboratory studies have shown that herbivores avoid infected plants in choice trials and suffer increased mortality and decreased growth on infected grasses in feeding experiments. Resistance to herbivores may provide a selective advantage to infected plants in competitive interactions with noninfected plants. Recent studies have shown that differential herbivory can reverse competitive hierarchies among plant species. Both endophyte-infected and noninfected tall fescue grass (Festuca arundinacea) are outcompeted by orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata) in the absence of insect herbivory. However, when herbivores are present infected tall fescue outcompetes orchardgrass. These results suggest that the frequency of infection in grass species and grassland communities will increase over time. Several studies are reviewed illustrating increases in infection frequency within grass populations subject to herbivore pressure. Endophytic fungi may be important regulators of plant-herbivore interactions and so indirectly affect the structure and dynamics of plant communities.     

The Association Between Perceived Spirituality, Religiosity, and Life Satisfaction: The Mediating Role of Self-Rated Health

This study examined the mediating role of self-perceived health between perceived spirituality, religiosity, and life satisfaction among a stratified, random sample of college students, while controlling for gender. Although both models displayed excellent fit criteria, the perceived spirituality and life satisfaction model was fully mediated by self-perceived health χ² (n=459, 4) = 1.64, p=0.80, CFI =0.99, TLI=0.99), and the perceived religiosity and life satisfaction model was partially mediated by self-perceived health χ² (n=459, 10) = 22.29, p=0.01 CFI = 0.99, TLI = 0.99). Both models were equal for men and women. Students who describe themselves as spiritual (or religious) are likely to report greater self-perceived health and greater self-perceived health likely influences life satisfaction for both men and women. Results preliminarily support the contention that life satisfaction is related to differing reported health status, whether physical or mental, and that life satisfaction may be influenced by religiosity and spirituality engagement. Implications for colleges and universities are discussed.     

User-centred responses to child sexual abuse: the way forward?

Two parallel surveys were carried out based in the north-east of England and Cumbria: one ascertaining statutory social work services provided for child and adult survivors of sexual abuse, the other drawing upon the perceptions of adult survivors of child sexual abuse about existing and desirable forms of provision for adults and children. The surveys indicate the need for greater genuine partnership between service users and statutory agencies in the field of child sexual abuse, similar to that which is being pioneered in the field of adult care and disability. A community-orientated response to sexual abuse, centred on service-users, is required if one of the largest social problems facing us today is to be effectively challenged.     

Mutual benefit societies in Hungary, 1830-1941

In Hungary for most of the nineteenth century mutual benefit societies played a key role in providing various social groups with aid in case of illness, accident, disability or death. The majority were linked to the burgeoning working-class movement and were voluntary associations whose members had no other recourse in times of adversity. Hungary was undergoing transformation in the nineteenth century. Changes in goods production and the craft guilds accelerated the establishment of workers'benefit societies, and so did the lack of a coherent system of social insurance in the new industrial order. They grew in tandem with the expansion of Hungary's economy and the return of constitutional government in 1867, and flourished from the 1870s to the decade preceding the First World War. Austria and Germany provided theoretical justifications and practical models. By the 1890s voluntary mutual benefit societies faced increasing competition from the State. As the economy and social structures evolved, successive governments sponsored their own insurance programmes. By the turn of the century, private companies were also offering life and accident insurance and the appeal of mutual benefit societies to both workers and the middle class diminished. Between the two world wars, they continued to serve a substantial segment of the population.