Prevalence of Problem Gambling Among Adolescents: A Comparison Across Modes of Access,Gambling Activities,and Levels of Severity

The high availability and accessibility of online gambling have recently caused public concern regarding the potential increase of gambling-related problems among young people. Nonetheless, few studies among adults and none among adolescents have explored specific characteristics of gamblers as a function of gambling venues to date. This study sought to analyze the prevalence of gambling among a sample of adolescents in the last year, as well as sociodemographic and gambling-related characteristics as possible predictors of at-risk and problem gambling. The sample comprised 1313 adolescents aged 14–18 years. Participants were asked to respond to several questions regarding their gambling behavior. Chi square and ANOVA tests were performed in order to explore differences between groups, and a set of multinomial regressions established significant severity predictors. The prevalence of at-risk and problem gambling was 4 and 1.2 %, respectively. Regression analyses showed that having a relative with gambling problems predicted at-risk gambling. Both living with only one parent or not living with parents at all, and the prevalence of Electronic Gambling Machines in the last year were associated with problem gambling. Mixed-mode gambling was a predictor of both at-risk and problem gambling. Our findings extend previous research on gambling among adolescents by exploring gambling behavior according to different modes of access. Although the prevalence of exclusive online gambling among the total sample was low, these results support the need to consider specific subgroups of gamblers and their concrete related features when conducting both indicated prevention and treatment protocols for adolescents.     

Migrant remittance flow: challenges and motivations in Isiekenesi Southern Nigeria

The study examined challenges of sending remittances and factors that motivate migrants to send remittances to Isiekenesi. Survey research design was adopted for the study. Using multi-stage sampling method for the quantitative data of the study, 402 questionnaires were distributed to the study participants and 395 were retrieved; 17 interviews and three focus group discussions (qualitative data) were conducted. Insecurity, the high cost of the transfer of remittances, lack of social amenities and so on were noted as challenges that undermine the flow of remittances to Isiekenesi. Factors that motivate migrants to send remittances to Isiekenesi are the desire to improve the family living standard, improved security in the home country, the need for recognition and the economic situation of the home country among others. Finally, the study has clearly shown that remittances in Isiekenesi are typically altruistic as migrants see it as a means of providing economic support to individual recipients at home to improve their living standard.     

Midlife Career Transitions of Men Who Are Scientists and Engineers: A Narrative Study

This article summarizes the results of a qualitative study of career transition experiences of middle‐aged male scientists and engineers in the current socioeconomic environment in the United States. The study addresses the effects of the transitions from psychosocial perspectives. The authors selected participants from research organizations, industry, and academic fields. The authors used a narrative approach to collect data and analyzed the data using a grounded theory approach. The results suggest that the major factors that describe the dynamics in the career transition experiences are personhood, relationships, lifestyle, and workplace environment. The findings and their implications in developing coping skills and counseling strategies are discussed.     

On choosing between two nonlinear models estimated robustly. Some Monte Carlo evidence

The article considers the problem of choosing between two (possibly) nonlinear models that have been fitted to the same data using M-estimation methods. An asymptotically normally distributed test statistic that takes into account the fact that the models are fitted robustly is given. The new procedure is compared with other test statistics using a Monte Carlo study. We found that the presence of a competitive model either in the null or the alternative hipothesis affects the distributional properties of the tests, and that in the case that the data contains outlying observations the new procedure had a significantly higher power than the rest of the tests.     

“I Will Be Out There Every Day Strong!” Protest Policing and Future Activism Among Ferguson and Baltimore Protesters

An established body of literature shows that people engage in protest events for a number of reasons, including grievances, collective identity, increased efficacy, and emotions. However, it is unclear what happens to individuals’ motivation toward protest participation as they experience the reality of repressive policing. This study contributes to the theoretical body of knowledge of protest policing and social movements by investigating the microlevel processes that affect protest participation. Specifically, we build from the insights of previous research by examining how 102 Ferguson and Baltimore protesters with varying levels of commitment—revolutionary, intermittent, tourist—experienced repressive policing and how such tactics affected their subsequent decision to engage in future activism. Our findings suggest that those with the strongest commitment toward protest goals experienced the most repressive tactics, and yet did not seem to be deterred in their motivation to be engaged in future protests. In contrast, while repressive tactics appeared to deter the less committed individuals from street protests, they remained motivated to engage in other forms of civic engagement.     

Relations between Known Crime and Police Spending in Large United States Cities

Abstract

Among 130 large U.S. cities, strong support is found for Turk's (1973) view of relatione between various collective needs and subsequent supplies. That such relations reflect the availability of linkage within the city—as Turk holds they do—is strongly suggested here when per capita known violent crime and per capita police spending are seen, respectively, as measures of need and supply. The positive correlation between these two rates is always stronger among high linkage than among low linkage cities, whichever of five indices is used to measure linkage. Evidence is cited to justify viewing known violent crime as causally prior to police spending, rather than vice versa. Controlling the effects of five potentially confounding variables fails to disturb the findings.     

Mental Health Needs Assessment of a Major Urban University

Abstract

A questionnaire surveying mental health needs was administered in class to 1,412 Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) students, and a service utilization questionnaire was administered to 154 students applying for mental health services at four campus-based agencies. The nature of the specific problems of concern to students tended to remain stable over the course of a semester. Study habits and grades was the most frequently cited problem area on the needs survey, though help was sought most frequently for physically oriented concerns. Students lacking important sources of social support reported the most difficulties. Students who sought help had more problems and higher levels of concern than those not seeking help. A comparison of the two data sources indicated a slight but significant tendency for agencies to deal with the greatest areas of need at the severity levels indicated in the needs survey.     

An Experiment in Overseas Field Instruction

This paper reports on a study that examined the knowledge needed for practice in community mental health and the primary source for this knowledge. Differences were found in knowledge areas needed for practice in community mental health settings when contrasted with practice in more traditional mental health agencies. The most frequently indicated source of knowledge for social work roles in community mental health was on-the-job experience. Courses in social work schools were not a primary source of knowledge for the many nonclinical roles undertaken by social workers in community mental health.     

Straight out the barrio: Ozomatli and the importance of place in the formation of Chicano/a popular culture in Los Angeles

Abstract

Ozomatli's history of formation, the multiplicity of its sounds, the role played by its music in enabling political activism and political coalitions illuminate the relations between identities and politics at the present moment. The group is grounded in Los Angeles contemporary Chicano/a culture and in the new social relations, new knowledges, and new sensibilities of an emerging global city in a transnational era. Speaking from the interstices between commercial culture and the new social movements, Ozomatli's music and political work offers us invaluable bottom‐up perspectives on the terrain of counter‐politics and cultural creation at the beginning of the twenty‐first century.