Crime,antisocial personality and pathological gambling

To investigate the hypothesized causal relationship between pathological gambling and gambling-related illegal behaviors, 77 patients seeking behavioral treatment for excessive gambling and 32 members of Gamblers Anonymous were administered a structured interview schedule. Data on the incidence, nature and extent of both gambling and non-gambling related illegal behaviors was obtained and DSM-III (A.P.A., 1980) criteria for Antisocial personality were used as the measure of sociopathy.Of the sample, 54.1% admitted to a gambling related offense and 21.1% were charged. Results showed that 14.6% met DSM-III criteria for Antisocial Personality, Four subgroups were subsequently identified; gamblers who committed no offense (36.7%), gambling only offenses (40.4%), non-gambling only offenses (9.2%) or both gambling and non-gambling offenses (13.7%). Significantly more subjects from the gambling plus non-gambling related offenses subgroup were classified as antisocial personalities.Of pathological gamblers who committed offenses, two thirds reportedly did so as a direct consequence of gambling induced problems. Subjects reporting gambling-only related offenses showed a significant increase in antisocial features after adolescence suggesting that antisocial features emerge as a secondary phenomenon to pathological gambling behavior patterns.Acknowledgments: This study was made possible by a grant from the Criminology Research Council, Australian Institute of Criminology.     

Hate Speech and Constitutional Protection: Priming Values of Equality and Freedom

Freedom of speech and equality are two basic values in American culture that cause a value conflict with regard to hate speech. This study examined the effects of priming of values of freedom of speech and equal protection (equality) on perceptions of and attitudes toward hate speech and value prioritization. Data were collected from 159 college students. Priming of freedom of speech directed participants' attitudes and values toward advocating freedom of speech, whereas priming for equal protection directed attitudes and values toward the harm of hate speech. Participants primed for free speech viewed hate speech (introduced via scenarios) as less harmful and the speaker as less accountable than those primed for the harm of hate speech and a control group.     

The O. J. Simpson Trial: Challenges to Science and Society

The O. J. Simpson murder and civil trials riveted the nation and much of the world for more than two years. Of tremendous scientific and public interest was the gulf in attitudes, perceptions, and reactions to the not guilty verdict at the criminal trial. The collection of articles in this issue of The Journal of Social Issues converged on the idea that race is an inadequate explanatory variable in understanding these differences in attitudes, perceptions, and reactions. Instead, race is a marker for a variety of cultural and experiential issues that affect cognitive, affective, and behavioral processes. This concluding article debunks simplistic ideas of race and points to the broader problems of racism and discrimination, criminal injustice, and violence in social relations. The article concludes with suggestions for future research and a call for a broader transformation in societal institutions that affect the quality of social relations.     

Financial Strain,Neighborhood Stress,Parenting Behaviors,and Adolescent Adjustment in Urban African American Families

Using latent variable structural equation modeling, we tested a theoretical model linking financial strain, neighborhood stress, parenting behavior, and adolescent adjustment. The sample consisted of 305 African American families living in inner city neighborhoods. Of the families, 40% were living at or below the U.S. poverty threshold. The primary caregiver and a focal adolescent (mean age 13.5 years) were interviewed separately in each family. The results indicated that the income‐to‐need ratio was significantly related to financial strain and neighborhood stress, both of which were positively associated with psychological distress in parents. Parent psychological distress was positively related to more negative and less positive parent–adolescent relations, which predicted a lower positive and higher negative adjustment in adolescents. The results extend previous findings by demonstrating that neighborhood characteristics are an important mediator between economic hardship and parent and adolescent behaviors.     

REVIEWS

Bigner, J. J., & Wetchler, J. L. (Eds.). (2004). Relationship therapy with same-sex couples .
Cling, B. J. (Ed.). (2004). Sexualized violence against women and children: A psychology and law perspective .
Folberg, J., Milne, A., & Salem, P., (Eds.). (2004). Divorce and family mediation: Models, techniques and applications .
Rholes, S. W., & Simpson, J. A. (Eds.). (2004). Adult attachment: Theory, research and clinical implications .
Sperry, L. (Ed.). (2004). Assessment of couples and families: Contemporary and cutting edge strategies .     

Abstracts

Bennett, D., Fox, C, Jowell, T., & Skynner, A. C. R. Toward a family approach in a psychiatric day hospital.
Blechman, E. A., Olson, D. H. L., & Hellman, I. D. Stimulus control over family problem-solving behavior: The family contract game.
Butler, J. F. The toilet training success of parents after reading "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day."
Dell, P. F., & Appelbaum, A. S. Trigenerational enmeshment: Unresolved ties of single-parents to family of origin.
Kalter, N. Children of divorce in an outpatient psychiatric population.
Kelly, J. B., & Wallerstein, J. S. Divorce counseling: A community service for families in the midst of divorce.
Kelly, J. B., & Wallerstein, J. S. Brief interventions with children in divorcing families.
Klein, M. H. Feminist concepts of therapy outcome.
Krell, R., & Miles, J. E. Marital therapy of couples in which the husband is a physician.
Leiber, L., Plumb, M. M., Gerstenzang, M. L., & Holland, J. The communication of affection between cancer patients and their spouses.
Rubenstein, R. Briefing on inner space.
Strean, H. S. The extramarital affair: A psychoanalytic view.
Turkel, A. R. The impact of feminism on the practice of a woman analyst.
Wincze, J. P., Caird, W. K. The effects of systematic desensitization and video desensitization in the treatment of essential sexual dysfunction.
Wyatt, G. E., Strayer, R. G., & Lobitz, W. C. The treatment of sexually dysfunctioning couples of Afro-American descent.     

The black bourgeoisie and reference group change: A content analysis ofEbony

Qualitative Sociology - This study is an analysis of the racial group identification pattern among the black bourgeoisie for the years 1950 through 1979. It is argued that the militant ideology of...