SALIENCE AND THE GOVERNMENT PROVISION OF PUBLIC GOODS

This paper examines how behavioral biases caused by salient events affect the government provision of public goods. We develop a theory in which competing communities lobby the government for allocations of a local public good. Salient events bias community demands for the good, which results in inefficient allocations. We empirically test this theory using salient wildfires and government projects to reduce wildfire risk. Wildfires reduce risk to nearby communities, but may increase demand for fuels management projects because of biases induced by salient wildfires. We find that communities experiencing recent nearby fires are more likely to receive fuels management projects. (JEL D03, H41, Q24)     

Audience Influence on EGM Gambling: The Protective Effects of Having Others Watch You Play

One component of social facilitation on gambling is the potential for an audience of people to observe the play of Electronic Gaming Machine (EGM) gamblers and influence their behaviour without participating directly in gambling themselves. An experiment was conducted with an audience of onlookers, purported to be students of research methods, taking notes while watching the participants play an EGM. Forty-three male and 82 female participants (N = 125), aged 18–79 (M = 49.2, SD = 15.6), played a laptop simulated 3-reel EGM using a $20 stake in three conditions: (1) alone, (2) watched by a simulated audience of six persons, or (3) watched by an audience of 26. Outcomes on the poker machine were rigged with a fixed sequence of five wins in the first 20 spins and indefinite losses thereafter. The results found smaller bet-sizes associated with larger audiences of onlookers, and this outcome is consistent with a hypothesized motivation to display more wins to the audience. Moreover, final payouts were greater in the audience conditions compared to the control, further suggesting that an audience may be a protective factor limiting player losses.     

Sexual Abuse by Men Who Work with Children

There is a dearth of knowledge about those who sexually abuse children while working in organizations. Here, we adopt a case study approach to examine this problem. We focus on eight adult males who had been imprisoned for abusing a total of 35 children while working in educational and voluntary settings. We provide a detailed account of abusers' characteristics, their strategies, how victims were selected, how trust was secured, and how victims' silence was ensured. Finally, we reflect on the extent to which our work might contribute toward the prevention of this form of abuse.     

Problems of participation: The limits of action research

Alvin Gouldner (1979) suggests knowledge is both culture and capital. Knowledge enables meaningful action. Capital is culture privatized. Culture is capital generalized. This raises the question of ownership in social research. Detachment in social research is praised as a virtue but also viewed as a source of difficulties epistemologically and ethically. Participatory action research offers a critique of detachment and advocates its opposite, 'commitment'. This may not necessarily involve 'political' advocacy. However, commitment to involve participants, and to further their goals through the conduct of research, does become a form of 'advocacy'. This paper draws on problematic experiences as a 'participatory action researcher' in social movement and evaluation research. Drawing on the recent work of Fuller, this paper suggests, rather bluntly, that when asked 'whose side are we on', academics might be more bold and suggest 'we are on our own side'.     

Hoarding Cases Involving Older Adults: The Transition From a Private Matter to the Public Sector

Hoarding interventions with older adults require significant resources from multiple public agencies, yet recidivism occurs frequently. To improve services through better coordination, some communities have formed multiagency hoarding teams (MAHT), which include aging services. MAHTs requested this mixed methods study to understand the progression of cases through the public sector. Quantitative data collected on 52 cases involving adults ages 60+ identified steps in this process. Qualitative data collected from MAHT members were the basis for case studies illustrating the progression of cases through the public sector. Findings have implications for social workers involved in local service coordination, training, and policy.