bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Gambling: A Social Problem?
Authors: Dielman T. E.
Published: April 2010

This paper reports the results from a national survey of gambling behavior, social problems, and attitudes toward the legalization of gambling. Non‐bettors perceived more negative consequences and fewer positive consequences associated with the legalization of gambling than did bettors. One negative consequence perceived by a majority of both groups was an increase in political corruption. The level of gambling activity was positively associated with several social problems such as divorce, absenteeism, and frequency of alcohol consumption. Respondents who were classified as probable compulsive gamblers reported more family problems.
Economic Background for Gambling Policy
Authors: Suits Daniel B.
Published: April 2010

Legalized gambling as a revenue source is evaluated on the basis of data derived from a nationwide survey. The major findings include: (1) gambling is essentially a consumer commodity which people purchase because they enjoy it, rather than because they expect to make money; (2) maximum revenue potential depends on consumer responsiveness to the price of a given game; (3) high take‐out rates encourage gamblers to participate in illegal substitutes; (4) state receipts from gambling, regardless of the details of the way they are collected, are economically identical to any other form of excise tax; (5) although gambling outlays tend to increase with income, the amount of increase is disproportionate to the amount of income, and therefore gambling tends to be a highly regressive form of taxation; and (6) the maximum revenue which states could expect to collect as the result of legalizing gambling is about a 4 percent addition to total receipts from other sources of revenue.
Enforcing the Gambling Laws
Authors: Mangione Thomas W. , Fowler Floyd J.
Published: April 2010

A great deal of controversy surrounds the writing and enforcement of antigambling laws. In large part, this is due to a lack of consensus among citizens, police departments, and prosecutors in defining the objectives of antigambling laws and the methods of enforcing them. It is suggested that since standards of appropriate behavior vary from place to place, the wishes of the local citizens should be the primary guide in determining enforcement effort priorities. The authors differentiate the four main targets of enforcement efforts and conclude that only two—public social gambling and commercial gambling—can be substantially affected by local police. Finally, specific suggestions about how police and prosecutors can cooperate in enforcing local antigambling laws are made.
Easy Sport: Research and Relevance
Authors: Reuter Peter
Published: April 2010

This paper is an analysis of the Final Report of the Commission on the Review of the National Policy Toward Gambling. After discussing the origins and political environment of the Commission, the paper focuses on the relationship between the Commission's recommendations and the results of its own research. The author argues that the research was used only where it fitted the Commission's views and was ignored where it did not. The paper concludes with a discussion of the structural factors that led to this outcome.

Criticizing the banal and unsubstantiated policy views of public commissions is easy sport… I do so only to make a simple point: public commissions, on the record, have either made no use of social science… made some use but in ways irrelevant to its policy conclusions…, or made use of relevant but unconvincing research. (Wilson, 1978)
Socialization for Childbearing
Authors: Philliber Susan Gustavus
Published: April 2010

This paper provides a conceptual framework for studying socialization for childbearing, and presents empirical findings regarding selected components of that framework. By exploring socialization about birth control, family size, the value of children, and sex preferences for children, the paper attempts to explicate some of the processes and content of socialization for childbearing. The data indicate that by the time a young woman is at risk of pregnancy, she apparently has notions about the value of children, appropriate family size, and preferences for sex of offspring. While there is a moderate amount of mother‐child communication about birth control, the mother's own contraceptive behavior is generally not known to her children. However, on the matter of family size, young people are more well informed and accurate concerning the preferences of their mothers.
Unscheduled Parenthood: Transition to ‘Parent’ for the Teenager
Authors: Russell Candyce S.
Published: April 2010

The unscheduled transition into parenthood for the teenager is discussed from three perspectives: 1) the transition to first‐time parenthood, 2) accelerated role transitions, and 3) the crisis of adding new family members. The literatures of these three areas are reviewed with special attention to variables that may be associated with progress toward personal and family goals. The teenager's family of origin may both contribute to and benefit from an adaptive response to the crisis of unscheduled teenage parenthood.
Burdens and Benefits: The Impact of Early Childbearing on the Family
Authors: Furstenberg Frank F.
Published: April 2010

This paper explores the impact of teenage pregnancy and childbearing on the families of the adolescent and examines the amount and type of support extended by the family of origin to the pregnant teenager. The analysis draws on data from a longitudinal study of teenage childbearing in Baltimore and a series of intensive case studies of adolescents and their families carried out at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic. The findings reveal that many services are furnished to the young parent. Various kinds of outcomes for the family, the adolescent parent, and her child are detailed. In particular, the paper discusses the family's relations with the father of the child, the division of child care responsibilities, the effect on the parents’ marriage, and the consequences for sibling relations.
Complexity of Life Style and Maintenance of Intellectual Abilities
Authors: Gribbin Kathy , Schaie K. Warner , Parham Iris A.
Published: April 2010

Results of longitudinal studies of intellectual abilities show significant individual variation in maintenance or decrement of such functions throughout adult development. The Life Complexity Inventory (LCI) was designed as a questionnaire to investigate those variables present in the day‐to‐day experience of adults that might relate either to stability or decline of intellectual ability. The LCI was completed by 140 subjects ranging in age from 40–88 years, whose intellectual and personality functioning had been measured in 1956, 1963 and again in 1970. Initial analysis of the data produced eight distinct environmental item clusters. Correlations in the expected direction were found between environmental cluster scores and scores on tests of cognitive function over three time periods. Subject types were obtained from the grouping of individuals by their cluster profiles. Results of the present investigation suggest that those individuals who manifest similar life styles also display similar ability patterns over time.
Rural‐Urban Differences Among the Elderly: Economic, Social, and Subjective Factors
Authors: Lee Gary R. , Lassey Marie L.
Published: April 2010

This paper reviews previous research on differences between elderly persons residing in urban and rural locations. While the urban elderly have demonstrable advantages in terms of many “objective” indicators of quality of life, they appear to have no corresponding advantage in terms of subjective or emotional well‐being, and perhaps even show a small disadvantage on such dimensions. The paper begins by documenting these differences, then considers some ways in which this paradox might be explained by examining some possible advantages of rural residence for the elderly.
Responses to Urban Stimuli: A Balanced Approach
Authors: Geller Daniel M.
Published: April 2010

A good deal of recent psychological research on urban behavior has been generated by Milgram's overload model. This model suggests that high levels of urban stimulation overload people, and have negative effects on their perception of the city and responses to others. This paper proposes a more “balanced” approach to urban stimulation which derives largely from the work of Berlyne & Wohlwill. Drawing upon theory and research on optimal level of stimulation and adaptation level, it is proposed that stimuli which are intense, complex and/or novel may lead to positive as well as negative effects; and that this may vary across persons or over time A preliminary research study is presented that confirms the importance of urban complexity as an organizing variable; and suggestions for future research and urban application are offered.
In Pursuit of Safety: Alternative Patterns of Police Production in Three Metropolitan Areas
Authors: Baillargeon Diane L. , Smith Dennis C.
Published: April 2010

Community safety and police services production processes manifest diverse patterns within and between jurisdictions. Using data from a comparative study of policing in sixty neighborhoods, distributed across three metropolitan areas, an analytic typology of modes or patterns of citizen‐police production activities is derived and proposed for use in subsequent productivity analysis. Detailed descriptions of policing and citizen safety related activities are examined in selected neighborhoods in order to assess the integrity of the proposed production categories. Relationships between the production categories, neighborhood and department characteristics, and various measures of police “performance” are then presented. Implications for productivity analysis are considered.

“According to the Great Equation, Medical Care equals Health. But the Great Equation is wrong. More available medical care does not equal better health. The best estimates are that the medical system (doctors, drugs, hospitals) affects about 10 percent of the usual indexes for measuring health: whether you live at all (infant mortality), how well you live (days lost due to sickness), how long you live (adult mortality). The remaining 90 percent are determined by factors over which doctors have little or no control, from individual lifestyle (smoking, exercise, worry) to social conditions (income, eating habits, psychological inheritance), to the physical environment (air and water quality). Most of the bad things that happen to peoples' health are at present beyond the reach of medicine.”
On the Relative Effectiveness of Institutional and Alternative Placement for the Psychiatrically Disabled
Authors: Dellario Donald J. , Anthony William A.
Published: April 2010

This paper reviews research studies that compare client outcome of institutional versus alternative placements. No conclusions about long term across the board clear cut superiority of one type of placement over the other can be drawn. An outcome model of rehabilitation effectiveness for both institutional and alternative settings is proposed to assess the impact of institutional and community settings on four fundamental rehabilitation outcomes: (1) client skill gain, (2) client/society benefits, (3) client quality of life, and (4) client satisfaction with services.
The Effectiveness Paradox: Institutional vs Community Placement of Offenders
Authors: Sarri Rosemary
Published: April 2010

This paper reviews current knowledge about the relative effectiveness of institutional and community‐based programs for juvenile and adult offenders. It asks why public policy has turned away from rehabilitation goals to those of punishment and retribution. Although knowledge about relative effectiveness is insufficient, the evidence suggests that political decisions are made regarding incarceration without reference to the knowledge that community‐based programs are at least as effective as institutional ones.

Data from a national assessment of institutional and community‐based juvenile programs are presented to highlight similarities and differences in offenders' characteristics, program patterns and outcomes. Particularly noteworthy are findings indicating that variables such as race, gender, and state are critical in predicting differential use of community vs institutional placements, not crime rate or known effectiveness. Overall expansion of social control may result when states develop community‐based programs unless deliberate simultaneous action is undertaken to reduce institutional populations.
Reevaluating the Place of Evaluation in Planning for Alternatives to Institutional Care for the Elderly
Authors: Gurland Barry , Bennet Ruth , Wilder David
Published: April 2010

This paper reviews an array of studies evaluating alternative settings and programs for long term care of the elderly. Some major methodological weaknesses of those evaluation studies are reviewed. Substantial ambiguities in the results of those studies are also examined. For both of these reasons, and others, research results have had little impact on policy for long term care of the elderly. The paper argues for an emphasis, in the future, on research that will help provide better information to clients, families, and service providers, rather than on studies aimed at finding which site or model is best for long term care.
Community Supports for the Aged
Authors: Lawton M. Powell
Published: April 2010

This paper examines the concept of community alternatives to institutions for older people from the theoretical vantage point of the need to optimize the mix of challenge and support in matching the residential environment to individual need. Research is reviewed on the characteristics of people inhabiting different types of residential environments and on the impacts such environments have on older people. A variety of residential types (planned independent housing, congregate housing, mobile homes, hotels, small‐scale congregate residences, and more institutional varieties) are discussed as means for increasing the degree of choice among residences afforded the older person.
Nonauditory Effects of Noise on Behavior and Health
Authors: Cohen Sheldon , Weinstein Neil
Published: April 2010

This article presents an overview of research and theory on the nonauditory effects of noise on human behavior and health. Laboratory and naturalistic research on the effects of noise on human performance, interpersonal behavior, annoyance, cognitive development, and mental and physical health are reviewed. The review includes studies of children as well as adults, and the discussion emphasizes the relevance of this research for predicting the effect of noise in community and industrial settings. Noise effects are viewed as determined by variations in psychological characteristics of a situation as well as the physical parameters of the sound. Predictability and controllability of a noise, its meaning for the respondent and its degree of interference with auditory communication are factors that mediate the effects of noise across a variety of outcome measures.
Physiological, Comfort, Performance, and Social Effects of Heat Stress
Authors: Bell Paul A.
Published: April 2010

This paper reviews research on the relationship of high ambient temperatures to physiological adaptation, performance, and the social behaviors of attraction, aggression, and helping. In general, very high temperatures reduce performance, attraction, aggression and helping behavior. Moderately warm temperatures, however, have less predictable effects, sometimes facilitating a given behavior and at other times reducing it. High temperatures may either increase or decrease arousal, narrow attention, and cause discomfort. The mediators of arousal, adaptive capacity, and negative affect are employed to explain the empirical data, and to suggest directions for future research.
Crowding Stress and Human Behavior
Authors: Epstein Yakov M.
Published: April 2010

A model of crowding highlighting the importance of perceived control and group orientation is discussed. The literature on crowding in residential and laboratory settings is reviewed. Control and group orientation are shown to mediate reactions to high density environments, both in residential and laboratory settings. Needed future directions in research on crowding are discussed. These include intensive case studies focusing on the processes used to cope with crowding, paying greater attention to the role of group phenomena, and studying the effects of crowding in classroom settings.
Stress And The Designed Environment
Authors: Zimring Craig M.
Published: April 2010

This paper focuses on ways that the design of the physical environment affects important individual goals, such as appropriate levels of social interaction and wayfinding and spatial orientation. A preliminary framework is proposed that suggests that the design of the environment causes stress by affecting person‐environment fit. Next, the role of the physical environment in the regulation of social interaction and in wayfinding and spatial orientation is discussed. Finally, several suggestions for future research are presented.
Making Usable Information on Environmental Stressors: Opportunities for the Research and Policy Communities
Authors: DiMento Joseph F.
Published: April 2010

This paper addresses constraints on and opportunities for the use of social science knowledge about environmental stressors in the making of public policy. It first identifies groups for which knowledge about stressors can be useful, including various levels of government and the branches within those levels. Then a spectrum of types of use of knowledge is set out. Constraints on use noted include the differences in the agendas of the social science research and policy communities, the legal and philosophical limitations on a research directed public policy and the differences in the two communities relating to the nature of inquiry. In the final sections, conditions that point to the increased usefulness of stressor research are identified and opportunities for increasing the links between the policy and research enterprises are described.
Q: What has Reform of Rape Legislation Wrought? A: Truth in Criminal Labelling
Authors: Loh Wallace D.
Published: April 2010

This article compares the impact of common law and reform rape legislation on prosecution, based on an analysis of 445 forcible and statutory rape cases in King County, Washington. In both types of cases, reform of the legal definition of rape resulted in (1) no change in the overall rates of convictions and pleas, although the new gradations of the crime led to more convictions and pleas labelled “rape” rather than some surrogate offense (e.g., assault), and (2) no change in the overall rate of charging, because the decision‐making criteria used by prosecutors at their discretion have remained the same under both statutory schemes. Reform of the penalties for rape, adapted to the degrees of culpability, resulted in more certain but not necessarily more severe punishment, an outcome embraced by general deterrence theory. The conclusion is that the main impact of the statutory reform has been a symbolic and educative one for society at large, rather than an instrumental one for law enforcement. Implications are drawn from the results for the reformulation of rape law in terms of a well‐reasoned principle of nonconsent, and for administrative policy in rape prosecutions based upon standards for the exercise of charging discretion.
The Fear of Rape: A Study in Social Control
Authors: Riger Stephanie , Gordon Margaret T.
Published: April 2010

Feminists argue that the threat of rape acts as an instrument of social control of women, keeping them in a state of anxiety and encouraging the self‐imposition of behavioral restrictions in a quest for safety. This assertion is tested with survey data from residents of Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. Women fear crime more than men, and engage in more precautionary behaviors. However, these fears and behaviors are not randomly distributed among women. Those with the fewest resources to cope with victimization, the elderly, ethnic minorities, and those with low incomes, carry the heaviest burden of fear. Psychosocial and environmental factors associated with high fear levels among women include perceptions of high risk of one's own victimization of a multitude of violent crimes (including rape), a sense of physical powerlessness, and weak feelings of attachment to the neighborhood. Fear levels are strong predictors of the use of either of two types of safety strategies, isolating oneself from danger by limiting one's movement through time and space, and risk management in the face of danger by using “street savvy” tactics. Reliance on isolation is associated with women's beliefs about their own physical competence, while use of “street savvy” tactics is related to women's attitudes about the extent of danger in their neighborhoods. The implications of these results for the quality of women's lives are discussed.
Rape Crisis Centers: Progress and Problems
Authors: King H. Elizabeth , Webb Carol
Published: April 2010

This paper reviews the literature on the crisis and the aftermath of rape. This review suggests that women experience both short and long term psychological difficulties as a result of being raped. Two questionnaires were sent to various rape crisis centers across the country in an attempt to identify the nature and extent of services provided by the centers, to determine the number of rape victims seen at the centers, and to understand some of the problems confronted by the service providers. From the data gathered from the centers it is clear that women are receiving crisis intervention and supportive services immediately following a rape incident. However, the areas of crisis counseling and long term follow‐up remain problematic. It was found that 62% of rape victims received one follow‐up contact, 33% received two to five follow‐up contacts and only 8% received six or more follow‐up contacts. Differences found based on center location and staffing patterns are also discussed.
Rape Proclivity Among Males
Authors: Malamuth Neil M.
Published: April 2010

This article integrates the findings of a series of studies that empirically address contentions that many “normal” men possess a proclivity to rape. In these studies, an attempt was made to identify individuals with such a proclivity by asking male college students how likely they personally would be to rape if they could be assured of not being caught. On the average, about 35% indicated some likelihood of raping. To assess the validity of such reports as indicators of a proclivity to rape, the following three steps were taken: First, the literature was reviewed to identify responses that distinguished convicted rapists from the general population. The responses found to characterize rapists were greater acceptance of rape myths and relatively high sexual arousal to rape depictions. Second, the relationships between reported likelihood of raping and the responses found to characterize rapists were analyzed. The data clearly showed that in comparison with men who reported lower likelihood of raping, men who indicated higher likelihood were more similar to convicted rapists both in beliefs in rape myths and in sexual arousal to rape depictions. Third, the relationship between likelihood of raping reports and aggressive behavior was examined. It was found that higher reported likelihood of raping was associated with greater aggression against women within a laboratory setting. The overall pattern of the data is interpreted as supporting the validity of likelihood of raping ratings and consistent with contentions that many men have a proclivity to rape. Possible causes of such a propensity and directions for future research are discussed.
The Behavioral Scientist: Insider and Outsider
Authors: Deutsch Cynthia P.
Published: April 2010

A problem with respect to social action research is being sufficiently “outside” to be objective, and yet enough “inside” to understand the phenomena being studied. The issue of critical periods in development is used as an example of the problem, in terms of the tendency to be wedded to convenient theories, the difficulty in examining the bureaucratic‐institutional socialization process, the problem of avoiding conformity when one is an insider, and the general difficulty of incorporating research findings into social programming and policy decisions. Some suggestions are offered, including the potential role of SPSSI as an organization of “significant others” for the social researcher and the behavioral scientist.
Sex Differences in Legal Drug Use
Authors: Verbrugge Lois M.
Published: April 2010

Women use more legal drugs of all types (preventive, curative, prescription, nonprescription) than men do. This paper studies personal characteristics that encourage drug use by adults and how those characteristics help explain women's greater use. Data are from a general population survey of white adults in metropolitan Detroit, which has information on drug use from health interviews and also from health diaries kept for six weeks. Results show that morbidity is the strongest predictor of both curative and preventive use for adults. Age ranks second (older people use more drugs), and inability to ignore symptoms ranks third. Disruptive events, feelings of helplessness about life, poor self‐rated health, and recent stress also boost drug use to a smaller extent. Personal characteristics are not only crucial to explaining day‐to‐day drug use by women and men, but also to accounting for sex differences in use. Detroit women's drug use is 50–80% greater than men's. The women also tend to have personal characteristics that boost drug use. When those characteristics are statistically controlled, the sex differences in drug use diminish. This is especially true for curative use, because it is so strongly affected by morbidity and women report much greater morbidity than men do. Structural characteristics (features of health services, medical care practice, health insurance, drug industry) are not measured in the data, but they are probably important too since people's ability to obtain prescriptions and to purchase drugs ultimately affects their daily drug use.
Attitudes, Experiences, and Self‐Perceptions of Heroin Addicted Mothers
Authors: Colten Mary Ellen
Published: April 2010

This study compares the mothering attitudes, experiences and self‐perceptions of 170 women in treatment for heroin addiction with those of 175 non‐addicted women of similar socio‐economic status. The interviews reveal very little difference between addicted mothers and their non‐addicted counterparts in their perceptions of how having children changes a woman's life, the nicest and worst things about having children, and good and bad reasons for having children. Addicted and non‐addicted mothers do not differ in their feelings toward and perceptions of their own children, nor in most of the activities they engage in with their children. Heroin addicted mothers express more doubts about their adequacy as mothers and their ability to control or influence their children. Concerns about maternal adequacy pervade their responses. Addicted women receive as much social support for childrearing as non‐addicted women, but rely more often than non‐addicted women on their own mothers for assistance. A significant number of the addicted women bore children before they began using heroin suggesting that researchers and treatment personnel should emphasize needs of older children and their addicted mothers as well as problems of fetuses and neonates exposed to heroin in utero. Suggestions for treatment programs are made.
Sex Differences, Women's Roles and Alcohol Use: Preliminary National Data
Authors: Johnson Paula B.
Published: April 2010

Alcohol consumption and problems with alcohol were compared for men and women in a secondary analysis of national data from approximately 1,000 men and 1,000 women. For both men and women, the divorced and unemployed had the highest rates of consumption and problems, with employed women not far behind. However, employed women who are married showed significantly higher rates than single employed women or married women not employed outside the home. These results were interpreted in terms of sex role stereotyping and discrimination leading to stresses for women in non‐traditional roles, and possible role conflict between demands of marriage and employment due to lack of external supports for women in those roles.
Studying Women in a Changing World: An Introduction
Authors: Stewart Abigail J. , Platt Marjorie B.
Published: April 2010

General issues involved in disentangling historical, cohort, developmental and other factors in change are discussed, with special reference to the study of women in a changing world. The advantages and disadvantages of the two major methods of study—panel or longitudinal studies and cross‐sectional {or successive cross‐sectional) studies—are presented, along with the opportunities and problems associated with secondary analysis of data collected in previous studies. This introduction concludes with design and method notes about the other papers in this issue.
Residential Mobility and Public Policy Issues: “Why Families Move” Revisited
Authors: Rossi Peter H. , Shlay Anne B.
Published: April 2010

Early twentieth century concerns with social problems and pathologies perceived as stemming from rural to urban migration, neighborhood transiency and an absence of spatially stable communities fueled the early study of residential mobility. Knowing why people moved, it seemed, presented a potential for fostering neighborhood stability, place oriented community and a cure for urban ills such as crime, delinquency and other forms of anomic behavior. The finding that residential mobility was neither pathological nor indicative of normlessness but was a normal process through which families improve their housing situations set the tone for later mobility research. The myriad of studies on mobility precipitants and housing adjustment processes have, today, firmly established the finding that residential shifts are driven by family compositional changes accompanying family life cycle stages. Without a problems context, it appears that residential mobility research has little obvious relevance to public policy concerns. To be relevant to public policy, we propose that mobility research change focus from looking at the precipitants of residential moves toward looking at the mechanisms that structure the patterning of residential choices within metropolitan areas. We present some new directions for mobility research dealing with factors governing housing production and its spatial distribution along with why and where people live where they do.
Group Membership and Place Meanings in an Urban Neighborhood
Authors: Rivlin Leanne G.
Published: April 2010

The changing nature of cities has raised serious questions concerning the quality of neighborhood and community life. It is essential to reflect on the meaning of neighborhoods and their function for urban dwellers. The role of group membership in place meanings is considered, using an environmental perspective that acknowledges the importance of places to an individual's sense of identity. A small case study of a Hasidic sect with a distinctive life style provides an opportunity to assess the contribution of group affiliation to connections to a neighborhood. Sources of commitment to an area are discussed as are the qualities of group affiliations that affect this commitment. A conception of generic and specific place meanings, based on individual and group experiences, is proposed.
Residential Attachment: Sources of Residential and Community Satisfaction
Authors: Fried Marc
Published: April 2010

The residential environment is a particularly important setting for human behavior by virtue of its significance for roles, relationships, and the sense of place in the world. Based on interviews with 2,622 respondents from 42 municipalities in 10 SMSAs across the country, this study tried to clarify some of the dimensions of residential experience that affect residential and community satisfaction. The frequent finding of a strong relationship between social class or majority/minority status and residential satisfaction is examined under controlled conditions. This relationship appears to be mainly a function of the large inequities in housing and neighborhood associated with social inequalities. It is these variations in residential quality that are the direct, primary influences on residential satisfaction. Closer analyses of the specific sources of residential and community satisfaction reveal the prominence of objective features of the residential environment in accounting for such satisfaction. Local social interaction plays a relatively minor part in explaining residential attachment; and its effects are limited to that modest proportion of the population for whom such neighborhood and community relationships are highly valued.
Sexual Harassment at Work: Three Explanatory Models
Authors: Tangri Sandra S. , Burt Martha R. , Johnson Leanor B.
Published: April 2010

This article explores three models of sexual harassment derived from previous research, court cases and legal defenses: the Natural/Biological Model, the Organizational Model, and the Sociocultural Model. Data from a large (N=20, 083) stratified random sample of the federal workforce are analyzed in relation to these models. No clear‐cut support for any one model emerges, and the picture of sexual harassment painted by these data appears to be more complex and varied than earlier, self‐selected samples initially suggested. The results are discussed in light of the difficulties of using large‐scale survey techniques to investigate complex cultural phenomena, and suggestions are made for future research approaches that could complement survey techniques.
Consciousness About Sexual Harassment Among Heterosexual and Lesbian Women Workers
Authors: Schneider Beth E.
Published: April 2010

This paper explores the nature of sexual harassment as a subjective and multi‐faceted concept, one which challenges the meaning of taken‐for‐granted behaviors embedded in heterosexual interactions and relationships. Drawing on survey samples of 237 lesbian and 144 heterosexual working women, the study discusses the ways in which a woman's sexual identity affects her experiences and interpretation of interactions at work as sexual harassment. Four discrete indicators of consciousness about sexual harassment are employed: experiences and feelings about daily approaches, attitudes about the problem of unwanted sexual approaches at work, and recognition and willingness to utilize the term sexual harassment. The findings show that women have a great many physical and sexual experiences at work most of which they dislike; there is substantial recognition of the problem among working women. However, there is a gap between experiencing and disliking the phenomenon and applying the term sexual harassment in describing it. Further, women vary in the use of the label sexual harassment by the degree of social and economic inequality and powerlessness each experiences at her workplace; as a group, lesbians are more likely than heterosexuals to employ the term. The author suggests that further research concerning sexual harassment move beyond documenting incidents since by themselves they do not establish the basis on which particular situations in the everyday lives of working women come to be labeled sexual harassment.
The Factorial Survey: An Approach to Defining Sexual Harassment on Campus
Authors: Reilly Timothy , Carpenter Sandra , Dul Valerie , Bartlett Kim , Brewer Marilynn B.
Published: April 2010

A factorial survey was used to assess perceptions of sexual harassment in the context of faculty‐student relations in a university setting. Results of a survey of undergraduate students and faculty at the University of California, Santa Barbara, revealed a high degree of consensus in defining cases of sexual harassment. Across respondent populations, judgments of harassment were most influenced by the nature of the behaviors and intentions of the male instructor in the situation. Results also indicated that information about any past relationship between instructor and student and about suggestive behaviors on the part of the student tended to modify harassment judgments and to introduce disagreement among respondents as to whether an incident constituted a case of sexual harassment.
The Threat of Nuclear War: Risk Interpretation and Behavioral Response
Authors: Tyler Tom R. , McGraw Kathleen M.
Published: April 2010

This study examines the psychological antecedents of behavioral responses to the threat of nuclear war. Two groups known to have responded behaviorally to the threat of nuclear war—nuclear freeze activists and survivalists—are compared to a sample of members of the general public. The influence of four types of psychological antecedents was explored. The antecedents studied were: judgments of risk, efficacy judgments, attributions of causality and moral responsibility, and general political orientations. The results suggest that citizens' behaviors in response to the threat of war are influenced by rational factors, i.e., by judgments of the potential efficacy of actions and by judgments of their potential causal role in preventing war. In addition, judgments concerning citizens' moral responsibility for preventing war exercise an independent effect upon behavior. These results suggest the importance of exploring citizens' psychological interpretations of social and political events as a means of understanding behavioral reactions to those events.
Policy‐Makers' Images of International Conflict
Authors: Tetlock Philip E.
Published: April 2010

Growing evidence indicates that foreign policy is not simply the product of purely rational, Realpolitik calculations. In making key decisions, national leaders often rely on highly simplified images of the international scene. Focusing on the long‐standing debate over American‐Soviet relations, I distinguish two basic images that have dominated much of this debate: the deterrence and conflict spiral images. What counts as a “rational” policy toward the Soviet Union depends critically on which image one believes best describes American‐Soviet relations. I argue that although the psychological research literature does not tell us who is right in this controversy, the literature does identify a variety of factors (including cognitive, social and personality variables) that are threats to the validity of images underlying policy decisions. I discuss these potential sources of error and bias as well as possible approaches to minimizing their impact on the policy‐making process.
Images of Nuclear War and the Public in British Civil Defense Planning Documents
Authors: Churcher John , Lieven Elena V. M.
Published: April 2010

British civil defense plans for nuclear war embody selective and misleading images of nuclear war and of the public. Official documents intended for public mass consumption depict nuclear war as survivable, without discussing the meaning of “survival.” Planners' internal documents show more detailed and realistic appreciation of probable effects, but survival is still imagined in predominantly physical terms, and social or psychological impact is not seriously analyzed. Attempts at planning for administration of post‐attack society present contradicting conceptions of the public: as a pro‐social “us” and an anti‐social “them.” Together with a series of elisions among such concepts as law, order, life, property, control and persuasion, this enables planners with limited imagination to assume the role of guardian of the public interest. There are potential anti‐democratic consequences for present‐day British society as plans are enacted in civil defense exercises and preparations. Civil defense planning is not just about saving lives in the future, but is also closely linked to national defense policy now.
Learned Helplessness and Victimization
Authors: Peterson Christopher , Seligman Martin E. P.
Published: April 2010

The learned helplessness phenomenon is proposed as a model for the emotional numbing and maladaptive passivity sometimes following victimization. Victims may learn during the victimization episode that responding is futile. This learning is represented as an expectation of future response‐outcome independence (helplessness). Causal interpretations of the episode affect the chronicity and generality of deficits resulting from this expectation, as well as the involvement of self‐esteem loss. We discuss several problems in applying the helplessness model to victimization, but we conclude that the theory may be useful in explaining why some victims become numb and passive.
Sex Differentiation in Two High School Environments: Implications for Career Development Among Black Adolescent Females
Authors: Chester Nia Lane
Published: April 2010

This study, based on a secondary analysis of data, involved the comparison of 127 black males and females on career‐related variables at two high schools, one a predominantly white liberal arts high school and the other a racially more integrated vocational high school. Based on a review of literature regarding institutional and racial differences in attitudes towards career development in women, it was hypothesized that more sex differences would exist among the black students at the liberal arts school than at the vocational school, and that these differences would favor the males. The hypotheses were confirmed. While females attending the liberal arts high school had lower aspirations, less vocationally relevant self‐concepts, and lower self esteem than their male counterparts, they were also less likely to perceive events as the result of either internal forces or of external forces. It was concluded that black females may experience environments differently than do black males, due to the combined and independent effects of racism and sexism. Clearly studies involving the effects of different settings on minority group behavior should examine relationships separately by gender.
Nonverbal Communication Among Black Female Dyads: An Assessment of Intimacy, Gender, and Race
Authors: Smith Althea
Published: April 2010

Research in the area of the effects of gender and race on social and psychological behavior has been limited in its approach, only reporting differences between blacks and whites or males and females. This paper expands race and gender effects to include both within and between race comparisons as well as gender comparisons across race. Using the results of a naturalistic observation of nonverbal cues between same sex dyads, the behavior of black women is compared to white women and black men. Similarities and differences among the groups provide further evidence for previously reported race and gender effects. Other examples from the nonverbal literature are discussed using this “simple effects” comparative strategy.
“I'm the thinkist, you're the typist”: The Interaction of Technology and the Social Life of Classrooms
Authors: Sheingold Karen , Hawkins Jan , Char Cynthia
Published: April 2010

The experimental research approach has some limitations when used to understand the effects of the recent introduction of computers on the social context of classrooms. Rather than looking for effects per se, an alternate framework is used to study the places and processes of change that accompany the use of new technologies. The authors outline two critical elements of the process by which computers are incorporated into the social context of the classroom. First, teachers' interpretations of the meaning of the software–its purpose and value, and whether it has a legitimate relationship to traditional curricular areas and modes of learning – will play a central role in how and whether computers become an integral part of the classroom. Second, teachers' and students' views regarding the new kinds of learning interactions often arising when working with computers, namely, the legitimacy of collaborative work and child experts, will also have a powerful influence in shaping the role of computers. The paper concludes with a discussion of how computers may enable teachers and students to learn new things about and through the technology, as well as provide opportunities for rethinking the learning agendas and the organization of learning interactions currently employed by schools.
SPSSI, Advocacy for Social Change, and the Future: A Historical Look
Authors: Mednick Martha T. Shuch
Published: April 2010

Major events in the life of SPSSI, an organization dedicated to the application of psychological research to the understanding and solution of major social problems, are reviewed. The current status of the organization is examined and new approaches are suggested.
Jurors' Reactions to Child Witnesses
Authors: Goodman Gail S. , Golding Jonathan M. , Haith Marshall M.
Published: April 2010

Adults often do not know when to believe children. There are few places where this uncertainty is more consequential than in a court of law where jurors may be forced to base their verdict largely on the testimony of children. Legal and cultural stereotypes undermine children's credibility as witnesses by portraying them as basically honest but highly manipulable, unable to differentiate fantasy from reality, and lacking in cognitive sophistication. In this article, we review juror, witness, and courtroom factors that influence a child's credibility. We also present the results of our own studies on reactions to child witnesses.
The Child Witness: Conclusions and Future Directions for Research and Legal Practice
Authors: Goodman Gail S.
Published: April 2010

The papers in this issue reflect the “state of the art” in research and thinking on children as witnesses, but the possibilities for further studies are numerous. In this article, ideas for future research on child witnesses are discussed in relation to three themes: children's ability to provide accurate testimony, emotional trauma likely to be experienced by child witnesses, and the perceived credibility of children's testimony. Proposals for improvements in legal practices are also offered. It is concluded that members of the psychological and legal communities should join in trying to solve the dilemmas posed by the child witness.
To Be a Mediator: Expressive Tactics in Mediation
Authors: Kolb Deborah M.
Published: April 2010

Labor mediators lack formal authority to compel parties to settle. What authority mediators do have emanates from their person, their behavior and skill, and the parties' ongoing assessment of them during a case. These “expressive” dimensions of mediation are latent features of the process, which makes them difficult to isolate and study. In this study, a dramaturgical framework is applied to observational case data to identify a core of expressive tactics commonly used by mediators. These tactics are organized around the theme of professional work. The findings suggest that mediators manage impressions of their expertise to frame settlements, impressions of their social position to convey neutrality toward the parties and a shared collegial network with chief negotiators, and impressions of their legitimacy to establish reputations for action and success. Contrasts in the ways these tactics are used suggest tentative postulates about the differential ways authority is mobilized in mediation.