Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: As legalized gambling has expanded and become more accepted, there has been a growing interest in gambling among youth, which has been informed, in part, by research revealing that youth commonly report gambling with their parents, that youth are frequently exposed to gambling via advertisements, fundraisers, and school sanctioned activities, and that youth begin gambling at a very early age (Shaffer, Hall, Gilt & George, 2003; Hardoon & Derevensky, 2002). Recent research has also shown a strong correlation between sensation seeking, risky behavior, and youth gambling, especially problem gambling (Hardoon & Derevensky, 2002). Additionally, there is evidence that youth involved in gambling are more likely to be involved in delinquency (Vitaro, Brendgen, and Tremblay, 2001) and that incarcerated adolescents have much higher rates of gambling than non-incarcerated adolescents (Magoon, Gupta, and Derevensky, 2005). In this paper, data from the 2006 Arizona Youth Survey (N=60,401) is used to investigate further the prevalence of youth gambling and the factors that are both correlated with and predictive of youth gambling.

Publication Type: Proceeding
Abstract: We present and process-trace a model of domestic
politics in which the selectorate probabilistically removes or
retains the leader depending on the outcome of an international
bargaining process. We allow one leader to impose a gamble on his
opponent. We analyze when the leader prefers to impose such a
gamble, what the optimal gamble would be, and how this affects the
bargaining.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Unlike alcoholics, who encounter a fairly universal level of access to their drug of choice, problem gamblers are confronted by an extremely diverse array of community-specific gambling environments in America today. As such, sociological perspectives will prove to be vital in developing effective treatment policies for this population. In Las Vegas, problem gamblers find themselves in the most mature gambling environment ever created, and treatment of this population presents a unique challenge. This paper will discuss the author’s role in the development of the non-profit Problem Gambling Center in Las Vegas, as well as the organization's reception among policymakers, the gaming industry, and the community itself. It will also present a “clinical sociological” model that has been developed to help patients with their extra-psychological problems.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Despite the role biotechnology will play in the creation of long-term global economic growth, as would be predicted by one school of institutional economists (Freeman, Perez, Louca), I will examine the crucial moment historically when it was important for biotechnology to be perceived as having that potential. Using definitions of the industry from state of the industry reports at international, national and regional levels, this paper will offer a model for how ideas concerning biotechnology were dispersed internationally, tracing the substantive framework under which biotechnology originally developed. Development and development concepts are viewed within a specifically cultural framework where development is seen as economic action and development concepts as economic information that flows within the global economic setting. In this way, the process by which economic information diffused globally can be viewed as a cultural phenomenon, elaborating a concept of macro-economic action.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Using the anti-gambling/casino movement as an example of an unlikely coalition, I will argue and demonstrate that members of this movement employ a number of discursive strategies in both participant and movement narratives to maintain their coalition. That is, their identity as members of an unlikely coalition relies on discursive strategies that provide them with structure to maintain their organizations. First, members offer various explanations for their entrée into the movement. “Justification talk” first provides them with legitimate reason for being personally mobilized. Second, members use different explanations to build solidarity or community around an issue as they seek to make sense of their experience and when they present their activism to the public. This “solidarity talk” allows for members to emphasize their sameness. Finally, there is heavy reliance on “sticking to an issue” to maintain a coalition. They also must heighten their common concerns – “sticking to an issue” – about gambling and casinos or emphasize non-partisan politics to take focus off their difference and focus on strategies for the unlikely coalitions to be successful.