Jerome Rabow

The Provo Experiment in Delinquency Rehabilitation

The Provo Experiment attempts to apply sociological theory to the treatment of delinquents. Delinquency is seen primarily as a group phenomenon and the task of rehabilitation as one of changing the shared delinquent characteristics. However, treatment strategy is concerned not only with causative variables but with the total social system in which treatment must operate. The treatment system attempts to provide a type of social structure which will: (1) permit delinquents to examine the role and legitimacy of authorities in the treatment system; (2) give them the opportunity to examine the ultimate utility of conventional and delinquent alternatives for them; (3) provide the opportunity to declare publicly a belief or disbelief that they can benefit from a change in values; and (4) make peer group interaction the principal rehabilitative tool because it permits peer group decision-making and grants status and recognition, not only for participation in treatment interaction, but for willingness to help others.

Altruism in Drunk Driving Situations - Personal and Situational Factors in Intervention

The decision to intervene in a potential drunk driving situation is examined in a survey administered to two upper-division university classes. In this sample of 192 students, 61 percent of whom are female and 53 percent of whom are persons of color, 51 percent report having intervened at least once in the last year. A stage model of decision making developed by Latane and Darley (1970) was modified to reflect the DUI situation and was used to interpret the data. We tested a set of hypotheses examining the modified four-step decisionmaking process of intervention and the individual and situationalfactors that influence each of the steps. An elaborated, structural model revealed that no individual variable predicted any step in the decision-making model. Situational variables that predicted intervention and other aspects of the decision to intervene included 1) affinity toward the driver, 2) amount of alcohol consumed in the drunk driving situation, 3) number of persons present in the situation, and 4) number of persons in the situation known by the respondent,

Alcohol Use among Hispanic Adolescents: A Preliminary Report

This study reports on the use of alcohol by a group of Hispanic seventhand eighth-grade junior high school students in the city of Los Angeles. The randomly selected sample included 54 males and 53 females, ranging in age from 13 to 16. Subjects responded to a self-administered questionnaire concerning demographic issues, social characteristics, and family composition as well as alcohol consumption, school performance, and a number of other behaviors. Findings of the study suggest definite patterns to alcohol consumption, sex-based differentials, and strong links between the use of alcohol and marijuana among Hispanic adolescents.

Social Psychological Dimensions of Alcohol Availability: The Relationship of Perceived Social Obligations, Price Considerations, and Energy Expended to the Frequency, Amount, and Type of Alcoholic Beverage Consumed

A random survey of 580 respondents conducted in the spring of 1980, in California, collected data on the frequency and amount of alcoholic consumption for beer, wine, and distilled spirits. The independent variables were three dimensions of subjective availability. Sociodemo-graphic information was also collected. Regression analysis for the frequency and amount of consumption revealed that the availability measures explain significant amounts of the variance. The normative influence of social obligations to serve alcohol was more salient than price considerations and energy spent on purchasing. Canonical correlations further specify the relationships between variables and the differential consumption of alcoholic beverages.

Socialization Toward Money in Latino Families: An Exploratory Study of Gender Differences

Members of a convenience sample of first-generation Latino brothers and sisters, all attending college, were interviewed about their childhood and contemporary experiences with money. The interviews focused on the ways in which the parents, all born in Mexico, approached money and how the subjects were influenced. In contrast to other research findings, Latinos and Latinas were raised with similar beliefs and practices about money; there were no separate money-gender tracks for these men and women. This equality seems to resultfrom the highfrequency ofpoverty in the sample. Although subjects had realistic attitudes about money, they also reported difficulties with managing money upon entering college. A strong belief in the value of education, acquiredfrom parents, provided subjects with a sense offuture that includedfinancial success.

Teaching Social Justice and Encountering Society: The Pink Triangle Experiment.

Professors can involve students in social problems through the use of dynamic classroom pedagogy. This approach is demonstrated by presenting data based on student responses to an exercise in which they were given the opportunity to take on a stigmatized role. Students were asked to wear a pink triangle pin symbolizing support for gay rights and reflected upon their thoughts, feelings, biases, and the reactions of others. Papers were analyzed according to Helms (1990) theory of identity and Goffmans (1964) work on stigma. Many students were able to advance through stages of identity development and move toward more open and positive ways of thinking about others. This study joins with the strong legacy of sociologists who have advocated using the classroom as the basis for doing experiments in the field, which would provide students with a deeper intellectual and moral understanding of social problems.

Nuclear Fears and Concerns Among College Students: A Cross-National Study of Attitudes

Using a nuclear attitudes questionnaire (NA Q) developed by Newcomb (1986), we attempted to replicate the factor structure found in studies of Americans. Data were collected from American, British, and Swedish students. We predicted that (1) fears regarding nuclear issues cross national boundaries; (2) women are more concerned about nuclear issues than men; and (3) the more salient nuclear issues are, the more fear students feel. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the hypothesized factor structure was similar across the three student groups. Two-way analyses of variance revealed some mean differences on the NAQ scales by sex and nation. Women indicated more nuclear concern, morefearfor the future, less denial, and less nuclear support as well as more nuclear fear than men. Swedish students expressed less nuclear concern and fear for the future than their counterparts. Nuclear denial was not evident in the three student samples. Interaction effects between sex and nationality were also found. The NAQ scales were significantly correlated with a measure of nuclear salience. The three hypotheses are generally confirmed.

Drinkers’ Use of Physical Availability of Alcohol: Buying Habits and Consumption Level

On the aggregate level, physical availability of alcohol is related to per capita consumption, prompting the question whether high availability can increase consumption net of social norms which enhance drinking. This issue is investigated using individual-level data in a high-availability urban environment. Effortless, efficient purchase of alcoholic beverages explains a small but significant amount of the variance in consumption when normative factors are statistically controlled. Qualitative factors of availability are discussed, with particular emphasis on food stores, which account for more than half this samples purchases.

The GPA Perspective: Influences, Significance, and Sacrifices of Students.

This research addresses issues generated by the pioneering work of Becker, Geer, and Hughes done in 1959 on the grade point average (GPA) perspective and surveys done 30 years later that further documented the perspective. An interview schedule was designed to have undergraduate students explore, in writing, a number of issues related to the perspective. There were three major findings from this study. Contrary to the Becker et. al. findings, the authors found that the perspective is fostered prior to college by parents and grade school teachers and family processes. Second, the strength of the perspective was further documented by students who gave five major reasons for maintaining the perspective. Third, the perspective translated into a set of practices that involve sacrificing health, personal relationship, hobbies, and other interests. Finally, the examination of the influence and power of the perspective seemed to allow students to move from being acted upon (passive) to becoming active (subjects).

Organizational Boundaries, Inmate Roles, and Rehabilitation

This paper attempts to evaluate rehabilitation programs by focusing upon the transactions at the boundaries of an organiza tion and upon the social roles of delinquent boys. The social roles are examined before and shortly after the boys enter a treatment organization to determine whether inmates reproduce their delinquent, community social roles in the rehabilitative organization and whether these roles are modified as part of the treatment. The research demonstrates that inmates reproduce delinquent social roles within the treatment organization and that these roles, over time, are subsequently modified. Differences in the amount of modification and kind of duplication for gang and non-gang delinquents suggest that different organizational structures can inhibit or facilitate deviant community roles.