Patricia A. Stokowski

Segmenting casino gamblers by involvement profiles: a Colorado example

Abstract This study attempts to evaluate characteristics of casino gamblers and to develop market segmentation profiles based on recreational involvement patterns of the gamblers who visited a new gaming locale, Black Hawk, Colorado, that had instituted limited stakes gambling in 1991. In this study, casino gamblers to Black Hawk were classified into four clusters based on their involvement profiles. Similarities and differences across the four segments were discussed in terms of behavioral and personal characteristics, intentions to participate in other activities in the gaming town, and perceptions of Black Hawk. Research and management implications are proposed.

Crime Patterns and Gaming Development in Rural Colorado

Opponents of casino development often claim that gaming development will lead to an increase in community criminal behavior. This article compares crime levels before, during, and after the initiation of gaming in three rural Colorado towns. While totals have increased in some offense categories, crime is not proportional to numbers of tourists visiting. These data illustrate the complexity of competing claims about gaming impacts.

Measuring Underlying Meanings of Gambling from the Perspective of Enduring Involvement

This study explores the underlying personal meanings of gambling behavior from the perspective of enduring involvement and considers the relationships among gambling and gender, level of participation, and illusion of control. Based on a self-administered survey of gambling visitors to Black Hawk, Colora, the study found three underlying factors of gambling involvement: (1) self-identity, (2) pleasure/importance, and (3) centrality. The study also found gender differences in gambling involvement, suggesting that male participants tended to view gambling as a form of self-enhancement or self-expression more strongly than did female participants. Management and research implications drawn from these findings are discussed.

Casino Gaming and Crime: Comparisons among Gaming Counties and Other Tourism Places:

Casino gaming has spread across America, but its impacts remain unclear. This study extends research about crime impacts of gaming development in rural communities, addressing whether tourism growth leads to an increase in crime, or whether crime is an inherent by-product of gaming tourism. Using a sample of rural Colorado counties, this study compared crime effects in casino gaming counties, ski counties, natural resources access counties, and cultural tourist attraction counties. In contrast to conventional wisdom, this study found that ski counties had a significantly higher property crime rate than did gaming, natural resource access, and cultural tourist attraction counties. Results also suggest the presence of interaction effects between tourism types and growth levels, affecting crime rates. These results provide valuable information to communities considering tourism alternatives for economic development, and they also inform public policy.

The Smile Index: Symbolizing People and Place in Colorado's Casino Gaming Towns

Abstract Community newspapers often play active roles in tourism development processes, and their published texts and photographs can also symbolize changes in the vitality of a people and place over time. This study asks about patterns in publication of newspaper photographs during two decades of a rural community tourism development, and about symbolic meanings of the photographic images. Photographs published on the front page of the Gilpin County, Colorado, Weekly Register-Call newspaper were evaluated to assess portrayals of the community during 22 years of a casino gaming development. Data show an overall reduction in the total numbers of pictures, people pictures and smile pictures over time, as well as a decrease in the numbers of photographs of community social events and an increase in numbers of photographs showing local government activities. Semiotic analysis of the photographs suggests a pattern of increasing seriousness and professionalization over time, and increased blurring between the gaming industry and local community. The smile index proposed here provides a symbolic assessment of people in place over time, and has implications for research and tourist destination development.

Sense of Place as a Learning Process: Examples from the Narratives of Bosnian Immigrants in Vermont

This article applies social constructionist theorizing and narrative analysis to study senses of place expressed by a sample of Bosnian immigrants in Vermont. Sense of place is theorized as a complex of emergent meanings, made visible in stories about peoples everyday experiences, and accessible through narrative analysis. Unlike thematic analyses that categorize types of place meanings and approaches that focus on individually ascribed meanings, we study how language is used functionally to construct senses of place. Analyzing narrative forms and linguistic styles, we identify three prominent learning stages through which individuals narrate their changing relationships with place. We examine the social and cultural contexts of narrated senses of place, and describe the types of linguistic strategies used in each learning stage. This research has implications for theorizing sense of place in leisure and outdoor recreation and for place-based resource management.

Herders and Wolves in Post-Soviet Society: An Ethnographic Study in Mongolia’s Ikh Nart Nature Reserve

This article links ecological, social, and cultural data to analyze relationships between wolves and herders in a pastoral setting, the Ikh Nart Nature Reserve, Dornogobi Aimag, Mongolia, an area representative of the broader Gobi-Steppe ecosystem in northern Asia. This article is specifically interested in understanding the contemporary lifestyles of herders in this area, their relationships with wolves, and the perceived and actual risks posed by wolves to both livestock and humans. Data show that herders differed in their views of and actions toward wolves based mainly on the size of herds they managed. But, their cultural stories continue to reflect traditional values and images of wolves and herders. This research argues for an appreciation of cultural contexts in conservation planning, especially in transitional societies.

Spatial Urban Expansion and Land Tenure Security in Ethiopia: Case Studies from Bahir Dar and Debre Markos Peri-Urban Areas

This study analyzes urban expansion and the peri-urban land tenure security situation in Amhara National Regional State of Ethiopia, taking Bahir Dar and Debre Markos as case studies. To detect the extent of urban expansion, data from Landsat satellite images were analyzed using ERDAS IMAGINE, ENVI, and ArcGIS segmentation, classification, and mapping tools. The land tenure security situation was assessed through interviews with local farmers. Analysis shows high rates of spatial urban expansion, but stagnating levels of property registration and certification among peri-urban landholders, affecting their feelings of land tenure security. Though Ethiopias efforts to impart land tenure security by implementing low-cost land registration programs in rural areas are promising, the programs in peri-urban areas are underdeveloped, and these areas are subject to expropriation due to urban expansion. Policies for more sensitive growth are needed in rapidly developing places like these.

Organizational Cultures and Place-Based Conservation

Organizational cultures are important to individuals and to groups because they offer guidelines about how to act and deal with change, and they provide internal logic for “why things are the way they are.” Analysis of the cultural aspects of organizational behavior can lead to a more complete understanding of how conservation agencies develop and use culture strategically, particularly in conceptualizing and managing resource places. Drawing examples from public lands management, this chapter considers how research about organizational culture can provide insights about place-based conservation.

Resident Quality-of-Life in Gaming Communities

Research about resident quality-of-life in gaming communities has been conducted in a variety of rural and urban settings, and in communities that offer an array of different types of gaming industry and gambling entertainment opportunities. Two types of research are common: assessments of residents’ attitudes toward current and future gaming tourism developments and their impacts, and measurement of tangible and intangible community impacts (economic, social, cultural, institutional) associated with gaming tourism development. Varying levels of perceived quality-of-life have been associated with respondents’ roles in a community (citizen, government official, business entrepreneur) and in the gaming industry. Because questions about public health and safety are also politically important, one area of special research emphasis has been the perceived and actual impacts of crime in gaming communities. Consideration of quality-of-life issues in gaming places brings to the forefront personal and collective values, civic participation, institutional performance, local governance processes, and the preservation of valued social, cultural, and environmental qualities of a community. Such research also has an applied focus, informing planning and policymaking in community tourism development settings.