Robert E. Clark

College cheating: Immaturity, lack of commitment, and the neutralizing attitude

Through the use of a 49-item questionnaire administered to 380 university students, we investigated student cheating on exams, quizzes, and homework assignments. More than half the students reported cheating during the academic year on at least one of the above. The purpose of this paper was to uncover fundamental factors underlying cheating behavior. Through the use of correlational and factor analysis, three primary factors were identified: student immaturity, lack of commitment to academics, and neutralization. We offer interpretations of these factors and suggestions for testing these and other factors in future research.

College Cheating: Ten Years Later.

In this 10-year follow-up study of student cheating, we surveyed 474 university students to (1) evaluate the extent of cheating; (2) assess attitudes toward cheating; (3) identify variables that discriminate between cheaters and noncheaters; (4) assess the relative effectiveness of various deterrents to cheating; and (5) examine changes in cheating attitudes and behaviors from 1984 to 1994. Most students (61.2%) reported cheating in 1994, up significantly from 54.1% in 1984 (Haines et al., 1986). Despite this increased cheating, students in 1994 were significantly less likely than in 1984 to neutralize (rationalize) their cheating. Ten variables that discriminated between cheaters and noncheaters in 1984 did so again in 1994, and 12 additional discriminating variables were identified. A principal components analysis of these 22 variables indicated that, compared to noncheaters, cheaters are (1) less mature; (2) less reactive to observed cheating; (3) less deterred by social stigma and guilt and more likely to neutralize cheating; (4) less personally invested in their education; and (5) more likely to be receiving scholarships, but doing less well in school. Both cheaters and noncheaters rated embarrassment and fear of punishment as the strongest deterrents to cheating; disapproval of ones friends was ranked as the least effective deterrent by both groups.

Death Telling: Managing the Delivery of Bad News

This research focuses on the strategies used by various professionals in delivering news of death. The lack of well defined, normative guidelines for such deliveries adds to the problematic nature of the interaction. From in-depth interviews with physicians, nurses, law enforcement officers, and clergy, a loose framework based on common themes was generated providing a processual view of death telling. Five distinct strategies of delivery developed within the framework. Discussion of each strategy indicates the significance of situational and occupational factors in delivering news of death. This study, though exploratory in nature, clarifies some of the processes involved in the delivery of bad news, and identifies several important problems surrounding death telling, such as lack of training and preparation among professionals for this role and their dislike for this aspect of their work.

BDSM: A Subcultural Analysis of Sacrifices and Delights

This is a qualitative investigation of 73 individuals in the Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, and Sado-Masochism subculture. There is tremendous stigma attached to this subculture, and while the academic community may be increasingly accepting, the general public is not as accepting or knowledgeable. Fear of negative consequences means that many engage in secrecy and concealment strategies as protective measures. Although there is much literature on the possible consequences and the reasons for concealment, there remain gaps. Our findings reveal how many conceal to cover up or to hide what outsiders may consider immoral or otherwise unacceptable behavior. Others conceal as a means to create a distinction for themselves as part of a secret subculture. Whatever their reasons, those in this subculture engage in a variety of strategies to manage their identity and to minimize their vulnerability.

Ending intimate relationships: Strategies of breaking off

This research represents a continuation of efforts to examine the area of bad news delivery and focuses on the messages and subsequent strategies used by people in delivering news of a desire to terminate an intimate relationship. The lack of well‐defined, normative guidelines for such deliveries adds to the problematic nature of the interaction. Based on indepth, unstructured interviews, a framework based on common themes providing a procedural view of the delivery process was constructed. Discussion of various strategies indicated the significance of situational factors in delivering this type of bad news. The study, although exploratory in nature, will hopefully clarify some of the processes involved in the delivery of news of a desire to terminate a relationship and identify several important problems surrounding this complex and serious form of interaction.

On Becoming a Prosecutor. Observations on the Organizational Socialization of Law Interns.

All formal organizations are faced with the problem of securing and retaining qualified, competent employees. For the office of the criminal prosecutor, this problem is exacerbated by the values, attitudes, and motives that define the duties and responsibilities of the job. In a study of the organizational socialization of law school interns, we observed that some of the students were assimilated quickly and completely into the role of prosecutor, while others were less socialized. We believe that the organizational structure and level of control exercised over the interns accounted for these discrepancies. These factors, in turn, delimited the level of intern involvement in the prosecutorial role. The better-integrated interns were considered to be “apprentice recruits” in their respective offices; the more poorly socialized interns were looked upon as temporary help with limited skills, or “pseudo-recruits.”

Family ties, parental discipline, and delinquency: A study of youthful misbehavior by parochial high school students

The links among family ties, parental discipline, as measured by the use of physical punishment, and self‐reported acts of misbehavior have intrigued sociologists for almost 75 years. However, the available literature regarding the incidence of youthful misbehavior provides few insights into these putative links for families where the parents make the effort to send their child or children to a parochial school. To this end, a random sample of 74 high school students attending parochial school in a mediumsized southwestern city was obtained. Among the family ties variables, family activities was a more consistent predictor of adolescent misbehavior than youths’ evaluations of their parents and the parental discipline variable was positively related to delinquency: the greater the use of physical punishments, the greater the delinquency. Although no causal significance is assigned to these findings, they do suggest that, first, what the parents of the parochial students in this study do is more important t...