Is Gambling a Social Problem Essay Example for Free

Is Gambling a Social Problem Essay Gambling is an act of playing for stakes in the hope of winning. It also involves a significant risk as the material good (usually money) wagered in the game may be lost if the player does not win. Common forms of gambling include cockfighting (which usually results in the death of one or both roosters), casinos (which has become a profitable business), slot machines (convenient for those who want to play individually), bookmaking (often used for predicting the winners of sports competitions), and caracruz (simplest form of gambling which has existed since ancient history). There is an ongoing debate among social scientists, psychologists, business lobby groups, and others on the benefits and dangers of gambling. Some anti-gambling social activists argue that gambling is a serious social problem, while others argue that gambling problem is a problem of certain individuals who suffer from psychological ills and that in certain circumstances gambling on the contrary is a significant source of income (for example, for Native American tribes). Gambling Is a Social Problem ?Gambling is associated with a range of social issues and thus needs to be designated as a social problem. According to research on the topic, there is a correlation between various social problems and gambling. For example, Hardoon et al. , point out in their study that gambling problem among adolescents they studied stemmed from the lack of healthy familial and peer support, drug use problems, behavioral problems, problems related to family issues, and the parental gambling problems as well as their substance abuse. According to Hardoon et al. , there is a significant familial contribution to gambling problems. Read more:  Ã‚  Essays on Social Issues Many of their respondents said that their elder siblings had a strong influence in their decisions to experience gambling. Many of the respondents who suffered from gambling problems said that their parents themselves were problem gamblers. The study by Hardoon et al. , also points out that children of problem gamblers suffered from insecurity and a sense of â€Å"pervasive loss† (170). They also argue that gambling problem among parents leads to various kinds of familial dysfunctioning, including drug addiction, conduct problems, and delinquency. Hardoon et al. , also point out that there is a connection between gambling and substance use. â€Å"Compared to nongamblers,† they write, â€Å"adolescent gamblers are more likely to drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, and use drugs† (171). Gamblers are three times more likely to use drugs than non-gamblers. Gambling and substance use problems among adolescents often leads to delinquency and illegal behavior. Adolescents suffering from serious gambling problems are also likely to experience difficulty in school such as decreased academic performance and poor grades. More than half of the problem gamblers Hardoon et al. , studied suffered from conduct problems as well. They were more likely to break rules, get into troubles with individuals in authority, frequently display oppositional behavior, and join anti-social activities (171). This study in general demonstrates that the gambling problem is part of larger social issues and there is a clear correlation between gambling and various social problems. Another study on the impact of gambling on college students suggests that about 1. 6% of the U. S. dult population meets the diagnostic criteria for pathological gambling (Level 1), and 3,85% reportedly suffer from subclinical (Level 2) gambling problems. Among college students, the rate of gambling problem on both levels is twice as high as it is among the general adult population. There are significant social and health-related problems associated with adolescent gambling problems. Adolescents and young adults addicted to gambling suffer from serious stress-related problems. Many of them attempt and even complete suicides. Among these adolescents and young adults, the rate of disorderly familial relationships is much higher. There is a higher rate of comorbidity with other addictive disorders, and there are more frequent instances among these adolescents and young adults of arrests and convictions. The study concludes that â€Å"social norms–based social marketing campaigns (emphasizing accurate descriptive norms for alcohol) to successfully reduce alcohol use on campus† needs to be reworked and applied for combating gambling problems among college students (Larimer Neighbors 241-242). This is another testament to the fact that gambling is a social problem and that the way to reduce it is to employ tools which are used for combating other social problems. Illuminating in this case is the experience of Native American tribes in the United States. With the passing of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) in 1988, which mandated legislative basis for managing and regulating Indian gaming, the number of casinos has sharply risen in Native American communities. As a result of this, one study of this phenomenon points out, Native Americans â€Å"are four to six times more likely to be pathological gamblers and two to five times more likely to be problem gamblers than non-Indians† (Momper 139). The study also cites poverty, unemployment, and historical injustice as factors that contribute to the development of gambling problems among indigenous groups. According to this study, there is a similar correlation between the practice of excessive gambling and predisposition to other social and behavioral problems such as alcoholism, drug use, and disruptive behavior among Native American groups—but in significantly higher numbers than it is among non-Indians in the United States. Gambling is Not a Social Problem ?While it is true that gambling addiction, just like any other addictive behaviors such as alcohol addiction or drug addiction, is a social problem, gambling itself is not a social problem. Participants of gambling make conscious decisions and they have the freedom to stop the practice whenever they think it is detrimental to their financial, psychological, and social conditions. For example, in the year 1999 the National Gambling Impact Study Commission surveyed the U. S. opulation and found out that 86% of Americans had gambled some time in their lives, and that 68% gambled in 1999 alone (Seligman 86). Out of this large segment of the population who regularly gamble, only a tiny percentage of the population suffers from serious gambling problems. ?Discussions over the use of gambling are sometimes controversial because it is one of the businesses in America which has a bad reputation, on the one hand, and is so popular that more and more Americans are demanding gambling opportunities, on the other. Due to its popularity, gambling has been legalized in all states except Hawaii, Tennessee, and Utah. Residents of these states also gamble, by traveling to other states or by taking advantage of online gambling opportunities. Total wagering in the Unites States is around $900 billion a year (constituting 10% of personal income), and the lion’s share of wagering takes place in casinos ($600 billion). And casinos now exist in twenty nine states. But these are official figures and unofficially the extent of gambling among Americans is likely to be much higher (Seligman 87). Gambling in the United States is a legitimate form of business, and designating it a social problem would necessitate that we label other legitimate forms of business as social problems as well. As Seligman points out, â€Å"Wall Street offers plenty of bets with risk/reward opportunities that mirror those of slot machines—a long shot with occasional huge payout. Buying out-of-the-money puts on an airline stock just before a union vote would fall in that category. If the members unexpectedly vote against wage concessions, you could make a killing on the bankruptcy† (Seligman 89). Some critics of gambling who criticize it from an economic perspective, say that, while gambling consumes time, energy, and resources, it does not produce any real output. But that argument can be used against most kinds of financial transactions and speculating, both of which are acceptable, and in today’s world, necessary components of international financing. As for the charge that problem gambling leads to comorbidity with other social problems such as alcohol abuse and drug use, more research is required to determine the nuances of this connection. Does excessive gambling lead to alcohol abuse or is it the way around? If it is the former, then it is the problem of gambling addiction which needs to be labeled a social problem and remedied. If it is the latter, then it is the problem of alcoholism rather than gambling because alcohol abusers have more than one way of ruing their lives (gambling is not their only option), and even here the issue is the abusive consumption of alcohol, not alcohol consumption in general. Those who see gambling as a social problem ignore the fact that gambling may—and in many cases it does—lead to positive social outcomes. This is generally the case in the Indian reservations in the U. S. As Momper points out, an IGRA passage which aimed at encouraging gambling on reservations for the purpose of raising the standards of living on the poorest reservations â€Å"was the only federal policy that produced lasting effects for tribes, inasmuch as the unemployment rate (38 percent) on 214 reservations with casinos decreased by 13 percent from 1989 to 1995. Even if one takes into account the increase in the number of problem gamblers, other social and economic gains from casinos on reservations greatly outweighed the negative consequences of this business. In addition to creating jobs, casinos on reservations provided the American Indian community with various social services and strengthened their social bonds (Momper 142; Cornell et al. , 1998). While it is true that gambling addiction as increased among American Indian residents as a result of building casinos, in many instances improvements in standards of living took many of them out of poverty, decreasing the rate of behavioral problems and anti-social activities. ?In summary, both proponents of gambling-is-a-social-problem thesis and their opponents have strong arguments at hand. The debate is likely to continue without being resolved as it is a controversial topic and gambling among the U. S. population leads to mixed results: both positive and negative.

Holocaust Essay -- History Genocide Nazi Germany Jews Essays

Holocaust Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What, when, where, and why was the Holocaust? The Holocaust was first called a religious rite in which an offer that gave to some one was burned in a fire. The current definition of holocaust is any widespread human massacre. When it is written Holocaust, it means when Nazi Germany completely destroyed the Jewish. The Holocaust was during the period of January 30, 1933 to May 8, 1945. Hitler became Germany’s chancellor when it first started and the war ended on the last day of the Holocaust, or known as V-E Day. During that time frame, Jews in Europe were killed in the worst way possibly and led to the death of 6,000,000 Jews and 5,000 communities destroyed. 1.5 million of those Jews killed were children.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After Germany’s lost in World War I, they were embarrassed by the Versailles Treaty, which lowered its prewar territory and armed forces. The German Empire demolished, a new government of parliament called the Weimar Republic was born. The republic suffered from economic instability, which grew worse when the great depression was happening. The great depression was when the stock market crashed in New York in 1929.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Adolf Hitler became leader of the Nazi(National Socialist German Workers Party) on January 30, 1933. He was named chancellor by president Paul von Hidenburg after the Nazi won a election by the majority of the votes in 1932. Propaganda: â€Å"The Jews Are Our Misfortune†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Nazi newspaper, Der Sturmer (The Attacker), was a major tool in the Nazi’s propaganda assault. The paper said, â€Å"The Jews are our misfortune†, in bold print, on the bottom of the front page of each issue. In the Der Sturmer, the Jews were regularly drawn as hooked-nosed and ape-like cartoons. By 1938, about a half a million copies were sold weekly because the influence of the paper was far reaching.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A little after Hitler became chancellor, he called for a new election for a effort to gain complete control of the Reicstag. Reicstag was a German parliament for the Nazi. The Nazi used the government to mess with the other parties. They banned their political meetings and arrested their leaders. The Reichstag building burned down February 27, 1933 during the middle of the election campaign. Marinus van der Lubbe, a Dutchman, was arrested for burning the building and he swore he di... ... were able to hide nearly 7,200 Jews and transported them to safety in neutral Sweden. A young Swedish diplomat named Raoul Wallenberg, saved 1000,000 Hungarian Jews by issuing them passports so they would not be deported. A German factory owner, Oscar Schindler, saved his Jewish slave laborers by getting them from transports to the concentration camps. He kept them and fed them until the war was over. Some of the righteous gentiles saved the Jewish children by taking and raising them as their own. Liberation and the End of the War   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gradually the camps were liberated, as the Allies advanced on the German Army. As the war ended, between 50,000 and 100,00 Jewish survivors were living in three areas of occupation: British, American, and Soviet. That figure grew to 200,000 within a year. The American occupation had more than 90 percent of the Jewish displaced persons. The Jewish displaced persons could not return to their homes, this brought back horrible memories and fear of danger from anti-Semitic neighbors. Until emigration could be arranged to Palestine, and later Israel, United States, South America, and other countries the displaced Jews remained in camps.

Amy Tan’s Mother Tongue Essay

There are thousands of languages in the world, such as Spanish, French, Chinese, English†¦However, No one can do better job in the second language than their mother language. In the article Amy Tan’s â€Å"Mother Tongue†, Amy Tan emphasized her idea that we speak different languages unconsciously and we are categorized by the way we talk. The author talked about her mother who is a Chinese emigrant wanted to provide her daughter a better environment to grow up and spoke â€Å"broken† and â€Å"limited† English, but anyway, Amy can still communicate with her mother without obstacles. Throughout the story Amy Tan uses pathos and ethos to tell us that how hard to gap the Asian American culture and still is for Asian Americans to work through the difficulties of the English languages. As a Chinese people having English for the second language, Amy Tan was difficult at times, but still. She overcome all the barriers and succeeds when no one thought she could. Even though that it will be extremely hard for us to succeed in a region that not belongs to us, but still there’s an opportunity for everyone to be a king. To be successful, we have to adapt the environment around us and meanwhile make efforts as much as possible. Amy tan uses ethos to prove this point according to her sentence â€Å"I’m not a scholar of English and literature, I cannot give you much more than personal opinions on the English language and its variations in this country or others. † Basically, she’s explaining that although she is not a native speaker, she still became an English writer and be succeed somehow. Amy Tan convinced people according to her own accomplishments that no matter where they are from, no matter what mother language they original own, they still have a chance to achieve an honor. People who speak â€Å"broken† or â€Å"limited† languages should be respected. Even though, they could not show their mind perfectly and confused others as well, they tried their best to prove themselves. After all, this is their second language, which need them, make huge efforts getting accustomed to it. In her book, â€Å"Mother Tongue†, Amy Tan tells us an experience in the ospital when her mother went to the doctor to get the result of CAT scan. The doctor despised her when she was complaining them about losing her scan result. It was not until Amy Tan talked to the doctor that they apologized and cared to solve the problem. Amy was fill with anger when she wrote â€Å"†¦and apologies for any suffering my mother had gone through for a most regrettable mistake. † Amy is insisting that people not taking a person seriously because their â€Å"broken† language can have dangerous consequence. In summary, people should be respected any way even if they cannot use it freely.

Enron Is An Energy Trading, Electric Utilities And Natural...

Enron is an energy trading, electric utilities and natural gas formed in 1931. It was merged to Houston’s Natural Gas Company in 1985 by Kenneth Lay. It was the most innovative company for 6 years until it came crashing down in a terrible scandal known as the Enron Scandal which led to the suspension of Arthur Anderson. Enron’s stock price decreased rapidly and abruptly collapsed and filed for bankruptcy. Unfortunately, in 1987 Enron merged with Valhalla. The problem began because traders exceeded their trading limits, executing contracts to delivers tens of millions barrels of crude oil. Then they couldn’t afford to buy oil because they ran out of cash. It was discovered that Valhalla, had been manipulating the books. In fact,†¦show more content†¦Enron had no other choice than to bluff the market and they were then able to cover the short fall by purchasing small amounts of now inexpensive oil and distributing it to customers in quietness. Once Enron was recognized as a chief competitor in the gas marketplace, it began using capitals to employ its impact on U.S. dogmatic developments. For instance, Kenneth Lay remained indeed one of President Bush’s crucial sponsors through the president’s prompt dogmatic profession. On the other hand, Clinton management retorted to Enron’s politicization by associating the deregulation of power at the national level as demonstrated by the U.S. Division of Energy’s unsuccessful deregulation notice of the central 1990’s. California hooked on the dogmatic burden produced through Enron’s politicization existence in their municipal council and ultimately elected to liberalize their overtly alleged electric efficacies. The catastrophic penalties of this act, comprising Enron’s participation in the, â€Å"gaming of the California system,† headed to the Western Energy Crisis of 2000 as well as 2001 have been very acknowledged. Enron char ged less on average for electricity than the greatest of the municipally possessed utilities in the Pacific West during the energy crisis. â€Å"Enron committed accounting and securities fraud with corporate shell games and derivative that were not exposed by regulators but by stockholders who were knowledgeable that Enron