tag:theconversation.com,2011:/institutions/east-tennessee-state-university-2694/articlesEast Tennessee State University2023-09-19T18:52:20Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2087142023-09-19T18:52:20Z2023-09-19T18:52:20Z‘Time In A Bottle’: Jim Croce’s music continues to inspire 50 years after his life was cut short<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548910/original/file-20230918-34002-7li252.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4652%2C3598&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jim Croce went from struggling folk musician to chart-topping singer-songwriter.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/photo-of-jim-croce-performing-live-onstage-news-photo/84912691">Charlie Gillett Collection via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Thursday, Sept. 20, 1973, <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/jim-croce-five-others-die-in-plane-crash-176662/">singer-songwriter Jim Croce died</a> when his chartered plane crashed shortly after takeoff in Natchitoches, Louisiana. He was 30 years old.</p>
<p>Croce was a chart-topping musician who had performed over 300 concerts in the previous year. He had been in Natchitoches to play that evening at Northwestern State University, making up for a concert canceled the previous spring because he had a sore throat. Croce had performed for an enthusiastic if small audience. Many people had stayed home to watch the televised broadcast of the “<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Battle-of-the-Sexes-tennis">Battle of the Sexes</a>” tennis match between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King.</p>
<p>In her 2012 book “<a href="https://www.dacapopress.com/titles/ingrid-croce/i-got-a-name/9780306821783/">I Got a Name: The Jim Croce Story</a>,” Croce’s wife, Ingrid, recounted that night: a pilot, Robert Elliott, with a heart condition helming a small Beechcraft E18S; a flight trajectory possibly not accounting for some tall pecan trees; a phone call bearing horrible news. </p>
<p>The crash also killed Croce’s performing partner Maury Muehleisen, comedian George Stevens, manager Kenneth Cortese and tour manager Dennis Rast.</p>
<p>Aircraft crashes have claimed the lives of other popular music acts before and after Croce: Glenn Miller, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Jim Reeves, Otis Redding, The Bar-Kays, members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Randy Rhoads, Ricky Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Denver and Aaliyah. Croce, like all those musicians, left the world abruptly and far too early, yet his music endured, and fans grew to view him as having achieved a measure of immortality.</p>
<h2>From obscure folkie to national star</h2>
<p>Croce was an Italian American from Philadelphia and a participant in the 1960s <a href="https://www.si.edu/spotlight/american-folk-music/musicians">folk music revival</a>. In 1966, he recorded the solo album “<a href="https://crocesstore.bandcamp.com/album/jim-croce-facets">Facets</a>,” which revealed to the few people who heard it that Croce was a compelling singing storyteller who could personalize songs composed by others. In 1969, Jim and Ingrid Croce, who toured as a duo, made an album together for Capitol Records. That album, simply titled “<a href="https://www.allmusic.com/album/croce-mw0000050206">Croce</a>,” showcased both Croces as evocative songwriters.</p>
<p>Three years passed. Jim Croce worked various blue-collar jobs to support his family while trying to advance a solo music career. Eventually his management secured a recording deal, and Croce entered a New York City studio, the Hit Factory, to make his third album, “<a href="https://crocesstore.bandcamp.com/album/jim-croce-you-dont-mess-around-with-jim">You Don’t Mess Around With Jim</a>.” </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IzH5_BXR1JM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Croce teamed up with guitarist Maury Muehleisen for his third and subsequent albums.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The album was released in April 1972 on the ABC label. It featured striking original songs – directly expressed, richly human lyrics matched to pitch-perfect musical structures – all performed by Croce with accompaniment from his new partner, master guitarist and harmony singer Muehleisen. The album yielded three hits: the <a href="https://youtu.be/hickVDiW8k0?si=8cS-icyuNdZ_eETF">title track</a>, “<a href="https://youtu.be/-qgnGH6Rg-E?si=hB41pKr-ItCADYdU">Operator (That’s Not the Way it Feels)</a>” and “<a href="https://youtu.be/wNBiH-H5kTw?si=63NkaVH_9vLH1qbM">Time in a Bottle</a>.” The album launched Croce on the national stage as a formidable artist who combined relatability and sincerity with remarkable artistic craftsmanship and an unmistakable voice. </p>
<p>The album “<a href="https://crocesstore.bandcamp.com/album/jim-croce-life-and-times">Life and Times</a>,” released in July 1973, sustained Croce’s trajectory, offering original songs that either explored love or celebrated charismatic characters. The album featured his breakthrough hit “<a href="https://youtu.be/JzYf6qskdfA?si=C7kXcnJxhIe_W-fJ">Bad, Bad Leroy Brown</a>,” which reached No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart and earned Croce two Grammy Award nominations.</p>
<p>By September 1973, with two albums reaching Gold status for selling 500,000 copies, Croce’s career was soaring. In August and early September 1973, he entered the studio to make new recordings for his next album. That album, “<a href="https://crocesstore.bandcamp.com/album/jim-croce-i-got-a-name">I Got a Name</a>,” was released posthumously on Dec. 1, 1973. It rose to No. 2 on the album chart in 1974 and featured three singles: the <a href="https://youtu.be/cadvn16N188?si=wvURbjVccsXdae9J">title track</a>, “<a href="https://youtu.be/E6Vn17S37_Y?si=Udh8as5EQ8vRtAdc">I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song</a>” and “<a href="https://youtu.be/1SULVCWbFUI?si=wkBIf8GdgjlSRlny">Workin’ at the Car Wash Blues</a>.”</p>
<p>“Time in a Bottle” was released as a single posthumously and became Croce’s second No. 1 hit.</p>
<iframe style="border-radius:12px" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/52nnrnlPw10RBRhda9qy2u?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="352" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<h2>A who’s who performing Croce songs</h2>
<p>During the 1970s, some music critics accused the singer-songwriter of <a href="https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/search?searchCode=ISBL&searchArg=0394721071&searchType=1">wallowing in</a> <a href="https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=2721">nostalgic sentimentality</a>. This line of criticism, though, didn’t account for such Croce songs as “<a href="https://youtu.be/l011c9rWT4I?si=09LwxdZj6jEnFqwp">Next Time, This Time</a>” and “<a href="https://youtu.be/didAIcrjsl4?si=MNF_xkdtVpSs4UDC">Lover’s Cross</a>” – falling-out-of-love songs as emotionally harrowing as any by other songwriters of that era. Certain Croce songs that did project nostalgia, such as “<a href="https://youtu.be/kIJabiKOtCU?si=1yOR0237cV9ku4HX">Walkin’ Back to Georgia</a>” and “<a href="https://youtu.be/mO0hMFYpTzU?si=cEKeIK3y7ly2Amja">Alabama Rain</a>,” inspired generations of country music songwriters.</p>
<p>Fans and fellow musicians did not seem to share the critics’ views of the man and his music. Shortly after his death and for years afterward, Croce was memorialized in popular culture. In 1974, The Righteous Brothers referenced him in a No. 3 single “Rock and Roll Heaven,” while Queen recorded an album track entitled “Bring Back That Leroy Brown.” That same year, The Ventures recorded <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwFUxRDX3wXyHv65VGS9UjUuaIQf29EE1">an album of instrumental interpretations of Croce songs</a>.</p>
<p>Various pop vocalists got into the act. Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams, Bobby Vinton, Lena Horne and Roger Whittaker covered Croce songs. In 1980, Jerry Reed recorded an album of Croce songs, while 1997 saw the release of the album “<a href="https://youtu.be/SZ3d4HG6rPg?si=ogopqkn74cD9tpj9">Jim Croce: A Nashville Tribute</a>.” Over the years, Croce songs have been recorded by country artists including Glen Campbell, Crystal Gayle, Clint Black and Garth Brooks, and by musicians associated with other genres, including Henry Mancini, Shirley Scott, Diana Krall, The Drifters, Babyface and Dale Ann Bradley.</p>
<p>Jim Croce has been commemorated in other ways as well. In 1990, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2022, a Pennsylvania state historical marker was erected at the site of the house where Jim, Ingrid and son A.J. Croce, who became a widely respected singer-songwriter in his own right, lived at the time of his commercial breakthrough. </p>
<p>Ingrid Croce created her own tribute to her former partner, opening a restaurant in San Diego named <a href="https://www.sandiegomagazine.com/food-drink/the-feed/goodnight-croces/article_75556784-00fa-55a2-8486-e93176ec0fab.html">Croce’s Restaurant and Jazz Club</a>, located on the corner of 5th Avenue and F Street – the site where, in 1973, one week before the fatal plane crash, Jim and Ingrid had talked of establishing a music performance venue. For 30 years, before closing after a lease dispute, the popular restaurant was a place where fans could celebrate Jim Croce and his music. </p>
<p>To honor its namesake, the restaurant hosted live music, and Croce’s gold records were mounted on the wall. Prominently displayed in the restaurant was a rendering of the singer-songwriter, mustachioed and – to quote from his song “Workin’ at the Car Wash Blues” – “smoking on a big cigar.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208714/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ted Olson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Jim Croce’s brief time in the national spotlight was enough to put a bevy of songs in heavy rotation on radio stations – and on stage in the hands of a lengthy A-list of fellow musicians.Ted Olson, Professor of Appalachian Studies and Bluegrass, Old-Time and Roots Music Studies, East Tennessee State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2058172023-06-02T12:42:09Z2023-06-02T12:42:09ZJudging the judges: Scandals have the potential to affect the legitimacy of judges – and possibly the federal judiciary, too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529426/original/file-20230531-27-2u13q6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=37%2C22%2C4955%2C3300&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Activists call for ethics reform in the Supreme Court at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on May 2, 2023.
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/SenateSupremeCourtEthics/0005629d70854888a56e772d5c3fb50b/photo?Query=Clarence%20Thomas&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=909&currentItemNo=2">AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is no stranger to controversy. </p>
<p>In 1991, during his confirmation hearings in the Senate, Thomas faced <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/12/us/the-thomas-nomination-excerpts-from-senate-s-hearings-on-the-thomas-nomination.html">accusations of sexual harassment</a> from a former colleague and law school professor, Anita Hill. </p>
<p>More recently, Thomas’ personal relationship with a real estate billionaire, Republican donor Harlan Crow, has come under scrutiny. Crow paid for <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-scotus-undisclosed-luxury-travel-gifts-crow">lavish vacations</a> for Thomas and his wife. Thomas and Crow had undisclosed <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-harlan-crow-real-estate-scotus">real estate deals</a>. Crow also made <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-harlan-crow-private-school-tuition-scotus">tuition payments for Thomas’ grandnephew</a>.</p>
<p>Nearly all of these gifts and financial dealings <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/29/us/politics/supreme-court-trips-gifts-disclosures.html">were absent from Thomas’ required financial disclosure forms</a>. While there is uncertainty on the specific reporting requirements for the vacations and real estate deals, it seems likely that the tuition payments received on behalf of Thomas’ family would be subject to disclosure requirements as financial gifts. </p>
<p>These recent discoveries have prompted backlash, ranging from calls for <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/04/26/supreme-court-ethics-reform-clarence-thomas/">ethics reform</a> to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/democratic-lawmaker-ocasio-cortez-wants-us-supreme-court-justice-thomas-2023-04-09/">demands for impeachment</a>. </p>
<p>But scandal and controversy are not new to the federal courts. As political science professors, we study how scandals and other phenomena <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S104909652200138X">affect public support for the Supreme Court</a>. Prior research finds that when citizens perceive the courts as legitimate, citizens are less willing to challenge judicial decisions – even those that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/106591290505800201">individuals disagree with</a>.</p>
<p>Ultimately, scandal has a strong potential to undermine public perceptions. And as legitimacy diminishes, judges are likely to face increased public scrutiny for their policy decisions.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529427/original/file-20230531-25-lpzyyz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An older man with glasses and gray hair in a black judicial robe." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529427/original/file-20230531-25-lpzyyz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529427/original/file-20230531-25-lpzyyz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529427/original/file-20230531-25-lpzyyz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529427/original/file-20230531-25-lpzyyz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529427/original/file-20230531-25-lpzyyz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529427/original/file-20230531-25-lpzyyz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529427/original/file-20230531-25-lpzyyz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has been the focus of numerous recent revelations about his entanglements with a prominent and wealthy Republican donor.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/associate-us-supreme-court-justice-clarence-thomas-poses-news-photo/1243792284?adppopup=true">Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Judicial scandals different from political scandals</h2>
<p>Beyond Thomas, other Supreme Court justices and <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/ethics-scandals-supreme-court-justice-spouses-1797768">their close family members</a> have recently faced allegations of wrongdoing. </p>
<p>These range from <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/27/us/politics/brett-kavanaugh-confirmation-hearings.html">Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s alleged sexual assault</a> to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/25/neil-gorsuch-colorado-property-sale-00093579">a controversial real estate sale</a> involving Justice Neil Gorsuch.</p>
<p>Recent history is replete with instances of judicial nominees and federal judges immersed in scandal and controversy – from <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/us/politics/09judge.html">taking bribes</a> to <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/former-united-states-tax-court-judge-and-husband-sentenced-multi-year-tax-fraud">tax fraud</a>, from <a href="https://www.ajc.com/news/local/judge-camp-sentenced-days-prison/FQhgyRbi1JD1oK28fQRGoJ/">using illicit drugs with an exotic dancer</a> to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/prominent-appeals-court-judge-alex-kozinski-accused-of-sexual-misconduct/2017/12/08/1763e2b8-d913-11e7-a841-2066faf731ef_story.html">making court clerks watch obscene material</a>. </p>
<p>These behaviors would be a problem in any government institution. Yet, unlike democratically elected officials, all <a href="https://www.uscourts.gov/judges-judgeships/about-federal-judges">U.S. Supreme Court justices and judges on the lower federal courts</a> are unelected and insulated from direct electoral repercussions. Presidents nominate Supreme Court justices and federal court judges when a vacancy emerges. Once confirmed by a majority in the Senate, these individuals cannot be removed from the bench unless they are impeached by the House of Representatives and removed by a two-thirds majority vote in the Senate.</p>
<p>Such institutional dynamics provide broad protections for federal judges, including those embroiled in scandal and controversy. Beyond the threat of impeachment and removal, no other recourse is available to sanction judges for improprieties or ethical controversies. </p>
<p>In fact, Congress has moved to impeach lower court federal judges in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/us/politics/09judge.html">only the most extreme circumstances</a>. To date, no Supreme Court justice has been impeached and removed from office, although Samuel Chase was impeached in 1801 but ultimately acquitted in the Senate.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529430/original/file-20230531-29-56uz5r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A middle-aged man from an earlier century dressed in a black robe and with long gray hair." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529430/original/file-20230531-29-56uz5r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529430/original/file-20230531-29-56uz5r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=746&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529430/original/file-20230531-29-56uz5r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=746&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529430/original/file-20230531-29-56uz5r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=746&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529430/original/file-20230531-29-56uz5r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=937&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529430/original/file-20230531-29-56uz5r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=937&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529430/original/file-20230531-29-56uz5r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=937&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">No Supreme Court justice has been impeached and removed from office, although Samuel Chase, pictured here, was impeached in 1801 but ultimately acquitted in the Senate.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/engraved-portrait-of-american-jurist-delegate-to-the-news-photo/52909829?adppopup=true">Stock Montage/Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Public opinion and federal court legitimacy</h2>
<p>Given this reality, scholars, pollsters and commentators focus their attention on how the public may punish judges and the courts through another means: judgments of their legitimacy.</p>
<p>Since the courts are unable to enforce their rulings – they do not have a police force or a military at their disposal – they must rely on public support to ensure broad compliance and implementation of their decisions. </p>
<p>When citizens perceive that federal courts exercise power legitimately, they are unlikely to challenge decisions they disagree with or the judges who made them. The Supreme Court historically has a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-110413-030546">deep reservoir of goodwill</a> among the public. Scholarly evidence suggests that the Supreme Court uniquely benefits from what’s called a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2008.00362.x">positivity bias</a>, which means that people tend to perceive it more positively compared to Congress and the president. </p>
<p>Yet the federal judiciary faces threats to its legitimacy across all levels, from the Supreme Court to district courts. These include political polarization, which can lead the public to see courts as blatantly partisan institutions. Political science research demonstrates that support for the Supreme Court varies depending on the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12150">partisan viewpoint of survey respondents</a>. Studies also suggest that the public views the Supreme Court <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/10659129211006196">less favorably</a> when the court is perceived as politically distant from one’s own partisan preferences. Researchers also find that perceptions that the court favors liberal policies result in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912920950482">lower job approval ratings</a>.</p>
<p>What researchers have less insight on is whether the public alters its support for the judiciary in light of scandal. The potentially corrosive implications of scandal have been thrust into the limelight with the recent revelations of impropriety concerning several Supreme Court justices.</p>
<h2>Punishment for scandals</h2>
<p>Scandal holds the potential to shake the confidence and trust the American public has in its judicial institutions. <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/ps-political-science-and-politics/article/your-honors-misdeeds-the-consequences-of-judicial-scandal-on-specific-and-diffuse-support/5CDA6C8310E01A1E1FFCF66A60C05ADD">Our research</a>, which predates the recent media reports on Thomas, looks at whether scandals meaningfully diminish citizen support for members of the judiciary, and the court as an institution. </p>
<p>Relying on multiple survey experiments, we examined the effect of varying scandals – ethical, financial and sexual – among hypothetical Supreme Court nominees and hypothetical sitting lower court judges. </p>
<p>In both cases and across scandal types, we found that the public punishes individual nominees and judges through diminished support. That is, respondents provided lower levels of job approval for a hypothetical judge who faced accusations of scandal compared to a judge who faced no such accusation. Notably, however, scandals did not harm the public’s perceptions of the federal courts’ legitimacy. </p>
<p>In other words, we found no effect of hypothetical scandal on respondents’ beliefs that courts are generally fair and should retain the right to make controversial decisions, even when a majority disagrees. This suggests that while the public holds judges associated with scandal in low regard, the negative effects of individual scandals do not permeate the institution of the courts. </p>
<p>We cannot say whether the harmful effects of scandal persist over time. Perhaps, negative impressions of individuals immersed in scandal will dissipate. Additional research is needed to examine whether a spate of scandals – involving multiple judges, with greater degrees of perceived severity – would result in a critical mass that undermines the foundations of public support for the courts as esteemed institutions. </p>
<p>Yet so far, our findings suggest that the latest round of scandals and controversies surrounding justices’ personal behavior will have minimal effect on eroding public support for federal courts.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205817/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ali S. Masood receives funding from the National Science Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joshua Boston received funding for this research from the Bowling Green State University Office of Sponsored Programs and Research and Department of Political Science. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benjamin J. Kassow and David Miller do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Courts have no army or police force to enforce their decisions. Their power rests on their legitimacy in the public eye. How does scandal affect that?Ali S. Masood, Assistant Professor of Politics, Oberlin College and ConservatoryBenjamin J. Kassow, Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Administration, University of North DakotaDavid Miller, Assistant Professor of Political Science, East Tennessee State UniversityJoshua Boston, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Bowling Green State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1973872023-02-28T19:18:28Z2023-02-28T19:18:28ZDoc Watson at 100: The virtuoso guitarist brought Appalachian music to a worldwide audience and influenced generations of musicians<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512586/original/file-20230228-20-g95ir3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C7%2C5273%2C3457&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Doc Watson was the finest guitar picker of his time.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/portrait-of-guitarist-doc-watson-chicago-illinois-april-20-news-photo/531409355">Paul Natkin/Archive Photos via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Arthel Lane “Doc” Watson was born on March 3, 1923, in Stony Fork, North Carolina, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, but his music <a href="https://docat100.com/">is as influential now</a> – more than a decade after <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/30/arts/music/doc-watson-folk-musician-dies-at-89.html">his 2012 death</a> – as at any time during his long career. During that time he was arguably America’s most beloved folk musician. Today, Watson is viewed by artists and fans as one of the greatest guitarists of American roots music.</p>
<p>Making music came naturally to Watson, who grew up in a large <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/30/arts/music/doc-watson-folk-musician-dies-at-89.html">music-loving family</a>. Recordings made in people’s homes by folklorists during the early 1960s documented music gatherings featuring various Watsons alongside neighbors and friends, collectively celebrating their community’s musical culture – a shared repertoire of Appalachian ballads, songs and tunes. </p>
<p>Watson is widely credited with <a href="https://www.flatpick.com/category_s/2221.htm">popularizing the guitar style known as flatpicking</a>, a rapid-fire approach to playing notes and chords on guitar strings by use of a plectrum, or guitar pick. Virtually all guitar players who have used a pick over the past six decades have labeled Watson a pioneer of that style. These include roots music masters like <a href="https://www.bluegrasshall.org/inductees/clarence-white/">Clarence White</a>, <a href="https://thebluegrasssituation.com/read/end-of-the-road-a-conversation-with-norman-blake/">Norman Blake</a> and <a href="https://www.nodepression.com/iconic-bluegrass-guitarist-tony-rice-dies-at-age-69/">Tony Rice</a>; newer bluegrass stars like <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/mar/24/i-was-running-away-from-poverty-the-remarkable-rise-of-bluegrass-virtuoso-billy-strings">Billy Strings</a> and <a href="https://variety.com/2023/music/news/molly-tuttle-interview-best-new-artist-grammy-nomination-bluegrass-1235513365/#!">Molly Tuttle</a>; and guitarists in other genres, like <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bob-Dylan-American-musician">Bob Dylan</a>, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/05/03/606072797/first-listen-ry-cooder-the-prodigal-son">Ry Cooder</a> and <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/stephen-stills-mn0000021744/biography">Stephen Stills</a>.</p>
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<p>Watson was also an accomplished practitioner of <a href="https://guitaralliance.org/2013/10/15/history-fingerstyle-guitar/">fingerpicking</a>, a guitar style involving plucking strings with the thumb and one or more fingertips using fingerpicks or fingernails. Watson’s agile and rhythmically intricate <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCl1emxubWM">two-finger approach with fingerpicks</a> is widely considered to be the apogee of the style.</p>
<h2>From Appalachia to the folk revival circuit</h2>
<p>Though remembered as a guitarist, Watson initially played other instruments. </p>
<p>The harmonica preoccupied Watson until he was 11, when his father made a maplewood fretless banjo for him and taught him basic techniques. Two years later, Watson’s father bought him a US$12 Stella guitar. Watson loved the instrument and practiced constantly. He eventually <a href="https://www.npr.org/2012/05/30/153704132/fresh-air-remembers-traditional-music-legend-doc-watson">purchased a Martin</a> guitar on a payment plan and took to playing on the streets of Boone, North Carolina – a town about 10 miles away from the Watson home – to pay for it. </p>
<p>Traveling to Boone and, in subsequent years, to more distant locales was no easy feat for Watson because an eye infection in infancy had left him <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/30/arts/music/doc-watson-folk-musician-dies-at-89.html">permanently blind</a>. But Watson did not allow blindness to limit him. During the Great Depression, Watson’s father encouraged him to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/30/arts/music/doc-watson-folk-musician-dies-at-89.html">do his share of household chores</a>, including cutting firewood.</p>
<p>At the age of 23, Watson married his neighbor Rosa Lee Carlton, the daughter of fiddler Gaither Carlton, and the union brought two children, Eddy Merle Watson and Nancy Ellen Watson. To support his family, Watson did odd jobs including tuning pianos and played music on the street. In the early 1950s he joined a Johnson City, Tennessee-based country band, which required that he play an electric guitar. When this band played at square dances, Watson would play fiddle tunes on his Gibson Les Paul Goldtop with a flatpick. </p>
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<p>This blind musician with a strictly local reputation might never have entered the national folk music spotlight without serendipitous intervention. In September 1960, musician and folklorist <a href="https://folklife.si.edu/legacy-honorees/ralph-rinzler/smithsonian">Ralph Rinzler</a> arrived in the Blue Ridge from New York City to document old-time music in informal recording sessions. These sessions were led by <a href="https://wilkesheritagemuseum.com/hall-of-fame/previous-years/2010/clarence-tom-ashley">Clarence “Tom” Ashley</a>, a journeyman country musician known for “The Coo-Coo Bird,” his 1929 recording made in Johnson City and incorporated onto Folkways Records’ influential 1952 multi-LP set “<a href="https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/AnthologyOfAmericanFolkMusic.pdf">Anthology of American Folk Music</a>.” When Rinzler asked about nearby musicians to include in the sessions, Ashley recommended Watson. </p>
<p>Upon meeting Watson, Rinzler was baffled because Watson brought his electric guitar to an acoustic jam session. Watson had been playing electric guitar and didn’t own an acoustic guitar at the time. He had to borrow an acoustic guitar for the session. Rinzler’s recordings were released on a 1961 Folkways album, and Watson was soon recognized as a generational talent. Playing acoustic guitars exclusively, Watson toured the folk revival circuit, publicly showcasing his broad and deep repertoire and his unparalleled instrumental technique and tone.</p>
<h2>‘Traditional plus’</h2>
<p>Watson initially toured the U.S. as part of old-time ensembles headlined by Ashley, but it was Watson who received the lion’s share of the attention. He wowed audiences with his musical skills as a vocalist as well as an instrumentalist and delivered entertaining anecdotes, reflections and good-natured quips. Before long, his management booked gigs nationally for Watson as a solo act, including an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/may/30/doc-watson">appearance at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival</a>. </p>
<p>While Watson had previously played a broad range of music – commercial country, blues, rockabilly, pop, jazz and Broadway – his management initially encouraged him to perform music associated with the rural culture of Appalachia. But as Watson expanded his on-stage repertoire in defiance of the perception that folk revival audiences only wanted to hear “authentic” folk music, no one complained. Indeed, <a href="https://misterguitar.us/bios/watsonbio.html">his fan base steadily increased</a>.</p>
<p>Watson recognized that any sustained success he might achieve as a full-time professional musician would depend on appealing to younger people. After touring alone and recording his eponymous debut album solo for Vanguard, Watson decided in 1964 to invite a musician half his age to be part of his act – someone who could help him reach younger fans and guide him from gig to gig. That someone was his son Merle, then 15, whose slide and fingerstyle guitar would complement his father’s vocal and instrumental work.</p>
<p>The father-son duo became a top concert draw and recorded a string of beloved albums for United Artists and independent labels Vanguard, Poppy, Flying Fish and Sugar Hill. In 1972 Doc Watson contributed memorably to the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s legendary collaborative album “<a href="https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/WTCBU%20essay.pdf">Will the Circle Be Unbroken</a>,” and that recognition dramatically expanded interest in Doc and Merle Watson.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">President Jimmy Carter hosted a performance by Doc Watson at the White House on Aug. 7, 1980.</span></figcaption>
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<p>While they knew countless traditional tunes, songs and ballads, Doc and Merle were equally devoted to interpreting newer material. Doc began to refer to the repertoire the duo performed, which drew from several genres of American music, as “traditional plus.” After <a href="https://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/10/23/Country-musician-Merle-Watson-who-teamed-with-his-father/3414498888000/">Merle’s tragic death</a> in a tractor accident in 1985, Watson continued to perform a “traditional plus” repertoire in collaboration with other musicians, including bassist T. Michael Coleman, guitarist Jack Lawrence, multi-instrumentalist David Holt and guitarist Richard Watson, Merle Watson’s son and Doc Watson’s grandson.</p>
<h2>‘Just one of the people’</h2>
<p>Watson said that his blindness had allowed him to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2012/05/30/153704132/fresh-air-remembers-traditional-music-legend-doc-watson">focus on honing his musical talents</a>. As Coleman said in my interview with him for the notes I wrote for the Doc Watson album “<a href="https://craftrecordings.com/products/doc-watson-life-s-work-a-retrospective-4-cd-box-set">Life’s Work, A Retrospective</a>”: “Doc told me that, being blind, he was not afraid to be anywhere or to do anything.” Certainly, Watson was fearless in many of the things he did throughout his life: cutting firewood, climbing a ladder to repair an upper-story window, constructing a utility building, hitchhiking to nearby towns to play music on the street, traveling by bus to perform in faraway cities and appearing on stages before thousands of people.</p>
<p>Fearlessness also infused his live performances and recordings. Whether playing fiddle tunes on his guitar at lightning speed with a flatpick or singing traditional and contemporary songs to fingerstyle accompaniment, he was a daring improviser.</p>
<p>Watson received numerous honors during his lifetime, including the <a href="https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/arthel-doc-watson">National Heritage Fellowship in 1988</a>, the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/showbiz/2012/05/30/von-doc-watson-national-medal-of-arts.pool">National Medal of Arts in 1997</a>, the <a href="https://www.bluegrasshall.org/inductees/arthel-doc-watson/">International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 2000</a> and the <a href="https://www.grammy.com/awards/lifetime-achievement-awards">Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004</a>. But fame did not matter much to Watson. He considered himself “<a href="https://outsider.com/entertainment/music/just-one-people-remembering-doc-watson/">just one of the people</a>.” Watson committed himself to a life in music because he loved entertaining others and because he was <a href="https://youtu.be/i5mZlriOogU?start=398">proud to make a living for his family</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197387/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ted Olson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Doc Watson’s popularity and influence came from his virtuosic guitar playing, powerful voice, broad musical taste, folksy storytelling and lack of pretense.Ted Olson, Professor of Appalachian Studies and Bluegrass, Old-Time and Roots Music Studies, East Tennessee State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1996572023-02-10T14:31:53Z2023-02-10T14:31:53ZA boon for sports fandom or a looming mental health crisis? 5 essential reads on the effects of legal sports betting<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509263/original/file-20230209-22-4dax04.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=132%2C97%2C4532%2C2930&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In a remarkable shift, pro sports leagues like the NFL have eagerly embraced gambling.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/one-hundred-dollar-football-royalty-free-image/471257888?phrase=sports betting&adppopup=true">michaelquirk/iStock via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A lifelong sports fan, I grew up hearing tales of sports figures felled by gambling scandals – baseball stars <a href="https://www.silive.com/news/2021/06/si-field-of-dreams-black-sox-outfielder-shoeless-joe-jackson-played-here-after-baseball-ban.html">“Shoeless” Joe Jackson</a> and <a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pete-rose-gets-booted-from-baseball">Pete Rose</a>, <a href="https://www.espn.com/espn/chalk/story/_/id/11633538/betting-chronicling-worst-fix-ever-1978-79-bc-point-shaving-scandal">the 1978-79 Boston College basketball team</a> and NBA referee <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/25980368/how-former-ref-tim-donaghy-conspired-fix-nba-games">Tim Donaghy</a>. </p>
<p>Sports leagues wanted nothing to do with gambling, which they feared would taint the integrity of the game. They had <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/02/nyregion/how-politics-nipped-a-sports-betting-bill.html">lobbied heavily</a> for the passage of <a href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/102/s474/summary">the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992</a>, also known as the Bradley Act, which banned sports betting in the U.S.</p>
<p>Then, in May 2018, the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/us/politics/supreme-court-sports-betting-new-jersey.html">overturned the Bradley Act</a>.</p>
<p>This time, the leagues and networks were fully on board. Gambling ads for companies like DraftKings, BetMGM and FanDuel started appearing in arenas and beaming across airwaves. Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams <a href="https://raiderswire.usatoday.com/2022/09/15/davante-adams-becomes-brand-ambassador-for-official-gaming-parter-of-the-raiders-mgm-resorts/">signed a sponsorship deal</a> with MGM. And point spreads started being prominently featured on sports media outlets. </p>
<div style="width:50%;float:right;margin:10px;"><a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/2533/TheConversation_SportsBetting.pdf?1676069169"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509547/original/file-20230210-26-aade4k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=300&fit=crop&dpr=1" alt="Cover of ebook on sports gambling"></a><br>
<a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/2533/TheConversation_SportsBetting.pdf?1676069169"><strong>Download these articles in a magazine-style ebook</strong></a>
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<p>Curious, I started placing some bets myself. I instantly grasped the allure: Here I was, watching games that I would have otherwise never watched – that didn’t involve my favorite teams, the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots – and I was engaged and excited from start to finish. The leagues, too, must have been keenly aware of this opportunity to engage fans when they decided to change their tune on gambling. </p>
<p>With the five-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision approaching, I wanted to learn more about what scholars at the forefront of gambling research had been discovering. How many people were betting on sports? For those <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/14/589087523/supreme-court-rules-states-are-free-to-legalize-sports-betting">who criticized</a> the Supreme Court decision five years ago, was their hand-wringing misplaced? Were rates of problem gambling actually on the rise? If so, who was most at risk?</p>
<p>Gambling research can be challenging; <a href="https://www.americangaming.org/research/state-gaming-map/">laws and regulations vary by state</a>, and gambling researchers <a href="https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/naadgs-analysis-of-problem-gambling-funding-july-2022/521f7652c06a6d4d/full.pdf">receive almost no federal funding</a>. </p>
<p>But a small and dedicated group of scholars in the U.S. and abroad have been gauging the impact of this new era in American sports. With few regulations in place, gambling companies are going all-in to attract as many customers as possible – with younger, sports-obsessed and smartphone-savvy Americans particularly vulnerable.</p>
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<h2>1. A new fan experience</h2>
<p>Prior to becoming the chair of Penn State’s sports journalism program, <a href="https://www.bellisario.psu.edu/people/individual/john-affleck">John Affleck</a> had worked as a sports reporter and editor for The Associated Press. Both in the newsroom and in his early years at Penn State, there was nary a peep about gambling. </p>
<p>Now he notices his students regularly talking about the point spread and over/under for upcoming games.</p>
<p>He writes about <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-legalized-sports-betting-has-transformed-the-fan-experience-194994">how quickly gambling has become integrated in sports media</a>, with announcers and analysts peppering in references to gambling during live coverage and postgame analysis.</p>
<p>He describes the thousands of betting tip channels on YouTube, the segments on TV devoted to gambling and the betting lines that appear in game previews.</p>
<p>“In the nearly five years since the Supreme Court allowed states to legalize sports betting, a whole industry has sprouted up that, for tens of millions of fans around the country, is now just part of the show.”</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-legalized-sports-betting-has-transformed-the-fan-experience-194994">How legalized sports betting has transformed the fan experience</a>
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<h2>2. Is New Jersey a canary in the coal mine?</h2>
<p>After the Supreme Court’s May 2018 ruling, New Jersey was one of a handful of states primed to pounce: Legislation had been prepped in advance, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/11/nyregion/sports-betting-legalized-nj.html">and the governor signed a bill legalizing sports betting</a> less than a month after the federal ban was overturned.</p>
<p>But the state also included something in their legislation that other states didn’t: It gave the Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University access to data on every bet placed in the state, and tasked it with conducting regular studies on gambling in New Jersey. </p>
<p>Lia Nower, who directs the center, <a href="https://theconversation.com/data-from-new-jersey-is-a-warning-sign-for-young-sports-bettors-197865">highlights some worrisome findings</a> from her team’s forthcoming gambling prevalence study – particularly for young bettors.</p>
<p>She and her team found that those who bet on sports were more likely than other gamblers to have problems with drugs or alcohol and experience anxiety and depression. Most alarming, about 14% of sports bettors reported thoughts of suicide, with 10% saying they had attempted suicide. And the fastest-growing group of sports bettors in New Jersey were young adults between the ages of 20 and 25 – over 70% of whom had placed in-game bets. </p>
<p>“Since about 70% of the sports bets we analyzed were losing bets,” Nower writes, “most of these young players could find themselves losing more money than they can afford.”</p>
<p>Nower also explains how other countries with a longer history of legal sports betting have enacted a raft of regulations intended to protect gamblers and curb the worst excesses of the gambling companies – a topic another scholar, Alex Russell, <a href="https://theconversation.com/40-years-of-legal-sports-betting-in-australia-points-to-risks-for-us-gamblers-and-tips-for-regulators-194993">explores in his history of sports gambling in Australia</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/data-from-new-jersey-is-a-warning-sign-for-young-sports-bettors-197865">Data from New Jersey is a warning sign for young sports bettors</a>
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<h2>3. Technology facilitates impulsive betting</h2>
<p>If there’s one key difference between the early 1990s, when the Bradley Act passed, and today, it’s the advent of smartphones.</p>
<p>In many states, there’s no need to drive to a casino to place a bet on a game; all you need to do is download a gambling app. <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1299495/forecast-number-of-online-sports-bettors-us/">According to one estimate</a>, there were about 19 million online sports bettors in 2022.</p>
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<p>Clinical psychologist and gambling researcher Meredith K. Ginley explores how <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-legalized-sports-betting-has-transformed-the-fan-experience-194994">these apps facilitate impulsive in-game betting</a> that can cause losses to mount until the final whistle blows.</p>
<p>“Proximity to gambling venues is a known risk factor for problematic levels of gambling,” she writes. “Sports wagering apps essentially load a casino onto the phone in your pocket.”</p>
<p>Many apps offer tools that let users set deposit, loss and wagering limits to encourage responsible gambling. But, she adds, the apps are also “heavily ‘gamified’ to feel more like an interactive video game” with “push notifications, free play, leaderboards and more.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sports-betting-apps-notifications-and-leaderboards-encourage-more-and-more-wagers-a-psychologist-who-treats-gambling-addictions-explains-why-some-people-get-hooked-198358">Sports betting apps' notifications and leaderboards encourage more and more wagers – a psychologist who treats gambling addictions explains why some people get hooked</a>
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<h2>4. A new problem gambler profile emerges</h2>
<p>Sure enough, some sports bettors have developed gambling problems.</p>
<p>Tori Horn, a clinical psychologist at the University of Memphis <a href="https://thegamblingclinic.com/">who treats people with gambling disorder</a>, has seen a shift in the profile of her typical patient – from clients who were usually older and gambled in casinos to younger men, mostly in their 20s, who are seeking treatment for problems with sports betting. </p>
<p>Horn explains how many of her patients started betting via gambling apps after learning about promotions like FanDuel’s “No Sweat First Bet,” which offers free bets to new users. </p>
<p>In addiction therapy, therapists often encourage clients to avoid places, people and situations that are associated with the substance. </p>
<p>For these reasons, problem sports gamblers – particularly those who use apps – “present a unique challenge,” she writes, since it is “incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to ask a client to stop using their smartphone or stop watching sports.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/i-treat-people-with-gambling-disorder-and-im-starting-to-see-more-and-more-young-men-who-are-betting-on-sports-198285">I treat people with gambling disorder – and I’m starting to see more and more young men who are betting on sports</a>
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<h2>5. The ‘hidden addiction’</h2>
<p>But might concerns over sports betting be overblown?</p>
<p>James P. Whalen, who directs the Institute for Gambling Education and Research at the University of Memphis, cautions against reaching any sort of premature conclusions about legal sports betting as a societal scourge.</p>
<p>“A review of 30 years of research on the prevalence of problem gambling and gambling disorder reveals a pattern,” <a href="https://theconversation.com/millions-of-americans-are-problem-gamblers-so-why-do-so-few-people-ever-seek-treatment-197861">he writes</a>. “More gambling availability tends to lead to a spike in the number of people reporting gambling issues in the short term. However, populations tend to adapt over time; the rate of gambling problems decreases accordingly.”</p>
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<p>Regardless, there are still millions of Americans who are caught in the throes of gambling addiction. And treating the disorder – so stigmatized that it’s often called the “<a href="https://cocaberks.org/problem-gambling-the-hidden-addiction/">hidden addiction</a>” – is complicated by the fact that relatively few people seek treatment compared with other mental health disorders.</p>
<p>“The other challenge is the rate at which people discontinue treatment,” Whelan adds. For most mental health disorders, 20% of people who start therapy will drop out before completing a standard course of treatment, he explains.</p>
<p>“By comparison,” he notes, “the dropout rate for gambling harms is nearly double: 39%.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/millions-of-americans-are-problem-gamblers-so-why-do-so-few-people-ever-seek-treatment-197861">Millions of Americans are problem gamblers – so why do so few people ever seek treatment?</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199657/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
With few regulations in place, gambling companies are going all-in to attract as many customers as possible – with younger, sports-obsessed and smartphone-savvy Americans particularly vulnerable.Nick Lehr, Arts + Culture EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1983582023-02-06T13:28:34Z2023-02-06T13:28:34ZSports betting apps’ notifications and leaderboards encourage more and more wagers – a psychologist who treats gambling addictions explains why some people get hooked<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507897/original/file-20230202-7246-m8e93e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C638%2C6060%2C4528&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">You can keep placing new bets throughout the whole game.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/watching-soccer-game-at-home-royalty-free-image/1426353191">svetikd/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Joe is a full-time college student who also works some nights as a security guard. He played basketball all through high school and loves to follow the sport. Tonight one of his favorite teams is playing and he’s placed a US$100 bet for them to win.</p>
<p>As he sits in his vehicle with one eye on the parking lot and one eye on his physics textbook, he listens to the game. His phone keeps vibrating. <a href="https://www.gamblinginsider.com/in-depth/4015/the-mobile-marketing-challenge-personalising-push-notifications">A notification</a> from a sports wagering app asks if he’d like to place <a href="https://www.thelines.com/betting/prop-bets/">a prop bet</a> – a sort of side bet unrelated to the specific outcomes of the game – for a specific player to make five rebounds tonight. He adds $20 for this bet. His app buzzes again, now suggesting a prop bet for a certain player to make four three-point shots this game. The odds look good; he knows this player; he adds $40 here.</p>
<p>The game continues and his app keeps pinging him about more bets. By the end of the game, Joe’s team has won. He feels good about how well he knows basketball and his ability to pick a winning team and is buzzing from the thrill of chasing in-game bets. But he’s actually down $50 on the evening, as he lost most of his prop bets, and he’s not done nearly enough of his physics homework. He settles in for a long night and tries to push away any thoughts about how much money he actually ended up losing. And I’m certain Joe will be back placing bets the next time his teams are playing.</p>
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<p>Although Joe isn’t a real person, and the specifics of a sports wagering app can vary from vendor to vendor and even from <a href="https://www.legalsportsbetting.com/states-with-legal-sports-betting/">state to state</a>, this scenario illustrates the kind of game play many sports wagerers report. One estimate suggests there were around <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1299495/forecast-number-of-online-sports-bettors-us/">19 million online sports bettors</a> in the U.S. in 2022; as more states gradually legalize these apps, the number of Joes out there is <a href="https://theconversation.com/access-to-sports-betting-in-the-us-has-exploded-since-2018-and-were-just-starting-to-learn-about-the-effects-192055">bound to rise</a>.</p>
<p>I’m a licensed clinical psychologist who has <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=bTo-_-oAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">researched</a> <a href="https://thegamblingclinic.com/">and treated gambling-related harm</a> for over a decade. I’m interested in how and why bettors like Joe seem able to focus on how they picked a winning team while discounting that they actually ended up in the red. Humans are built to like reward, pleasure and winning. Sports wagering apps bring these specific opportunities right to your smartphone for immediate enjoyment.</p>
<h2>Gambling feels good in the heat of the moment</h2>
<p>Several theories from neuroscience and psychology can point to why some people might be particularly primed to enjoy gambling.</p>
<p><a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1975-24897-000">One prominent theory of learning</a> suggests people are <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315806914-8/framework-taxonomy-psychiatric-disorder-jeffrey-gray">driven by two basic brain systems</a>. One leads people to seek new, exciting and novel situations. A complementary system encourages them to apply caution, notice risk and keep themselves safe. </p>
<p>In action, these systems are a bit like the gas and the brake on a car – but imagine driving, as my great uncle used to, with both feet. Everyone has both pedals, but how sensitive you are to the brake or how much you crave more gas varies from person to person.</p>
<p>Think of how some people avoid airplanes entirely, while others board because of their excitement about the vacation on the other side, and still others willingly launch themselves out of the plane as skydivers. Sports wagering opportunities can be akin to that plane. One person’s individual blend of desire for novelty and caution can lead them to hesitantly download an app while another person can’t wait to make the jump.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507900/original/file-20230202-10310-cm8k8l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="people watch play standing around a casino craps table" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507900/original/file-20230202-10310-cm8k8l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507900/original/file-20230202-10310-cm8k8l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507900/original/file-20230202-10310-cm8k8l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507900/original/file-20230202-10310-cm8k8l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507900/original/file-20230202-10310-cm8k8l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1136&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507900/original/file-20230202-10310-cm8k8l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1136&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507900/original/file-20230202-10310-cm8k8l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1136&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Just a photo of a craps table can activate reward-related parts of a gambler’s brain.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/gamblers-play-craps-in-city-of-dreams-casino-on-december-17-news-photo/461559500">Lucas Schifres/Getty Images AsiaPac</a></span>
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<p>Neuroscientists know that certain genes, brain regions and neurotransmitters, including dopamine, are part of this balancing act of risk and reward. The areas of the brain related to reward may function a bit differently in people who are more driven to engage in higher-risk activities.</p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-07786-5">when researchers show study participants</a> who are frequent gamblers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1369-1600.2010.00242.x">images of people gambling in casinos</a>, their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40473-019-00177-2">brains may react</a> in a way similar to when they are <a href="https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-018-0599-z">exposed to cues for natural rewards</a> like food or sex. These findings mirror what has been shown for how people’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1200">brains react to cues</a> for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2011.12.004">alcohol, cocaine and cigarettes</a>.</p>
<h2>Wagering apps amp up the attraction</h2>
<p>Beyond the rewarding nature of gambling itself, there may be some structural aspects of sports wagering apps that make them particularly attractive – and, in turn, potentially create higher risk for some people.</p>
<p>For example, Joe really likes basketball, and he’s confident about his skill in knowing how his team will play. Placing a bet on the game may make him more excited to watch a game he already enjoys. Each time his favorite teams play will be an automatic cue to place another bet. There’s a natural pull to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9088-8_10">more engaged in activities you like and are good at</a>. And when researchers told study participants they would either <a href="https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-018-0599-z">just watch or also bet</a> on a sporting event, it led to different activation in the brain, particularly in areas related to reward.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507964/original/file-20230202-14692-ry9pr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="two pairs of hands hold smartphones with TV showing basketball game in background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507964/original/file-20230202-14692-ry9pr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507964/original/file-20230202-14692-ry9pr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507964/original/file-20230202-14692-ry9pr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507964/original/file-20230202-14692-ry9pr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507964/original/file-20230202-14692-ry9pr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507964/original/file-20230202-14692-ry9pr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507964/original/file-20230202-14692-ry9pr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Live betting can add an additional layer of excitement to watching a game.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/betting-in-basketball-royalty-free-image/822362418">Manuel-F-O/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span>
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<p>People are also more likely to participate in activities that are readily accessible and have low barriers to entry. Common advice you might hear if you want to decrease the amount of sugar in your diet is to clear sweets out of your pantry. Sure enough, you’re <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198115610571">more likely to eat a cupcake on the counter</a> than one you have to go all the way to the store for.</p>
<p>In the same way, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0002-9432.77.4.616">proximity to gambling venues is a known risk factor</a> for problematic levels of gambling. Sports wagering apps essentially load a casino onto the phone in your pocket. The easy access – along with the novelty and excitement – likely increase the risk of potential harm.</p>
<p>And wagering apps are heavily “gamified” to feel more like an interactive video game and less like a staid banking app. Push notifications, free play, leaderboards and more can increase engagement and fun. But these features can also make users feel <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39583-8_17">more detached from the actual money</a> they’re spending and make it harder to disengage if they become concerned about the cash or time spent on the app.</p>
<h2>Hardening your defenses</h2>
<p>Most people who gamble or bet on sports <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-014-9471-4">don’t experience any harm</a>. Like Joe, they might lose a few bucks. But overall they may find the enjoyment gained by the thrill of deeper engagement with their team and the chance to win is within their budget. Spending on sports wagering can be like springing for movie tickets because of what’s gained from seeing the content in a theater – there’s an added dimension to the entertainment.</p>
<p>When I work with clients, I suggest setting spending limits or loss limits. Many apps offer responsible gaming tools that let users set deposit, loss and wagering limits. For people who are really concerned about their gambling, <a href="https://gamban.com/">blocking software</a> can be an option. The National Council on Problem Gambling’s <a href="https://responsibleplay.org">responsibleplay.org</a> site provides additional strategies and resources.</p>
<p>I also remind clients that sports wagering companies are running a business designed to make money despite a user’s ability to pick a winning team. The apps are very skilled at tapping into what makes betting exciting and rewarding. Players can aim for a level of expenditure that keeps it fun and low-risk. There’s no need to become an app’s best customer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198358/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Meredith K. Ginley receives funding from the State of Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to provide prevention and treatment-related services to help mitigate gambling-related harms. </span></em></p>Sports wagering apps bring in-play betting right to the palm of your hand. Easy, ever-present access can lead to excitement and fun – or problem gambling.Meredith K. Ginley, Assistant Professor of Psychology, East Tennessee State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.