Book Reviews : People of Chance: Gambling in American Society from Jamestown to Las Vegas. John M. Findlay, Oxford University Press, 1986. 272 pp. cloth

• Author: John Dombrink
• DOI: 10.1177/088740348700200210
• Published date: 01 June 1987
• Date: 01 June 1987
• Subject Matter: Articles

202

years

of

conventional

living

and

ceases

to

be

a

threat.

Among

persistent

offenders,

however,

the

label

of

ex-convict

may

continue

and

when

combined

with

aging

make

it

hard

to

find

work.

As

criminals

mature

they

gain

a

new

and

more

realistic

view

of

crime.

It

is

no

longer

exciting,

romantic

and

lucrative;

the

criminal

realizes

that

the

large

theft

is

only

a

dream

and

that

prison

terms

become

longer.

A

new

self-concept

tells

the

criminal

that

his

past

life

was

useless

and

that

time

is

growing

short

to

establish

a

more

satisfying

existence.

Interest

in

marriage,

a

family

and

steady

employment

increases;

if

the

criminal

achieves

these

goals

and

associates

with

non-criminals,

life

becomes

less

stressful.

In

the

final

chapter

Shover

presents

the

ways

in

which

criminals

view

their

past

careers -

as

wasted

time -

and

themselves,

as

stupid

or

as

pushed

into

crime

by

external

circumstances.

A

few,

the

despairing,

seek

a

return

to

prison

where

they

do

not

have

to

make

decisions;

they

cannot

adjust

to

life

on

the

outside.

Some

feel

that

prison

has

been

profitable,

that

they

have

increased

their

education

or

learned

skills

useful

for

employment

on

the

outside.

But,

on

the

whole,

they

feel

prison

has

failed

to

rehabilitate

them.

Shover

discusses

certain

theories -

for

example,

long

term

effects

of

stigma

and

social

controls,

based

on

records

of

young

offenders -

and

finds

modification

is

needed.

Since

Shover

reviews

the

past

experiences

of

his

middle-aged

subjects,

his

book

has

the

possibility

of

suggesting

where

programs

of

prevention

or

correction

are

needed.

These

might

include

programs

for

free-wheeling

adolescents

and

youth

that

will

give

substitutes

for

the

excitement

and

recreational

aspects

of

early

thefts.

Programs

for

in-

prison

rehabilitation

should

keep

the

prisoner

in

contact

with

the

outside

world

so

that

he

does

not

become

adjusted

to

the

restraints

and

lack

of

challenge

of

prison

life.

When

the

three

books

are

considered

together

they

give

a

wide

although

rather

sketchy

view

of

the

process

of

criminal

behavior

from

its

beginning

early

in

life

to

its

termination

in

old

age:

it

increases

to

middle

age

and

then

diminishes,

although

new

but

minor

misconduct

may

appear

as

the

normal

satisfactions

of

life

fade

with

aging.

Attention

in

the

past

has

focused

on

juvenile

delinquency

and

the

adult

criminal.

The

newly

opened

field

of

elderly

crime

calls

for

increased

attention.

Ruth

Shonle

Cavan

Northern

Illinois

University

People

of

Chance:

Gambling

in

American

Society

from

Jamestown

to

Las

Vegas.

John

M.

Findlay,

Oxford

University

Press,

1986.

272

pp.

cloth.

I’m

not

certain

why

I didn’t

like

this

book

more

than

I

did.

I have

read

many

of

the

works

from

which

Findlay

derives

his

data,

and

think

he

has

done

a