Casino Gaming Offense Inmates: What Are These M e n Like? Donald I. T e m p l e t , P h . D . Jackie Moten, Ph.D. George Kaiser, M.D. Southern Desert Correctional Center, Indian Springs, Nevada
The characteristics of 28 men convicted for casino gaming offenses in Nevada were determined. Twenty-seven of these inmates cheated using slot or video poker machines. Most of the subjects used slugs. The other cheated at cards. Compared to other inmates, a disproportionate number of inmates were white. There were no black inmates incarcerated for this crime. Eighteen (57 %) of the gaming offenders were over the age of 40 when convicted, in significant comparison to 27% of the general population inmates. They had significantly more aliases than the general population inmates. None of the gaming offenders had a history of violent felony convictions. They had, however, a history of great social, marital, occupational, and financial instability in addition to a criminal life style.
The present study examines characteristics of men who have been convicted and incarcerated for casino gambling offenses in Nevada. Cheating at gambling is far from a rare and new phenomenon. As pointed out by Lesieur (1987), loaded dice and unevenly weighted coins were apparently used by the ancient Romans (Lanciani, 1892). Loaded dice were used in ancient India in addition to having been common in Austria, Bavaria, England, France, and on Mississippi
Send reprint requests to Dr. Donald I. Templer, Southern Desert Correctional Center, P.O. Box 208, Indian Springs, Nevada 89070.
Journal of GamblingStudies VoL 10(3), Fall 1994 9 1994 Human Sciences Press, Inc.
237
238
JOURNAL OF GAMBLING STUDIES
river boats (Steinmetz, 1969). In the Elizabethan era in England there was cheating that included dice, card tricks, and taking advantage of intoxicated persons (Inciardi, 1975). In the United States in the 1800's, holdout devices, marked cards, rigged dealing boxes, and shaved dice were employed (Asbury, 1969; Gibson, 1976). Apparently, there have been no previously published studies on the characteristics of casino gambling offenders. For obvious reasons, Nevada would appear to be a state that provides an above average opportunity for such research. This research was conducted in an exploratory fashion. Predictions are ordinarily unwarranted in domains that don't contain appreciable research foundation. Since this study was exploratory and in the context of sparse directly relevant literature, it was data oriented rather than theoretically driven. Perhaps the theory that best approximates the original conceptualization of the study is that of grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). In grounded theory the theory is generated on the basis of the data collected. Nevertheless, it was the intention of the present authors to look for common characteristics of these casino offense inmates with the ultimate objective of defining a "type" into which this category of inmates can be placed. Such a typology conceptualization was employed by Roebuck (1961) who described very well the characteristics of "The Negro Numbers Man."
METHOD
The research took place at Southern Desert Correctional Center which is 30 miles north of Las Vegas and processes all the felons convicted in the southern half of the state including Las Vegas. This prison averages about 1,400 male inmates and processes about 1,900 inmates a year in a prison system that contains about 5,400 male inmates. A computer printout provided the names of 28 inmates at Southern Desert Correctional Center who were convicted of Nevada Offence code 41 "Cheating at Gambling/All Gaming Offenses." The descriptive and comparison variables (primarily demographic, present crime, and criminal history) were obtained from the pre-sentence investigation reports and the medical charts. The variables that were chosen without inspection of the records on the basis of apparent possible relevance were age, ethnicity, n u m b e r of previous
DONALD I. TEMPLER, JACKIE MOTEN, AND GEORGE KAISER
239
arrests, number of previous arrests for casino gaming offenses, number of previous misdemeanor convictions, n u m b e r of previous felony convictions, nature of the present casino gambling offence, raw score and percentile on an intelligence test, the Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices (Raven, Court & Raven, 1986), and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory ( M M P I ) 13 regular scales and the MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale. There were three variables selected for comparison purposes after the records were inspected--height, number of violent felony convictions, and the n u m b e r of aliases. The authors formed the impression that the gaming offenders tended to be shorter, relatively non-violent, and to have a large n u m b e r of aliases. In order to compare number of aliases and height of the casino gambling offenders with general population inmates information was obtained from the charts of the inmates that alphabetically followed the gaming offense inmates. In order to compare the M M P I and Raven means to those of general population inmates, the scores on these tests of 136 consecutively admitted inmates used in a earlier study were employed (Templer, Kaiser & Siscoe, 1993). For the purpose of one of the analyses of the present study, the following felonies were counted as violent: robbery, assault and battery, battery on a peace officer, battery/sexual assault, mayhem, murder, rape, sexual assault, kidnap II with false imprisonment, voluntary manslaughter, conspiracy/violent crime.
RESULTS
Table 1 displays the demographic, gaming offense, and criminal history information. It is apparent from Table 1 that only one inmate had a conviction pertaining to cards. He fake shuffled and arranged the order of cards. All of the other inmates were convicted of crimes in connection with slot machines and video poker machines. Most of these crimes involved slugs. It is apparent from Table 1 that a disproportionate number of the gaming offenders were white and that blacks were under-represented. O f the 28 men, 23 (82.1%) were white, two (7.1%) Cuban, two (7.1%) Mexican, one (3.6 %) Asian, and no blacks, Native Americans, or "other" men; and in the general prison population there were 56.9 % white, 1.9% Cuban, 6.7% Mexican, 1.9% Asian, 32.9% black, 5%
Age
32 58 33 44 40 51 43 45 52 59 47 47 44 25 37 31 36 37 25 30 34 52 33 47
42 52 42 39
Inmate
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24.
25. 26. 27. 28.
White White Mexican White
White White White White Cuban White White White White White Mexican White White White White White White White Asian White White White White White
Ethnicity
Table 1
1 -2 9
2 3 8 -0 2 2 1 -3 1 2 2 1 3 1 1 1 0 7 4 6 0 4
Number Aliases
70 -71 71
67 67 70 68 69 64 68 70 71 64 70 69 64 72 72 66 73 71 63 72 71 69 67 67
Line on Coin Slugs Line on Coin Slugs False Shuffle Slugs Slugs Slugs Slugs Slugs Slugs Slugs Static Electricity Line O n Coin Slugs Slugs Slugs Slugs NicHe in 25r roach. Line O n Coin Slugs Slugs 50r in $1 mach. Poured Liquid to Scramble Machine String on 25r Slugs Slugs Slugs
H e i g h t Natureof (Inches) GamingOffense
4 4 4 4
4 4 5 4 3 6 4 3 4 4 5 2 5 3 4 3 3 4 3 6 2 4 4 3
Sentence (Years)
4 0 5
0 0 3 0 0 7 2 0 0 0 1 2 1 1 2 0 0 5 0 2 1 0 10 15 30
22 14 54 4 8 8 19 6 9 15 6 9 21 5 18 3 19 7 2 17 10 27 4 35
# Previous Arrests G a m i n g Total
7 8
3
5 2 22 3 4 12 3 1 1 4 14 2 0 0 5 2 1 6 1 4 0 18 5 4 0 3
6 3 1 2 6 1 1 1 I 3 0 0 0 3 1 1 2 1 0 2 2 4 1 1
8 7 11
-
19
8
3
3 1 4 14 5 1 1 7 3 1 8
3 5 13 4
11 7 23
# Previous Convictions Misdemeanor Felony Total
Demographic, Gaming Offense, and Criminal History Information
O
O ;~
Z 3~
c.~ O
DONALD I. TEMPLER, JACKIE MOTEN, AND GEORGE KAISER
241
Native A m e r i c a n , and .1% "other inmates" (X~ = 18.62, df = 6, p < .01). I n subset chi square there was a larger p e r c e n t a g e of white than n o n - w h i t e g a m i n g offenders (X2 = 7.36, d f = 1, p < .01); and underr e p r e s e n t a t i o n of black offenders (?(2 = 13.70, d f = 1, p < .001). It is very a p p a r e n t that these m e n were convicted of the g a m i n g crimes at an older age t h a n is ordinarily the case for prison inmates. In fact, 16 ( 5 7 . 1 % ) of the present m e n were 40 years or older at the time of their present conviction in contrast to 26.7 % for the general population inmates in this prison (X2 = 13.24, p < .001). N o n e of these 28 m e n had a prior violent felony conviction. This c o m p a r e s to 15.20 % of the general population m e n who had a previous violent felony conviction (X2 = 5.02, df = 1, p < .05). T a b l e 2 presents the means of the 13 regular scales and the M a c A n d r e w Alcoholism Scale of the M M P I for b o t h the casino gambling offense inmates and the 136 control inmates. For the 28 casino offence inmates this information was only available for 25 of the inmates. It is a p p a r e n t from T a b l e 2 that the m e a n s of the two groups are strikingly similar. T h e r e were no significant differences. T a b l e 2 also presents the m e a n Raven's raw score and percentile in the 20 inmates for w h o m this information is available and for the 136 control inmates. N o n e of the differences even a p p r o a c h e d significance~ ( T h e reason that the g a m i n g offense inmates had a somewhat lower raw score but a somewhat higher percentile than the control inmates is that percentile is based u p o n one's age group). T h e casino gambling inmates had a m e a n of 2.68 aliases and the 25 control groups m e n had a m e a n of 1.12 aliases (t = 2.74, df = 48, p < .01). H o w e v e r , the height difference was not significant. T h e casino g a m b l i n g inmates had a m e a n height of 68.93 inches and the 27 control inmates had a m e a n of 70.37 inches (t = 1.80, d f = 52, p < .10). T h e m o r e qualitatively oriented perusal of the records is consistent with the quantitative c o m p a r i s o n findings, such as n u m b e r of aliases, that point to a long history of social instability and criminality. F o r 21 of the 25 m e n with pre-sentence investigation reports, there were previous felony convictions in other states. M o s t of these convictions were in the "sunbelt" states of California, Florida, Georgia, A r i z o n a , Louisiana, a n d Texas. N o n e of the m e n were b o r n in Nevada. O n l y 4 m e n were m a r r i e d at the time of the crime, but all of these 4 m e n were separated from their wives at that time. O n e of the separated m e n had b e e n divorced once, and one had b e e n divorced 3
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242
Table 2 M M P I and R a v e n Means for G a m i n g O f f e n d e r and Control I n m a t e s
Test
Gaming Inmates
ControlInmates
M M P I (T-Score) L F K Hypochondriasis (Hs) Depression (D) Hysteria (Hy) Psychopathic Deviate (Pd) Masculinity-Feminity (Mf) Paranoia (Pa) Psychasthenia (Pt) Schizophrenia H y p o m a n i a (Ma) Social Inversion (Si) MacAndrew Alcoholism
65.25 66.13 53.96 62.67 55.54 60.88 70.79 58.75 60.88 61.13 62.83 59.42 53.42 68.00
54.36 60.01 56.20 60.96 64.14 60.16 71.85 56.71 59.68 59.79 62.06 63.07 57.26 71.03
RAVENS R a w score Percentile
41.55 65.75
43.17 60.55
times. In regard to the other 17 men, 11 were never married, 5 had been divorced once, 3 had been divorced twice, and 2 had been divorced 3 times. Most of the marriages lasted less than two years. The preponderance of the jobs held were of an unskilled sort and were of short duration. Only 3 of the men listed monetary assets. One was said to have a $600 car and $400 worth of tools. One had $380 cash, a color T . V . , and a $1,000 car. One listed $500 worth of clothes. Most of gaming offense inmates were apprehended in smaller and less known casinos.
DISCUSSION
O f the major findings, the one regarding no previous violent crimes, appears the easiest to understand. A fundamental principle of
DONALD I. TEMPLER, JACKIE MOTEN, AND GEORGE KAISER
243
psychology, criminology, and law enforcement is that previous behavior predicts future behavior. Perhaps a corollary of such is that more current behavior enables us to predict earlier behavior. Non-violent criminals have a lesser probability of being found to have had previous violent crimes. Although it is not known how many of our casino cheating inmates were and were not pathological gamblers, their lengthy history of property rather than violent crimes is a pattern that is seen in pathological gamblers. Lorenz and Shuttlesworth (1983) reported that in a Gamblers Anonymous group violence to spouses and children was actually lower than in the general population. Pathological gamblers frequently engage in property crime such as burglary, faking auto accidents or burglaries for insurance purposes, con games, embezzlement, forgery, civil loan fraud, employee theft, tax fraud, and bookmaking (Lesieur, 1987; Livingston, 1974; Blaszczynski, McConagly & Frankova, 1989; Lesieur & Puig, 1987; Lesieur 1979). Lesieur (1984) reported that of the 142 crimes committed by a group of 50 pathological gamblers there were no crimes in which actual violence took place and only three crimes that were against property but with potential for violence (armed robbery). Ninety-five percent of the offenses involved burglary, theft, embezzlement, fencing, fraud and forgery. Brown (1987) found that in the United Kingdom 17.80 percent of general population criminals but only .97 percent of pathological gambling criminals were convicted of crimes against the person. The reason(s) for the relatively high percentage of middle aged men are far from clear. However, the physical decline of middle age may make it more difficult to run, and more difficult to rob (at least without a weapon). Also, it is difficult for men in their 40's and 50's to find a j o b if they have no highly marketable skills. They may not have the strength and stamina needed for hard physical labor. And their criminal record is a vocational impediment. T h e y are considered too old for j o b training and too young for social security. The short stature of some of the inmates may also limit their ability to assault or to run. The reason(s) for the salient under-representation of black gaming felons are not clear. It is possible that black men who are convicted of gambling crimes engage in different types of gambling. The description of the "Negro numbers man" by Roebuck (1963) seems to have some resemblance to that of the presently described casino gaming offenders. The numbers men tended to be older than other black
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prison inmates they were compared with. They also were less violent. However, the men described by Roebuck apparently had more wealth, charm, and sophistication than the presently described casino gaming offenders. O u r description of our casino gaming offenders as very inadequate persons might entitle them to the "short con" artist label in contrast to the "big con" men who have very large operations that often include an elegantly adorned rented home, cultivation of a confidence friendship with the victim either weeks or months before the actual crime, knowledge of the law and a big-name attorney, and an extravagant life style. The "short con" man lacks the intelligence and charm and demeanor observed in the "big con" man. His crimes typically take less than an hour and he has the attitude of "take the money and run" (Snyder, 1986). The fact that 13 (52%) of the 25 inmates with pre-sentence investigation reports had one or more previous arrests for a casino gaming offense, and 4 had 4 or more such arrests, could be viewed as suggesting some sort of "compulsive" or "neurotic" personality features. The fact that they persisted in such activities in spite of the substantial penalties in Nevada for this offense might also suggest these personality features. O n the other hand, the M M P I profiles, consisting of both the regular scales and the alcoholism scale of the gambling offenders, were almost identical with those of the general population inmates. Furthermore, in only 3 of the casino offenders was there mention in the presentence investigation report of a gambling problem. In only one was there a history of mental illness. The present authors suggest that the gaming offenses are just one part of a larger picture in which the offenders could be viewed as dishonest persons and habitual criminals with a strongly entrenched criminal life-style. The psychiatric diagnosis that probably best fits the majority of these men is that of antisocial (psychopathic) personality. Perhaps these men differ from other psychopaths in that they are inadequate persons with a paucity of assets. They are significantly older than other inmates and they tend (p < . 10) to be shorter. T h e y are "drifters" who are for the most part without money, property, job skills, or strong family ties. Caution in regard to inferences should be maintained because of a methodological consideration. Much recording and analyses were made after inspection of the charts. Cross validation was not carried
DONALD I. TEMPLER, J A C K I E MOTEN, AND GEORGE KAISER
245
out. However, the very high levels of significance in some of the comparisons mitigate against the possibility that our findings can be explained in terms of chance. The fact that the composite of our findings seem to reveal a meaningful pattern is also supportive of their generalizability. In conclusion, if there is a casino gaming offense "type" it could be succinctly characterized as manifesting criminality, dishonesty, inadequacy, and social instability. There are possibly practical implications for management, rehabilitation, and prognosis. Maximum security is not ordinarily needed since these inmates tend to be less violent than other inmates. Furthermore, they probably lack the leadership qualities to organize other inmates into major activity deleterious to prison functioning and security. It is possible that the teaching of job skills may make some of the offenders more productive members of society. In general the prognosis does not appear good because of their extensive and long standing criminal history, associated lifestyle, and personality pattern.
REFERENCES Asbury, H. (1969). Sucker's progress: An informal history of gambling in America from the colonies to Canfield. Montclair, Patterson-Smith. Blaszczynski, A. McConaghy, N., & Frankova, A. (1989). Crime, antisocial personality and pathological gambling. Journal of Gambling Behavior, 5, 137-152. Brown, R.I.F. (1987). Pathological gambling and associated patterns of crime: Comparisons with alcohol and other drug addictions. Journal of Gambling Behavior, 3, 98-114. Gibson, W.B. (1976). The bunco book (1946). Las Vegas, Gambler's Book Club. Glaser, B.G. & Strauss, A.L. (1962). The discovery of grounded theory." Strategiesfor qualitative research. New York: Aldine Publishing Company. Incuardi, J.A. (1975). Careers in crime. Chicago, Rand McNally. Lanciani, R. (1892). Gambling and cheating in ancient Rome. North am rev, 155 (No. 428):97105. Lesieur, H.R. (1979). The compulsive gambler's spiral of options and involvement. Psychiatry, 42, 79-87. Lesieur, H.R. (1987). Gambling, pathological gambling and crime. In T. Galski (ed.), The handbook of pathological gambling (pp. 89-110). Illinois: Charles C. Thomas. Lesieur, H.R., & Puig, K. (1987). Insurance problems and pathological gambling. Journal of Gambling Behavior, 3, 123-136. Livingston J. (1974). Compulsive gamblers: A culture of losers, Psychology Today, 1, 51-55. Lorenz, V. & Shuttleworth, D.E. (1983). The impact of pathological gambling on the spouse of the gambler. Journal of Community Psychology, 11, 67-76. Quinn, j.P. (1912). Gambling and gambling devices. Las Vegas, Gamblers Book Club. Raven, J.D., Court J.H., & Raven, J. (1986) Manual for Raven's Progressive Matrices and Vocabulary Scales. London: H.K. Lewis
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OF GAMBLING STUDIES
Roebuck, J.B. (1963). Negro numbers man as a criminal type: The construction and application of a typology. Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science, 54, 48-60. Snyder, Robert J. (1986): Gambling swindles and victims. Journal of Gambling Behavior, 2, 50-57. Steinmetz, A. (1969). The gaming table: Its votaries and victims, in all times and countries, especially in England and France. Montclair, Patterson-Smith Templer, D.I., Kaiser, G., & Siscoe, K. (1993). Correlates of pathological gambling propensity in prison inmates. Comprehensive Psychiaoy, 34, 347-351.
The characteristics of 28 men convicted for casino gaming offenses in Nevada were determined. Twenty-seven of these inmates cheated using slot or video poker machines. Most of the subjects used slugs. The other cheated at cards. Compared to other inmates, a disproportionate number of inmates were white. There were no black inmates incarcerated for this crime. Eighteen (57 %) of the gaming offenders were over the age of 40 when convicted, in significant comparison to 27% of the general population inmates. They had significantly more aliases than the general population inmates. None of the gaming offenders had a history of violent felony convictions. They had, however, a history of great social, marital, occupational, and financial instability in addition to a criminal life style.
The present study examines characteristics of men who have been convicted and incarcerated for casino gambling offenses in Nevada. Cheating at gambling is far from a rare and new phenomenon. As pointed out by Lesieur (1987), loaded dice and unevenly weighted coins were apparently used by the ancient Romans (Lanciani, 1892). Loaded dice were used in ancient India in addition to having been common in Austria, Bavaria, England, France, and on Mississippi
Send reprint requests to Dr. Donald I. Templer, Southern Desert Correctional Center, P.O. Box 208, Indian Springs, Nevada 89070.
Journal of GamblingStudies VoL 10(3), Fall 1994 9 1994 Human Sciences Press, Inc.
237
238
JOURNAL OF GAMBLING STUDIES
river boats (Steinmetz, 1969). In the Elizabethan era in England there was cheating that included dice, card tricks, and taking advantage of intoxicated persons (Inciardi, 1975). In the United States in the 1800's, holdout devices, marked cards, rigged dealing boxes, and shaved dice were employed (Asbury, 1969; Gibson, 1976). Apparently, there have been no previously published studies on the characteristics of casino gambling offenders. For obvious reasons, Nevada would appear to be a state that provides an above average opportunity for such research. This research was conducted in an exploratory fashion. Predictions are ordinarily unwarranted in domains that don't contain appreciable research foundation. Since this study was exploratory and in the context of sparse directly relevant literature, it was data oriented rather than theoretically driven. Perhaps the theory that best approximates the original conceptualization of the study is that of grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). In grounded theory the theory is generated on the basis of the data collected. Nevertheless, it was the intention of the present authors to look for common characteristics of these casino offense inmates with the ultimate objective of defining a "type" into which this category of inmates can be placed. Such a typology conceptualization was employed by Roebuck (1961) who described very well the characteristics of "The Negro Numbers Man."
METHOD
The research took place at Southern Desert Correctional Center which is 30 miles north of Las Vegas and processes all the felons convicted in the southern half of the state including Las Vegas. This prison averages about 1,400 male inmates and processes about 1,900 inmates a year in a prison system that contains about 5,400 male inmates. A computer printout provided the names of 28 inmates at Southern Desert Correctional Center who were convicted of Nevada Offence code 41 "Cheating at Gambling/All Gaming Offenses." The descriptive and comparison variables (primarily demographic, present crime, and criminal history) were obtained from the pre-sentence investigation reports and the medical charts. The variables that were chosen without inspection of the records on the basis of apparent possible relevance were age, ethnicity, n u m b e r of previous
DONALD I. TEMPLER, JACKIE MOTEN, AND GEORGE KAISER
239
arrests, number of previous arrests for casino gaming offenses, number of previous misdemeanor convictions, n u m b e r of previous felony convictions, nature of the present casino gambling offence, raw score and percentile on an intelligence test, the Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices (Raven, Court & Raven, 1986), and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory ( M M P I ) 13 regular scales and the MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale. There were three variables selected for comparison purposes after the records were inspected--height, number of violent felony convictions, and the n u m b e r of aliases. The authors formed the impression that the gaming offenders tended to be shorter, relatively non-violent, and to have a large n u m b e r of aliases. In order to compare number of aliases and height of the casino gambling offenders with general population inmates information was obtained from the charts of the inmates that alphabetically followed the gaming offense inmates. In order to compare the M M P I and Raven means to those of general population inmates, the scores on these tests of 136 consecutively admitted inmates used in a earlier study were employed (Templer, Kaiser & Siscoe, 1993). For the purpose of one of the analyses of the present study, the following felonies were counted as violent: robbery, assault and battery, battery on a peace officer, battery/sexual assault, mayhem, murder, rape, sexual assault, kidnap II with false imprisonment, voluntary manslaughter, conspiracy/violent crime.
RESULTS
Table 1 displays the demographic, gaming offense, and criminal history information. It is apparent from Table 1 that only one inmate had a conviction pertaining to cards. He fake shuffled and arranged the order of cards. All of the other inmates were convicted of crimes in connection with slot machines and video poker machines. Most of these crimes involved slugs. It is apparent from Table 1 that a disproportionate number of the gaming offenders were white and that blacks were under-represented. O f the 28 men, 23 (82.1%) were white, two (7.1%) Cuban, two (7.1%) Mexican, one (3.6 %) Asian, and no blacks, Native Americans, or "other" men; and in the general prison population there were 56.9 % white, 1.9% Cuban, 6.7% Mexican, 1.9% Asian, 32.9% black, 5%
Age
32 58 33 44 40 51 43 45 52 59 47 47 44 25 37 31 36 37 25 30 34 52 33 47
42 52 42 39
Inmate
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24.
25. 26. 27. 28.
White White Mexican White
White White White White Cuban White White White White White Mexican White White White White White White White Asian White White White White White
Ethnicity
Table 1
1 -2 9
2 3 8 -0 2 2 1 -3 1 2 2 1 3 1 1 1 0 7 4 6 0 4
Number Aliases
70 -71 71
67 67 70 68 69 64 68 70 71 64 70 69 64 72 72 66 73 71 63 72 71 69 67 67
Line on Coin Slugs Line on Coin Slugs False Shuffle Slugs Slugs Slugs Slugs Slugs Slugs Slugs Static Electricity Line O n Coin Slugs Slugs Slugs Slugs NicHe in 25r roach. Line O n Coin Slugs Slugs 50r in $1 mach. Poured Liquid to Scramble Machine String on 25r Slugs Slugs Slugs
H e i g h t Natureof (Inches) GamingOffense
4 4 4 4
4 4 5 4 3 6 4 3 4 4 5 2 5 3 4 3 3 4 3 6 2 4 4 3
Sentence (Years)
4 0 5
0 0 3 0 0 7 2 0 0 0 1 2 1 1 2 0 0 5 0 2 1 0 10 15 30
22 14 54 4 8 8 19 6 9 15 6 9 21 5 18 3 19 7 2 17 10 27 4 35
# Previous Arrests G a m i n g Total
7 8
3
5 2 22 3 4 12 3 1 1 4 14 2 0 0 5 2 1 6 1 4 0 18 5 4 0 3
6 3 1 2 6 1 1 1 I 3 0 0 0 3 1 1 2 1 0 2 2 4 1 1
8 7 11
-
19
8
3
3 1 4 14 5 1 1 7 3 1 8
3 5 13 4
11 7 23
# Previous Convictions Misdemeanor Felony Total
Demographic, Gaming Offense, and Criminal History Information
O
O ;~
Z 3~
c.~ O
DONALD I. TEMPLER, JACKIE MOTEN, AND GEORGE KAISER
241
Native A m e r i c a n , and .1% "other inmates" (X~ = 18.62, df = 6, p < .01). I n subset chi square there was a larger p e r c e n t a g e of white than n o n - w h i t e g a m i n g offenders (X2 = 7.36, d f = 1, p < .01); and underr e p r e s e n t a t i o n of black offenders (?(2 = 13.70, d f = 1, p < .001). It is very a p p a r e n t that these m e n were convicted of the g a m i n g crimes at an older age t h a n is ordinarily the case for prison inmates. In fact, 16 ( 5 7 . 1 % ) of the present m e n were 40 years or older at the time of their present conviction in contrast to 26.7 % for the general population inmates in this prison (X2 = 13.24, p < .001). N o n e of these 28 m e n had a prior violent felony conviction. This c o m p a r e s to 15.20 % of the general population m e n who had a previous violent felony conviction (X2 = 5.02, df = 1, p < .05). T a b l e 2 presents the means of the 13 regular scales and the M a c A n d r e w Alcoholism Scale of the M M P I for b o t h the casino gambling offense inmates and the 136 control inmates. For the 28 casino offence inmates this information was only available for 25 of the inmates. It is a p p a r e n t from T a b l e 2 that the m e a n s of the two groups are strikingly similar. T h e r e were no significant differences. T a b l e 2 also presents the m e a n Raven's raw score and percentile in the 20 inmates for w h o m this information is available and for the 136 control inmates. N o n e of the differences even a p p r o a c h e d significance~ ( T h e reason that the g a m i n g offense inmates had a somewhat lower raw score but a somewhat higher percentile than the control inmates is that percentile is based u p o n one's age group). T h e casino gambling inmates had a m e a n of 2.68 aliases and the 25 control groups m e n had a m e a n of 1.12 aliases (t = 2.74, df = 48, p < .01). H o w e v e r , the height difference was not significant. T h e casino g a m b l i n g inmates had a m e a n height of 68.93 inches and the 27 control inmates had a m e a n of 70.37 inches (t = 1.80, d f = 52, p < .10). T h e m o r e qualitatively oriented perusal of the records is consistent with the quantitative c o m p a r i s o n findings, such as n u m b e r of aliases, that point to a long history of social instability and criminality. F o r 21 of the 25 m e n with pre-sentence investigation reports, there were previous felony convictions in other states. M o s t of these convictions were in the "sunbelt" states of California, Florida, Georgia, A r i z o n a , Louisiana, a n d Texas. N o n e of the m e n were b o r n in Nevada. O n l y 4 m e n were m a r r i e d at the time of the crime, but all of these 4 m e n were separated from their wives at that time. O n e of the separated m e n had b e e n divorced once, and one had b e e n divorced 3
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242
Table 2 M M P I and R a v e n Means for G a m i n g O f f e n d e r and Control I n m a t e s
Test
Gaming Inmates
ControlInmates
M M P I (T-Score) L F K Hypochondriasis (Hs) Depression (D) Hysteria (Hy) Psychopathic Deviate (Pd) Masculinity-Feminity (Mf) Paranoia (Pa) Psychasthenia (Pt) Schizophrenia H y p o m a n i a (Ma) Social Inversion (Si) MacAndrew Alcoholism
65.25 66.13 53.96 62.67 55.54 60.88 70.79 58.75 60.88 61.13 62.83 59.42 53.42 68.00
54.36 60.01 56.20 60.96 64.14 60.16 71.85 56.71 59.68 59.79 62.06 63.07 57.26 71.03
RAVENS R a w score Percentile
41.55 65.75
43.17 60.55
times. In regard to the other 17 men, 11 were never married, 5 had been divorced once, 3 had been divorced twice, and 2 had been divorced 3 times. Most of the marriages lasted less than two years. The preponderance of the jobs held were of an unskilled sort and were of short duration. Only 3 of the men listed monetary assets. One was said to have a $600 car and $400 worth of tools. One had $380 cash, a color T . V . , and a $1,000 car. One listed $500 worth of clothes. Most of gaming offense inmates were apprehended in smaller and less known casinos.
DISCUSSION
O f the major findings, the one regarding no previous violent crimes, appears the easiest to understand. A fundamental principle of
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psychology, criminology, and law enforcement is that previous behavior predicts future behavior. Perhaps a corollary of such is that more current behavior enables us to predict earlier behavior. Non-violent criminals have a lesser probability of being found to have had previous violent crimes. Although it is not known how many of our casino cheating inmates were and were not pathological gamblers, their lengthy history of property rather than violent crimes is a pattern that is seen in pathological gamblers. Lorenz and Shuttlesworth (1983) reported that in a Gamblers Anonymous group violence to spouses and children was actually lower than in the general population. Pathological gamblers frequently engage in property crime such as burglary, faking auto accidents or burglaries for insurance purposes, con games, embezzlement, forgery, civil loan fraud, employee theft, tax fraud, and bookmaking (Lesieur, 1987; Livingston, 1974; Blaszczynski, McConagly & Frankova, 1989; Lesieur & Puig, 1987; Lesieur 1979). Lesieur (1984) reported that of the 142 crimes committed by a group of 50 pathological gamblers there were no crimes in which actual violence took place and only three crimes that were against property but with potential for violence (armed robbery). Ninety-five percent of the offenses involved burglary, theft, embezzlement, fencing, fraud and forgery. Brown (1987) found that in the United Kingdom 17.80 percent of general population criminals but only .97 percent of pathological gambling criminals were convicted of crimes against the person. The reason(s) for the relatively high percentage of middle aged men are far from clear. However, the physical decline of middle age may make it more difficult to run, and more difficult to rob (at least without a weapon). Also, it is difficult for men in their 40's and 50's to find a j o b if they have no highly marketable skills. They may not have the strength and stamina needed for hard physical labor. And their criminal record is a vocational impediment. T h e y are considered too old for j o b training and too young for social security. The short stature of some of the inmates may also limit their ability to assault or to run. The reason(s) for the salient under-representation of black gaming felons are not clear. It is possible that black men who are convicted of gambling crimes engage in different types of gambling. The description of the "Negro numbers man" by Roebuck (1963) seems to have some resemblance to that of the presently described casino gaming offenders. The numbers men tended to be older than other black
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prison inmates they were compared with. They also were less violent. However, the men described by Roebuck apparently had more wealth, charm, and sophistication than the presently described casino gaming offenders. O u r description of our casino gaming offenders as very inadequate persons might entitle them to the "short con" artist label in contrast to the "big con" men who have very large operations that often include an elegantly adorned rented home, cultivation of a confidence friendship with the victim either weeks or months before the actual crime, knowledge of the law and a big-name attorney, and an extravagant life style. The "short con" man lacks the intelligence and charm and demeanor observed in the "big con" man. His crimes typically take less than an hour and he has the attitude of "take the money and run" (Snyder, 1986). The fact that 13 (52%) of the 25 inmates with pre-sentence investigation reports had one or more previous arrests for a casino gaming offense, and 4 had 4 or more such arrests, could be viewed as suggesting some sort of "compulsive" or "neurotic" personality features. The fact that they persisted in such activities in spite of the substantial penalties in Nevada for this offense might also suggest these personality features. O n the other hand, the M M P I profiles, consisting of both the regular scales and the alcoholism scale of the gambling offenders, were almost identical with those of the general population inmates. Furthermore, in only 3 of the casino offenders was there mention in the presentence investigation report of a gambling problem. In only one was there a history of mental illness. The present authors suggest that the gaming offenses are just one part of a larger picture in which the offenders could be viewed as dishonest persons and habitual criminals with a strongly entrenched criminal life-style. The psychiatric diagnosis that probably best fits the majority of these men is that of antisocial (psychopathic) personality. Perhaps these men differ from other psychopaths in that they are inadequate persons with a paucity of assets. They are significantly older than other inmates and they tend (p < . 10) to be shorter. T h e y are "drifters" who are for the most part without money, property, job skills, or strong family ties. Caution in regard to inferences should be maintained because of a methodological consideration. Much recording and analyses were made after inspection of the charts. Cross validation was not carried
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out. However, the very high levels of significance in some of the comparisons mitigate against the possibility that our findings can be explained in terms of chance. The fact that the composite of our findings seem to reveal a meaningful pattern is also supportive of their generalizability. In conclusion, if there is a casino gaming offense "type" it could be succinctly characterized as manifesting criminality, dishonesty, inadequacy, and social instability. There are possibly practical implications for management, rehabilitation, and prognosis. Maximum security is not ordinarily needed since these inmates tend to be less violent than other inmates. Furthermore, they probably lack the leadership qualities to organize other inmates into major activity deleterious to prison functioning and security. It is possible that the teaching of job skills may make some of the offenders more productive members of society. In general the prognosis does not appear good because of their extensive and long standing criminal history, associated lifestyle, and personality pattern.
REFERENCES Asbury, H. (1969). Sucker's progress: An informal history of gambling in America from the colonies to Canfield. Montclair, Patterson-Smith. Blaszczynski, A. McConaghy, N., & Frankova, A. (1989). Crime, antisocial personality and pathological gambling. Journal of Gambling Behavior, 5, 137-152. Brown, R.I.F. (1987). Pathological gambling and associated patterns of crime: Comparisons with alcohol and other drug addictions. Journal of Gambling Behavior, 3, 98-114. Gibson, W.B. (1976). The bunco book (1946). Las Vegas, Gambler's Book Club. Glaser, B.G. & Strauss, A.L. (1962). The discovery of grounded theory." Strategiesfor qualitative research. New York: Aldine Publishing Company. Incuardi, J.A. (1975). Careers in crime. Chicago, Rand McNally. Lanciani, R. (1892). Gambling and cheating in ancient Rome. North am rev, 155 (No. 428):97105. Lesieur, H.R. (1979). The compulsive gambler's spiral of options and involvement. Psychiatry, 42, 79-87. Lesieur, H.R. (1987). Gambling, pathological gambling and crime. In T. Galski (ed.), The handbook of pathological gambling (pp. 89-110). Illinois: Charles C. Thomas. Lesieur, H.R., & Puig, K. (1987). Insurance problems and pathological gambling. Journal of Gambling Behavior, 3, 123-136. Livingston J. (1974). Compulsive gamblers: A culture of losers, Psychology Today, 1, 51-55. Lorenz, V. & Shuttleworth, D.E. (1983). The impact of pathological gambling on the spouse of the gambler. Journal of Community Psychology, 11, 67-76. Quinn, j.P. (1912). Gambling and gambling devices. Las Vegas, Gamblers Book Club. Raven, J.D., Court J.H., & Raven, J. (1986) Manual for Raven's Progressive Matrices and Vocabulary Scales. London: H.K. Lewis
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Roebuck, J.B. (1963). Negro numbers man as a criminal type: The construction and application of a typology. Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science, 54, 48-60. Snyder, Robert J. (1986): Gambling swindles and victims. Journal of Gambling Behavior, 2, 50-57. Steinmetz, A. (1969). The gaming table: Its votaries and victims, in all times and countries, especially in England and France. Montclair, Patterson-Smith Templer, D.I., Kaiser, G., & Siscoe, K. (1993). Correlates of pathological gambling propensity in prison inmates. Comprehensive Psychiaoy, 34, 347-351.
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