Psychology students, professor paper to be published
Four Ohio Northern University students and professor Keith Durkin presented the paper, "When Good Times Go Bad: The Differential Impact of Risk and Protective Factors on the Alcohol-Related Problems of a Sample of University Students," at the Mid-South Sociological Association in Huntsville, Ala.
A revised version of the paper is scheduled for publication in a forthcoming special issue of the "Journal of Offender Rehabilitation," which deals with alcohol and criminal behavior. The four psychology seniors who authored the paper were Amber Blackston, from Lima, Ohio; Sabrina Dowd, from Mount Juliet, Tenn.; Shalagh Frantz, from North Canton, Ohio; and Trevor Eagle from Maumee, Ohio.
"The paper is significant because there have been relatively few efforts to explain why some young people experience alcohol-related problems, such as personal, medical and legal consequences to drinking, while others do not (even if they drink)," Durkin said.
The paper was a joint collaboration between Durkin and the students, who used a large data set, approximately 1,500 students from several universities, to test theoretical predications. The students were responsible for helping with the literature review and data analysis, as well as writing certain parts of the manuscript.
Durkin, associate professor of sociology and chair of the ONU Department of Sociology, also delivered the presidential address, "There Must be Some Kind of Misunderstanding. There Must be Some Kind of Mistake: The Deviance Disavowal Strategies of Men Arrested in Internet Sex Stings." The speech, which has been accepted for publication in an upcoming issue of "Sociological Spectrum," dealt with the findings from Durkin's ongoing research on behaviors and attitudes of Internet sex predators.