Critical Gambling Studies (Journal)
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122 research outputs found
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Responsibilities in gambling harm prevention and reduction: Evidence from recently regulated licensed markets
Full text linkGambling harm prevention and reduction consists of a range of upstream and downstream solutions. Responsibilities for implementing and ensuring these tasks falls across a range of actors, including policymakers, regulators, health professionals and industry. Increased harms caused by online gambling necessitate new regulatory measures, and potentially new responsibilities for their implementation. The current study uses key informant interview data (N=10) conducted in four jurisdictions that have recently introduced a license-based online gambling market (Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Ontario). Our aim was to identify what kind of responsibilities for harm prevention and reduction emerge in competitive online markets, to whom responsibility for these tasks is assigned, and what kind of barriers to harm prevention exist across responsibilities. Our analysis shows that most universal responsibilities are assigned to policy makers and regulators. Selective measures aiming at those who gamble, are largely implemented in collaboration between regulators and industry. Indicated and treatment-focused measures are the shared responsibility of treatment professionals, regulators and industry. The main barriers to effective harm prevention related to conflicting interests, industry power, lacking harm prevention resources, lacking centralisation and offshore provision. We argue that improved harm prevention would require balancing existing asymmetries that relate to power, responsibilities and prioritisations
Gambling in an Australian First Nations Community in the COVID-19 Era: The Importance of Supporting Community Responses and Responsibilizing Industry and Governments for Gambling Harms
Full text linkWe report on a collaborative qualitative study to identify gambling expenditure trajectories associated with COVID-19 restrictions on in-venue gambling for people in a regional First Nations Community in Victoria, Australia. Drawing from interviews with 20 First Nations people and seven workers, we use three people’s stories to illustrate experiences associated with: reduced gambling expenditure; little change in gambling expenditure; and increased gambling expenditure. Across each trajectory, many participants took up or increased online gambling during restrictions. The largest proportion returned to pre-COVID-19 gambling expenditure once restrictions eased. Some took the opportunity of a forced break from in-venue gambling to reassess its role in their lives, and a further small proportion spent more money on gambling after the pandemic than prior to it. We highlight the importance of Community in participants’ capacities to manage gambling during this period. Participants described the presence of Community members at in-venue gambling as limiting their spending, something that became unavailable when gambling online at home during lockdowns. Willpower was identified as most participants’ preferred means of managing gambling. This worked for some, but others noted that the ubiquity of online gambling products and ongoing effects of trauma and disadvantage stymied their efforts. As some participants insisted, the gambling industry and governments that are its beneficiaries perpetuate colonization by extracting money from First Nations peoples, with gambling harm attributed to Indigeneity rather than poverty resulting from colonization and dispossession. Thus, First Nations Communities and individuals are held responsible for problems that are largely not of their making
High Stakes in the Bazaar: Cryptocurrency Trading as a Game of Chance in Istanbul
Full text linkThis article examines cryptocurrency trading in Turkey, focusing on the ‘gamblification’ of this emerging market. Based on 18 months of ethnographic research (2021-2022) conducted during an economic crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the research reveals how Turks engaged with cryptocurrencies are considering the structural parallels between trading and gambling. The article also incorporates the perspective of Turkey\u27s Directorate for Religious Affairs (Diyanet), which has declared cryptocurrency trading impermissible, highlighting the tension between contemporary financial practices and traditional Islamic frameworks. The article links the perception of cryptocurrency trading as a modern game of chance, as articulated by research participants, to Turkey\u27s economic instability and their technological shift from traditional state-regulated games of chance (lotteries, betting on sports, and horse racing) to cryptocurrency trading. My ethnographic method brings new empirical data and qualitative analysis to understand the cultural and religious dynamics shaping this emergent financial phenomenon in the under-studied context of Turkey. I argue that cryptocurrency adoption in Turkey is driven by more than economic necessity; it reflects a cultural transformation valuing modernity and innovation. Many Turks view cryptocurrency as a viable alternative to traditional financial systems and a representation of the future of money. This shift signifies a departure from conventional monetary practices and reflects a collective idealisation of the future of finance. The article thus illuminates how Turkish individuals navigate risk and speculation during economic crises, demonstrating their adaptability in engaging with non-monetary financial markets
Addressing gambling harms among women: Leveraging lessons from the wider field of gender and health
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Characteristics and Experiences of Employees who Gamble at Work: A Mixed-Methods Study
Full text linkGiven that little is currently known about gambling in the workplace, we conducted a mixed-methods study to describe the characteristics and experiences of people who gamble at work. We administered a Canada-wide online survey (n = 2,000) of adults who 1) gamble, 2) are currently employed full-time, and 3) have internet access at work. A descriptive analysis of quantitative survey data showed that individuals who gamble at work had lower job satisfaction and higher rates of problem gambling compared to those who do not. Among those who gamble at work, we quantitatively described the types of gambling, the consequences experienced, and the motivations for gambling. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 18 individuals who met the criteria for problem gambling and who gamble at work. Data were integrated to provide a richer description of the experiences of those who gamble at work, including their motivations, the role of work–life satisfaction, and the dynamic influence of work as a social context. Motivations for workplace gambling included excitement, social connection, avoidance, and coping with stress or emotions. The results highlight the importance of understanding the varied motivations of individuals who gamble at work, and the role of work experiences in shaping meaning regarding gambling behaviours
