Chapter 2 - The Scope of Social and Problem Gambling

Abstract

This chapter deals with the scope of social and problem gambling. Today gambling represents an enormous recreational growth industry. For the majority of people gambling represents entertainment, excitement, and pleasant distraction from the vagaries of daily existence. Problem gambling can only be understood in the context of various gambling cultures. Awareness of the facts about gambling behavior can help clinicians in three ways: (1) distinguishing social or recreational gambling from problem gambling, (2) understanding the social climate of recreational gambling provides useful information about the environments that problem gamblers need to cope with, if they are to maintain recovery, (3) awareness of the political conflicts that gambling growth causes in the culture may assist clinicians in avoiding needless disputes, yet make informed judgments about any number of thorny questions. The chapter examines the nature and extent of problem gambling through population surveys. It describes clinical studies of gamblers in treatment to derive a common profile that therapists can recognize. It also examines issues related to risk management, particularly the troublesome concern over suicide and parasuicide. Lifetime problem gambling rates range from 1.5 to 3.7%. Current problem gambling rates are 0.7 to 2.0%. After looking at this, numbers speak about a condition that affects a considerable number of people directly. The chapter concludes that the national gambling impact study commission (NGISC) recommended that governments take a step back from the rapid proliferation of gambling in their jurisdictions and purposely slow it down. It suggested that governments put more work into assessing the full impact of gambling on citizens.