Betting Their Lives: The Close Relations of Problem Gamblers
There are now more ways than ever to gamble-casinos, corner stores, the Internet-and as a result, there are also ever more "problem gamblers," individuals who gamble Compulsively to their own detriment. While gambling is promoted as fun and glamorous, the reality is usually very different. Studies suggest that some 1 in 50 adults, or roughtly 480,000 Canadians, have a gambling problem. So it is time to take a new and careful look at how gambling affects the lives of all these people.\ Problem...
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There are now more ways than ever to gamble-casinos, corner stores, the internet-and as a result, there are also ever more "problem gamblers," individuals who gamble compulsively to their own detriment. While gambling is promoted as fun and glamorous, the reality is usually very different. Studies suggest that some 1 in 50 adults, or roughly 480,000 Canadians, have a gambling problem. So it is time to take a new and careful look at how gambling affects the lives of all these people.Problem gambling has traditionally been seen as an individual issue: it's your problem, you deal with it. But this new book, the only study of its kind, takes an innovative sociological approach, considering problem gambling as a public health issue (it has social causes and significant health outcomes). Betting Their Lives is based on first-hand interviews that take us right into the lives of a selection of problem gamblers; we see how gambling is influenced by, and in turn influences, relationships with intimate partners - husbands, wives, children. Based on important new research by outstanding Canadian sociologist Lorne Tepperman, this book looks into the personal relationships of problem gamblers, and comes out with some surprising results. It provides a superb discussion of expert opinion on the subject, includes first-hand narratives of those who have suffered from gambling addictions, and brings essential new explanatory concepts to the issue.While more research is required into this growing problem, Betting Their Lives introduces a new and urgently needed understanding of problem gambling.
I Problem Gambling1 Introduction 32 Groups, Families, and Gambling: A Sociological Approach 193 The Research Project 52II Gambling and Family Problems4 Gamblers and Gambling Practices 715 Gambling Beliefs of Respondents 896 The Downward Spiral of Gambling 1137 Worsening Family Relations 1348 Lack of Spouse Awareness 1589 Weak Couple Embeddedness 18510 Inability to Promote Treatment and Change 21011 Ability to Promote Treatment and Change 236III Future Directions12 What Have We Learned? 26513 Recommendations for Treatment, Policy, and Research 28614 Regulation Theory: A Statement and Proposed Tests 313Works Cited 321Index 340
