Club and Gaming
BX2041
RESEARCHED ESSAY
BY: CLINTON OSTANTA JUANLIE
12657622
Discuss some ways in which governments and gambling operators might minimise harm from gambling-related problems.
Gambling, often described as a simple form of entertainment, has become uncontrollable behavior to many people. Pathological gamblers, gambling addicts, or compulsive gamblers are terms used to describe a person who considers gambling more than a diversion. The terms pathological, addictive and compulsive gambling describe the condition as a mental disorder, reflected in its inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) of the American Psychiatric Association since 1980. This view was nurtured by a psychoanalytic approach to explaining gambling behaviour, gaining favour from the 1920s (Walker 1996:223-224). It typically viewed the condition as an illness, where the person is driven by an overwhelming, uncontrollable urge to gamble (Custer 1977). One important reason is the rapid expansion of legal gambling. This expansion has led many people who have never before gambled to try this activity. Today, gambling is as socially acceptable as a night out at the movies and as common as football match. While most people gamble for recreation and suffer no ill effects, the number of problem gamblers has flourished as the industry has grown. Both families and communities feel the economic and societal effect of gambling.
Gambling is a behavior, which causes disruptions in all areas of life: psychological, physical, and social. It has and element of addiction similar to that of drug and alcohol addiction, controlling the impulse. The gambler slowly loses control over the impulse to gamble and becomes a problem gambler.
Responsible gambling programs have been initiated by some gambling operators in some jurisdictions. However, these have attracted criticism for their passive approach that places the onus on individual gamblers to recognise and act on a
RESEARCHED ESSAY
BY: CLINTON OSTANTA JUANLIE
12657622
Discuss some ways in which governments and gambling operators might minimise harm from gambling-related problems.
Gambling, often described as a simple form of entertainment, has become uncontrollable behavior to many people. Pathological gamblers, gambling addicts, or compulsive gamblers are terms used to describe a person who considers gambling more than a diversion. The terms pathological, addictive and compulsive gambling describe the condition as a mental disorder, reflected in its inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) of the American Psychiatric Association since 1980. This view was nurtured by a psychoanalytic approach to explaining gambling behaviour, gaining favour from the 1920s (Walker 1996:223-224). It typically viewed the condition as an illness, where the person is driven by an overwhelming, uncontrollable urge to gamble (Custer 1977). One important reason is the rapid expansion of legal gambling. This expansion has led many people who have never before gambled to try this activity. Today, gambling is as socially acceptable as a night out at the movies and as common as football match. While most people gamble for recreation and suffer no ill effects, the number of problem gamblers has flourished as the industry has grown. Both families and communities feel the economic and societal effect of gambling.
Gambling is a behavior, which causes disruptions in all areas of life: psychological, physical, and social. It has and element of addiction similar to that of drug and alcohol addiction, controlling the impulse. The gambler slowly loses control over the impulse to gamble and becomes a problem gambler.
Responsible gambling programs have been initiated by some gambling operators in some jurisdictions. However, these have attracted criticism for their passive approach that places the onus on individual gamblers to recognise and act on a