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The effects of gambling on society
The effects of gambling on society
The effects of gambling on society
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Addiction according to the American Psychological Association is a condition in which the body must have a substance or perform a certain activity to avoid psychological or physical withdrawal symptoms (APA). There are two subtypes to addiction; the first type is the digestive addiction which mainly is related to alcohol, drugs food. The second type of addiction is activity addiction which concerns work, shopping, sex, exercise etc. Gambling is one of the activity addiction subtypes. (S. A. Jaoude) “Gambling in various forms has been around throughout recorded history” (H. Vacek, 2011). Gambling was a regulated in China, Rome, Jewish Talmud and Buddhism. Heavy gamblers could be sentenced to slavery in the quarries. The first gambling game was of marked sticks and other objects to interpret the outcome which back in the day was the intention of the Gods. Even the word dice is derived from the Greek work “dike” which means “to throw”. Sociologists consider gambling to be a deviant act but what is deviant or not to the widespread people varies. Nonetheless, this illusion isn’t right as it may cause a lot of problems on many levels such as financial setbacks, household difficulties and psychological problems.
Gambling as we all know isn’t always a game that can be won; the odds are always against you which mean that some people may fall into serious financial problems getting into heavy gambling. Gambling could cause many financial setbacks such as falling into debts, bankruptcy and unemployment. A sample of 1,612 adolescents from nine different high schools in the region of Québec city took a questionnaire developed by Lesieur and Klein (1987) concerning their gambling experiences. The study shows significant numbers of students wh...
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...mes more likely to get a divorce or get separated (Tark, 2008).
To conclude, gambling as one of the most ancient activities of time is a very precarious undertaking. Heavy gambling may lead to many problems such as financial problems, family and psychological dysfunction. Gamblers loan money from family members and friends, and can reach to a point of bankruptcy and unemployment. Gamblers also suffer from family problems because of their inability to be honest with their families and keep a close relationship with them. Finally we can say that gamblers suffer not only from the gambling addiction but from other psychological deficiencies such as depression, aggression and substance abuse which leads to domestic violence and a probability of a divorce. Gambling is an activity any adult can participate in; gambling should be strictly prohibited all over the world.
Addiction is something that may seem inevitable, but at the end it’s entirely the fault of a person who is addicted. In the article, “the power of habit” by Charles Duhigg, it states how Angie Bachmann became addicted to gambling and how it was entirely her fault because she kept accepting the offers from casinos and many other reasons. Both the casino and Angie knew what they were doing by Angie letting herself get into the situation and the casino encouraging it. She started out as a well-settled housewife. When everybody left the house, she ended up all alone without having much to do. Because of this, one day, as she was passing through the streets, she decided to visit a casino for a change. “She knew gambling could lead to trouble, so
Expanding gambling can increase gambling addiction. Compulsive gambling addiction is a social issue that is related to gambling. In the past, compulsive gambling was thought of as an issue or behavior for adults. However, “today’s youth are the first generation to grow up in a society where gambling is legal, easily accessible, and in most cases government supported” (Monaghan & Derevensky 537). Gambling is often advertised in the media as a quick and easy way to “get rich” and is rarely seen
Gambling is very risk and will impact on finance, family, health and job. Firstly family risk, ”spend more time gambling or think about gambling and it can be difficult to maintain a normal life, this creates stress and ha...
Addiction is something that may seem inevitable but at the end it’s entirely the fault of a person who is addicted. In the article by Charles Duhigg ‘the power of habit’ Angie Bachmann got addicted to gambling, it was because of her fault as she kept accepting the offers from cassino and many other reasons.. Both knew what they were doing but still Angie let herself get into the situation, and the casino encouraged it. She was a well settled housewife, when everybody used to leave the house she was all alone. One fine day, while passing through the street she took a visit to casino just for a change.
Gambling... Who does not like to gamble? People play lotteries, bet on sport games or try their luck on slot machines with a thought to win some amount of money. In fact, this excitement for gambling can be seen even from early ages; for example, ancient Egyptians used to play dice in 2000 BC or the first casinos opened their doors to customers during the Greeco-Roman period ( Whittaker and Cushman 1 ). Nowadays casino industry is a large business in the United States that brings high revenues and offers various entertainment that attracts people from different areas. So just recently residents and visitors of Worcester, Wicomico and surrounding counties got a great opportunity to try themselves in a new Ocean Downs casino that came into operation couple months ago. Ocean Downs casino is an excellent benefit to the community that helps to improve the economic and social status of the county and also serves as a great entertainment for the adult population.
Compulsive gambling is considered to be a type of impulse-control disorder. Even when the addict is aware that their addiction is negatively affecting their life, they cannot stop the impulse to gamble regardless of the consequences. The mental health community distinguishes between problem gambling and gambling addiction. Problem gambling is any gambling behavior that affects your life. Gambling addiction is where the person is unable to resist the impulse to gamble. The must gamble regardless of the consequences. A common myth is that problem gamblers have to gamble every day. When in reality it can be either frequent or infrequent. It is normally cyclic. Where there are periods of gambling, followed by rest periods and then back to gambling. People can go for months without gambling and still be considered to have a gambling addiction (Saison).
“Problem gambling, also known as gambling addiction or compulsive gambling, is defined as the urge to gamble despite harmful negative consequences or a desire to stop” (Northstar Problem Gambling Alliance 2015). Karen Frazier states, nearly 3 percent or 6 million adults and 500,000 teens meet the criteria for problem gambling (Frazier, 2015). Legalized Gambling has many positive aspects, and it should be noted that though a large number of citizens are considered “problem gamblers,” the majority of the population gambles causally and in moderation.
Gambling has been around since 2300 B.C. It has its positive and negative effects; it also has somewhat of a positive impact on the economy. It stimulates most communities by creating jobs and generates tax revenue for state and local governments. The gambling industry in “2002 and the commercial casino industry provided 350,000 jobs in the United States” (americangaming.org). Even though gambling can bring a lot of economic growth to the economy there is still an argument going on today whether it is a great choice to legalize it everywhere.
The adrenaline-rushing feeling of gambling offers people the idea that opportunity lies within their hands. Unfortunately, there are far too many consequences to gambling to even begin to count. To win you must play, and to win big you must play big. As more gamblers can recall their losses rather than their winnings, gamblers are often dealt with poor hands and must play the risky game to stay alive. Even though gambling has so many faults, some still fall under its corruptions because of gambling’s deceiving fallacies.
6). Depression can lead to suicidal thoughts or actions, especially after losing an excessive amount of money at a casino. According to Hjelmeland, a middle-aged mother overdosed on antidepressants after a big financial loss. He states, “ . . . the number of problem gamblers range from only one to three percent of all adult Americans, but for the people affected and their families compulsive gambling is unquestionably a serious problem.” (78) Not only does it cause internal personal issues, it affects those around the gambler as
‘’Problem gambling is characterized by difficulties in limiting money and or time spent on gambling, which leads to adverse consequences for the gambler, others or for community’’. An estimated 2.5 per cent of Australians experience moderate to severe problems caused by gambling This means that up to 5 million Australians feel the health, social and financial impacts of problem gambling, including friends, families and employers of people with a gambling problem. (Productivity Commission, (2009). Gambling: Issues Paper. Commonwealth of Australia: Canberra)
As previously mentioned, the issue at the center of the controversy or debate is morality or ethics. Morality or ethics has been at the heart of controversies regarding gambling because some people consider it as unethical. The consideration of gambling as an immoral act is largely attributed to religious beliefs and stigma of obtaining money relatively for nothing. Moreover, the ethical dilemmas and concerns associated with gambling is brought by the emergence of problem gamblers who account for nearly 2.1 percent of total number of gamblers (Kannon, 2012). Therefore, ethical concerns and dilemmas in gambling are fueled by the inherently sinful attitude about the activities, which generate a classical ethical problem from an individual level
It creates a class of addicts driven to compulsive gambling. A negative effect on the physical aspect can include getting physically violent which can cause one to harm innocent people. This can happen if a person keeps losing and runs out of money. When one gets addicted in placing bets, one starts to prioritize bets over his/her family and over his/her needs. Winning also has its disadvantages. When one wins, they can start to lose control of the cash and continue to spending. To be brief, if one gambles, one continually ends up a loser.
Gambling addiction is an issue found in numerous areas where gambling is legal. People who are addicted to gambling, also know as problem gamblers, face many health risks including depression, suicidal thoughts, loss of sleep, loss of appetite, migraine and anxiety in addition to marriage breakdown, problems at work and bankruptcy (9). About 2 percent of adults are thought to be problem gamblers (1). In today’s society this costly addiction is not often considered to be a common problem among those who gamble. Only a small amount of states in the U.S. give enough attention toward this rising problem of people that are sometimes even willing to commit crimes just to aid their addiction. In the past our government has sought out a few solutions that help those who have developed an addiction and prevent a further increase in the number of people becoming addicted. Personally, my outlook on the problem is that it needs a better solution. I think that a higher funding to gambling addiction clinics, more ordinance and restriction laws, and more prevention and awareness programs should bee brought into consideration in order to lower the amount of people who become addict to gambling.
Gambling is an addiction that draws the attention of many individuals. Gambling offers individuals the idea that if they put more money down, they will win more money. This is a continuous cycle which never fails to stop but can be extremely detrimental to an individual and their families socially, financially and mentally. Gambling problems develop and worsen over time, similar to alcohol and other drugs. According to Dunstan (1997), there are five stages of gambling. The stages of gambling range from mild to severe, which can be a threat to both the gambler and their family. The five stages of gambling are non-gamblers, casual/social gamblers, at risk gamblers, problem gamblers and pathological gamblers. Depending on the individual and how mild or severe their p...