Session Title

Session 2-4-A: Harms and Social Issues

Presentation Type

Event

Location

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada

Start Date

29-5-2019 3:30 PM

End Date

29-5-2019 4:55 PM

Disciplines

Criminology | Sociology

Abstract

Problem gamblers are at-risk of committing non-violent property crimes to fund their gambling. Not just problem gamblers, but gamblers more broadly may experience gambling-related harm. The presentation outlines the background and results of a first wave data (n=7186) of the longitudinal Gambling Harms survey. In 2016, 0.9 percent of the respondent had experienced at least one social deviance harm, such as feeling outcast from religious or cultural community. Based on the survey, 0.2% had committed a crime due to their gambling.

The aim of the study is to explore gambling-related harm as well as criminal charges based on criminal records. It focuses particularly on social deviance harm subcategory of the Harms Checklist. In addition, the survey data of adult gamblers will be combined with national registers by Statistics Finland in January 2019. Therefore, it also explores whether gambling severity, measured using the Problem and Pathological Gambling Measure (PPGM), is associated with income-generating crime like frauds and embezzlements, rather than other types of crime. The data is analyzed using logistic regression. Further results of the study including the prevalence rate, and the relationship between register-based recorded criminal activity of all respondents, different social deviance harms and gambling severity will be presented.

Implications for crime prevention, harm reduction and for policy makers as well as for further research will be discussed at the conference, particularly from the perspective of socioeconomically vulnerable subgroups.

Keywords

gambling, crime, problem gambling, survey, register data

Author Bios

Kalle Lind, MSSc, is currently working as a researcher at the National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland. He is also completing his PhD studies (sociology) at the School of Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of Tampere, focusing on gambling-related crime reported to the police in Finland. In addition, he has been studying gambling and crime among prisoners and support program participants. His research interests include gambling, crime, addiction, and treatment development, which he approaches using both qualitative and quantitative methods.

Funding Sources

This research was funded by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Helsinki, Finland (section 52 of the Appropriation of the Lotteries Act). However, the Ministry had no role in the study design, analysis, or interpretation of the results nor in any phase of the publication process.

Competing Interests

None

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May 29th, 3:30 PM May 29th, 4:55 PM

Gambling-related harm and criminal activity - combining population-based Finnish Gambling Harms survey with register data

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada

Problem gamblers are at-risk of committing non-violent property crimes to fund their gambling. Not just problem gamblers, but gamblers more broadly may experience gambling-related harm. The presentation outlines the background and results of a first wave data (n=7186) of the longitudinal Gambling Harms survey. In 2016, 0.9 percent of the respondent had experienced at least one social deviance harm, such as feeling outcast from religious or cultural community. Based on the survey, 0.2% had committed a crime due to their gambling.

The aim of the study is to explore gambling-related harm as well as criminal charges based on criminal records. It focuses particularly on social deviance harm subcategory of the Harms Checklist. In addition, the survey data of adult gamblers will be combined with national registers by Statistics Finland in January 2019. Therefore, it also explores whether gambling severity, measured using the Problem and Pathological Gambling Measure (PPGM), is associated with income-generating crime like frauds and embezzlements, rather than other types of crime. The data is analyzed using logistic regression. Further results of the study including the prevalence rate, and the relationship between register-based recorded criminal activity of all respondents, different social deviance harms and gambling severity will be presented.

Implications for crime prevention, harm reduction and for policy makers as well as for further research will be discussed at the conference, particularly from the perspective of socioeconomically vulnerable subgroups.