Gambling's Normalization Across 50 Years

Session Title

Session 3-1-C: Past, Present, and Future Issues in Gambling Policy

Presentation Type

Event

Location

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada

Start Date

30-5-2019 9:00 AM

End Date

30-5-2019 10:25 AM

Disciplines

Criminology | Politics and Social Change | Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance

Abstract

This presentation continues a sociolegal assessment of gambling – particularly sports gambling in 2019 –compared to other forms of morally contested activities in the United States. This is a project that I have revisited in various forms in research and publications over five decades, as the normalization of gambling as a legal, socially acceptable, and profitable social good has proceeded in American social and legal discourse. This presentation presents a snapshot of the current consideration, as states consider legal sports gambling (the long-missing element of legalized gambling in America) at a time of drug legalization, same-sex marriage, and continued contestation over reproductive rights.

Keywords

gambling morality government contestation normalization frames

Author Bios

John Dombrink is a professor in the Department of Criminology, Law & Society at the University of California, Irvine. With William N. Thompson, he is the co-author of The Last Resort: Success and Failure in Campaigns for Casinos (Nevada, 1990). He has written several articles on gambling,, and compared gambling to other morally contested activities in Sin No More: From Abortion to Stem Cells, Understanding Crime, Law, and Morality in America (with Daniel Hillyard, NYU 2007). He is working on a book manuscript extending this analysis to the present time.

Funding Sources

n/a

Competing Interests

I have no financial interests related to this project.

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May 30th, 9:00 AM May 30th, 10:25 AM

Gambling's Normalization Across 50 Years

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada

This presentation continues a sociolegal assessment of gambling – particularly sports gambling in 2019 –compared to other forms of morally contested activities in the United States. This is a project that I have revisited in various forms in research and publications over five decades, as the normalization of gambling as a legal, socially acceptable, and profitable social good has proceeded in American social and legal discourse. This presentation presents a snapshot of the current consideration, as states consider legal sports gambling (the long-missing element of legalized gambling in America) at a time of drug legalization, same-sex marriage, and continued contestation over reproductive rights.