Socially excluded communities use gambling as coping mechanism

GambleAware has conducted a new meta-study which analyzed results from m138 previous research papers conducted by The National Center for Social Research or NatCen as the institution is known more snappily.

According to GambleAware’s latest findings, socially excluded groups tend to be more vulnerable to the pernicious effects of gambling and gambling-related harm.

Marginalized members of society seek out gambling as a coping mechanism

In fact, people who are excluded based on some criteria, such as disability, mental health challenges, a criminal past and migrants, as well as old people, could be at a higher risk of developing unhealthy behavior with gambling. The surveyed group also includes people who are homeless or are at risk of becoming homeless.

People in challenging life conditions who may be ostracized by society are far more likely, argues GambleAware, to seek gambling activities as a sort of escape, distraction, or palliative for real-life circumstances they may feel unable to change. Using gambling to cope with difficulties in life, however, is further intensified by a feeling of social exclusion or discrimination.

Gambling could be a powerful distraction with unintended consequences for vulnerable individuals, warns GambleAware, basing its surmise on extensive research into previous NatCen work.

The not-for-profit has already been working hard to address the less glamorous aspects of problem gambling, including the level of addiction among the prison population at a time when the country is facing an unprecedented crisis with the available prisoners to host people serving sentences.

The squalid and worsening conditions are only adding insult to injury pushing vulnerable individuals further over the edge and making their recovery harder.

GambleAware’s latest efforts though fall squarely on minority and ostracized members of society. The organizaiton has already invested more than £4m across 25 organizations in Great Britain to support both women and minority communities.

Commenting on the latest findings, GambleAware CEO Zoë Osmond has said that marginalized communities are already facing a number of issues in their life, including gambling harms.

"There needs to be more engagement with these communities to build awareness around the risks of gambling harm, and service providers need to ensure they can appropriately meet the needs of people in different circumstances. This is why we launched our Improving Outcomes Fund, to support organisations which are running programmes to help people from different communities," she urged.

Tipping into excessive gambling can compound inequalities

GambleAware has also called for available treatment services to make sure that they understand the challenges and the people who face them the most. Services ought to be inclusive, and tear down barriers that usually hold those most in need away.

The organization has also conducted other surveys to understand how problem gambling is addressed at the workplace, with insufficient support for individuals who suffer from gambling-related problems, although the issue is inherently tied to mental health, which workplace policies are more receptive and involved with.

The findings of the recent GambleAware study were part of a comprehensive and critical overview. People who are subject to "disproportionate marginalization," argued NatCen’s Center for Gambling Research Dr Sokratis Dinos are far more likely to seek gambling to a point where it becomes damaging, and further adding to the inequality, discrimination, stigma, and exclusion, he argued.

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