Beginning gambling: The role of social networks and environment

Abstract

This article reports findings from the first phase of a longitudinal, qualitative study based on a cohort of 50 gamblers. The overall study is designed to explore the development of ‘gambling careers’. Within it, this first phase of analysis examines the ways that individuals begin gambling, focusing on the role of social relationships and environmental context in this process. Drawing on theories of social learning and cultural capital, we argue that gambling is a fundamentally social behaviour that is embedded in specific environmental and cultural settings. Our findings reveal the importance of social networks, such as family, friends and colleagues, as well as geographical-cultural environment, social class, age and gender, in the initiation of gambling behaviour. They also suggest that those who begin gambling at an early age within family networks are more likely to develop problems than those who begin later, amongst friends and colleagues. However, we caution against simplistic interpretations, as a variety of inter-dependent social factors interact in complex ways here.

• Gambling
• qualitative sociology
• social learning
• cultural capital
• social networks
• environment

Notes

Notes

1. This was developed in the late 1990s for the National Gambling Impact Study Commission primarily for use in large scale surveys. It is based closely on the DSM-IV screen and had been used in prevalence studies, mainly in the United States (Gerstein et al., 1999). We used the NODS-CLiP to recruit our sample, and among those participants who were selected to take part in the study, the full NODS screen was administered. This allowed us to classify players into problem and non-problem groups.

2. Social class was measured using the NRS Social Grades. They were originally developed over 50 years ago for the National Readership Survey but are now widely used across the United Kingdom. http://www.nrs.co.uk/lifestyle.html

3. Despite being small in number, most of our respondents from an ethic background tended to have their first experience of gambling out with the family.