‘Got to gamble, but I’ve got no money.’ A qualitative analysis of gambling careers in South Italy

ABSTRACT

With its geographical differences, Italy provides an interesting case study for analysing the cultural and contextual origin of gambling-related problems. By investigating gambling careers, the study sought to scrutinize the interplay between the personal and environmental factors – including social and cultural aspects – that influence changes in gambling habits among gamblers in Naples (South Italy). The convenience sample consisted of 42 problem and recreational gamblers, male and female, aged between 23 and 71 years, with different employment status and educational level. Results clarify how Neapolitans’ gambling habits have moved towards individualization over time, how availability contributes to increasing gambling in various ways, and how employment status and concerns about money can increase the risk of gambling-related problems, thereby increasing socio-economic inequalities. Confirming previous studies, the study casts doubt on the idea that problem gambling is a chronic and progressive disease, and suggests that periods of excessive gambling can be followed by periods of regulated activity, even without turning to formal treatment. However, life events – either positive or negative – can hinder attempts to regulate gambling.

KEYWORDS:

• Gambling
• qualitative
• sociology
• employment
• environment

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Naples Local Health Agency No. 1 Addiction Unit work group for its active cooperation and productive collaboration throughout the all research phases. The group includes Luigia Cappuccio and Silvana Caruso (in charge of gambling city focal points), Chiara Cicala (MamaCoca project manager), Giuseppe Pennacchio (representative of Gesco Campania), Stefano Vecchio (Director of the Local Addiction Unit) and the interviewers Erminia Ambrosio, Anna Di Maro, Laura Koelliker and Stefania Pacca, who also coded the interviews.

Conflicts of interest

Competing interests

The authors declared no competing interests.

Constraints on publishing

The authors declared no constraints on publishing.

Notes

1. http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2014/02/daily-chart-0.

2. Source: The Data Team. (2017, 9 February). The world’s biggest gamblers. Economist. Retrieved from www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2017/02/daily-chart-4.

3. Estimates from various projects based on different indicators.

4. The website provides data on the number of AWPs (amusement with prizes) and VLTs (video lottery terminals) and on per-capita gambling expenditure at municipal level. This initiative of the GEDI publishing group uses the official AAMS data as its source.

5. The level of risk was assessed using the NORC DSM-IV Screen for Gambling Problems (NODS) .

6. Consisting of 9 items scored on a 1–4 Likert scale. http://www.giocaresponsabile.it/?fuseaction=cms&idMenu=1,18,18&titolo = VALUTAZIONE%20DEL%20RISCHIO.

7. Each quotation is followed by a code indicating: No. of the interviewee, client vs. non-client status (C/NC), gender (F, M), age and CPGI score.

8. Only one interviewee among the non-clients (5_NU_M_37, 8+) had ever sought treatment. He had attended anonymous gambling groups but claimed this had been not useful to him.

Additional information

Funding

The study was funded by the Local Addiction Unit of Naples (ASL NA1 Centro) and the GESCO consortium with the financial support of the Regione Campania.

Notes on contributors

Sara Rolando

Sara Rolando, PhD, sociologist, has been working as a social researcher at Eclectica since 2007. She achieved her doctoral degree at the University of Helsinki, Finland, with a thesis comparing youth drinking cultures in different geographies. An expert in qualitative, web-based and comparative methods, her main research interests are alcohol, gambling, drugs and other addictive behaviours, which she has been investigating from different perspectives including cultures, careers, prevention, policies.

Franca Beccaria

Franca Beccaria, PhD, is a sociologist, a partner in Eclectica, a research institute in Torino (Italy), contract professor at the EMDAS (European Master on Drug and Alcohol Studies), the Piemonte Orientale University (Novara) and at the University of Torino (Italy). Her main research interests are drinking styles and cultures, prevention, and sociology of health. Last books edited La rivoluzione del bere [The drinking revolution] (Carocci, 2016) and Alcohol and Generation: Changes in Style and Changing Styles in Italy and Finland (Carocci, 2010).