Learning to gamble in changing sociocultural contexts: experiences of Finnish casual gamblers

Abstract

This study explores how Finnish gamblers have come to learn about gambling and how they have learned to gamble responsibly in an unregulated environment. The study uses elicited written data of 40 narratives by Finnish gamblers who were born between 1922 and 1982 and were on average 57 years old at the time of recalling their experiences. The study adds a new data type to gambling studies, and complements it with historical photographs and the authors' auto-ethnographic observations. The qualitative findings expand knowledge about the role of gender and generation in learning gambling and the relationship between learning gambling, self-determination and identity-related rituals. The results confirm previous findings about learning gambling in the UK, but challenge them with new evidence about the role of the state, the media and national gambling monopoly operators in teaching people how to gamble. The findings demonstrate the value of historical retrospective data; the method of triangulation; and contextualized understanding of learning, socialization and meaning in the study of inherently subjective human behaviour. The approach enhances control over subjectivity in qualitative gambling studies. The conclusions promote a holistic approach to policy evaluation and raise critical questions about harm management.

Keywords:

• adolescence
• qualitative
• learning theory
• regulation
• Finland

Acknowledgements

We thank Juha Nirkko of the Finnish Literature Society SKS, Petri Stenius of the archives of Veikkaus Ltd, and Sakari Saaritsa for their help with the data. We are grateful to Matias Karekallas, Taina Renkonen and the anonymous referees for feedback.

Funding

The research was funded by the Finnish Foundation for Gaming Research. A draft of this manuscript was presented at the 15th International Conference on Gambling and Risk Taking in Las Vegas, NV, in May 2013.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Riitta Matilainen

Riitta Matilainen is a PhD candidate in economic and social history at the University of Helsinki. She contributed to this manuscript as a project researcher at the Finnish Foundation for Gaming Research. Her research about gambling focuses on the history of gambling in Finland and the Nordic countries.

Pauliina Raento

Pauliina Raento is Professor of Human Geography at the University of Helsinki and former Research Director at the Finnish Foundation for Gaming Research (2008–2013). Her research about gambling focuses on space, culture, visual methodologies, Finland and the American West.