Problem gambling among adolescents: toward a social and interactionist reading

Abstract

There are two aspects that distinguish the approaches used to conceptualize problem gambling in adolescence. The first aspect concerns the type of variables involved in conceptualizing the phenomenon: most approaches integrate variables of an individual nature in their modelling and give little consideration to social type variables. The second aspect concerns the distinction between determinism and interactionism: many of the approaches seem to follow a determinist line of thinking and few consider people as social actors in interaction with their environment. Consequently, this article aims to conceptually prepare the ground for later studies that will adopt a more sociological and interactionist approach. To do so, the theoretical perspectives that are most commonly used in conceptualizing the phenomenon will be analysed by way of the two above aspects. A new analysis perspective will then be presented, namely the general theory of rationality (GTR) by Raymond Boudon. The GTR proposes a theoretical reversal to other approaches by focusing on social actors and variables of a social nature rather than on a person's psychology. In this sense, the theory adopts a viewpoint that has not been greatly employed in the analysis of adolescent problem gambling.

Keywords::

• youth gambling
• theoretical model
• sociology
• interactionism
• general theory of rationality

Notes

^1. It is important to specify that a theory can comprise many social variables in its conceptualization and still be very deterministic. In other words, deterministic theories are not solely based on individual variables. That being said, most of the gambling theories seen here are both deterministic and comprised of a preponderance of individual-related variables.

^2. The analysis of the determinism and interactionism of models is conducted by comparing the models to each other. This analysis is therefore not absolute.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Annie-Claude Savard

Annie-Claude Savard has a masters in social work and is currently completing her doctorate at the School of Social Work at Université Laval. She is also professor in the School of Social Work at Université Laval. The present study examines gambling habits in adolescents. Her research interests focus on substance abuse and gambling among adolescents and on relatives and entourage of addictive persons. This article is part of her doctoral research work and thesis. She is the lead author in charge of the research work, analysis and writing of this text.

Joël Tremblay

Joël Tremblay has a PhD in psychology and is a professor in the Department of Psychoeducation at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières. He is the scientific director of a team specializing in research and intervention in psychoactive substances (RISQ) and a researcher at the Centre de réadaptation en dépendance de Montréal – Institut universitaire sur les dependences (Montréal addiction rehabilitation centre – university institute). His teaching and research focus primarily on substance abuse and pathological gambling, and more specifically on the development and validation of measurement instruments and the effectiveness of treatment for addicted people and their circle of family and friends. He is the co-author of the Canadian Adolescent Gambling Inventory (CAGI).

Daniel Turcotte

Daniel Turcotte has a PhD in social work and is a professor in the School of Social Work at Université Laval. He is a researcher at the Centre de recherche sur l'adaptation des jeunes et des familles à risques (JEFAR, research centre for the adjustment of at-risk young people and families) and at the Centre jeunesse de Québec – Institut universitaire (Québec City youth centre – university institute). His research and teaching focus on social practices with children and adolescents, social work with groups, qualitative methods, and programme evaluation.