This book explores the manifold actual, possible and probable interconnections between gambling and crime in the context of the increased availability of wagering activities across many regions of the world. It examines the impact of the proliferation and propinquity of land-based betting establishments on crime, the role of organised crime in the provision of both licit and illicit forms of gambling, as well as problem gambling, crime and the administration of criminal justice. It also assesses the links between gambling, sport and corruption and the dimensions of crime that takes place in and around internet gambling sites. A thought-provoking study, this will be of particular interest to scholars in the fields of sociology, criminology and social policy.
This one-volume reference provides a comprehensive overview of gambling in the Americas, examining the history, morality, market growth, and economics of the gaming industry. This is the most complete encyclopedia of gambling, covering the industry in great detail including the players, the games, the venues, and the surrounding social issues. Updates in this second edition reveal the impact of technological advances on the games, the growing legislation regulating the industry, and the expanding global footprint of gambling across the world—from Manitoba to Montana. Author William N. Thompson postulates on the impact of gambling on local communities and shows how the U.S. gaming industry is tied to the global market, most notably gaming expansion in Macau and Singapore. The book addresses the various forms of gaming, such as casino-based and online gambling, sports betting, and lotteries. Additional content examines the social issue of problem and pathological gambling and addresses the rehabilitation programs available for the mitigation and treatment of gambling problems.
This handbook explores organized crime, which it divides into two main concepts and types: the first is a set of stable organizations illegal per se or whose members systematically engage in crime, and the second is a set of serious criminal activities that are typically carried out for monetary gain.
Part of a series examining the history of crime and justice in America, this volume looks at the development of vice. The contributors assess the prohibition years, the geography of urban sex, the growth of gambling and the structure of intercity criminal activity.
As states have moved from merely tolerating gambling to running their own games, as communities have increasingly turned to gambling for an economic boost, important questions arise. Has the new age of gambling increased the proportion of pathological or problem gamblers in the U.S. population? Where is the threshold between "social betting" and pathology? Is there a real threat to our families, communities, and the larger society? Pathological Gambling explores America's experience of gambling, examining: The diverse and frequently controversial issues surrounding the definition of pathological gambling. Its co-occurrence with disorders such as alcoholism, drug abuse, and depression. Its social characteristics and economic consequences, both good and bad, for communities. The role of video gaming, Internet gambling, and other technologies in the development of gambling problems. Treatment approaches and their effectiveness, from Gambler's Anonymous to cognitive therapy to pharmacology. This book provides the most up-to-date information available on the prevalence of pathological and problem gambling in the United States, including a look at populations that may have a particular vulnerability to gambling: women, adolescents, and minority populations. Its describes the effects of problem gambling on families, friendships, employment, finances, and propensity to crime. How do pathological gamblers perceive and misperceive randomness and chance? What are the causal pathways to pathological gambling? What do genetics, brain imaging, and other studies tell us about the biology of gambling? Is there a bit of sensation-seeking in all of us? Who needs treatment? What do we know about the effectiveness of different policies for dealing with pathological gambling? The book reviews the available facts and frames the intriguing questions yet to be answered. Pathological Gambling will be the odds-on favorite for anyone interested in gambling in America: policymakers, public officials, economics and social researchers, treatment professionals, and concerned gamblers and their families.
Gambling and Speculation takes the long, historic perspective of its controversial subject. The book offers not only a better understanding of the recent "gambling craze," but also a fundamental inquiry into human nature and the structure of societies. The Brenners argue that the negative image of gamblers and of speculators stems from prejudice, whose roots are in the distant, forgotten past. Legal scholars have frequently confused gambling with speculation and the anti-gambling laws were, at times, erroneously interpreted as implying the prohibitions of contracts in futures and insurance markets. One consequence of all this confusion was that during this century both in the United States and England, the legislation and law on betting and gambling became ambiguous. The authors touch on this issue and make policy recommendations: to abolish restrictions on the industry, diminish the states' role in selling lotteries, and, at the same time, make legal distinctions capable of helping the tiny percentage of players who might be "addicted." The Brenners' recommendations on gambling are based on their conclusion that gamblers are neither "mentally ill" nor "criminals" and that gambling does not lead its practitioners to poverty. Rather, it is the other way around: some of the poor and the frustrated gamble. Looking at gambling in this way leads to questions about the nature of society: What do the fortunate do for those who are not? What is society's obligation to people who fall behind in the game of life? Answers to these questions require a discussion on the principles of equality, capitalism, the role of religious influence on society, topics that the Brenners have discussed in their previous studies, and they do so here too, putting gambling within its proper, historical context.
Offering the first empirically driven assessment of the development, marketisation, regulation and use of online gambling organisations and their products, this book explores the relationship between online gambling and crime. It draws upon quantitative and qualitative data, including textual and visual analyses of e-gambling advertising and the records of player-protection and standards organisations, together with a virtual ethnography of online gambling subcultures, to examine the ways in which gambling and crime have been approached in practice by gamers, regulatory agencies and online gambling organisations. Building upon contemporary criminological theory, it develops an understanding of online gambling as an arena in which risks and rewards are carefully constructed and through which players navigate, employing their own agency to engage with the very real possibility of victimisation. With attention to the manner in which online gambling can be a source of criminal activity, not only on the part of players, but also criminal entrepreneurs and legitimate gambling businesses, Online Gambling and Crime discusses developments in criminal law and regulatory frameworks, evaluating past and present policy on online gambling. A rich examination of the prevalence, incidence and experience of a range of criminal activities linked to gambling on the Internet, this book will appeal to scholars and policy makers in the fields of sociology and criminology, law, the study of culture and subculture, risk, health studies and social policy.
