The aim of this new section of the Harm Reduction Journal is to present findings on harm reduction strategies and measures related to gambling. This section draws a wide perspective on gambling harm affecting the individual, concerned significant others, communities, and the societies that encompass them. It is not limited to Gambling Disorder, but considers the adverse consequences of gambling and its provision in all its dimensions.
Gambling has deep cultural roots in many societies and there are numerous examples of different regulatory regimes, both historical and modern, designed to prevent and reduce its resulting harms. Yet, with the digitalization and globalization of the gambling supply, gambling harm prevention and reduction strategies are in need of refitting.
We consider gambling to include any gamified activity, where something of worth is staked on an outcome that cannot be known beforehand. This includes games like poker, where an element of skill can have an effect on the outcome, and sports betting where a participants wager on contests of skill. With the convergence of gambling and gaming, the field of gambling harm has increased. Elements of gambling are involved in digital games, such as loot boxes, and game-like elements have become part of land-based and online electronic gambling.
Gambling harm reduction strategies can be implemented in various ways and are dependent on multiple individual and contextual factors. They can be categorized into individualized measures that support the individual gamblers to limit their gambling, and environmental strategies establishing conditions, where gambling is a less tempting option from the very start. Considering the devastating consequences that significant others of problem gamblers have to carry, they must also be considered in harm reduction measures.
Adhering to our encompassing understanding of gambling harm, harm reduction must also consider wider public health burdens of gambling. Thus, harm reduction is also an issue that needs to consider the use of the gambling profits by public actors, as well as the involvement of organized crime in gambling operations and sports betting. The confluence of the maturation of legal gambling markets in many countries resulted in improved data access. Sophisticated and varied analysis techniques and approaches have been developed in recent years in the gambling field. In addition, the growing concern of the public health implications of widespread gambling market expansion makes now a crucial time to establish a clear picture of the gambling harm reduction landscape. We hope you will join us in accomplishing this important task.
We invite submissions around but not limited to the following themes:
- The applicability of a public health approach in gambling harm reduction.
- The use of digital tools to reduce individual gambling harm.
- Low risk gambling strategies and limits.
- Gambling harm reduction strategies in the health and social services.
- Harm reduction policies and strategies considering concerned significant others.
- Gambling regulations and policies deterring game manipulation and the involvement of organized crime in the operation of gambling.
- The influence of the gambling industry on gambling research.
- Harm reduction with a focus on indigenous and minority groups.
This section does not accept research funded directly by the private gambling industry.