For more than 25 years, the casino lobby has told the American people that casinos are the engine to help Native American tribes prosper. Now The Economist, the world’s leading international magazine, spotlights how casinos have actually made tribal members poorer.
2015 How cash from casinos makes Native Americans poorer
Researchers at St. Michael’s Hospital found evidence that link pathological gambling to an increased likelihood of homelessness.
2014 Gambling addictions are nine times more likely among homeless
This study commissioned by the British Columbia Lottery Corporation shows a link between a parent’s gambling activity and their child’s attitude toward and participation in gambling.
“Youth who report that their parents have gambled in the past year have a significantly higher participation in various gambling activities than youth who report that their parents have not gambled in the past 12 months,” the paper stated.
An addictions psychiatrist Shao-Hua Lu says the expansion of casinos increases the risk of children becoming gamblers later on in life. According to Lu, the likelihood of a person developing a gambling problem as an adult is directly related to their parents’ gambling habits. “It’s no different from how increasing smoking exposure increases subsequent likelihood of smoking addiction.”
A research team at the University of Waterloo has done extensive studies of the psychology of gambling including the manipulation of music and sound effects to create the sensation that a user won even though they actually lost their money on the spin.
This article from The Baltimore Sun summarizes the findings of a new study from Johns Hopkins University that concluded that disadvantaged youth have a higher propensity to become problem gamblers, due in part to their increased level of participation in betting on dice in the streets or betting on sports games, which serves as a gateway to more serious, problem gambling when they are allowed in a casino. These discoveries come on the heels of an increased casino and gambling presence in Maryland, where the study took place.
Disadvantaged urban youth may be more likely to be problem gamblers
A new study by the Problem Gambling Research and Treatment Centre at the University of Melbourne, Australia shows a strong link between problem gambling and familial violence. Fifty-three percent of problem gamblers reported some form of family violence in the past 12 months and Forty-four percent reported victimization in the home. These disturbing numbers show yet another effect of problem gambling, and shows further why more commercialized gambling isn’t a good thing. This HealthCanal study summarizes the study’s findings.
Problem gambling and family violence strongly linked says new study
2013 The big swindle- In lotteries, the poor are the biggest losers
Research into gambling and casinos has been severely tainted by money from casino interests according to a new report by Goldsmiths College at the University of London. It draws on testimony from researchers who admit that they have lied, omitted data, or otherwise tampered with results of their research because it was funded by casino interests. One researcher says, “I was really scared about potentially annoying the industry and then getting my reputation trashed because I saw that happen… and it was really horrible. So I had a choice, say everything is fine. In other words, lie.” This article from The Independent details this shocking report that casts doubt on the validity of years of research.
This study, from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows a biological breakdown of how adolescents’ brains make them more likely to be problem gamblers. This is because the brain of an adolescent places a greater value on rewards than does that of an adult, a developmental effect that causes more adventurous risk-taking in adolescents, which can lead to problem gambling. This thorough study explains the science behind why kids shouldn’t gamble.
2014 Neural representation of expected value in the adolescent brain