“Surviving, not living”: Lived experiences of crime and gambling The report of the Commission on Crime and Gambling Related Harms

By Lauren Smith

  The current research was commissioned by the Commission on Crime and Gambling Related Harms in response to a lack of existing literature about the lived experiences of gambling and crime, particularly in England and Wales. The research sought to illuminate the following: • Early engagement in gambling and the escalation into crime; • Experiences of the criminal justice system; • How gambling and gambling related crime affects key relationships such as employment, social and family networks; • Whether, and how, interventions or treatments for gambling are sought or utilised; • The perspectives of people with lived experience of gambling and crime about what needs to happen in the future to aid prevention and better support people impacted by crime and gambling harm. Research and legislative context Gambling is prevalent across Great Britain with 24 per cent of people reporting gambling online in the past four weeks (Gambling Commission, 2021a). A variety of gambling methods are used, with online gambling becoming particularly dominant during more recent years. Disordered gambling is classified within the DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) as a mental health disorder and, more specifically, as maladaptive, behavioural addiction which leads to family, social, personal or recreational pursuits being compromised, disrupted or damaged by continuing the gambling behaviour (Delfrabbro, 2013). For some people, recreational gambling escalates into problem gambling, defined as gambling behaviour that creates negative consequences for the gambler or those around them (Ferris and Wynne, 2001), or gambling addiction, defined as a progressive addiction. Gambling addiction is an impulse control disorder that has many psychological, physical and social repercussions (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Problem gambling has been linked to health and social problems, including suicide, homelessness, and other addictions (Lorains et al., 2011; Sharman et al., 2015; Petry, 2007). Within the current research there was some stigma around the phrase ‘problem gambling’, and therefore gambling harms was suggested instead (see also Saxton and Eberhardt, 2021). Gambling harms can extend beyond the individual, affecting families and the broader community (Langham et al, 2016).

Crimes committed by people experiencing gambling harms are typically, but not always, financial crimes, driven by an instrumental need to commit crime as a result of gambling harms (Turner et al., 2009). Prevalence rates of crime committed as a result of gambling are difficult to ascertain, with an estimated prevalence of problem gambling in prisons of 12 per cent, significantly higher than in the general population (May-Chahal, 2017). The government Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) is responsible for gambling policy and legislative framework. The key legislation in the UK for gambling is the Gambling Act (2005) which is currently undergoing a review. The Gambling Commission, an executive non-departmental public body, regulates all commercial gambling in the UK and seeks to prevent gambling from being a source of crime and disorder, to ensure that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way, and to protect children and vulnerable people from being harmed by gambling.      

London: Howard League for Penal Reform, 2023. 93p.