Marko Sarah, Thomas Samantha L, Pitt Hannah, Daube Mike
Institute for Health Transformation, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia.
Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia.
Front Sociol. 2023 Mar 7;8:1074773. doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2023.1074773. eCollection 2023.
The framing of health issues influences how people think about and respond to these topics. Gambling has largely been framed as an issue of personal responsibility, with the gambling industry, governments and some researchers promoting responsible gambling strategies as a way to address gambling harm. While there is evidence that the internalization of personal responsibility can negatively impact gamblers, this study aimed to explore how people who have experienced gambling harm interpret and apply personal responsibility frames and 'gamble responsibly' messages in their lives.
In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted via Zoom and telephone with 15 gamblers who had been harmed by their own gambling and six affected others who had been harmed by someone else's gambling. This study was informed by public health and critical qualitative approaches to inquiry. The data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis.
Four themes were constructed from the data. First, gamblers and affected others generally conceptualized gambling and gambling harm as being the responsibility of the individual because it was perceived as the outcome of individual behavior. Second, they attempted to apply responsibility to their own experience either as gamblers who tried to stop or reduce their gambling, or affected others who felt responsible for helping the gambler in their lives. Third, gamblers and affected others were negatively impacted when it was perceived the gambler could not 'control' their gambling or had not done enough to take responsibility. Finally, gamblers and affected others recommended responsible gambling strategies be reframed to be more effective at addressing gambling harm.
This study provides evidence further supporting research demonstrating that personal responsibility frames may have unintended or negative consequences for gamblers and affected others. It underscores the need to reframe public messages about gambling away from responsible gambling, and toward research-based messages that can complement broader legislative changes and other measures to protect individuals.
健康问题的框架会影响人们对这些话题的思考方式和反应。赌博在很大程度上被构建为一个个人责任问题，赌博行业、政府和一些研究人员推广负责任赌博策略，将其作为解决赌博危害的一种方式。虽然有证据表明个人责任的内化会对赌徒产生负面影响，但本研究旨在探讨经历过赌博危害的人如何在生活中解释和应用个人责任框架以及“负责任地赌博”信息。
通过Zoom和电话对15名因自身赌博而受到伤害的赌徒以及6名因他人赌博而受到伤害的受影响者进行了深入的半结构化访谈。本研究采用公共卫生和批判性定性研究方法。使用反思性主题分析法对数据进行分析。
从数据中构建了四个主题。第一，赌徒和受影响者通常将赌博和赌博危害概念化为个人的责任，因为这被视为个人行为的结果。第二，他们试图将责任应用于自己的经历，要么是试图停止或减少赌博的赌徒，要么是在生活中觉得有责任帮助赌徒的受影响者。第三，当认为赌徒无法“控制”自己的赌博行为或没有尽到足够的责任时，赌徒和受影响者会受到负面影响。最后，赌徒和受影响者建议重新构建负责任赌博策略，使其在解决赌博危害方面更有效。
本研究提供的证据进一步支持了相关研究，表明个人责任框架可能会对赌徒和受影响者产生意想不到的或负面的后果。它强调需要将关于赌博的公共信息从负责任赌博重新构建为基于研究的信息，这些信息可以补充更广泛的立法变革和其他保护个人的措施。
