Oregon Problem Gambling Helpline
Research on problem gambling and the faith community
1. Presbyterian panel summary: Gambling and the Christian Faith: February 2000 Survey Results based on a survey of 1,028 Presbyterian clergy: 812 from pastors and 216 from specialized clergy.
Access to legal gambling
Around two in three members (64 percent) and elders (65 percent) and almost one-half of pastors (44 percent) and specialized clergy (49 percent) report participating in one or more forms of legal gambling in the year prior to the survey.
Approval and disapproval
- In every panel group, many more panelists disapprove than approve of legal gambling. Seventy-eight percent of pastors and 72 percent of specialized clergy disapprove of gambling, compared to 48 percent of members and 53 percent of elders.
- Panelists said they approve of gambling because of its entertainment value and as a source of government revenue.
- Fifty-five percent of members, 53 percent of elders, 41 percent of pastors and 48 percent of specialized clergy agree that "gambling can be a form of entertainment that, if done in moderation, is no better and no worse than other activities . . . ."
- Panelists disapprove of gambling because they believe it is addictive and that it causes problems for families and less affluent individuals.
- Majorities in all groups favor banning or reducing gambling, although more in each group would rather see gambling reduced than banned.
Problem gambling
- A third of members and elders know someone who has or has had a gambling problem.
- Sixty percent of pastors report that gambling has caused problems for one or more members in their congregation.
Social consequences
- Most of those sampled said that the effects of legal gambling are bad, rather than good for society. But, minorities in each sample think the effects are about equally good and bad.
The congregation
- Few have taken actions "to oppose, reduce, or ban gambling" locally during the last five years. The most common action taken by those who did was "to oppose additional legal gambling."
- Few congregations have ministries "to help individuals and families affected by compulsive gambling." Only two percent of members and elders and five percent of pastors report such ministries.
2. Religion, spirituality and associations with problem gambling New Zealand Journal of Psychology, Jul 2006 by Clarke, Dave, Tse, Samson, Abbott, Max, Townsend, Sonia, Et al This study included the following summaries of research:
Religion and problem gambling
- Very little is known about problem gambling among people with Jewish, Islamic or Buddhist affiliations, perhaps because these religions have traditions which strongly opposed gambling (Marlatt, 2002; Neusner, Brockopp, & Sonn, 2000; Rosenthal, 1975).
- A high level of gambling by Catholics has been noted in other studies and Catholic affiliation has emerged as a risk factor for problem gambling (Kallick-Kaufmann, 1987; Walker, 1992). These findings are consistent with the more permissive view that the Catholic Church has taken toward gambling by members and within society (Abbott & Volberg, 2000).
- In the 1999 New Zealand national survey (Abbott & Volberg, 2000) Catholics reported higher average weekly gambling expenditures than other religious groups. They also were over represented among track bettors and frequent participants in continuous gambling activities, in which winnings can be risked again immediately in the same session.
- As outlined in Abbott and Volberg (1999) most Protestant denominations historically have taken a strong moral stance against gambling and lobbied for legislative and other restrictions on gambling throughout the mid-19th and early 20th centuries.
- In the 1999 New Zealand survey, Methodists and a variety of fundamentalist Protestant denominations had a low rate of problem gambling. Large numbers reported never or rarely gambling and, relative to other religious groups, few reported gambling weekly or more often.
- Catholics and other Christians retained their respective high- and low-risk rankings when other social, cultural and demographic risk factors were incorporated and controlled for in multivariate analyses.
- Problem gambling among some indigenous, ethnic minority and immigrant populations illustrates the importance of research on religious aspects that might lead to development of problem gambling in different cultural contexts (Abbott & Volberg, 2000). For example, in New Zealand people with non-Christian religious affiliations resemble Christians who are non- or infrequent gamblers -- and relatively few gamble regularly (Abbott & Volberg, 2000). However, those who do gamble regularly have a particularly high average expenditure and are at significant risk for problem gambling. Many people in the non-Christian religious category were recent migrants and Asian people. More than half of the problem gamblers were of Maori, Pacific or Asian ethnicity.
- Religious affiliation might play important yet different roles in fostering and protecting against the development of problem gambling in each of these groups.
Spirituality and problem gambling
- Some studies have found lower rates of addictive disorders among people with stronger religious and/or spiritual engagement (e.g., Kendler, Gardner, & Prescott, 1997).
- Spiritual factors and religious experiences have also been found to influence recovery from problem gambling, predicting abstinence from gambling and subjective well-being (Walsh, 2001).
- Some indication that spirituality is associated with gambling comes from studies of multiple risk factors of problem gambling. Clarice (2004) found that amotivation, which is displayed by a gambler who continues to gamble with no real purpose and with little sense of meaning, accounted for a significant, but small (7 percent) amount of variance in problem gambling, after controlling for gambling frequency, number of activities, parents' gambling, impulsivity, locus of control, and the motivations for rewards, stimulation, accomplishment, social esteem and tension release. Another study discovered that among other factors, people with problem gambling indicated that they lacked direction in their lives (Turner, Sharp, Zengeneh, & Spence, 2003).
- From studies of interventions for substance abuse and problem gambling (Orford 2001; Orford, Morison, & Somers 1996), there seem to be underlying processes common to different treatment programs and theoretical orientations that could explain recovery. In addition to support from others and the reinforcements of self-liberation such as day-to-day commitment to quit and self-control or willpower, moral reform seems to be important, at least for some people with severe substance abuse problems. Common processes include admission of having a problem and needing help, symbolic death, surrender and reeducation which lead to experiential peace (lack of negative affectivity), changes in beliefs, and character change towards conscientiousness, selflessness, humility, ego-reduction, and forgiveness.
- In programs such as Gamblers Anonymous, recovery from addiction is a long-term commitment that follows the processes of admission that there is a problem, resistance, ego-reduction, surrender, compliance, re-education and maintenance. Abusers must genuinely want to solve their problems, to work hard, to make a commitment to avoid the addictive activities, and to honestly comply with formal or informal treatment plans (Sussman & Ames, 2001).
- In comparing recoveries from gambling problems to recoveries from alcohol problems, one study (Hodgins & el-Guebaly, 2000) ascertained factors perceived to initiate and maintain recoveries, the role of life events in recovery, and differences between natural and assisted recoveries. The major reason for people not seeking treatment for either addiction was the desire to handle the problem on one's own, which perhaps reflects the stigmatization, embarrassment, shame and loss of self-esteem associated with alcohol and gambling addiction. The recovered gamblers gave reasons for maintaining the changes which were similar to the reasons given by recovered alcoholics and drug abusers. These reasons include not liking to see themselves as having a problem, and self-liberating behaviours such as day-to-day commitment to quit and self-control or willpower, especially for naturally-recovered gamblers and drinkers.