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Chapter Six Gambling in a Familial Context Joni Vander Bilt and Joanna Franklin Introduction Familial and friendship frameworks pose the context in which compulsive gambling lives. Although a compulsive gambler can be isolated from a family of origin or a family of choice, the more usual situation is that of a compulsive gambler acting and interacting with related others. Specifically, compulsive gambling by an adult has been shown to have significant consequences for a partner/spouse (Darvas, 1981; Heineman, 1987; Lorenz, 1987; Lorenz & Shuttlesworth, 1983; Lorenz & Yaffee, 1988), for children (Jacobs et al., 1989; Lesieur & Klein, 1987; Lesieur & Rothschild, 1989; Lorenz, 1987), for siblings (Lorenz, 1987), and for parent(s) (Heineman, 1987; Heineman, 1989; Lorenz, 1987). Similarly, adolescent compulsive gambling also adversely affects parent(s) (Moody, 1989) and other family members. Domestic/ family violence is just one potential consequence of compulsive gambling, and it is an area that has generally been neglected in gambling research. This chapter will first explore some of the ramifications for family relationships that result from a family member (or members) with a compulsive gambling problem. The chapter specifically focuses on domestic violence in this context. It then looks at treatment, discussing interventions specific to the needs of various family members as well as of the family system. Several examples from clinical experience are used to illustrate and support concepts and hypotheses. Today every American experiences the effects of the proliferation of gambling. Adolescents, however, are confronted with the advent of legalized and condoned gambling at a stage in their lives when the formation of individual values, habits, judgments, and behaviors is most easily influenced. Depending on the state and on the gambling activity, institutionalized or government-sanctioned gambling (for example , lottery, casinos, and racetracks), is not legally accessible to those under 18 or 21 years of age (Rose, 2002). However, gambling is not a rare event for most adolescents . Research indicates that lottery agents sell lottery tickets to adolescents as young as 9 years of age (Lesieur, 2002). One study reported 47.1 percent of seventhgrade students purchased lottery tickets at some point in their lifetimes; by twelfth grade, the number increased to 74.6 percent (Shaffer, 1994). In addition, 64 percent of underage students at one Atlantic City high school reported they had gambled at casinos (Arcuri, Lester, & Smith, 1985). Parents and grandparents alike have children line up to buy “their tickets” as a way of rewarding or entertaining the child. It is not uncommon for these parents and grandparents to deny that the child is in fact gambling, rationalizing, “It’s only a lottery ticket; that’s not gambling.” In response to this situation, some states, such as Massachusetts, have passed laws mandating the posting of age limits in outlets selling lottery tickets, and a few casinos have proactively instituted an educational campaign citing the risks of underage gambling, such as Harrah’s Project 21 (Satre, 2002). The lack of stigma associated with gambling and the increased opportunity for gambling have resulted in a generation of young people who gamble more than the previous generation did at the same age. In fact, the prevalence of compulsive gambling is currently higher among adolescents than among adults (Addiction Research Foundation, 1995; Jacobs et al., 1989). High school and college students also exhibit higher prevalence rates for probable pathological gambling than adults (Lesieur & Klein, 1987; Lesieur et al., 1991). Some adolescents will gamble occasionally, some regularly, but approximately 4.4 percent to 7.4 percent are considered pathological gamblers (Shaffer & Hall, 1996). Two recent studies examined the levels of involvement of Massachusetts adolescents in various illicit activities, including the lottery (Shaffer, 1994; Shaffer et al., 1995). Of six illicit activities (for example, substance use or lottery participation) that researchers investigated among students in grades seven through twelve, lifetime prevalence of involvement with the lottery is exceeded only by lifetime prevalence of alcohol use. One such teenager had been increasingly involved with peers in a sports book system; when unable to pay his debts, he was threatened by his peers, then taken forcibly from his home, driven to a distant location, and released to find his way home alone. Although his peers intended just to frighten the teen, they were sought out by authorities and subject to kidnapping charges. Likewise several teens have been introduced to treatment services following drug charges (possession of a controlled and dangerous substance with intent to distribute ) just to have the treatment team discover the drug charges were not related...

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