Regulating Gambling Use through the Overton Window: From an Addictive Behavior to a Social and Epidemiological Problem

Antonio Jesús Molina-Fernández (), Anna Robert-Segarra, José Antonio Martín-Herrero, Iván Sánchez-Iglesias, Jesús Saiz-Galdós and Karla Fernández-Mora
Additional contact information
Antonio Jesús Molina-Fernández: Department of Social, Work and Differential Psychology, Complutense University of Madrid, 28223 Madrid, Spain
Anna Robert-Segarra: Benito Menni Centre de Salut Mental d’Adults (CASM), 08830 Sant Boi de Llobregat, Spain
José Antonio Martín-Herrero: Department of Social Psychology and Anthropology, University of Salamanca, 37005 Salamanca, Spain
Iván Sánchez-Iglesias: Department of Psychobiology & Behavioral Sciences Methods, Complutense University of Madrid, 28223 Madrid, Spain
Jesús Saiz-Galdós: Department of Social, Work and Differential Psychology, Complutense University of Madrid, 28223 Madrid, Spain
Karla Fernández-Mora: Department of Social Psychology and Anthropology, University of Salamanca, 37005 Salamanca, Spain

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 8, 1-11

Abstract: During the last decade, gambling (online and offline) regulation has become a social and epidemiological problem all around Europe. The aftermaths of this addiction have increased since the so-called “responsible gambling law”, in the second decade of the 21st century. The Overton window (OW) strategy is a political theory that describes how the perception of public opinion can be modified so that ideas that are inconceivable for society become accepted over time. The objective of this study is to identify whether an OW has been used to bias the adequacy of the gambling debate, as well as its scientific, legal, and political bases and the main consequences for both the general population and the major risk groups, especially the consequences in social and health contexts. The study was conducted by the application of the historical-logical method as the central axis of analysis and reflection, and the technique of qualitative research content analysis as a procedure in the process of execution of the scientific task, related to a historical trend study of the research object. The main consequences found were: the political acceptance of gambling for economical causes and taxes benefits, the use of popular characters to increase the acceptance of the pattern of behavior, the inclusion of the gambling operators as agents in the risks control, and the absence of intervention until the main consequences have been transformed into an epidemiological problem (with social aftermaths higher than the previously identified related to the gambling problems). Furthermore, the results suggest the need to implement prevention and health promotion strategies and the adoption of specific legal measures that regulate the access and the marketing of gambling operators’ activities.

Keywords: gambling regulation/legalization; recreational use; qualitative study; Overton window (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/8/5481/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/8/5481/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:8:p:5481-:d:1121504

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().