Counter-story, resistance and reconciliation in online narratives of women in recovery from problem gambling

Virginia McGowan

International Gambling Studies, 2003, vol. 3, issue 2, 115-131

Abstract: Based on discourse analysis of website postings to an online gender-specific support group over a 30-month period, this study examines the context and narrative forms through which women tell the stories of their experience of problem gambling and recovery. In response to the hegemony of men-dominated groups and dominant ideologies, women seeking support for their recovery create both online and offline symbolic communities for gendered expression of experience. The oral tradition of Gamblers Anonymous is referenced and reflected in the website postings, providing a coherent narrative structure that is valued in western culture. The online forum references a pragmatic approach that places women's solutions in the public domain, rendering these experiences visible, significant and transformative. A hypothetical model is proposed in which creation of symbolic community and learning to tell a coherent narrative mediate progress from chaos to social and moral reconciliation.

Date: 2003
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DOI: 10.1080/1356347032000142234

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International Gambling Studies is currently edited by Katie Donnelly, David Marshall, Bronwyn Stuart, Alex Blaszczynski and Jan McMillen

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