An examination of the interrelationship between disordered gambling and intimate partner violence
| Author | James Banks,Jaime Waters |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/02697580211065508 |
| Published date | 01 May 2023 |
| Date | 01 May 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/02697580211065508
International Review of Victimology
2023, Vol. 29(2) 277 –292
© The Author(s) 2022
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DOI: 10.1177/02697580211065508
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IRV0010.1177/02697580211065508International Review of VictimologyBanks and Waters
research-article2022
An examination of the
interrelationship between
disordered gambling and
intimate partner violence
James Banks
Sheffield Hallam University, UK
Jaime Waters
University of Sheffield, UK
Abstract
In response to the liberalisation and deregulation of gambling across much of the Western world,
academics continue to examine gambling-related harms that result from the increased availability of
gambling products and services. This paper explores the interrelationship between disordered
gambling and intimate partner violence. Qualitative data were derived from interviews with
26 female research participants, illustrating how intimate partner violence perpetrated by men with
gambling disordersis often instrumental in nature. The narratives of our respondents indicatedthat
coercive and controlling practices were employed by the intimate partner with a gambling disorder
to (a) access money for gambling; (b) hide their gambling behaviour from others; (c) assuage their
guilt and apportionblame to the female partner for theirdisordered gambling and abusivebehaviour.
Consideration is given to how criminal justice, domestic violence, victim and gambling support
agencies may best address the needs of partners and families impacted by disordered gambling.
Keywords
Gambling, gambling-related harm, intimate partner violence, coercive and controlling behaviour
Introduction
In the UK, gambling has developed into a mainstream leisure pursuit, with citizens free to access
one of the most diverse marketplaces in the world (Banks, 2017). It is estimated that 73%of UK
Corresponding author:
James Banks, Department of Law and Criminology, Sheffield Hallam University, Heart of the Campus, Collegiate Crescent,
Sheffield S10 2BP, UK.
Email: J.Banks@shu.ac.uk
278 International Review of Victimology 29(2)
adults have gambled in the past year (Wardle et al., 2011), with the gambling industry generating a
gross gambling yield of £5.3 billion across April to September 2020 (Gambling Commission,
2021). In particular, the rapid growth of the internet as a public and commercial vehicle provides
significant opportunity for gambling activities to take place online, with the remote betting, bingo
and casino sector contributing £3.1 billion to the industry’s total gross gambling yield (Gambling
Commission, 2021). Increased availability of gambling is a p ropellant of gambling disorders,
associated morbidities and gambling-related harm (Abbott, 2020).
Studies of gambling-related crime have typically demonstrated how individuals with gam-
bling disorders may engage in fraud or acquisitive crime in order to fund their gambling
activities or gambling-related shortfalls in finance. Consistent across the research evidence
(Binde, 2016a, 2016b; Crofts, 2002; Sakurai and Smith, 2003) is the finding that individuals
who gamble may commit embezzlement, fraud, theft, robbery, larceny and the passing of
counterfeit currency when legal avenues to money are blocked. Yet as Marshall and Marshall
(2003) note, early research studies often excluded violent offences from thei r categorisation of
gambling-related crime because researchers may not have expected a relationship and there-
fore not asked about violence, offenders may have decided not to mention it and victims
failed to report it.
More recent studies have, however, suggested that gambling can be linked to violence, crimes
against the person, and child neglect (Dowling et al., 2016; Roberts et al., 2016; Smith et al., 2003;
Suomi et al., 2013). Significantly, Roberts et al.’s (2016) survey of a nationally representative
sample of men reported that gambling disorders were linked to an increased likelihood of the
perpetration of violence, the perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV), and the use of a
weapon. Yet the extent of gambling-related violence may be understated in official data with such
crimes concealed by intentional or unintentional underreporting or criminal justice agencies’
failure to identify violent offending as gambling-related (Adolphe et al., 2019).
Thus, examining the interrelationship between gambling and different forms of violent crime
may be considered a research priority. In particular, there is a relative dearth of qualitative research
that has examined the relationship between disordered gambling and IPV. This is surprising given
that the rise in internet gambling has, to a certain extent, made gambling opportunities more readily
available to much of the UK population, taking gambling into the domestic sphere and at the same
time challenging player protection measures and responsible gambling strategies typically found in
land-based establishments (Banks, 2014).
In response this paper examines the narratives of female intimate partners who have experi-
enced coercive and controlling behaviours perpetrated by partners with gambling disorders. We
begin by exploring the existing literature that has examined gambling disorders and IPV before
outlining the methodological approach employed in this study. We then present data from our
interviews to illustrate the ways in which gambling disorders manifest in acts of coercive and
controlling behaviour. The discussion develops to consider the implications of our findings for
criminal justice, domestic violence, and victim and gambling support agencies.
Disordered gambling and intimate partner violence
Research examining the harms that result from disordered gambling has, until recently, principally
focused on the individual who gambles. There is, however, increased recognition that gambling-
related harms extend to others in society, in particular families and local communities. Evidence
indicates that harm is most acutely felt by spouses or intimate partners who experience a range of
2International Review of Victimology XX(X)
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