Funding Fruit Machine Addiction
| Published date | 01 December 1996 |
| Date | 01 December 1996 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/026455059604300406 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Funding Fruit
Machine Addiction:
A Hidden Crime
Fruit machine gambling is a significant problem for a minority
of adolescents. Mark Griffiths and Paul Sparrow of the Department
of Health and Human Services, Nottingham Trent University,
report a growing body of research which connects excessive
gambling with acquisitive crime and urge greater attention
by criminal justice professionals.
unit machines are an extremely unsurprising, therefore, that there has been
profitable source of income for their
a major upsurge of interest in this particular
owners and, from the early 1980s onwards,
form of gambling in recent years. It has
there was a steady and significant increase
been postulated by some authors2 that the
in their numbers in the UK. Such an
attraction to such an activity lies in the fact
escalation has been mirrored by an increase
that fruit machines (a) require a low initial
in the number of problem gamblers seeking
stake, well within the means of most
help. Moody’, for instance, reports that of
people, (b) provide a particularly
all new members to Gamblers Anonymous
inconspicuous form of gamblirlg and (c)
in the late 1980s, 50% were fruit machine
represent the most easily accessible form
gamblers with about half of those being
of gambling generally and for young people
children and the remainder young people
in particular in the UK.
in their late teens and early twenties.
Experience has shown the strength of
resistance by both drug and alcohol users
Dependency and Expense
in presenting themselves for treatment.
With regards to fruit machine addiction,
Evidence for signs of dependency in the
there seems little reason to assume the
UK remain sparse but steadily growing.
situation is any different and the ’tip of the
However, almost all studies of fruit
iceberg’ thesis may well be equally
machine playing indicate that for a
applicable. The actual numbers of children,
minority of such individuals severe
adolescents and adults who experience
...
To continue reading
Request your trial