From the book reviews:
“The History of Problem Gambling meets its goals of reviewing the history of problem gambling while providing additional perspectives on contemporary research and gaps in our understanding of behavioral addictions. … the book provides the first complete account of the history of gambling in the context of the wider field of addiction. … The book is a recommended read for all academics and clinicians who work in the area of disordered gambling and addiction.” (David C. Hodgins and Igor Yakovenko, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 59 (27), July, 2014)
The History of Problem Gambling
Temperance, Substance Abuse, Medicine, and Metaphors
von Peter Ferentzy und Nigel TurnerThis book documents the history of ideas about problem gambling and its link to addictive disorders. The book uses a combination of literature review and conceptual and linguistic analysis to explore the way ideas about problem gambling gave changed over time. It examines the religious, socio-cultural, and medical influences on the development of the concept of problem gambling as a disease, along with the ways in which such ideas were influenced by attitudes about substance abuse. The history of mental illness, notably as it pertains to themes such as loss of control over behavior, is also addressed. The book ends with a discussion of the current status and future prospects, with an eye to which ideas about problem gambling and addictions seem most promising and which should perhaps be left behind.
