The History of Problem Gambling: Temperance, Substance Abuse, Medicine, and Metaphors

Março 16, 2013 by Luis Neves in Livros No Comments

Título: The History of Problem Gambling: Temperance, Substance Abuse, Medicine, and Metaphors
Autor: Peter Ferentzy,‎ Nigel Turner
Data: 2013

This 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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

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)

Review

“In this remarkable, erudite, and well written book, Peter Ferentzy and Nigel E. Turner perform — for the first time — a historical analysis of the idea of “problem gambling,” more recently gambling addiction. . . . Modern medical models often overestimate the compulsivity and irreversibility of both substance and behavioral addictions [but] after accompanying Ferentzy and Turner on their survey, readers will realize it is impossible to comprehend the modern psychiatric classification of addictions without making this journey along with them.” (Stanton Peele, Ph.D., author of 7 Tools to Beat Addiction; creator of the Life Process Program for addiction treatment)