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International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction

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01-10-2009

Canadian Dream, Capitalism, and the State: Structural Conditions of Youth Gambling in Canada

Authors: Reza Barmaki, Masood Zangeneh

Published in: International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction | Issue 4/2009

Abstract

Adolescent gambling is a major social problem in North America. Over the years this problem has given rise to a number of theoretical explanations. This paper argues that the existing explanations of youth gambling underestimate the influence of broader structural forces conducive to youth gambling problem and, instead, provide micro analyses that often blames individuals for their gambling problems. As such, these theories produce incomplete pictures of a persistent, cohesive and growing problem. Canadian youth’s gambling problem is said to be better understood within the nexus of: (1) the Canadian state’s pro-gambling policies due to the need for revenues, (2) the discrepancy between widely shared Canadian cultural values-wealth, power, and success-and legitimate means of achieving them, and (3) the capitalist processes of profit making and commodification.

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Title: Canadian Dream, Capitalism, and the State: Structural Conditions of Youth Gambling in Canada
Authors: Reza Barmaki
Masood Zangeneh
Publication date: 01-10-2009
Publisher: Springer-Verlag
Published in: International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction / Issue 4/2009
Print ISSN: 1557-1874
Electronic ISSN: 1557-1882
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-007-9119-z

2024 ASCO Annual Meeting

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Canadian Dream, Capitalism, and the State: Structural Conditions of Youth Gambling in Canada

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