Engelsk titel: From boredom to dependence: The medicalisation of the Swedish gambling problem
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Författare:
Edman, Johan
;
Berndt, Josefine
Email: johan.edman@sorad.su.se
Språk: Eng
Antal referenser: 101
Dokumenttyp:
Artikel
UI-nummer: 16033512
Sammanfattning
AIMS - The aim of this study is to investigate the medicalising of gambling problems by
comparing the political discussions on gambling in the Swedish Parliament in the early 1970s and
the early 2010s. DESIGN - Against a theoretical background on medicalising processes in general,
and medicalisation of gambling problems in particular, we have analysed discussion protocols and
parliamentary bills in the Swedish Parliament from the years 1970-1975 and 2012-2013. RESULTS -
The problem descriptions of the 1970s and 2010s are, in certain respects, strikingly similar,
identifying proactive operators such as the gambling companies and highlighting an inadequate legal
framework. But where the MPs of the 1970s put some effort into describing the drab society which fed
the need for gambling, the elected representatives of the 2010s shortcut to individual dependence.
CONCLUSIONS - EU membership and the development of the Internet have made effective control
and regulation impossible in the early 2010s and the political handling of the Swedish gambling
problem is therefore a clear example of how market liberalisation can pave the way for
individualisation, medicalisation and depoliticisation of social problems.