Early intervention for gambling-related crime

Challenges

Speakers and audience members at the webinar highlighted a number of key challenges which need to be overcome if we are to succeed in providing support to a growing number of people whose gambling is bringing them in contact with the criminal justice system. Improving identification and support at the point of arrest is obviously key to any early intervention strategy. These challenges include:

1. The first challenge is the level of awareness of the growing availability of gambling support and treatment. There has been a rapid rise in the range of gambling treatment available across the country, including the development of seven new NHS gambling clinics. GamCare and its treatment partners provide a range of online and in person treatment options, with GamCare’s National Helpline (0808 8020 133) the best starting point for many. The needs of women gamblers are also being increasingly recognised. However, analysis of Helpline referral data reveals a very small proportion of referrals and contacts come from the criminal justice system.
2. The second challenge is that people with gambling problems are not easily identified as a group. Unlike people with drug and/or alcohol problems, they do not sometimes turn up for appointments intoxicated or showing symptoms of withdrawal. Nor is there a typical offence profile for people with gambling problems. Before starting this work, I had assumed that most people with gambling problems who came into contact with the CJS would do so because of offences of theft or deception, needing to secure funds to feed their gambling problem.However, that research study by the Howard League suggests this is not the case. The researchers used Freedom of Information Requests sent to every police force in England & Wales to ask for information about crimes recorded between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2020 with the key word “gambling”. Researchers categorised all the crimes where gambling was mentioned and found that 45% recorded crimes where gambling was mentioned were in the violence against the person category, almost double the proportion (24%) in the theft category.
3. A further challenge lies in the fact that many people whose gambling has escalated to the point where it causes them problems, have learnt to conceal their activities from family and friends and are unlikely to disclose gambling as a concern until they have developed a level of trust in a professional helping relationship.
4. Finally, as with most addictive behaviours, people with gambling problems experience considerable stigma which makes them reluctant to disclose their gambling needs. Some participants (including those from police services) noted that police culture itself may be a barrier to disclosure since most services are not supportive of staff with their own gambling problems which may make some officers reluctant to engage with the issue.