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The Relationship of Problem Gambling to Criminal Behavior in a Sample of Canadian Male Federal Offenders

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Abstract

This article examines the prevalence of moderate and severe problem gambling in a sample of 254 incarcerated Canadian male federal offenders (completion rate of 39.0%). The prevalence of disordered gambling was measured using the PGSI, DSM-IV-TR, and SOGS that yielded estimates of 9.4%, 6.3%, and 13.0%, respectively. Severe problem gamblers were significantly more likely to have committed income producing offences, but were neither more nor less likely than other offenders to have committed violent offences. The majority of severe problem gamblers (65.2%) and a fifth of the moderate problem gamblers (20.0%) reported that their criminal activity was a result of their gambling (e.g., to pay off debts). Based on these findings there appears to be a need to offer problem gambling treatment services to offenders in order to help them break the cycle of gambling, debt and crime.

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Acknowledgements

This report was funded by a grant from the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Center. The project was reviewed by the CAMH ethics review board and approved as Protocol #238/2004 and renewed as #040/2006. The ideas expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of either the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, or the Correctional Service of Canada.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Social, Prevention and Health Policy Research Department, The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Russell Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 2S1, Canada

    Nigel E. Turner, Crystal Saunders, Steven McAvoy & Umesh Jain

  2. Correctional Service of Canada, Kingston, ON, Canada

    Denise L. Preston

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  1. Nigel E. Turner
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  2. Denise L. Preston
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  3. Crystal Saunders
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  5. Umesh Jain
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Correspondence to Nigel E. Turner.

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Turner, N.E., Preston, D.L., Saunders, C. et al. The Relationship of Problem Gambling to Criminal Behavior in a Sample of Canadian Male Federal Offenders. J Gambl Stud 25, 153–169 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-009-9124-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-009-9124-1

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