Skip to main content

Examining Gambling-Related Crime Reports in the National Finnish Police Register

Journal of Gambling Studies volume 30, pages 967–983 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the connection between gambling and criminal activity in the National Finnish Police Register. First, a method was created that enabled the search for gambling-related police reports in the National Finnish Police Register. The method is based on finding gambling-related police reports by using gambling-related headwords. Second, all police reports from 2011 that included any mention of gambling were read through (n = 2,233). Suspected gambling-related of crimes (n = 737) were selected from these reports. Those suspected gambling-related crimes were then described and categorized into six different categories: suspected online-related crimes; suspected crimes that were related to lifestyle-gaming; suspected crimes that involved a gambler as a victim of a crime; criminal activity related to problem gambling; casino-connected crimes, and intimate partnership violence resulting from gambling problems. This study, being the first in Finland, generated information on the connection between gambling and criminal activity from the perspective of police reports. Moreover, the study highlights methodological issues that are involved in studying police reports.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1

References

  • Abbot, M. W., McKenna, B. G., & Giles, L. C. (2000). Gambling and problem gambling among recently sentenced male prisoners in four New Zealand prisons. Wellington, New Zealand: Department of Internal Affairs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Abbott, M. W., & McKenna, B. G. (2000). Gambling and problem gambling among recently sentenced women prisoners in New Zealand. Wellington, New Zealand: Department of Internal Affairs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Afifi, T. O., Brownridge, D. A., MacMillan, H., & Sareen, J. (2010). The relationship of gambling to intimate partner violence and child maltreatment in a nationally representative sample. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 44(5), 331–337.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Andrew, N., Asimacopoulos, K., Dimovski, D., & Haydon, D. (1997). Who’s holding the aces? Alternative Law Journal, 22(6), 268–272.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bland, R. C., Newman, S. C., Orn, H., & Stebelsy, G. (1993). Epidemiology of pathological gambling in Edmonton. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 38, 108–112.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Blaszczynski, A. (1994). Criminal offences in pathological gamblers. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 1(2), 129–138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blaszczynski, A., & McConaghy, N. (1992). Pathological gambling and criminal behaviour. Canberra, Australia: Australian Institute for Criminology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blaszczynski, A., & Silove, D. (1996). Pathological gambling: Forensic issues. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 30(3), 358–369.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bolen, D. W., & Boyd, W. (1968). Gambling and the gambler: A review and preliminary findings. Archives of General Psychiatry, 18(5), 617–630.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, R. (1987). Pathological gambling and associated patterns of crime: Comparisons with alcohol and other drug addictions. Journal of Gambling Behavior, 3(2), 98–114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, R. (1998). Problem gambling among people on community corrections. In Compulsive Gambling Society of New Zealand. Proceedings of the National Workshop on Treatment for Problem Gambling. Auckland, New Zealand; Compulsive Gambling Society of New Zealand.

  • Centre for Criminology and Criminal Justice. (2000). The impact of gaming and crime statistics. Caulfield East, Australia: Centre for Criminology and Criminal Justice.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, Y.-C., Hwang, J–. J., & Song, R. (2005). An analysis of online gaming crime characteristics. Internet Research, 15(3), 246–261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cox, B. J., Enns, M. W., & Michaud, V. (2004). Comparisons between the South Oaks gambling screen and a DSM-IV-based interview in a community survey of problem gambling. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 49(4), 258–264.

    Google Scholar 

  • Derevensky, J. L., & Gupta, R. (2000). Prevalence estimates of adolescent gambling: A comparison of the SOGS-RA, DSM-IV-J and the GA 20 Questions. Journal of Gambling Studies, 16(2/3), 227–251.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Doley, R. (2000). Want to Make a Bet?. Critical Issues in Policing Paper, No: Gambling and Crime in Australia. Australian Centre for Policing Research. 4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferris, J., Wynne, H., & Single, E. (1999). Measuring problem gambling in Canada: Final report (Submitted to the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse). Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse.

    Google Scholar 

  • Humppi, S. -M. (2009). Child sexual abuse in Finnish police reports [Lapsen seksuaalinen hyväksikäyttö rikosilmoituksissa]. Reports of Police College of Finland 82. Tampere, Finland: Police College of Finland.

  • Hyclak, T. (2011). Casinos and campus crime. Economics Letters, 112(1), 31–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, G. P. (1990). The prevalence and characteristics of prisoners with gambling related problems in Canning Vale Remand Centre. National Association for Gambling Studies Newsletter, 2, 5–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, H. G., & Grubin, D. H. (1990). Hot-headed or impulsive? British Journal of Addictions, 85(5), 639–643.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Korman, L. M., Collins, J., Dutton, D., Dhayananthan, B., Littman-Sharp, N., & Skinner, W. (2007). Problem Gambling and Intimate Partner Violence. Journal of Gambling Studies, 24(1), 13–23.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kuoppamäki, S.-M., Kääriäinen, J., & Ellonen, N. (2011). Physical violence against children reported to the police. Discrepancies between register-based data and child victim survey. Violence and Victims, 26(2), 257–268.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lahn, J. (2005). Gambling among offenders: results from an australian survey. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 49(3), 343–355.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lappi-Seppälä, T., & Niemi, H. (2010). Introduction [Johdanto]. In Crime trends in Finland 2010 [Rikollisuustilanne 2010]. Research reports in National Research Institute of Legal Policy 258. Helsinki: Hakapaino Oy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, L. H., Isa, D., Choo, W. O., & Chue, W. Y. (2012). High relevance keyword extraction facility for Bayesian text classification on different domains of varying characteristic. Expert Systems with Applications, 39, 1147–1155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lesieur, H. R., & Klein, R. (1985). Prisoners, gamblers and crime. Las Vegas, Nevada: Paper presented at the meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liao, M. S. (2008). Intimate partner violence within the Chinese community in San Francisco: problem gambling as a risk factor. Journal of Family Violence, 23(8), 671–678.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Magoon, M. E., Gupta, R., & Derevensky, J. (2005). Juvenile Delinquency and Adolescent Gambling. Implications for the Juvenile Justice System. Criminal Justice and Behaviour, 32(6), 690–713.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, M., Balfour, R. & Kenner, A. (1999). Pathological gambling: Prevalence, type of offence, comorbid psychopathology, and demographic characteristics in a prison population (Submission No. 116 to the Productivity Commission Inquiry into Australia’s Gambling Industries). Retrieved April 14, 2003, from http://www.pc.gov.au/inquiry/gambling/subs/sub116.pdf.

  • McCorkle, R. C. (2002). Pathological gambling in arrestee populations. Washington, DC U.S. Department of Justice.

  • Muelleman, R. L., DenOtter, T., Wadman, M. C., Tran, T. P., & Anderson, J. (2002). Problem gambling in the partner of the emergency department patient as a risk factor for intimate partner violence. The Journal of Emergency Medicine, 23(3), 307–312.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • National Research Council. (1999). Pathological gambling: A critical review. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piispa M., Laitalainen E., Helakorpi S., Halme J., Alho H. & Uutela A. (2008). Gambling, gambling problems and their relation to living habits among Finnish adults in 2008. National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Report 29/2009. Helsinki, Finland.

  • Rush, B. R., Bassani, D. G., Urbanoski, K. A., & Castel, S. (2008). Influence of co-occuring mental and substance use disorders on the prevalence of problem gambling in Canada. Addiction, 103(11), 1847–1856.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shaffer, H. J., & Korn, D. A. (2002). Gambling and related mental disorders. A public health analysis. Annual Review of Public Health, 23, 171–212.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, G., Wynne, H. & Hartnagel, T. (2003). Examining police records to assess gambling impacts: A study of gambling-related crime in the city of Edmonton. A Study Prepared for The Alberta Gaming Research Institute.

  • Ste-Marie, C., Gupta, R., & Derevensky, J. (2002). Anxiety and social stress related to adolescent gambling behaviour. International Gambling Studies, 2(1), 123–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stitt, B. G., Nichold, M., & Giacopassi, D. (2003). Does the presence of casinos increase crime? An examination of casino and control communities. Crime and Delinquency, 49(2), 253–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turja, T., Halme, J., Mervola, M., Järvinen-Tassopoulos, J. & Ronkainen, J. -E. (2011). Finnish gambling 2011. National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). Report 14/2012. Helsinki, Finland.

  • Turner, N. E., Preston, D. L., Saunders, C., McAvoy, S., & Jain, U. (2009). The Relationship of problem gambling to criminal behaviour in a sample of Canadian male federal offenders. Journal of Gambling Studies, 25(2), 153–169.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Varvio, S. (2007). Review of the Finnish Gaming System [Katsaus Suomen rahapelijärjestelmään]. Helsinki: Stakes, Working papers 24/2007.

  • Westphal, J. R., Rush, J. A., & Stevens, L. (1998). Problem and pathological gambling behaviors within specific populations in the State of Indiana. Indianapolis: Indiana Family & Social Services Administration.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, R. J., Royston, J., & Hagen, B. F. (2005). Gambling and problem gambling within forensic populations: A review of the literature. Criminal Justice and Behaviour, 32(6), 665–689.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zurhold, H., Verthein, U. & Kalke, J. (2013). Prevalence of problem gambling among the prison population in Hamburg, Germany. Journal of Gambling Studies 2013 Jan 20. (Epub ahead of print).

Download references

Acknowledgments

The article has been funded by The Finnish Foundation for Alcohol Studies. Authors do not have a financial relationship with the organization that sponsored the research.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Police College of Finland, P.O. Box 123, 33721, Tampere, Finland

    Sanna-Mari Kuoppamäki, Juha Kääriäinen & Kalle Lind

Authors
  1. Sanna-Mari Kuoppamäki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Juha Kääriäinen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kalle Lind
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sanna-Mari Kuoppamäki.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 6.

Table 6 Suspected victims in gambling-related police reports in Finland 2011
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kuoppamäki, SM., Kääriäinen, J. & Lind, K. Examining Gambling-Related Crime Reports in the National Finnish Police Register. J Gambl Stud 30, 967–983 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-013-9393-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-013-9393-6

Keywords

  • Gambling
  • Crime
  • Police reports
  • Methodological approach
  • Descriptive research