Abstract
This paper responds to commentaries from the Reno Model authors and other international researchers who reviewed our earlier paper in this volume. We take a considered view of the Reno Model and find it to be wanting as a responsible gambling (RG) tool because it fails to address the depth and diversity of harms so evident in today’s gambling environment. We propose a new consumer protection paradigm that prioritizes operator duty of care, integrity of operations, and consumer protection, along with independent regulation and research. We discuss the rebuttal of our Reno critique by Shaffer et al. along with the other commentaries. There appears to be general support for our critique and more robust public health approaches to RG. We urge support for engagement in an international process for a WHO instrument referencing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Similar to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco, this would re-frame gambling harm prevention and address current deficiencies in regulatory oversight of harmful gambling products and environments, by promoting duty of care, harm prevention, regulatory integrity, and public accountability.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abbott, M. (2017a) Beyond Reno: a critical commentary on Hancock and Smith. International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction. [Advance online publication]. https://doi 10.1007/s11469-017-9794-3.
Abbott, M. (2017b). Gambling and gambling harm in New Zealand: a 28-year case study. International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction. [Advance online publication]. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-017-9767-6.
Abbott, M. (2017c). Public health and diagnostic considerations of gambling disorder (pp. 26–28). Geneva, Switzerland: Invited paper presented at the WHO Forum on Alcohol, Drugs and Addictive Behaviours, WHO Headquarters.
Banks, G. (2003). The Productivity Commission’s gambling inquiry: 3 years on. In Presentation to the 12th Annual Conference of the National Association for Gambling Studies (NAGS). Canberra: ProductivityCommission. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/563997f0e4b0d7adb678285e/t/58af9f5cc534a516d608a657/1487904605816/The+Productivity+Commission%27s+Gambling+Inquiry+3+years+on.pdf.
Blaszczynski, A., Ladouceur, R., & Shaffer, H. (2004). A science-based framework for responsible gambling: the Reno Model. Journal of Gambling Studies, 20(3), 301–317.
Bondolfi, G., Jermann, F., Ferrero, F., Zullino, D., & Osiek, C. (2008). Prevalence of pathological gambling in Switzerland after the opening of casinos and the introduction of new preventive legislation. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 117, 236–239. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0447.2007.01149.x.
Browne, M., Langham, E., Rawat, V., Greer, N., Li, E., Rose, J., Rockloff, M., Donaldson, P., Thorne, H., Goodwin, B., Bryden, G., & Best, T. (2016). Assessing gambling-related harm in Victoria: a public health perspective. Melbourne: Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation.
Cassidy, R., Loussouarn, C., & Pisac, A. (2013). Fair game: producing gambling research—the Goldsmiths report. London: Goldsmiths University of London.
Değirmencioğlu, S. M., & Walker, C. (Eds.). (2015). Social and psychological dimensions of personal debt and the debt industry. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave MacMillan.
Delfabbro P. and King, D. L. (2017). Blame It on Reno: a Commentary on Hancock and Smith. International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction. [Advance online publication]. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-017-9777-4.
Doran, B., & Young, M. (2010). Predicting the spatial distribution of gambling vulnerability: an application of gravity modeling using ABS Mesh Blocks. Applied Geographer, 30(1), 141–152.
Dow Schüll, N. (2012). Addiction by design. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Fay, B. (1987). Critical Social Science. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Government of Victoria (2017). Explanatory Memorandum Gambling Regulation Amendment (Gaming Machines Arrangements) Bill 2017. Accessed At: http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/domino/Web_Notes/LDMS/PubPDocs.nsf/ee665e366dcb6cb0ca256da400837f6b/3cfcadb20cc37a36ca2581a000795159!OpenDocument
Hancock, L. (2011). Regulatory failure: the case of Crown Casino. Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing.
Hancock, L. (2013). Giving Dracula the keys to the blood bank? Interrogating the fifth crown casino licensing regulatory review. Journal of Business Systems, Governance and Ethics, 8(1), 1–21.
Hancock, L. (2018). (forthcoming) Integrity in sports betting in Australia. In J. P. Villeneuve & M. Pasquier (Eds.), International sports betting: integrity, deviance, governance and policy context. London: Routledge.
Hancock, L., & Smith, G. (2017). Critiquing the Reno Model I-IV international influence on regulators and governments (2004–2015)—the distorted reality of “responsible gambling”. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 1–26. [Advance online publication]. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-017-9746-y.
Hancock, L., Schellinck, T., & Schrans, T. (2008). Gambling and corporate responsibility (CSR): redefining industry and state roles on duty of care, host responsibility and risk management. Policy and Society, 27, 55–67.
Ladouceur, R., Shaffer, P., Blaszczynski , A. & Howard J. Shaffer, H. J. (2016). Responsible gambling: a synthesis of the empirical evidence, Addiction Research & Theory. http://doi.org/10.1080/16066359.2016.1245294.
Livingstone, C., Woolley, R., & Keleher, H. (2010). Productivity commission inquiry into Australia’s gambling industry. Retrieved from http://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/gambling-2009/report.
MacLaren, V. (2016). Video lottery is the most harmful form of gambling in Canada. Journal of GamblingStudies, 32(2), 459–485.
Markham, F., & Young, M. (2015). Big gambling: the rise of the global industry-state gambling complex. Addiction Research & Theory, 23(1), 1–4.
Orford J. (2017). The Gambling Establishment and the Exercise of Power: a Commentary on Hancock and Smith. International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction. [Advance online publication]. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-017-9781-8.
Productivity Commission. (2010). Gambling final report. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.
Shaffer et al. (2017). Truth, alternative facts, narrative, and science: what is happening to responsible gambling and gambling disorder. International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction. [Advance online publication]. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-017-9779-2.
Victorian Auditor General. (2017). Regulating gambling and liquor. Melbourne: Victorian government Printer Accessed at: https://www.audit.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/20170208-Gambling-Liquor.pdf.
Williams, R. Belanger, Y. & J. Arthur (2011), Gambling in Alberta: history, current status and socioeconomic impacts. Final report to the Alberta Gambling Research Institute.
Winslow, M., Cheok, C., & Subramaniam, M. (2015). Gambling in Singapore: an overview of history, research, treatment and policy. Addiction, 110(9), 1383–1387. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.12931.
Woolley, R., Livingstone, C., Harrigan, K., & Rintoul, A. C. (2013). House edge: hold percentage and the cost of EGM gambling. International Gambling Studies, 13(3), 388–402.
World Health Organization (WHO). (2003). Framework convention on tobacco control. Geneva: World Health Organization Accessed at: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/42811/1/9241591013.pdf.
Young, M. and Markham, F. (2017) Rehabilitating Reno: a commentary on Hancock and Smith, International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction. [Advance online publication]. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-017-9795-2
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hancock, L., Smith, G. Replacing the Reno Model with a Robust Public Health Approach to “Responsible Gambling”: Hancock and Smith’s Response to Commentaries on Our Original Reno Model Critique. Int J Ment Health Addiction 15, 1209–1220 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-017-9836-x
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-017-9836-x