Spelberoende - om socialtjänstens respektive spelberoendeföreningarnas syn på ett dolt samhällsproblem

During the last couple of years gambling addiction has become a phenomenon that has been debated and paid attention to in the daily press as well as in Swedish gambling studies. “Spelberoendes riksförbund”, who is a union of non-profit organizations for gambling addiction, has participated in this debate by giving prominence to gambling addiction as a serious social problem which demands social attention and call for actions. One of the most important claims that have been called for by the non-profit organisations is a clarification of the municipal social services responsibility for treatment of gambling addiction. Today, it is not clear which public authority that has the responsibility to offer treatment for gambling addiction. The purpose of this study was to examine and analyze how social workers and representatives from non-profit organizations for gambling addiction, portrays and describes gambling addiction, concerning causes, solutions, responsibility, and the nature of the problem. The study was based on in-depth interviews with four social workers and three representatives from non-profit organizations for gambling addiction. The empirical material was analyzed based on a social constructive perspective. As a complement to this perspective I added Spectors and Kitsuses idea of social problems as a part of a claim making process, and Meeuwisses and Swärds model of understanding how social problems are defined and constructed. The results of the study shows that the non-profit organizations for gambling addiction, can be seen as an important actor of the claims making process, where gambling addiction is pointed out as a serious social problem which demands social action. I also found that gambling addiction can be described in many different ways where both social and individual aspects are emphasized. Gambling addiction is also described in relation to alcohol-and drug abuse and consequently gambling addiction is constructed within this frame of reference. Further, both the social workers and the representatives from the non-profit organizations, agreed upon that gambling addiction is a hidden social problem because of the high acceptance for gambling in the society