The Gambling Act 2005 and the (De)regulation of Commercial Gambling in Britain: A State-Corporate Harm

Abstract

This article explores the forms of harmful practices and harms experienced by individuals since the implementation of the Gambling Act 2005. Employing the state-corporate crime paradigm as an analytical lens through which to examine the narratives of individuals who gamble and affected family members, and supporting secondary sources, it illustrates the ‘collateral damage’ that has resulted from an industry that embeds harmful practices as a means of capital accumulation. By providing insight into the often-hidden array of economic, physical, emotional, and psychological, and cultural harms that result from the entrenchment of a leisure culture that institutes ever more potent forms of aleatory consumption, the article offers a rare sociological critique of an industry that has been able to flourish as a consequence of an alliance between state and business.