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 Problem
gambling is now being seen not only as a social and economic problem but
as a serious mental health issue that has implications for mental health
services and practitioner expertise in a multicultural community. A quarter
of the population has origins in more than 100 countries, and the rest
represent a rich heterogeneous heritage of indigenous and non-indigenous
Australian born.
Counselling services for problem
gambling are proliferating. Although most counsellors have mainstream
backgrounds and North American theoretical perspectives, an increasing
number are being recruited from ethnic minority groups and indigenous
communities. Counselling agencies are starting to understand that mainstream
counselling is itself a cultural artifact that is based on psychological
theories developed in Europe and the United States for largely WASP populations
with middle-class status and college education. Therefore we are beginning
to see some efforts to modify established counselling methods to take
in different cultural value systems, client expectations and help-seeking
behavior.
The newest self-help books
are readable, affordable and readily accessible that is, for Australians
who read English and live within, or at least understand, the cultural
boundaries of the mainstream Anglo-Australian culture in which there are
certain shared and recognisable underlying values.
However, if you are outside
the mainstream culture, if you are indigenous or from an ethnic background
culturally distant from the mainstream, such books may be of little or
no help. This is because the cultural values that underpin your life's
path and your community may have little to do with prominent Anglo-Australian
notions of individualism and the cult of self as reflected in the ever-shrinking
nuclear family. In problem-gambling terms, there may be very different
traditions and belief systems influencing your behavior and your thinking
about games of chance and the unseen forces that control life's outcomes.
The meaning of gambling
It seems that most societies
engage in some form of gambling, which is an extension of play. However,
gambling takes on a new meaning because stakes are introduced, leading
to risk-taking. In some cultures there are sanctions against gambling
because of a prevailing view that gaining something purely through luck
or chance is morally unsound.
Islam and early Protestantism
adopted this view, and discouraged participation in games of chance, as
it somehow represented interfering in divine law. Indeed, Islamic teaching
suggests that by indulging in games of chance, human beings are attempting
to meddle with "blind" fate and therefore inadvertently mock the divine
plan in which nothing is left to chance.
A Persian verse suggests that
gambling is a metaphor for life. Death is the croupier:
This world is the dicing
den of the devil. In it,
We are the players. Fate
supervises the numbers thrown.
(Quoted by Hyde, in Rosenthal,
1975, p.161)
Another poet compared life's
vagaries to the roll of the dice:
Fate is the player. We the
counters are.
Heaven the dice, our earth
the gaming board.
(From Ibn Sina, quoted in
Rosenthal, 1975, p.161)
Indeed institutionalised centres
of gambling, like casinos, reflect the society surrounding them: elegant
upper-class meeting places in parts of Europe; the great leveling experience
of Las Vegas; or the stage for the machismo performance of masculinity,
pride, loss and chance found in Latin America (Thompson, 1991). Indeed
important values of the prevailing society are embedded in each gaming
setting, allowing patrons to play a role attached to notions of leisure,
daring and risk-taking all underpinned with the heady excitement of access
to money.
One point seems certain: "People
of the Book", whose traditions have come to them through the Judaic-Christian-Islamic
heritage of monotheism, have religious and moral sanctions in place against
gambling. In many instances throughout history this has been translated
into formal government policy, leaving those who gamble to incur the consequences
of flouting the rules and laws of church and state. Despite this, people
continue to gamble, for many reasons.
One reason might be interpreted
as an assertion of individuality against authority. The drive to individualism
in Western cultural norms might explain why people who feel anxious or
ambivalent about their gambling transgressions tend to explain them away
in terms of making a personal choice, about the need to feel a sense of
excitement, the desire to take risks despite traditions that hold gambling
as an undesirable activity.
A different philosophy exists
in many neo-Confucian cultures, those ancient cultures in which a combination
of Buddhist teachings and the writings of Confucius have given people
another blueprint for understanding the world. Here we see a mixture of
fatalism and activism. Strong beliefs are held simultaneously about the
inevitable effect of external forces that are beyond human control, like
the Buddhist precepts of fate or a former life. At the same time people
must strive to achieve honorable earthly goals that are within their reach
for the glory of family and ancestors (Yu, 1996).
An ancient proverb puts it
this way: One's life is determined first by destiny, second by luck, third
by feng shui, fourth by moral conduct, and fifth by education. So one
very important goal is the achievement of personal success, both monetary
and educational, which will reflect favorably on one's ancestors and family.
A common New Year's greeting is: "I wish you increased wealth." In fact,
the accumulation of wealth through educational success may be the main
path to family honor. The concept of yuan explains a person's success
or failure, as it represents the external invisible force that is beyond
control. A person with du yuan exhibits an affinity with gambling, a special
quality that will make winning very likely, as it harnesses those invisible
outside forces. Yuan also works against feelings of guilt or hostility
as it takes away the need for blame and promotes a passive acceptance
of life's vicissitudes. But yuan is not fixed forever; Confucian teaching
encourages people to take action to change and manipulate fate, and to
work hard for a better future (Yu, 1996).
In the same vein is feng shui,
the ancient science of geomancy that encourages humankind to plan buildings
and surroundings to enhance opportunities for gaining luck and prosperity.
This has the effect of driving out the malevolent and bringing in all
that is good and life-enhancing. Part of this time-honored system is the
ancient application of numerology to life's decisions and events.
Indeed people who come from
neo-Confucian cultures may approach gambling and concepts of luck and
chance from a different mindset which holds that those who play for money
are not transgressing a moral law. Instead they are testing karma or fate.
This is not to suggest that there are no sanctions against the personal
and societal risks involved. We know that gambling activities often form
part of New Year celebrations associated with attracting luck at an auspicious
time. These are controlled within the collectivist norms of the community,
thus working against the rise of the isolated problem gambler (Nguyen,
P., 1998).
Gambling in the neo-Confucian
context may be contrasted to gambling in the Judaic-Christian-Islamic
tradition which through received religious teachings maintains sanctions
against indulging in games of chance for personal gain. In this context,
people have to go outside those precepts to engage in gambling.
What is interesting is that
the personal motivation for traveling the potential path to good fortune
through a game of chance requires very different explanations from different
cultural-value perspectives.
Beyond recreation
There are other ways of understanding
gambling from a social and economic perspective. For the Tiwi people of
North Australia, playing cards for money has become part of an adaptation
to an imposed socio-economic system that implies a distinct division between
work and leisure that did not exist in earlier times.
Tiwi women are the main "small
time" gamblers, as winning small amounts of money is seen as equivalent
to providing food for family members either by gathering from natural
sources or by buying items at the local store. For Tiwi men it is less
frequent, and the stakes are higher: once again it is seen as the equivalent
of providing food, but in the same order as the occasional and
successful hunt, the windfall being used for purchasing symbols of success
in the white world like cars or travel to the mainland.
The inevitable consequence
of the gambling paradigm is the opportunity for the family or community
to share in the losses and the gains, which is a central cultural tradition
of the Tiwi (Goodale, 1986). This pattern may be prevalent among other
Aboriginal communities of similar size and geographical isolation.
How we explain gambling
Central to mainstream explanations
of why people gamble is the notion of individualism and personal self-interest.
Self-help manuals describe problem gambling as any gambling behavior that
is beyond the control of the individual and causes personal, economic
and social hardship for the person, the family and friends (Coman &
Burrows, 1998).
As a statement of fact, this
may apply in all cultures in describing a personal and social problem
at a relatively superficial level. However, it says nothing about underlying
value systems unfamiliar to mainstream thinking, and therefore poses several
significant questions. What messages do minority cultures receive through
the media about gambling as a state-sanctioned pastime? When people come
from a culture that respects benevolent authority to a new country where
prominent politicians openly support casino activities, what conclusions
do they draw?
In addition to these, what
is the result of a convincing advertising campaign aimed at particular
ethnic communities showing fellow countrymen enjoying casino wins and
receiving casino vouchers in lucky red New Year envelopes? The answer
can be seen in the demographics: a community that represents 1% of Victorians
is over-represented at Melbourne's casino making up 60% of the clientele.
Gambling and mental health
There is ample evidence of
the depression-addiction cycle surrounding problem gambling in all cultures
in Australia. Mental-health professionals are increasingly turning their
attention to this issue among ethnic and indigenous communities, however
they may be unaware of their own ethnocentric views on what constitutes
rational and irrational thinking in terms of belief systems other than
their own. In addition to the barrier of language in the therapeutic encounter,
techniques that challenge beliefs relating to luck and chance may be used
without effect when the underlying value systems of the parties are culturally
distant.
Comfortable middle-class professionals
may also be largely unaware of the effects that result from the migration
or refugee experience. It is possible that post-traumatic stress disorder
following a history of torture and trauma is a real factor in the origins
of problem gambling in some communities.
Life events and stress
It is now apparent that the
lowered status of unemployed Vietnamese men and the rise in independence
and earning power of their employed wives has changed family roles irrevocably.
This has led to severe depression, increased marriage breakdown and domestic
violence. The vision of a win at the casino to redeem a man's place of
honor and power in the family in an alien land may be a powerful trigger
in the gambling cycle.
Latin American communities
relate similar scenes of despair. Problem gambling may be associated with
the frustration of machismo and its attendant values of masculinity, risk-taking,
challenging fate, honor, hesitancy to delay gratification, and demonstration
of bravery. These have their cultural origins in the destruction of mestizo
communities over centuries of colonial oppression, but they find few outlets
in the migration-settlement-unemployment cycle in contemporary Australia.
Conclusion
It is apparent from the current
literature that the understanding of problem gambling and strategies for
countering it are embedded in mainstream Anglo-Australian concepts of
individualism, autonomy and personal responsibility. This includes approaches
to counselling models, self-help manuals, advertising of opportunities
for seeking help and the promotion of good mental health. There is little
or no mention of understanding collectivist value systems in which the
family or community is
the core unit, not the individual.
This would mean a change in
approach to expectations of client help-seeking, client understanding
of what counselling is, and the model of counselling itself. It may require
counsellors to extend their repertoire to include unfamiliar elements
like subtlety and indirectness in communications, avoidance of confrontation
and direct interpretation of motives and actions, and respecting different
meanings in family relationships.
We also need to encourage and
support members of ethnic communities to join the helping professions
in much larger numbers than at present. They will provide the key to parallel
beliefs and value systems, which are vital in helping us understand the
gambling habits and attitudes of Australians from non-Anglo traditions.
This will enable us to offer more culturally appropriate strategies to
combat the same potentially destructive effects that may be visited upon
all cultures. In this way there will be greater opportunity for equity
in helping all Australian problem gamblers, whatever their birthright
traditions.
References
Coman, G.J. & Burrows,
G.D. (1998), Your Guide to Responsible Gambling, The Options Project Melbourne:
VicHealth.
Goodale, J. (1986), Gambling
is hard work: Card playing in Tiwi society, Oceania, Vol. 58, No.1, September,
6-21.
Nguyen, P. (1998) Gambling
issues within the Indochinese communities in Melbourne. Training session
for Financial & Consumer Rights Council Inc., Ross House, Melbourne.
Rosenthal, F. (1975), Gambling
in Islam, Leiden: E. J. Brill.
Thomson, W. N. (1991), Machismo:
Manifestations of a cultural value in the Latin American casino, Journal
of Gambling Studies, Vol. 7(2), Summer 1991.
Weller, R. P. (1995), Matricidal
magistrates and gambling gods: weak states and strong spirits in China,
The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs, No.33, January, (107)-124.
Yu, A-B. Ultimate life concerns,
self and Chinese achievement motivation, in Bond, M. H. (Ed.) (1996),
The Handbook of Chinese Psychology, Hong Kong, Oxford University Press.
This
article was not peer-reviewed by the Electronic
Journal of Gambling Issues: eGambling.
We
gratefully acknowledge permission by the Consumer Rights Journal of
Australia to use this article, originally published in their November/December
1998 issue, Vol. 3 No.1. For more information, contact: <fcrc@vicnet.net.au>,
or see the original article at <http://home.vicnet.net.au/~fcrc/crj/3_1a.htm>.
Diane
Gabb is a registered psychologist and educator with the Victorian Transcultural
Psychiatry Unit (VTPU) and a senior fellow in the Centre for International
Mental Health, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry & Health Sciences, University
of Melbourne. From 1972, in Australia and New Zealand, she worked in counselling
and teaching capacities with immigrant, indigenous and international students
in schools, technical education, universities and government departments.
In 1995, she was appointed Education & Training Coordinator of the
VTPU, and has coordinated the Graduate Diploma in Mental Health Sciences
(Transcultural Mental Health) from its inception in 1996 to the present.
She also designs and implements a series of professional development programs
for health, welfare and education practitioners concerning the relationship
of culture, ethnicity and mental health.
Suggested citation:
Gabb, D. (2001,
February). Beliefs and value systems: Understanding all Australians [Opinion][31
paragraphs]. Electronic Journal of Gambling Issues: eGambling [On-line
serial], 3. Available: <http://www.camh.net/egambling>.
(Reprinted from Consumer Rights Journal of Australia, December, 1998,
Vol. 3 No.1.
< http://home.vicnet.net.au/~fcrc/crj/3_1a.htm
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