Beyond the Individual

Rethinking Public Health Approaches to Gambling‐Related Harm

Bibliographic Data

ID24242337
AuthorsRowland Edet (0009-0009-3188-6477, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, corresponding author), Lisa A Kort‐butler (0000-0002-1880-8716, University of Nebraska–Lincoln)
Year2026
Volume20
Issue11
Publication date2026-11-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociology Compass (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1751-9020 • E-ISSN: 1751-9020
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/soc4.70274
OpenAlexW7224961119
LanguageEN
References cited85

Public health approaches to gambling‐related harm have increasingly shifted from individual pathology to population‐level frameworks. However, these approaches remain under strain, as they continue to individualize harm while attempting to address broader structural conditions. Here, we examine three dominant paradigms to show how they shape the framing of harm and the design of interventions. First, medicalization legitimizes gambling‐related harm within clinical systems but reinforces pathologized identities and professional authority. Second, stigma frameworks highlight processes of exclusion and barriers to help‐seeking but often remain insufficiently attuned to institutional and structural power. Third, structural perspectives situate harm within neoliberal governance, market expansion, and regulatory environments, yet they are unevenly translated into policy and practice. We further illustrate these tensions through the prevention paradox, which reveals a persistent mismatch between the distribution of harm and the focus of interventions. We conclude by arguing that more effective public health responses require reorienting existing frameworks toward structural accountability, with greater attention to commercial determinants, regulatory reform, and lived experience.

Gambling Behavior and Treatments · Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology · Public Health Policies and Education