Problem gambling—a Lacanian Real

Borch, Anita

doi:10.7895/ijadr.v4i1.197

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…The expansion of the addiction concept can roughly be described from three different interpretive frameworks. Within medical, psychological and neurobiological research on the prevalence and development of misuse, the often tacit point of departure is that these descriptions agree with clinical facts; in short, that the characterisation of ever more phenomena as individual pathologies is due to scientific advances that allow us to see them as they really are (Borch, 2015). A much rarer approach, which involves a certain historical dimension, is that addictions actually have increased and spread.…”

Section: Misuse and Medicalisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

From Boredom to Dependence: The Medicalisation of the Swedish Gambling Problem

Edman

Berndt

2016

Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

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AIMS -The aim of this study is to investigate the medicalising of gambling problems by comparing the political discussions on gambling in the Swedish Parliament in the early 1970s and the early 2010s. DESIGN -Against a theoretical background on medicalising processes in general, and medicalisation of gambling problems in particular, we have analysed discussion protocols and parliamentary bills in the Swedish Parliament from the years 1970-1975 and 2012-2013. RESULTS -The problem descriptions of the 1970s and 2010s are, in certain respects, strikingly similar, identifying proactive operators such as the gambling companies and highlighting an inadequate legal framework. But where the MPs of the 1970s put some effort into describing the drab society which fed the need for gambling, the elected representatives of the 2010s shortcut to individual dependence. CONCLUSIONS -EU membership and the development of the Internet have made effective control and regulation impossible in the early 2010s and the political handling of the Swedish gambling problem is therefore a clear example of how market liberalisation can pave the way for individualisation, medicalisation and depoliticisation of social problems.

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Section: Misuse and Medicalisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

From Boredom to Dependence: The Medicalisation of the Swedish Gambling Problem

Edman

Berndt

2016

Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

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“…According to Borch (2015), pathological gamblers do not know and cannot give a reason why they keep on gambling even though they know how damaging it is. Borch's results imply that pathological gambling is unintentional and hence that the gamblers cannot be blamed for their risk consumption.…”

Section: International Journal Of Alcohol and Drug Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Addiction: A highly successful, essentially contested concept

Borch¹,

Rantala

2015

IJADR

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Borch, A., & Rantala, V. (2015). Addiction: A highly successful, essentially contested concept. The International Journal Of Alcohol And Drug Research, 4(1), 1-4. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v4i1.200Within two or three decades an increasing use of the concept of addiction has been observed in the media, in expert discourses, in popular culture, and in everyday talk. The concept does not only cover traditional substance use but also a growing range of behaviors like gambling, internet use, sex, eating, work, and shopping. One important reason behind the concept’s “use value” lies most likely in the fact that it can be adapted to so many different situations of contemporary life. The concept also integrates everyday talk with medical and scientific discourse (Room, Hellman, & Stenius, this issue; Valverde, 1998). The scientific sector is supposed to produce the most reliable, transparent, objective, and impersonal knowledge (Warshal, 2010), and as such the concept holds the credibility label of being “made by science.”

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