Annual of social work, Vol. 26 No. 3, 2019.
Review article
https://doi.org/10.3935/ljsr.v26i3.297
GAMES OF CHANCE REGULATION IN CROATIA AS A SOCIAL RISK
Neven Ricijaš
orcid.org/0000-0001-8107-8448
; Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Toni Maglica
orcid.org/0000-0002-0716-0037
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Split, Split, Croatia
Dora Dodig Hundrić
orcid.org/0000-0002-4767-637X
; Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
In today’s society, industries whose products or services can have an adverse effect on mental or physical health are called sin industries and include, among others, the gambling industry. It is an industry that is rapidly evolving due to the influence of social changes and technology development.
Therefore, it is no surprise that the prevalence of gambling addicts is significant and increasing, especially in countries with high availability and accessibility of games of chance, such as Croatia. In this respect, the regulation of games of chance is of great importance as one of the key environmental factors contributing to the development of the problem. Given that this is a complex, challenging and insufficiently explored topic in our country, the aim of this paper is to systematically present key legal elements of availability and accessibility of games of chance, together with marketing strategies, as two components of socially responsible gambling. Authors analyse the Croatian legal framework and put it into a theoretical framework of social and psychosocial interventions, together with the results of empirical studies in this field. Based on such review, authors argue that the gambling
industry in Croatia represents a significant social risk and that minimum standards of protection of vulnerable groups are not met from the public health perspective. Instead of conclusions, the authors offer guidelines and recommendations for improving the regulation as well as the implementation of socially responsible gambling principles in our country.
Keywords
games of chance; gambling; socially responsible gambling; advertising; social risk
Hrčak ID:
235334
URI
Publication date:
29.2.2020.
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