Abstract
Indigenous populations globally experience problem gambling at higher rates than mainstream communities, often leading to adverse outcomes in social, cultural, and health domains (The term ‘indigenous’ within this paper refers to all first nations people from the specified countries. When capitalised, this refers to Australian Indigenous people specifically.). Problem gambling in indigenous communities has been linked to relative poverty and social disadvantage. The sweeping impacts of problem gambling for indigenous communities are holistic in nature and are felt throughout many aspects of the community, including the local economy, education, employment, and cultural kinship obligations. The social links inherent in many gambling activities in addition to the motivations of players and complex socio-cultural milieu can make it very difficult to renounce the practice. This paper aims to evaluate the indigenous gambling literature to discern appropriate and effective principles to guide intervention development in the context of problem gambling pertaining to the Australian Indigenous population. A rapid review will be undertaken to gather, analyse, and interpret appropriate theoretical and empirical literature relating to gambling interventions for indigenous populations. Papers from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and U.S.A (CANZUS) will be considered in the review and thematic analysis will be undertaken to ascertain a broad understanding of effective and appropriate problem gambling intervention principles applicable to these population groups. Despite the relative dearth of empirical evidence within this field, approaches to problem gambling intervention within indigenous populations must be culturally-centred and underpinned by a public health framework that considers the broad socio-politico-cultural context of the whole community. The importance of community-control, collaboration, community capacity building, workforce competence, a holistic approach, and gambling regulation cannot be overstated. The available literature focusses on an alternative approach to addressing problem gambling in indigenous communities, with much of the findings highlighting key indigenist principles within a context-based method of engagement and intervention, including addressing the social, political, and cultural determinants of problem gambling at a community-level.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). (2018). Australia’s health 2018. Australia’s health series no. 16. Chapter 5.2 Rural and remote populations. AUS 221. AIHW. Retrieved on 13/01/2021 from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/0c0bc98b-5e4d-4826-af7f-b300731fb447/aihw-aus-221-chapter-5-2.pdf.aspx
Allen, L., Hatala, A., Ijaz, S., Courchene, E. D., & Bushie, E. B. (2020). Indigenous-led health care partnerships in Canada. CMAJ, 192(9), E208–E216.
Archibald, L. (2006). Decolonization and healing: indigenous experiences in the United States, New Zealand, Australia and Greenland. Aboriginal Healing Foundation.
Bailie, R. S., & Wayte, K. J. (2006). Housing and health in Indigenous communities: Key issues for housing and health improvement in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 14(5), 178–183.
Belanger, Y. D., Williams, R. J., & Prusak, S. Y. (2017). Tracking the westernization of urban Aboriginal gambling in Canada’s Prairie Provinces. International Gambling Studies, 17(1), 1–19.
Bertossa, S., Harvey, P., Smith, D., & Chong, A. (2014). A preliminary adaptation of the Problem Gambling Severity Index for Indigenous Australians: Internal reliability and construct validity. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 38(4), 349–354.
Bertossa, S., Miller, P., Chong, A., & Harvey, P. (2010). Gambling in a remote Aboriginal setting—The good, the bad and the ugly. Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal, 34(4), 10–13.
Bond, K. S., Dart, K. M., Jorm, A. F., Kelly, C. M., Kitchener, B. A., & Reavley, N. J. (2017). Assisting an Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person with gambling problems: A Delphi study. BMC Psychology, 5(1), 27.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101.
Breen, H. (2012). Risk and protective factors associated with gambling products and services: Indigenous gamblers in north Queensland. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 10(1), 24–38.
Breen, H., & Gainsbury, S. (2013). Aboriginal gambling and problem gambling: A review. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 11(1), 75–96.
Breen, H., Hing, N., & Gordon, A. (2010). Exploring indigenous gambling: Understanding Indigenous gambling behaviour, consequences, risk factors, and potential interventions. Final Report. Southern Cross University.
Breen, H., Hing, N., & Gordon, A. (2011). Indigenous gambling motivations, behaviour and consequences in Northern New South Wales, Australia. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 9(6), 723–739.
Breen, H., Hing, N., & Gordon, A. (2013b). Gambling impacts on Aboriginal communities in New South Wales, Australia: Community leaders’ perspectives. Asian Journal of Gambling Issues and Public Health, 3(1), 1–12.
Breen, H., Hing, N., & Gordon, A. (2013a). Indigenous Australian gambling crime and possible interventions: A qualitative study. Asian Journal of Gambling Issues and Public Health, 3(1), 4.
Breen, H., Hing, N., Gordon, A., & Buultjens, J. (2012). Meanings of Aboriginal gambling across New South Wales, Australia. International Gambling Studies, 12(2), 243–256.
Browne, A. J., Varcoe, C., Lavoie, J., Smye, V., Wong, S. T., Krause, M., & Fridkin, A. (2016). Enhancing health care equity with Indigenous populations: evidence-based strategies from an ethnographic study. BMC Health Services Research, 16(1), 544.
Buchanan, T. W., McMullin, S. D., Baxley, C., & Weinstock, J. (2020). Stress and gambling. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 31, 8–12.
Busija, L., Cinelli, R., Toombs, M. R., Easton, C., Hampton, R., Holdsworth, K., & McCabe, M. P. (2020). The role of elders in the wellbeing of a contemporary Australian indigenous community. The Gerontologist, 60(3), 513–524.
Campo, M., & Tayton, S. (2015). Domestic and family violence in regional, rural and remote communities. Australian Institute of Family Studies.
Christie, M., Greatorex, J., Gurruwiwi, D., Djirrimbilpilwuy, F., Galathi, J., Gapany, D., & Guyula, Y. (2009). Regulated gambling and problem gambling among Aborigines from remote NT communities: A Yolŋu case study. School for Social & Policy Research and School of Australian Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Charles Darwin University.
Christie, M., & Young, M. (2011). The public problem of ‘Aboriginal gambling ‘: winning the struggle for an urban space. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 46(3), 253–272.
Clark, L., Averbeck, B., Payer, D., Sescousse, G., Winstanley, C. A., & Xue, G. (2013). Pathological choice: the neuroscience of gambling and gambling addiction. Journal of Neuroscience, 33(45), 17617–17623.
Currie, C. L., Wild, T. C., Schopflocher, D. P., Laing, L., Veugelers, P., & Parlee, B. (2013). Racial discrimination, post traumatic stress, and gambling problems among urban Aboriginal adults in Canada. Journal of Gambling Studies, 29(3), 393–415.
Delfabbro, P., Lahn, J., & Grabosky, P. (2005). Further evidence concerning the prevalence of adolescent gambling and problem gambling in Australia: A study of the ACT. International Gambling Studies, 5(2), 209–228.
Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (DFHCSIA) (2012). Development of culturally appropriate problem gambling services for Indigenous communities. Occasional Paper No. 40. Cultural & Indigenous Research Centre Australia. Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Australian Government.
Dion, J., Cantinotti, M., Ross, A., & Collin-Vézina, D. (2015). Sexual abuse, residential schooling and probable pathological gambling among Indigenous Peoples. Child Abuse & Neglect, 44, 56–65.
Durey, A., McEvoy, S., Swift-Otero, V., Taylor, K., Katzenellenbogen, J., & Bessarab, D. (2016). Improving healthcare for Aboriginal Australians through effective engagement between community and health services. BMC Health Services Research, 16(1), 1–13.
Fogarty, M. (2013). From card games to poker machines: Gambling in remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. Doctoral Thesis. Charles Darwin University.
Fogarty, M. (2017). The place of cultural competency in responsible gambling practice: Challenging notions of informed choice. Addiction Research & Theory, 25(6), 444–450.
Fogarty, M., Coalter, N., Gordon, A., & Breen, H. (2018). Proposing a health promotion framework to address gambling problems in Australian Indigenous communities. Health Promotion International, 33(1), 115–122.
Freeman, T., Baum, F., Lawless, A., Labonté, R., Sanders, D., Boffa, J., & Javanparast, S. (2016). Case study of an aboriginal community-controlled health service in Australia: Universal, rights-based, publicly funded comprehensive primary health care in action. Health and Human Rights, 18(2), 93.
Freeman, T., Baum, F., Mackean, T., Ziersch, A., Sherwood, J., Edwards, T., & Boffa, J. (2019). Case study of a decolonising Aboriginal community controlled comprehensive primary health care response to alcohol-related harm. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 43(6), 532–537.
Gainsbury, S. M., Russell, A., Hing, N., Wood, R., Lubman, D. I., & Blaszczynski, A. (2014). The prevalence and determinants of problem gambling in Australia: Assessing the impact of interactive gambling and new technologies. Psychology of Addictive Behaviours, 28(3), 769.
Gill, K. J., Heath, L. M., Derevensky, J., & Torrie, J. (2016). The social and psychological impacts of gambling in the Cree communities of Northern Quebec. Journal of Gambling Studies, 32(2), 441–457.
Gray, J., & Beresford, Q. (2008). A ‘formidable challenge’: Australia’s quest for equity in Indigenous education. Australian Journal of Education, 52(2), 197–223.
Griffiths, K., Coleman, C., Lee, V., & Madden, R. (2016). How colonisation determines social justice and Indigenous health—A review of the literature. Journal of Population Research, 33(1), 9–30.
Guenther, J., & Disbray, S. (2015). Why local staff matter in very remote schools. In Australian Association for Research in Education annual conference, Fremantle. http://www.academia.edu/19290693/WHY_LOCAL_STAFF_lvlATTER_IN_VERY_REIVlOTE_SCHOOLS.
Herd, R. (2018). Tirohanga Taiohi: Taiohi perspectives on gambling among whānau, hapu, iwi and urban Māori communities. Doctoral Thesis. Auckland University of Technology.
Hing, N., & Breen, H. (2014). Indigenous Australians and gambling. Australian Gambling Research Centre.
Hing, N., Breen, H., Buultjens, J., & Gordon, A. (2012). A profile of gambling behaviour and impacts among indigenous Australians attending a cultural event in New South Wales. Australian Aboriginal Studies, 2, 3.
Hing, N., Breen, H., & Gordon, A. (2015). Consequences of commercial gambling for indigenous communities in New South Wales, Australia (pp. 89–108). Cultural Attitudes, Motivations and Impact on Quality of Life.
Hing, N., Breen, H., Gordon, A., & Russell, A. (2014c). Gambling harms and gambling help-seeking amongst Indigenous Australians. Journal of Gambling Studies, 30(3), 737–755.
Hing, N., Breen, H., Gordon, A., & Russell, A. (2014d). Gambling among indigenous men and problem gambling risk factors: An Australian study. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 12(4), 491–508.
Hing, N., Breen, H., Gordon, A., & Russell, A. (2014a). Risk factors for problem gambling among indigenous Australians: an empirical study. Journal of Gambling Studies, 30(2), 387–402.
Hing, N., Breen, H., Gordon, A., & Russell, A. (2014b). Gambling motivations of Indigenous Australians. Cultural attitudes, motivations and impact on quality of life.
Hing, N., Russell, A. M., Rawat, V., Rockloff, M. J., & Browne, M. (2018). Evaluation of the My Moola Indigenous money management program as a gambling harm minimisation tool. CQUniversity, Australia.
Hoffmann, B. D., Roeger, S., Wise, P., Dermer, J., Yunupingu, B., Lacey, D., & Panton, B. (2012). Achieving highly successful multiple agency collaborations in a cross-cultural environment: experiences and lessons from Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation and partners. Ecological Management & Restoration, 13(1), 42–50.
Holdsworth, L., Breen, H., Hing, N., & Gordon, A. (2013). One size doesn’t fit all: Experiences of family members of Indigenous gamblers. Australian Aboriginal Studies (Canberra), 1, 73–84.
Hunter, B. (2009). Indigenous social exclusion: Insights and challenges for the concept of social inclusion. Family Matters, 82, 52.
Hunter, E. (2007). Disadvantage and discontent: A review of issues relevant to the mental health of rural and remote Indigenous Australians. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 15(2), 88–93.
Iyott, J. P. (2018). Working the 12-Steps for Problem Gamblers Using the Native-American Medicine Wheel. Doctoral dissertation. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology.
Jennings, V., & Bamkole, O. (2019). The relationship between social cohesion and urban green space: An avenue for health promotion. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(3), 452.
Kendall, E., & Barnett, L. (2015). Principles for the development of Aboriginal health interventions: culturally appropriate methods through systemic empathy. Ethnicity & Health, 20(5), 437–452.
Kim, P. J. (2019). Social determinants of health inequities in indigenous Canadians through a life course approach to colonialism and the residential school system. Health Equity, 3(1), 378–381.
Lamb, D., & Young, M. (2011). ‘Pushing buttons: an evaluation of the effect of Aboriginal income management on commercial gambling expenditure. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 46(2), 119–140.
Liaw, S. T., Lau, P., Pyett, P., Furler, J., Burchill, M., Rowley, K., & Kelaher, M. (2011). Successful chronic disease care for Aboriginal Australians requires cultural competence. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 35(3), 238–248.
MacLean, S., Maltzahn, K., Thomas, D., Atkinson, A., & Whiteside, M. (2019). Gambling in Two Regional Australian Aboriginal Communities: A Social Practice Analysis. Journal of Gambling Studies, 35(4), 1331–1345.
MacLean, S., Ritte, R., Thorpe, A., Ewen, S., & Arabena, K. (2017). Health and wellbeing outcomes of programs for Indigenous Australians that include strategies to enable the expression of cultural identities: a systematic review. Australian Journal of Primary Health, 23(4), 309–318.
Maltzahn, K., Vaughan, R., Griffin, T., Thomas, D., Stephens, R., Whiteside, M., & Maclean, S. (2019). Pleasures and risks associated with bingo playing in an Australian Aboriginal community: Lessons for policy and intervention. Journal of Gambling Studies, 35(2), 653–670.
Martin, D. H. (2012). Two-eyed seeing: a framework for understanding indigenous and non-indigenous approaches to indigenous health research. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research Archive, 44(2).
McMillen, J., & Donnelly, K. (2008). Gambling in Australian Indigenous communities: The state of play. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 43(3), 397–426.
Menzies, P., Bodnar, A., & Harper, V. (2010). The role of the elder within a mainstream addiction and mental health hospital: Developing an integrated paradigm. NSWJ-V7, p.87–107. https://zone.biblio.laurentian.ca/handle/10219/385
Minichiello, A., Lefkowitz, A. R., Firestone, M., Smylie, J. K., & Schwartz, R. (2015). Effective strategies to reduce commercial tobacco use in Indigenous communities globally: a systematic review. BMC Public Health, 16(1), 1–25.
Mohajer, N., Bessarab, D., & Earnest, J. (2009). There should be more help out here! A qualitative study of the needs of Aboriginal adolescents in rural Australia. Rural and Remote Health, 9, 1–11.
Morris, M., Young, M., Barnes, T., Marum, J., & Stevens, M. (2006). Indigenous gambling scoping study: A summary. School for Social and Policy Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin.
Morrison, L., & Boulton, A. (2013). Reversing the harmful effects of gambling in indigenous families: The development of the Tu Toa Tu Maia Intervention. Pimatisiwin: A Journal of Aboriginal and Indigenous Community Health, 11(2), 255–268.
Morrison, L., & Wilson, D. (2013). Ngā Pou Wāhine: A framework of empowerment for Māori women and gambling misuse. MAI Review, 2, 91–104.
Morrison, L., & Wilson, D. (2015). A family affair: Indigenous women’s gambling journey. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 13(4), 435–446.
Nagel, T., Hinton, R., Thompson, V., & Spencer, N. (2011). Yarning about gambling in indigenous communities: An Aboriginal and Islander mental health initiative. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 46(4), 371–389.
Neal, P., Delfabbro, P., & O’Neil, M. (2005). Problem gambling and harm: A national definition. South Australia Centre for Economic Studies.
Oei, T. P. S., Raylu, N., & Loo, J. M. Y. (2019). Roles of culture in gambling and gambling disorder. In Gambling disorder (pp. 271–295). Springer, Cham.
Panaretto, K. S., Wenitong, M., Button, S., & Ring, I. T. (2014). Aboriginal community controlled health services: Leading the way in primary care. Medical Journal of Australia, 200(11), 649–652.
Paradies, Y. (2016). Colonisation, racism and indigenous health. Journal of Population Research, 33(1), 83–96.
Parker, E., Meiklejohn, B., Patterson, C., Edwards, K., Preece, C., Shuter, P., & Gould, T. (2006). Our games our health: A cultural asset for promoting health in Indigenous communities. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 17(2), 103–108.
Read, C. M. (2006). Working with an Aboriginal community liaison worker. Rural and Remote Health, 6(2), 1.
Richard, K., Baghurst, T., Faragher, J. M., & Stotts, E. (2017). Practical treatments considering the role of sociocultural factors on problem gambling. Journal of Gambling Studies, 33(1), 265–281.
Robertson, P., Pitama, S., Huriwai, T., Ahuriri-Driscoll, A., Larsen, J., Uta’i, S., & Haitana, T. (2005). Developing services in te rohe o Ngai Tahu for Maori with gambling related problems. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 34, 35–43.
Stevens, M., & Bailie, R. (2012). Gambling, housing conditions, community contexts and child health in remote indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, Australia. BMC Public Health, 12(1), 1–13.
Stevens, M., & Young, M. (2009). Betting on the evidence: Reported gambling problems among the Indigenous population of the Northern Territory. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 33(6), 556–565.
Stevens, M., & Young, M. (2010). Independent correlates of reported gambling problems amongst indigenous Australians. Social Indicators Research, 98(1), 147–166.
Vance, A., McGaw, J., Winther, J., Rayner, M., White, S., & Smith, A. (2017). Mental health care for Indigenous young people: Moving culture from the margins to the centre. Australasian Psychiatry, 25(2), 157–160.
Volberg, R. A., Gupta, R., Griffiths, M. D., Olason, D. T., & Delfabbro, P. (2011). An international perspective on youth gambling prevalence studies. International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health, 22(1), 3–38.
Walters, K. L., Johnson-Jennings, M., Stroud, S., Rasmus, S., Charles, B., John, S., Allen, J., Kaholokula, J. K. A., Look, M. A., de Silva, M., Lowe, J., & Boulafentis, J. (2020). Growing from our roots: Strategies for developing culturally grounded health promotion interventions in American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities. Prevention Science, 21(1), 54–64.
Warburton, J., & McLaughlin, D. (2007). Passing on our culture: How older Australians from diverse cultural backgrounds contribute to civil society. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 22(1), 47–60.
Whiteside, M., Heyeres, M., Maltzahn, K., Griffin, T., & MacLean, S. (2020). Intervening in Indigenous Gambling: A Systematic Review of the Literature. SAGE Open, 10(3), 2158244020947441.
Williams, A. D., Clark, T. C., & Lewycka, S. (2018). The associations between cultural identity and mental health outcomes for indigenous Māori youth in New Zealand. Frontiers in Public Health, 6, 319.
Williams, R. J., Belanger, Y. D., & Prusak, S. Y. (2016). Gambling and problem gambling among Canadian urban Aboriginals. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 61(11), 724–731.
Williams, R. J., Stevens, R. M., & Nixon, G. (2011). Gambling and problem gambling in North American Aboriginal people. University of Manitoba Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
PS completed the draft manuscript. KD provided input into the revised methodology and analysis.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Saunders, P., Doyle, K. Gambling Interventions in Indigenous Communities, from Theory to Practice: A Rapid Qualitative Review of the Literature. J Gambl Stud 37, 947–982 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-021-10019-0
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-021-10019-0