Athematicanal

ysi
sidenti
fyi
ngconceptsofprobl
em gambli
ngagency
:Wit
hpr
eli
minar
y
expl
orat
ionofdi
scoursesinsel
ectedindust
ryandresear
chdocuments

Jenni
ferBor
rell Af
fil
i
ati
on:
Vict
ori
aUni
ver
sit
y,Mel
bour
ne,
Aust
ral
i
aEmai
l
:
j
.borr
ell
@optusnet
.com.
au

Al
lURLswer
eact
iveatt
het
imeofsubmi
ssi
on.Thi
sar
ti
clewaspeer
-r
evi
ewed.

Forcor
respondence:Jenni
ferBor
rel
l,Soci
alr
esear
chconsul
tant
,c/
oBor der
landsCooperat
ive,
POBox3079, Auburn3123,Austr
ali
a.Phone:(
03)93865853.Emai
l:j
.bor
rel
l@optusnet
.com.au

Compet i
ngi
nter
ests:None(
authorhasr
ecei
vednof
undsf
ort
hispaperorf
oranyoft
he
resear
chcont
ainedinthi
spaperatanyt
ime)
.

Et
hicsappr
oval
:Noner
equi
red

JenniferBor r
ell
, PhD, i
saMel bourne-basedsoci alresear cherandgambl ingresearchconsul t
ant.
Shehaspr ovidedext ensivegambl i
ngr esear chandpol icyconsultancytolocalgovernment s,
communi tyor gani sations,anduni versitiesinVi ct
oria, Austral
ia,
andshehascont r
ibutedto
severalstategov ernmentgambl i
ngst udi es.Inaddition, Jenni
fer'
sconsultancywor khas
i
ncludedandi nfor medmuni ci
pal heal
thpl ans,communi tyneedsanalyses,program ev al
uati
ons,
l
eisureneedsst udi es,andcommuni tyar tspr oj
ects.Manyt imest hi
swor khasbeenconduct ed
i
nassoci ationwi thBor derl
andsCooper ative,acommuni ty-
basedor gani
sati
onf ocussedon
socialandenv i
ronment al r
egener ati
onandsust ai
nabi li
ty.Jennif
erhast aughtsocialtheory,
researchmet hodol ogy, andphilosophyatal ocaluniv ersit
y.

Abst
ract

Thef ocusoft hisexplor

atoryanal ysiswast heideaandl ocusofagencyi nconcept ual
isati
onsof
gambl ingandpr oblem/pathological gambl i
ngwi thincorporateandacademi cdomainsas
present edinpubli
cdiscourses.Inor dertounpi ckandanal y sehowsuchagencyi sbeing
concept uali
sedandpr esented,theaut horcar r
iedoutapr eli
mi narythemat icanalysisof
selectedpubl i
cdocument s.Whi l
eannual fi
nanci alreports,
academi car ti
cles,andpublic
testi
monyconst it
utedthesampl ef oranal ysis,thei nt
entionwast opr oposeamet hodologyand
framewor kofanalysi
sthatmi ghtbeappl iedbyf utureresearcherstoanexpandedsel ectionof
document sdeemedt obeofi nterest .Anot ableov erl
apoft hemeswasf oundwher ei
nagency
for(problematic)gamblingwaspl acedwi thindividualgambl ersagai nstanassumedneut ral
backdr opoff r
ee-marketforces,wit hindust r
iesonl yagent i
ci nrespondi ngt otheconsumpt i
on
demandsoff reelychoosi
ng(andi mplicitl
yself-
actual
isi
ng)indivi
duals(exceptwherecredi
tis
takenforthegener ati
onofincreasedconsumpt ionast r
anslat
edi nt
oprof i
ts)
.Inconcl
usion,
iti
s
suggestedt hatthelegi
ti
macyandpr acticeofpol i
ti
cal-
economi candinsti
tuti
onalanal
ysesbe
recl
aimed, provi
dingcomplement ari
tyt ocurrentrefl
ecti
onsont henatureofagencyand
assist
ingust obet t
erunderst
andt henot ionof(gambl i
ng-r
elated)harm producti
on.

I
ntr
oduct
ion:
Theor
eti
cal
appr
oachandkeyconcept
s

Thef ocusoft hisst udyi stheideaandl ocusofagencyi nconcept uali

sati
onsofgambl ingand
problem/ pathological gambl i
ngwi t
hincor porateandacademi cdomai nsaspr esentedinpubli
c
di
scour ses.Inor dert ounpi ckandanal ysehowsuchagencyi sbeingconcept uali
sedand
presented,at hemat icanal ysi
sofsel ectedpubl i
cdocument swascar ri
edout .Document swere
mainlytheannual orf inancialr
epor t
sofgambl ingcorporati
ons,academi cmonogr aphs,andthe
publi
ct esti
monyoft heCEOoft heAmer icanGami ngAssociati
onpr esenti
ngt oaUKgambl ing
l
egislati
onr eviewcommi tt
ee.Whi lethesel ecti
onofdocument sforthisexplorati
onwasf ar
fr
om exhaust i
ve,itishopedt hattheov erallanaly
tical
framewor kandmet hodologymi ght
provi
desomei nspirationanddi recti
onf orfutureresearcher
s.

Fi
rstl
yIwill
arti
culateaf
ewkeyconcept
sthati
nfor
m myanal
ysisanddi
scussi
on,
namel
y
agency,
discourse,andt
her
elat
edconcept
sofhabit
usandfi
eld.

Agency

Thi
sterm mayrefert
osoci
all
ygener
ati
veact
ionand/
ort
hei
ndependentact
ionofaut
onomous
i
ndi
vidual
swithi
n