Sociological Perspective On Gambling

The sociological Imagination as defined by sociological forefather C Wright Mills “is the practice of thinking ourselves away”. The purpose of this “practice” is to view things from sociological perspectives, to see how things interact with one another. The sociological imagination can be applied to gambling. Why do people gamble? Gambling as defined in the Oxford dictionary as “take great risk in the hope of substantial gain”
One of the perspectives as to why people gamble is that gambling has proven to be addictive. Gambling as explained above is “taking risky action in the hope of a desired result.” then gambling addiction is taking that risky action and allowing it to become a habit in order to achieve the desired result. Once it has become an addiction, even the chance of bankruptcy does not deter you from pursuing the desired result. The term gambling addiction has been interpreted differently over the years. PsychologyToday had described this phenomenon as a compulsive disorder as opposed to an addiction.” A compulsive, or pathological, gambler is someone who is unable to resist his or her impulses to gamble. This leads to severe personal and, or, social consequences.

Due to financial constraints, the glamour of success and low self-esteem, people fall prey to gambling. While some use gambling as a desperate means to get out of dire straits, others just use it as motivation to fulfil their needs for excitement and as a social outing. Gambling is frowned upon by segments of society and religious institutions namely the Christian faith. According to the bible in Proverbs 23:4-5 “Do not wear yourself out to get rich: do not trust your own cleverness. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle” (the holy bible NIV, 2011). According to this extract get rich quick schemes are pointless as the riches gained are