Browsing by Author "Nixon, Gary"
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Item Open Access An Insider’s Look Into the Process of Recovering From Pathological Gambling Disorder: An Existential Phenomenological Inquiry(eCOMMUNITY: International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction, 2005-11-21) Nixon, Gary; Solowoniuk, JasonAn existential phenomenological method of study was implemented to better understand the recovery process of 11 pathological gamblers. After analysis, seven recovery themes were generated, which brought to light that recovery from pathological gambling may take place over several years and cycle through successive stages. These stages demonstrate and suggest that recovering from pathological gambling is more cyclical and spiral in nature as opposed to being linear, and is reflective of a continuous, ever evolving process. Specifically, recovering from pathological gambling may take place over several years and cycle through stages of heavy gaming, periods of abstinence, relapse, and re-commitment to recovery, with the recovering gambler gradually moving towards stability through embracing the flow of life and a new identity, and over time finding meaning through extending hope to other troubled gamblers.Item Open Access Recent research in the socio-cultural domain of gaming and gambling : an annotated bibliography and critical overview(Alberta Gaming Research Institute, 2000-12) McGowan, Virginia; Droessler, Judith; Nixon, Gary; Grimshaw, MistyThe purpose of this overview is to systematically identify and critically analyze the relevant scientific, descriptive, and policy-oriented literature in this area with the aim of providing a resource that will inform future research and development in gaming and gambling studies. Accordingly, this review constitutes a source document on gaming and gambling studies produced in the latter part of the twentieth century in English- and French-speaking countries. Studies are included that examine the distribution and patterning of gaming and gambling among population sub-groups; social structural factors influencing those patterns within the context of traditional and emerging norms, values and beliefs; and social impacts of gaming and gambling. Literature produced between 1980 and 2000 in North America, Europe, and non-European Commonwealth countries is included, as well as (in the critical overview) a summary of gaming and gambling among Blackfoot peoples, as recorded in ethnographic studies available through the electronic version of the Human Relations Area Files (eHRAF). A range of studies representing different methods and disciplines were included as this material was found in both published and unpublished (“grey literature”) forms. Materials were included if they were judged by the project team to comprise a significant contribution to the literature in this domain.Item Open Access Stacking the odds: A phenomenological study of non-problem gambling in later life(University of Toronto Press, 2005) Hagen, Brad; Nixon, Gary; Solowoniuk, JasonThe purpose of this exploratory, phenomenological-hermeneutic study was to explore the experience of non-problem gambling by older adults. Twelve older gamblers were identified as non-problem gamblers using two gambling screens and participated in in-depth interviews about their experience of gambling. Two major themes emerged from the interviews: the attractions of gambling and methods to keep gambling in control. Older persons sought out gambling for a variety of reasons: social contact, the food and the excitement, chances to give to charity, chances to have an inexpensive holiday, and the need for a safe way to be "bad". Participants also described a number of cognitive and behavioural strategies to keep their gambling from becoming a problem. The results of this small exploratory study suggest that gambling is a popular form of social entertainment for older persons, although the main attractions of gambling have little or nothing to do with gambling itself. Older persons also appear to possess numerous strategies to keep gambling from becoming a problem.Item Open Access The quest for wholeness(1992) Nixon, Gary; Conklin, Rodney C.