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Gambling has been a part of the human experience for a long time, perhaps as long as humans have interacted socially. Its literature has been accumulating since ancient times, with references found in some of the earliest records. Throughout history gambling has had a bad reputation because of the multitude of social problems attributed to it. The gambling industry today refers to the activity as “gaming,” which does not sound quite as notorious.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the “relationship” between the regulated online gambling sector in Great Britain and potential for money laundering.

Direct “negotiated” access and a snowball sample were used to secure five interviews with gambling personnel.

The paper shows that respected online gambling sites in highly regulated jurisdictions are helping in tackling money laundering.

Only a limited number of people were interviewed.

The paper presents interviews with key personnel in the gambling industry, in anti‐money laundering, fraud and integrity units.

Opportunities to gamble have boomed in the UK in recent years, since the passing of the Gambling Act 2005. The implications of this for adults with care and support needs and for safeguarding services have not been greatly investigated. The purpose of this paper is to address the interface of how gambling affects adults with care and support needs in England and adult safeguarding.

This paper reports on the scoping review which focussed on adults with care and support needs and gambling-related harm. It also included literature on perpetrators who exploit adults with care and support needs to fund their own or others’ gambling. The overall aims of this scoping review were to explore what is known about gambling-related harm affecting adults with care and support needs, the gaps in the evidence base, and specifically to refine the interview questions for the wider study.

There is some evidence that adults with care and support needs experience or are at risk of gambling-related harm. There is, however, lack of data from safeguarding services about this affecting adults at risk and safeguarding practice and systems. A public health approach to gambling is advocated by some, as well as effective regulation and support for people who have problems with their own or others’ gambling.

Industry operators, practitioners, and policymakers are increasingly paying attention to gambling-related harm but there is a lack of focus on adults with care and support needs or implications for adult safeguarding.

People experiencing homelessness are being identified as a potentially vulnerable group in relation to gambling-related harm. The purpose of this paper is to explore the links between gambling-related harm and homelessness.

A scoping review of the English-language literature was conducted in 2016-2017 using a wide range of international sources. Qualitative content analysis was employed to code and identify key themes within the literature.

Five themes were identified: emerging knowledge about why people experiencing homelessness may participate in gambling; emerging knowledge about the prevalence of gambling within the homeless population; the likelihood that gambling-related harm is under-reported within the homeless population; emerging knowledge about the extent that people experiencing homelessness access gambling support services; and limited awareness about the potential impact of gambling participation among people experiencing homelessness.

The paper reviews research concerning the links between gambling, gambling-related harm and homelessness, which may be relevant to those working with people experiencing homelessness.

Gambling is well-recognised as a significant public health threat. However, current responses to gambling still primarily focus on individualised responsible gambling paradigms, which neglects to consider the range of commercial and political determinants that contribute to gambling harm and how it might influence young people's gambling attitudes and consumption intentions. This includes the marketing tactics used by the gambling industry to normalise harmful gambling products as embedded in everyday life, including in sport. Young people have demonstrated an in-depth gambling brand awareness and can even recall specific strategies used in gambling advertising that might appeal to children. There have been continuous calls for action to protect children and young people from the commercial marketing of gambling products from a range of stakeholders, including young people and their parents. Young people and their parents are very supportive of increased regulations on gambling advertising, particularly during sport, and have called for sporting teams and codes to reject sponsorship deals with gambling companies. However, a heavy reliance on industry self-regulation has meant that governments across the world have decided that the costs associated with exposing children and young people to pervasive gambling marketing are outweighed by perceived benefits that gambling provides to businesses benefiting financially from gambling. Comprehensive curbs on marketing, as seen in tobacco, are required to significantly reduce young people's exposure to gambling advertising and ultimately prevent the next generation of harm.

The purpose of this study is to examine the ways that sin industry companies attempt to utilise CSR reporting for legitimation.

Conventional and summative content analyses were carried out on annual CSR reports in UK tobacco and gambling companies, juxtaposed against analysis of the actual behaviour of the companies, collectively and individually.

The paper concludes that there is an ongoing tension between the business of sin industry companies and their attempts to establish and maintain any legitimacy, using CSR reporting in particular ways to try to prove their credentials to society and to engage salient stakeholder support. Ultimately, they aim to give themselves the scope for strategic choice to enable survival and financial flourishing.

Further research on CSR on other sin industries and in other jurisdictions with different regulatory situations could shed further light on the achievement or denial of different types of legitimacy. Studying different time periods as industries change would be of value.

On a practical basis, the study offers guidelines to stakeholders on the use of CSR reports from sin companies, and suggests the establishment of objective external CSR reports, overseen by accounting regulators.

The paper provides an overview of the role of sin industries in society, and mitigating their harms.

This study allowed for a comprehensive, dynamic and inclusive understanding of the interplay of CSR reporting and legitimacy by addressing conflicting interests between sin companies' social effects and inherent activities at the industry level. The methodology of multiple case study design in two sin industries combined content analysis of CSR reports, juxtaposed against analysis of behaviour in context. Previous research included the juxtaposition of actuality in analysis of only single case studies or particular issues. Thus, this research allows for a broader industry understanding. On a practical basis, the study offers guidelines to stakeholders on the use of CSR reports from sin companies, and suggests the establishment of objective external CSR reports, overseen by accounting regulators. At the social level, the paper provides an overview of sin industries in society, and mitigating their harms.

The purpose of this paper is to offer a preliminary case study exploration of the corporate social responsibility issues being addressed and reported by a number of the UK's major gambling operators.

The paper begins with a short discussion of the characteristics and origins of CSR and this is followed by a brief outline of the structure of the gambling industry within the UK. The paper draws its empirical material from the CSR reports and information posted on the world wide web by a number of the major gambling operators and by a small number of organisations concerned with the regulation and social impact of gambling.

The findings reveal that there are substantial variations in the nature and the extent of reporting. Four companies produced CSR reports while others produced more limited information confined largely to responsible gambling. More specifically, the paper focuses upon four sets of CSR issues namely those relating to the marketplace; the workplace; the environment; and the community and then provides some reflections on these issues.

CSR within the UK's gambling industry has received relatively little attention from academics but the paper suggests a number of fertile grounds for future enquiry and research. The paper offers a preliminary exploration of CSR issues as reported on the world wide web and more in depth work will be needed before more definitive conclusions can be drawn.

The paper provides an accessible review of the CSR issues and agendas being reported by some of the UK's major gambling operators and as such it will interest academics and practitioners working on and in the gambling industry and those professionals who work with the industry.