Several ethical issues are associated with gambling, considering that it can be harmful to individuals, their families, and friends. It has previously been argued that gambling is addictive and encourages laziness; thus, it can qualify to be among the unethical ways of making money mainly by the companies running it. Gambling is capable of posing problems to individuals and members of their families by inflicting different levels of psychological and financial harm. Other adverse effects that may be attributable to gambling and which make it an issue that raises ethical concerns include anxiety and depression in the sense that individuals who gamble excessively have a higher likelihood of feeling depressed, anxious, and stressed (Chóliz, 2018). The outcomes of such conditions may include significantly lowered capacity of thinking and solving problems as well as difficulties in achieving sleep. In severe situations, those who are addicted to excessive gambling may lack appetite, have a feeling of hopeless at some point, and entertaining suicidal thoughts. Gambling is presently regarded as one of the most controversial and debatable leisure activities in society.
In spite of the far-reaching level of the popularity associated with gambling, several social and cultural implications are attributable to it. On the contrary, some researchers have argued that there are no stronger justifications for associating gambling with unethical behaviors. Besides, they believe that the consideration of gambling as unethical would amount to a violation of their civil liberties and fundamental rights. According to Statham and Martin (2015), gambling is an activity that raises ethical concerns considering the adverse physiological and psychological effects associated with it especially for compulsive gamblers. In this respect, gambling is regarded as having properties that are similar to those of a psychoactive substance. It is capable of changing the neurochemistry status and condition of the brain. This implies that the excitement associated with the possibility of emerging a winner despite making minimal investment influences the brain in a similar way that narcotic does. Besides, gambling is often linked to greater stakes and risks with the hope of winning large sums of money.
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As a breach of ethical behavior, gambling has the potential of promoting cheating and fraud especially for those that are being transacted through online platforms where hackers have higher tendencies of manipulating outcomes. Majority of gamblers using the internet platform tend to purchase credit online using their credit cards. Such an exercise gives killed hackers to acquire their personal and financial details which they later use in committing fraud. Whereas cheating constitutes a breach of morality and ethics in society, it can also prove to be costly for those people engaging in gambling. Chóliz (2018) observes that gambling is a practice that has often presented people with a ritualized nature of hope.
Nonetheless, there are other reasons associated with gambling such as the opportunity to hope, recreation, and socializing. Despite there being no concrete evidence linking gambling with an increased rate of crime, researchers have indicated the existence of a considerable level of correlation between the two behaviors (Statham & Martin, 2015). The reason why people may find it difficult to associate gambling with an increased rate of crime is the lag period when the spike in crime often occurs, allowing speculations from people. Several casinos are operational in urban areas where there is an already higher rate of poverty rate with inadequate employment opportunities; thus, people tend to turn to crime as a means of catering for their basic needs.
In the world today, one problem is some people like gambling. Gambling is the biggest problem in the world tearing most families apart. In a case where one of the spouses is involved in excessive gambling, it becomes difficult for him or her to cooperate with the other in paying household bills. It is expected that every spouse should contribute financially or otherwise to improve the welfare of their families. However, the involvement of either or both of them in gambling activities implies that they will neglect their responsibilities at some point. Whenever people are engaged gambling, it appears as if they are donating money without a guarantee that it will come back to them. It is a waste of time and taking all your money to games online and to the slot machines (Mosser, 2013). For example, some people get paid, and on the same day, they will go to the game rooms or play games online for a few hours to see if they can win some money. While their spouses are at work or at home waiting for them to bring the earnings home so they can pay the bills which are highly likely to cause problems in the marriage. Gambling may also be associated with socialization and fun where more money is also spent with the possibility of rendering gamblers bankrupt.
Gamblers often worry about how they are supposed to pay bills and cater for their basic needs and may be forced to inconvenience their families by spending the little money that they have on gambling (Statham & Martin, 2015). For instance, there can be a situation where the husband spends all the money while the wife is trying not to worry about how the bills are going to be paid. In such a situation, it becomes unethical for the husband to come home when he is upset because he has lost all the money and he takes it out on his family. In that regard, gambling causes such a family to form lacking money to afford the basic needs like food and shelter. This is a clear indication that gambling has ethical concerns since it has the potential to ruin relationships and families. Studies have been conducted on how people spend a lot of time gambling instead of paying their bills. It has been established through research that such people are often more focused on spending money on the games instead of taking care of their different financial responsibilities. Gambling also causes a lot of problems for people who are trying to come out of it owing to its highly addictive nature.
Gambling can cause people to turn to drink and doing drugs use because they are trying to figure out how they are spending all of their life savings on gambling. In this case, their families end up being more vulnerable and exposed to financial crises. In some situations, gamblers may find themselves being forced to abandon the jobs and work and stay at home or spend time in casinos to gamble with the hope of getting more money at once. Others may find themselves entering in overburdening debts thus causing them to undergo depression and anxiety (Loreau, 2014). In that respect, gambling significantly contributes towards the ruining of relationships among friends owing to loss of trust where someone is unable to settle debts as agreed. Some gamblers are also labeled as liars and untrustworthy whenever the outcomes of a gambling activity fail to go in their favor. This implies that such people may find it difficult and challenging to socialize and interact freely with others in the society owing to low self-esteem they acquire upon losing money in gambling. Besides, such individuals are likely to inculcate a very negative perspective of life since they are highly likely to think of themselves as losers (Mosser, 2013).
Kant's ethical theory is a critical aspect of deontological moral theory. According to Kantian theoretical perspective, the wrongness or rightness of an action is not majorly dependent on their respective consequences rather they depend on their ability to perform their expected duty. Moreover, this particular theoretical perspective is guided by the assumption that there exists a supreme morality principle identified as Categorical Imperative (Loreau, 2014). In helping people to think about things that constitute ethical or virtuous behavior, Kant's ethics theory seems to support the view that every individual is entitled to a moral right to engage in gambling without seeking for anyone's' permission or being questioned by the state. While others may consider gambling as a means of wasting money and resources, no one enjoys the right to impose his or her views on others.
Utilitarian ethical perspective supports the view that people should always strive to engage in activities and actions that are capable of producing the greatest levels of happiness. The challenges associated with this perspective, however, is its tendency of using people merely as a means of achieving a greater good. Utilitarian is likely to justify the punishment of innocent parties if they find it necessary in achieving a sufficiently crucial effect. Besides, promises that may be typically binding in the society including those associated with gambling may be broken if the outcome represents a greater good. Utilitarianism may involve the sacrifice of the happiness of an individual engaging in gambling to achieve a greater level of happiness. Utilitarianism is involved in the comparison of different acts and evaluating to determine the one with the best effects (Loreau, 2014). Even though utilitarianism contains a broader scope compared to Kantianism when it comes to what constitutes virtuous or ethical behavior in gambling, it usually involves timely processes.
References
Chóliz M. (2018). Ethical Gambling: A Necessary New Point of View of Gambling in Public
Health Policies. Frontiers in public health , 6 , 12. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2018.00012
Loreau, M. (2014). Reconciling utilitarian and non-utilitarian approaches to biodiversity
conservation. Ethics In Science And Environmental Politics , 14 (1), 27-32. doi:
10.3354/esep00149
Mosser, K. (2013). Ethics and social responsibility (2nd ed.) [Electronic version]. Retrieved
from https://content.ashford.edu/
Statham, D. J., & Martin, N. G. (2015). Local area disadvantage and gambling involvement
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