• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.753-765
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• 2016

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore the lived experiences of women problem gamblers, focusing on the meaning of gambling to them, how and why these women continue to gamble or stop gambling, and their needs and concerns. In order to effectively help women problem gamblers, practical in-depth knowledge is necessary to develop intervention programs for prevention, treatment, and recovery among women problem gamblers. Methods: The hermeneutic phenomenology approach was used to guide in-depth interviews and team interpretation of data. Sixteen women gamblers who chose to live in the casino area were recruited through snowball sampling with help from a counseling center. Participants were individually interviewed from February to April 2013 and asked to tell their stories of gambling. Transcribed interviews provided data for interpretive analysis. Results: In the study analysis one constitutive pattern was identified: moving beyond addiction by recognizing the two faces of gambling in their life. Four related themes emerged in the analysis-gambling as alluring; gambling as 'ugly'; living in contradictions; and moving beyond. Conclusion: Loneliness and isolation play a critical role in gambling experiences of women gamblers in Korea. In other words, they are motivated to gamble in order to escape from loneliness, to stop gambling for fear of being lonely as they get older, and to stay in the casnio area so as not to be alone. The need for acceptance is one fo the important factors that should be considered in developing intervention program for women.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.121-156
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to examine the recovering gambling addicts' overcoming process on their hardships of life which hamper their recovery. For this study, we had one to one depth interview with 10 participants who had overcome their hardships of life after stopping gambling. The data gathered from the interviews were analysed following the grounded theory process suggested by Strauss and Corbin. As a result, 131 concepts were constructed, and they were classified into 32 subcategories and 14 category. We presented "overcoming of the hardships of life through the acceptance of reality and re-determination" as a core subject which connects the whole concepts. Based on the research outcomes, we proposed some policy and practice intervention methods such as economic self-support program, social security service, and triangle support system by counselor-family-peer recovering addicts.