White Collar Punters: Stealing from the boss to Gamble
- Publisher:
- Southhood Press
- Publication Type:
- Journal Article
- Citation:
- Crofts Penelope 2003, 'White Collar Punters: Stealing from the boss to Gamble', Southhood Press, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 40-52.
- Issue Date:
- 2003
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Gambling provides a significant motivation for employee theft. Recent research suggests
that problem gambling provides a motivation for at least 15% of employee thefts in New
South Wales. Problem gamblers may steal from their places of employment either to
finance their gambling or to repay gambling debts. The reasons why a person gambles
excessively impact upon their offending patterns. Problem gamblers who believe that they
will win, may initially 'borrow' money from work, in order to finance additional gambling
to win back money they have lost. When they do not win, the continued irrational belief that
they will win, provides the motivation to continue stealing in order to provide a big enough
stake to win back the money they have lost and stolen. Additionally, if a person gambles to
avoid stress or depression, and then steals from work to finance their gambling, this thieving
can then become a major cause of stress in and of itself. This leads to sustained stealing from
the workplace until the problem gambler is apprehended.
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