March is Social Work Month, a time to recognise the vital role social workers play in helping individuals, families and communities navigate complex social challenges. One issue where their role is often overlooked is the harm that is inflicted by gambling behaviour that tends to break the family psyche and disrupt family bonds.
In my work at the South African Responsible Gambling Foundation, people rarely arrive saying, “I have a gambling problem.” Instead, they come bearing the shrapnel of gambling harm saying, “I don’t know what to do anymore.” They come when they are in a dire situation whereby rent is overdue, bank accounts are empty, relationships are strained and shame has become overwhelming.
Notably, in South Africa’s…