16. Casinos and Crime: A Review of the Literature

One part of the analysis in Chap. 10 focused on gambling behavior and criminal behavior among adolescents. The findings were that individuals who are more likely to gamble are also more likely to engage in criminal activity. However, the results showed that the type of gambling was important; this effect did not occur among lottery or casino gamblers; rather, it was individuals who engage in other types of gambling who were significantly more likely to engage in crime. These results confirm that there is a link between gambling behavior and criminal behavior. But there is no indication from our evidence that casino players engage in crime any more than other individuals do. Of course, our sample was limited to adolescents, so there may still be a general link between casino gambling and crime.