Sports betting and the creation of support groups

This article analyzes the practice of sports betting as a social, psychological, and identity-related phenomenon. It shows how this activity, which has become commonplace among groups of young men, is part of a display of masculinity based on competition, control, and risk-taking. In a context where gender norms are changing, sports betting has become a refuge for male identity and a symbolic space for recognition. On a psychological level, the authors describe the transition from a passion for sport to a compulsion: Technology, speed, and connectivity promote an accelerated temporality in which the gambler seeks to exist through the intensity of the bet. This dynamic leads to a loss of control and an addictive process. The authors then describe one aspect of clinical care: the creation of a support group for gamblers, designed as a place for discussion and reconstruction. This initiative fulfills three functions: (1) promoting adherence to treatment by giving meaning to gambling behavior; (2) supporting the loss of illusions and the confrontation with the reality of debt and shame; (3) recreating a sense of collective and symbolic belonging.