The Society exists because gambling is an everyday experience in our society and raises many complex issues: What is the relationship between gambling and other activities having economic functions such as speculation and insurance? What collective and individual factors encourage participation in gambling? What social functions does gambling perform and how can excessive involvement be diagnosed and remedied? What are the structural characteristics of different types of gambling and what considerations are relevant to the promotion of their commercial exploitation? How should gambling be regulated by law? What is the place of moral sentiment in answering these questions?

Membership

The individual membership of the Society is drawn from a wide circle of people who have an interest in various aspects of gambling. They range from social workers and psychiatrists who deal with 'compulsive gamblers', to members of the gambling industry. It is a condition of the Society that there should be freedom of opinion and practice among its members, so that the Society does not take any particular stance in relation to gambling.

The current fee for individual membership of the Society is £18 per annum. Additionally, there is an attendance fee of £15 for each meeting (£20 for non-members and £10 for full-time students) together with a small charge to cover the cost of providing lunch. Meeting fees for the unwaged and those on low incomes will be at the discretion of the Treasurer.

Corporate membership is available to companies and organisations who are interested in joining the society and wish to send a number of people to the meetings. The current fee for corporate membership is £100 per annum. This allows for up to three representatives to attend each meeting and for the organisation to receive three copies of each Newsletter. The cost of lunch will be levied on a per capita basis as normal

Objects
The objects of the Society shall be:

a. To provide a forum for those concerned with research into gambling and the rehabilitation of disordered gamblers.

b. To promote the scientific study of the social, psychological and economic aspects of gambling, and to collate and publicise the results in a systematic form.

c. To preserve freedom of opinion and practice among its members.