Dr Virve Marionneau is a university researcher and the director of the CEACG. Her research focuses particularly on gambling regulations, the commercial and legal determinants of gambling, and gambling harms. Her on-going projects focus on producing empirical, theoretical, and comparative research evidence to reduce and prevent gambling-related harm in societies.
Virve Marionneau will gladly comment on current topics including gambling harms, gambling policy, and new developments in the gambling field.
Keywords: gambling, harms, regulation, policy, digital environments
Sébastien Berret is conducting a PhD in sociology at the University of Helsinki. His research examines gambling operators' strategies, gambling policy, and more generally the fundamental tension between profit maximization and public health in the gambling sector.
Sébastien Berret will gladly comment on current topics including gambling firms' practices, gambling-related harms, and gambling policy.
Keywords: gambling, corporate practices, gambling-related harm, policy
Dr Michael Egerer (Title of docent) is a university researcher at CEACG. His research interests address gambling, gambling regulations and the concept of addiction. He is currently working on the adjustment of low-risk gambling guidelines for the Finnish context, as well as studying the opening of the new casino in Tampere, and the regulation of online gambling. Egerer is an expert in qualitative research methods. He is developing the application of sociological systems theory in the field of addiction and gambling research. Dr Egerer is the section editor for Gambling harm reduction of the Harm Reduction Journal.
Michael Egerer will gladly comment on current topics including online gambling, gambling policy, gambling cultures or qualitative research enquiries.
Keywords: gambling, addiction, regulation, sociology, qualitative research
Sara Havuaho works as a research assistant at CEACG. Currently, she is engaged in a project that examines the relationships between gambling-related indebtedness and various socio-demographic factors, as well as the influence of gambling providers and the type of gambling. Sara is also studying Social and Public Policy at the University of Helsinki. In addition to gambling, her academic interests include substance abuse and addictions in general – particularly societal perceptions of addictions, the reasons behind these perceptions, and how they shape public policies.
Paula Jääskeläinen is a PhD student in sociology at the University of Helsinki. Her dissertation focuses on socio-cultural normalization of gambling using a case example of the recently opened urban casino in the City of Tampere, Finland, as well as gambling marketing on social media. In her work, she combines perspectives from gambling studies and urban sociology.
Paula Jääskeläinen will gladly comment on topics concerning normalization of gambling such as gamblification of sports and gambling marketing on social media.
Keywords: Gambling, normalization of gambling, gambling marketing
Dr. Veera Kankainen is a sociologist and post-doctoral researcher at CEACG. Her research interests include the governance and regulation of addictions, the relationships between different sectors in welfare systems, and stakeholders in drug and gambling policies. Currently, she works on the “Silent Agents Affected by Legislation” (SILE) project, led by Kati Rantala and funded by the Strategic Research Council. In this project, Kankainen focuses on the position of people who use alcohol and other drugs in Finnish law-drafting processes. Her dissertation project examined the justifications and governance of the Finnish gambling profit-based state grant system that funded the third sector.
Veera Kankainen will gladly comment on current topics concerning to civil society and state relationships in addiction and welfare governance, the rights and representation of people who use alcohol and other drugs in policy-making processes, and qualitative research methods.
Keywords: the third and public sector relationships, beneficiaries of gambling, welfare governance, alcohol and other drugs, service users' rights, qualitative methods
Tom Kettunen is the editor of Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs since 2012. His background is in philosophy and his academic interests include science publishing, publishing ethics, lifestyles and addictions. Kettunen is a member of the editorial board of Nordic Welfare Research.
Mette Kivistö (M.Soc.Sci) is a project planner at CEACG. Her work includes coordination, communication, stakeholder cooperation, research project administration, research assistance, as well as financial management and human resources of the unit. Mette is happy to assist with any questions or inquiries.
Aino Lahtinen works as a research assistant at CEACG, participating previously on projects concerning assessment tools for gambling regulation and gambling among indebted individuals. She is currently working in the follow-up project about structural prevention of gambling-related indebtedness. This project looks at the relationship between gambling and debt in Finland in relation to the state monopoly Veikkaus and offshore companies by using financial transactions and helpline data. She is also finishing her masters thesis about different harm categories among non- and low-gamblers.
Keywords: gambling regulation, problem gambling, indebtedness
Dr Janne Nikkinen has over 50 academic publications, including several jointly authored and edited books about gambling. His research interest related to gambling spans a range of issues, from regulatory and policy affairs to the prevention of gambling harm. He is also Chair of the HUS Regional Committee on Medical Research Ethics at the Helsinki University Hospital, Chair of the Professional Ethics Committee of the Association of Finnish Pharmacies and Pharmacists and Vice-Chair of the National Advisory Board on Social Welfare and Health Care Ethics (ETENE).
Paula Rautoja (M.Soc.Sci) works in the CIPPAL-ADAM research project as a technical assistant. The project is funded by OFDT in France and it aims to compare the alcohol control policies of six European countries. In the CIPPAL-ADAM-project, Paula Rautoja studies the effects of digital and audiovisual alcohol marketing on young people aged 15–19.
Paula Rautoja has comprehensive professional experience in substance abuse services. She will gladly contribute on topics including substance use, addiction, drug policy and drug decriminalization.
Keywords: alcohol marketing, alcohol control, alcohol policy
Professor emeritus Pekka Sulkunen founded the CEACG group in 2011. He has authored several books on social theory, cultural studies, addictions and preventive social policy, including The Saturated Society: Regulating Risk and Lifestyle in Consumer Culture (1st edition Sage 2009; 2nd edition Unigrafia 2016). President of the European Sociological Association 2011-2013.
Mika Tsupari is a PhD student in the field of sociology. His thesis focuses on psychedelics in Finland from the perspective of set and setting, motives, meanings, the culture linked to psychedelics and well-being of the users. His research interest include drug and addiction research, interactions between groups and individuals, and well-being in general.
Josefin Westermarck is a PhD student at the University of Helsinki. Her thesis focuses on how vulnerable groups are represented in the preparation of Finnish alcohol law reforms (2018, 1994). She examines alcohol law as a public policy and examines stakeholder activity such as alcohol industry lobbying and public health advocacy strategies as well as detects gaps in the evidence base and knowledge-based tensions in the evidence-base. This is done through qualitative methods such as classical sociological discourse analysis and political theory framework such as Advocacy coalition framework.