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Building knowledge of stigma related to gambling and gambling harms in Great Britain

Building knowledge of stigma related to gambling and gambling harms in Great Britain

GambleAware has commissioned a scoping paper that will establish what is known about stigma related to gambling and gambling harms. Knowledge about stigma, and the discrimination it drives, will inform all GambleAware’s commissioning activity to prevent gambling harms, including public awareness campaigns, education, treatment, and research.

Stigma is a considerable barrier to accessing service and healthcare provision for stigmatised communities. An understanding of stigma related to gambling and gambling harms therefore is necessary to address these barriers to treatment and support, including to services commissioned by GambleAware. This research will be the first step towards a programme of work that builds knowledge in this nascent area of stigma associated with gambling and gambling harm. 

Purpose and Aims

This scoping paper will be a narrative literature review. It will establish what is known about stigma related to gambling and gambling harms, and areas where further research and understanding are necessary.

In drawing on the literature, the paper will aim to establish:

  • The nature of stigma of gambling and gambling harm: how it comes about and how it compares to other forms of stigma.
  • How stigma serves as a barrier to accessing support, service and healthcare provision, and support in the community and from peers.
  • A critical analysis of current research and understandings, establishing how existing understandings of gambling and gambling harm reproduce stigma.

Project Team

Dr Anne Stangl (President of Hera Solutions)

Mariana Siapka (Director of Impact Epilysis)

Triantafyllos Pliakas (Research Fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine)

For more information about this research, please find the original call for proposal here.