GambleAware wants to tackle stigma in gambling

GambleAware, the UK-based charity which has been working hard to make gambling safer for consumers, has launched a new funding initiative. The organization has awarded a £350,000 grant to the National Center for Social Research (NatCen) that will help the charity better understand how stigma and discrimination can contribute to the gambling harms people experience.

This is a continuation of the efforts the charity has been putting to help advance the industry’s understanding of what triggers problematic gambling behavior. Much research has been done in this vertical already. GambleAware recently announced £2m worth of funding from its Aftercare Funding Program to help assist people’s long-term recovery from gambling.

In December, GambleAware set up a new Lived Experience Council seeking more people who can help guide recovering gambling addicts, and inspire them with their own stories. The new £350,000 will be used by NatCen and the University of Wolverhampton, and Liverpool John Moores Universality, which will focus on stigma and discrimination and how these phenomena contribute to gambling harms.

Anna Hargrave, CCO at GambleAware, welcomed the opportunity to see more done to help tackle specific issues within the industry. According to Hargrave, there has been fairly limited research into the stigmatization of gambling in Great Britain.

"Stigmatization causes significant harm in and of itself, and can lead to people feeling shame, experiencing mental health challenges and social exclusion," Hargrave argued. Stigma can make people feel reluctant to seek out help and address their gambling problems, GambleAware believes, and therefore research to help tackle it is valuable and meaningful.

The research wants to particularly see how people who struggle with gambling problems may be stigmatized by several groups in society who may actually be crucial for the victims’ recovery. Those groups include service and healthcare providers, charitable organizations, popular media, political discourse, and others.

NatCen and the University of Wolverhampton are also interested to find out which communities may be impacted disproportionately by gambling stigma and why. Not least, the researchers want to show a better way to do things. The research is not only focusing on outlining and defining the problem, but also seeks to contribute to solutions that can help tackle it.

Therefore, the research will look into services, interventions and information campaigns that can help challenge stigmatization. The first findings of the project are expected to arrive in 2024. GambleAware will focus on understanding stigma in gambling better throughout both 2023 and 2024, the organization confirms.

GambleAware recently published a study that took stock of discrimination and inequality in the gambling industry in the United Kingdom.

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