GambleAware: Challenging the stigma of gambling harms – how semiotics and cultural insight empowered GambleAware to change the narrative of gambling harms

Leading charity GambleAware collaborated with Sign Salad to combat stigma in Great Britain by uncovering how gambling harms are portrayed and talked about in popular culture and broader society, and how this leads to shame and stigmatisation.

Summary

GambleAware, the leading charity working towards reducing gambling harms in Great Britain, were looking to identify socially constructed sources of stigma related to gambling harms.

The stigma of gambling harms is a proven barrier to support seeking alongside negatively impacting the mental and emotional well-being of those experiencing it. In collaboration with Sign Salad, a semiotic analysis of stigma in British culture identified visual and language material driving this process of stigmatisation.

We were also able to identify a number of less prevalent, but more empowering cultural constructions, such as focusing on 'person-first language' (e.g. "person experiencing gambling harms")...

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