Neighbourhood Image, Reputation and Stigma: Implications for Policy John Flint Sheffield Hallam University Tackling Multiple Deprivation in Communities- Considering the Evidence: A Scottish Government Conference Edinburgh, 2 June 2009

Studies of Stigmatisation 1 'Every city and town in the UK has neighbourhoods which have reputations for problems such as poverty, crime, drug abuse and physical decay' (Hastings and Dean, 2000)

Studies of Stigmatisation 2 Suttles (1972): mental geographies or urban landscapes Residence as a means of performing identity (Savage et al., 2005) The poor are increasingly identified by where they live (McDowell, 2008)

Research Methods Hillside/Primalt: NDC area in Knowsley, Merseyside. Oxgangs in Edinburgh. JRF study: poverty in face of poverty and poverty in face of affluence. 60 interviews (non-representative samples). Both relatively deprived: Hillside/Primalt more deprived but less differentiated than its surroundings.

The presence of stigmatisation In both areas stigma present: General and indefinable: "I know its definitely there." Concrete: "People say to me where do you live and I say X and they go 'Oh my God, poor you.'" "I think it did have a bad reputation because…some seller was driving up, he said to me 'what's the area like round here, is it still full of scalleys"

But… Differentiation and its Implications Fraser (1996): over generalisation in the literature: "People in the areas nearby, they're all the same." "Its like you go from one bit of Oxgangs, literally you can see the first house in Green Bank: it's a different world."

Differentiation: Explanations Immediacy and visibility of difference Sites of interaction Wider urban localities

Conclusions Differentiated image and stigma within and between neighbourhoods Uniformity versus gradation and hierarchy Linked in complex relationship to perceptions of neighbourhood problems, neighbourhood attachment and self- esteem Non-spatial comparative elements: life history/peers

Policy Implications Need for more nuanced understanding of stigma, including 'ordinariness' and 'hierarchy' Limits of perceptions re neighbourhood problems and neighbourhood change Limitations of 'rebranding' exercises Difficulties of social mix (schools etc.) Sense of ownership equally or more important?

References Fraser, P. (1996) 'Social and spatial relationships and the ’problem’ inner city: Moss-Side in Manchester', Critical Social Policy, 16, pp Hastings, A. and Dean, J. (2000) 'Challenging Images: tackling stigma through estate regeneration', Policy and Politics, 31(2), pp McDowell, L. (2008) 'Thinking Through Class and Gender in the Context of Working Class Studies', Antipode, pp Savage, M., Bagnall, G. and Longhurst, B. (2005) Globalization and belonging, London: Sage. Suttles, G.D. (1972) The Social Construction of Communities, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.