Gambling, social class, and social mobility

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Author(s): Casey, Emma

Journal: Sociology

Year Published: 2020

Date Added: January 27, 2020

This study explored gambling as an everyday practice in relation to social class and social mobility. The researcher examined 24 accounts of personal experiences and memories of gambling. These accounts were written by people who had moved upward in the social class ladder. In these accounts, gambling was associated with childhood poverty, insecurity, and other negative effects on the family. The journey of upward mobility was described as following cultural values of hard work, thrift, and talent. This was opposed to wealth and success brought about by gambling, which was not considered a legitimate route to betterment. Present-day gambling was also contrasted with the problematic type of gambling in the past. Overall, this article shows that class-based identity is formed and reformed in everyday practice like gambling.

Citation: Casey, E. (2020). Gambling, status anxiety and inter-generational social mobility: Findings from the Mass Observation Archive. Sociology, 54(2), 380-396. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038519874981

Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038519874981

Keywords: gambling ; social factors

Conceptual Framework Factors: Environment - Social and Economic Impacts ; Gambling Environment

Response Rate: 42.8% (214 responses out of 500 people on the Mass Observation panel)

Study Design: Other Qualitative

Geographic Coverage: United Kingdom

Study Population: Correspondents (‘Observers’) of the Mass Observation panel in the UK

Sampling Procedure: The researcher drew on data collected from the 2013 Directive Gambling and Households from the Mass Observation Archive. Mass Observation is a national panel of volunteers (the Observers) who write about their experiences, views and feelings on a variety of subjects. Observers receive a ‘Directive’ to write on a topic three times a year. The 2013 Directive Gambling and Households asked Observers to write about their personal experiences and memories of gambling. The researcher selected 24 accounts from 214 observers’ replies that explicitly addressed the issue of gambling and social mobility.

Study Funding:

The research was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council in the UK.