Hannah Absalom, former social housing practitioner and a PhD candidate at the University of Birmingham, writes about the role that stigma has in social housing.
Stigma is defined as a set of negative beliefs that a society or group of people have about something. On the surface, it looks to be a clearly defined problem that we can treat with better policy or at a personal level by challenging negative beliefs. Framing stigma this way, as a simple or tame problem, fails to grasp its complexity. Thanks to inspiration from Henderson and Gronholm (2018) and their framing of mental health as a ’wicked problem’, I use the same framework to understand stigma in social housing. It’s helpful to outline what is different about approaching stigma as a wicked problem.
Emma Dent Coad's
'One Kensington' reviewed
Mike Phipps reviews One Kensington by former MP and exhibition participant Emma Dent Coad, published by Quercus
'This book aims to reveal “the actions and motivations of the Council responsible for the ongoing existence of inequity, which some believe has been deliberately fostered to drive low-income families out of the borough." Not only had the Council ignored warnings that the Grenfell fire could happen, it had sent ‘cease and desist’ letters to those warning them. It is now facing corporate manslaughter charges. Emma Dent Coad’s scrutiny of the Council is forensic throughout. She is supported by very diverse sections of the community, who are united by a common message: don’t destroy our community for profit.'
Opinion piece: Grenfell - not one but multiple stories of displacement
Sharda Rozena is a doctorate in the field of human geography and gentrification. She writes about her home borough of Kensington.
'Social housing is declining at an astonishing rate in the UK because of estate regenerations. Residents at the Lancaster West Estate talked about ongoing experiences of displacement, fuelled by state-led gentrification via estate regeneration. The Grenfell Tower fire was a part of structural processes of negligence that forced a ‘sink estate’ discourse onto the Estate and undermined the needs and concerns of residents. The regeneration of Lancaster West Estate is arguably the worst chapter of Britain’s housing crisis, and has exposed how the most atrocious physical and emotional violence is inflicted on council tenants when local and national authorities put profits and appearances before people and their homes.'
