Reframing gambling harms as the product of a predatory industry

A Habermasian interpretation of a Lived Experience-led ‘counterpublic’

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29173/cgs215

Keywords:

gambling harms, community-centred gambling harms reduction, community mobilisation, policy advocacy, critical theory, commercial determinants of health

Abstract

The framing of public health challenges influences how societies and governments respond to them. This paper argues that public health professionals can counter the narrative influence of harmful commodity industries by amplifying the reframing efforts of progressive social movements. We utilise Jürgen Habermas’s ideas to theorise a practical example of a network which shifted narratives to focus on the commercial determinants of gambling harms, offering an original contribution by bridging critical social theory with real-world public health advocacy. Habermasian constructs inform a systematic and theoretically grounded analysis of 33 semi-structured interviews, including people with Lived Experience (LE) of gambling harms. Habermas’s ideas, notably his diagnosis of modern social problems as antagonism between the System and the Lifeworld, provide political-economic context to the emergence of a LE social movement. We show that Habermas’s notion of communicative rationality underpins both the internal dynamics of this movement and public health professionals’ attempt to nurture a ‘counterpublic’ around it: i.e., a space for new ways of thinking and talking about social issues. Paradoxically, the findings reveal the importance and limitations of local collaborations with people affected by harmful industries in the face of those industries’ power, products and advertisements. The findings offer theoretical and practical contributions to commercial determinants research, helping to establish normative foundations and ground it in participatory public health practice.

Author Biographies

Thomas Mills, PHIRST South Bank

Dr. Thomas Mills is a Senior Public Health Research Fellow based at PHIRST South Bank, LSBU. He has expertise in complex intervention research and an interest in applied social theory.

Catherine L. Jenkins, PHIRST South Bank

Dr. Catherine Jenkins is a Public Health Professional Development and Research Officer based at PHIRST South Bank, LSBU. Her research interests include health literacy and settings-based health promotion. She is a UKPHR-registered Public Health Practitioner.

James Grimes, Gambling with Lives

James Grimes is Director of Chapter One – a gambling harms education and support initiative administered by the charity Gambling with Lives. Using personal experiences of gambling harms, James oversees all of Chapter One’s prevention work.

Jo Sampson, Office of Health Improvement and Disparities

Jo Sampson is a public health professional based at Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) North West, where she works on gambling harms within the suicide prevention and mental health portfolio. She was previously Gambling Harms Programme Lead at Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

Paula Reavey, PHIRST South Bank

Paula is Professor of Psychology and Mental Health in the School of Applied Sciences at LSBU, and the Research and Education director of the Design in Mental Health Network, UK. Her research has a firm focus on the lived experience of individuals who live with distress or unusual beliefs.

Susie Sykes, PHIRST South Bank

Susie Sykes is Professor of Public Health and Health Promotion and Centre Director of PHIRST South Bank, LSBU. She is also Director of the Health and Wellbeing Research Centre at LSBU. Her main research interests lie in health literacy, community health and public health workforce development.

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2025-10-28 — Updated on 2025-10-29

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Mills, T., Jenkins, C. L., Grimes, J., Sampson, J., Reavey, P., & Sykes, S. (2025). Reframing gambling harms as the product of a predatory industry: A Habermasian interpretation of a Lived Experience-led ‘counterpublic’. Critical Gambling Studies, 6(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.29173/cgs215 (Original work published October 28, 2025)

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Vol. 6 No. 1 (2025): Open Issue

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Original Research Articles

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Copyright (c) 2025 Thomas Mills, Catherine L. Jenkins, James Grimes, Jo Sampson, Paula Reavey, Susie Sykes

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