"Don't smoke in public, you look like trash": An exploratory study about women's experiences of smoking-related stigmatisation and the connection to neighbourhood-level deprivation

Abstract

In this exploratory qualitative study we used Goffman's theory of stigmatisation to examine how women experience smoking-related stigma in relation to neighbourhood-level deprivation. From an existing cohort, we recruited fifteen women who smoked. We found differences in the women's experiences and abilities to negotiate and avoid a stigmatised smoking identity based on neighbourhood-level deprivation. Women in high-deprivation neighbourhoods described limited access to such places and this restricted their abilities to 'pass' as non- or not-quite-smokers and avoid smoking-related stigmatisation. We discuss the implications of the findings in relation to social-spatial inequalities in health and public health policy.

Keywords: Neighbourhood; Smoking; Socio-spatial inequalities; Stigma; Women.