Gossip, control and community: figurational explorations in sociological criminology

This paper explores the role of gossip in struggles for power and control in two urban communities. The findings from the community studies research on ‘Cornerville’ and ‘Ashmill’ (both pseudonyms) confirm Elias and Scotson’s (1965) diagnosis of the role of ‘praise’ and ‘blame’ gossip in maintaining group charisma for the established and attributing group disgrace to the outsiders. The findings from the Ashmill case-study also develop and adapt Elias and Scotson’s model to include the concept of ‘grassing’, which is proposed as a parallel ‘deviant’ phenomenon that may assist in bonding some residents of stigmatised places. Finally, the article highlights the implications of these continuities and adaptations of Elias and Scotson’s model for advancing sociological criminology’s contribution to explaining group ordering and collective stigmatisation in contemporary local communities.