St Ann’s: Poverty, Deprivation and Morale in a Nottingham Community

Can the problem of poverty simply be confined to a lack of adequate money income? Does the degree of social deprivation correlate with individual poverty? In 1966, a social survey was conducted into the living, social and working conditions of the residents of the St Ann’s area of Nottingham. It asked: are such areas more delinquent than others? How far did the existence of areas of poverty correlate with political and social apathy? And above all what were the attitudes of people who lived in such conditions: were they aware of their position as being in any sense deprived or underprivileged and did they accept their status or challenge it? The survey was conducted under the auspices of the Adult Education Department of the University of Nottingham and it gave rise to a film directed by Stephen Frears.