Social Stigma

Introduction

Stigma is an attribute or characteristic that marks a person as different from others and that extensively discredits his or her identity. Ancient Greeks coined the term stigma to describe a mark cut or burned into the body that designated the bearer as someone who was morally defective, such as a slave, criminal, or traitor. Sociologist Erving Goffman resurrected the term, defining stigma as an attribute that spoils a person's identity, reducing him or her in others' minds “from a whole and usual person to a tainted, discounted one.” Stigmatizing marks are associated with negative evaluations and devaluing stereotypes. These negative evaluations and stereotypes are generally well known among members of a culture and become a basis for excluding, avoiding, and discriminating against those who possess (or are believed to possess) the stigmatizing mark. People who are closely associated with bearers of stigma may also experience some of the negative effects of stigma, a phenomenon known as stigma by association (Carr and Jaffe, 165-77).

Discussion

A stigma is any social marker that refers to a deviation from the norm. It can be a trait that the general population deems unacceptable or undesirable or a mark of disapproval based on undesirable beliefs, ideas, behaviors, or even personal characteristics. Individual societies determine what is acceptable or “normal.” Anything that deviates from the acceptable is stigmatized. What may be a stigma in one society or community at a particular moment in time may be an acceptable attribute in another. The stigmatized are sometimes thought of as deviant, since their stigmas may have caused them to deviate from what are considered to be societal norms (Wee, 697-704).

Stigma does not reside in a person but in a social context. For example, within the United States, gays and lesbians are stigmatized across a range of situations, but not in a gay bar. African Americans are stigmatized in school but not on the basketball court. This contextual aspect of stigma means that even attributes that are not typically thought of as being stigmatizing may nonetheless lead to social devaluation in some social contexts (e.g., being heterosexual at a gay pride rally) (Visscher, 355-75).

Types and Dimensions

Goffman categorized stigmatizing marks into three major types: tribal stigma, abominations of the body, and blemishes of character. Tribal stigmas are passed from generation to generation and include membership in devalued racial, ethnic, or religious groups. Abominations of the body are uninherited physical characteristics that are devalued, such as obesity or physical deformity. Blemishes of character are individual personality or behavioral characteristics that are devalued, such as being a child abuser or rapist.

Stigmas also differ on important dimensions, such as the extent to which they are concealable, controllable, and believed to be dangerous. These differences have important implications for how the stigmatized are treated by others, and how stigma is experienced by those who have a stigmatizing condition.

Some marks (e.g., obesity) are visible or cannot be easily concealed from others, whereas others (e.g., being a convicted felon) are not visible or ...