Comparing Goffman's Stigma And Social Identity

Stigma can be expressed in various term, it can be a brand, labelling or identification. It is a differentiation of a person resulting to a boundary between “us” and “them” (Link and Phelan 2001). These affect consumers in a way they are discriminated and treated differently because they have mental illness. The effect of stigma can take away the rights of consumers who are suffering from mental illness causing social dilemmas (SANE Australia 2013). A survey shows 74% of consumers experience stigma from school, work, and social activities. Consumers had only one feedback, to reduce stigma so they can go with their life peacefully and engage in normal social activities without discrimination (SANE Australia 2006). It is

The effects of self-stigma can lead to a lack of self esteem, lack of confidence, isolation and the increased likelihood of avoiding professional help for their illness. This then has an over all affect on quality of life and where one sees themselves fitting within society (Barney, Griffiths, Jorm & Christensen, 2005; Griffiths & Christensen, 2004; Newell & Gournay, 2000).

Mental illness and the stigma associated with it illustrate the concept of the sociological imagination. Living with a mental illness is a private trouble, affecting the individual personally, physically, psychologically, socially, and even economically. The trouble is made even more private in the respect that those with anxiety/depression/etcetera often suffer in silence since their affliction is not necessarily visible to others. The stigma associated with mental illness exacerbates the individual, while simultaneously lending itself to the public issues regarding mental illness.

While stigma may not necessarily be a cause of a person’s mental disorder, it can certainly contribute to the complication and perpetuation of their illness. The effect of stigma goes well beyond just the patient and provides a commentary on society’s overall level of intolerance of those who are considered different from the majority. By recognizing the level of stigma that exists, perhaps we can alter that behavior and gravitate towards a more productive attitude towards mental illness.

Prison life can be harsh, and time spent in a isolation is even worse. A majority of those in prison spend countless hours in idleness. It would be much better if they used that time to reeducate themselves for a productive life on the outside. Some of the prisoners have serious emotional and mental problems that are never addressed and it is illogical to not attempt to correct these problems before they are released.

The fact is that these families suffer greatly from this, and they start to have financial problems that leads to poverty. Then not just the convict has to live off the government but also their families since they get help from the government. Penalties need to lesson and they need to implement a three strike rules with fines rather than with jail time. Not just that but also the mental stress that ex convicts face.

In chapter one of Stigma, Goffman describes different definitions of the term stigma. For example in the very beginning of the book he describes how early Greeks used the term stigma. He describes how the Greeks would refer stigma to body markings of different individuals to show how they were deviant and socially unacceptable in their society at that time. Goffman then describes how in later Christianity the word stigma and body markings meant a spiritual symbol or a symbol for a physical disorder. Throughout chapter one Goffman identifies three different types of stigma; body which can be described as physical, character which is described as internal or personal, and tribal stigma which could be consider social or even cultural. After identifying these three different stigmas, Goffman then describes how there

Stigma has been said to be “a feeling of being negatively differentiated owing to a particular condition, group membership or state in life”(Arboleda-Florez & Stuart, 2012, p. 458). There are typically two types of mental illness stigma that are discussed. Public stigma, also known as societal stigma, is the stigma associated with the prejudicial attitudes the public holds towards those people who suffer from mental illness (Arboleda-Florez & Stuart, 2012; Corrigan, Markowitz, Watson, Rowan & Kubiak, 2003). Self-stigma, also known as internalized stigma, is the loss of self-esteem, withdrawal, and personal shame that some with mental illness will experience. Self-stigma is usually developed when those who suffer from mental illness associate the negative stereotypes the public holds with themselves (Chronister, Chou, & Lieo, 2013; Corrigan et al., 2003).

Individuals who are stigmatized undergo a multitude of difficulties stemming from interpersonal rejection to economic hardship. In order to relieve some of these disadvantages,

Stigma can be defined as a mark of shame or ignominy that sets individuals apart from others. Goffman notes “Society establishes the means of categorizing persons and the complement of attributes felt to be ordinary and natural for members of each of these categories”. (Goffman) Given, when a person is labeled by said illness, disorder, or deviancy they are seen as a part of a stereotyped group and as a result are stigmatized by the “normals”. Moreover, the routines of social interactions in society allow us to create normative expectations and demands for the way ones in said society are expected to

I now need to backtrack and define stigma. According to the book, the word stigma originates from the Greeks, who valued visual aids (Goffman, 1963, p. 1). They used stigma to stand for “bodily signs designed to expose something unusual and bad about the moral status of the signifier” (Goffman, 1963, p. 1). These signs that they referred to were those that were forced upon a person to designate their spot as the scum of society (Goffman, 1963, p. 1). These scum of society were cut or burn so that their status would be known to all that they encountered (Goffman, 1963, p. 1). With time, the word stigma also became attached to the physical marks that extremely holy Christians might experience (Goffman, 1963, p. 1). Now days we mainly use stigma to refer to the feeling of disgrace that is placed on an individual rather than the actual bodily signs (Goffman, 1963, pp.

The impact of stigma in today’s society is not studied enough, however, it should be because of the effects it can have on a persons life decisions. It is defined as a negative or shameful characteristic, more specifically, one that indicates a sign of disorder (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2011). The article addresses how individuals who abuse drugs are likely to receive a worse stigma than those who struggle with a mental illness. This is believed to be because civilization fails to recognize drug addiction as an actual medical disorder, and instead views addiction as an act of personal choice.

The idea of stigma and what it is like to be a stigmatized person was conducted by sociologist Erving Goffman. He analyzed how stigmatized individuals feel about themselves and their relationships with people that are considered “normal”. Stigmatized individuals are people who are not socially accepted and are constantly eager to alter their social identifies: physically deformed people, mentally ill patients, drug addicts, homosexuals, etc.

Erving Goffman’s theory of social stigma (1963) will be used as a guideline for the thesis and will act as a basis for further research on personal and perceived depression stigma. Stigma is a deeply discrediting attribute which has a strong relationship to stereotype (Goffman, 1963) Goffman defines stigma as a gap between “virtual social identity and actual social identity” and states that stigmata are bodily signs which deviate from the norm (Goffman, 1963). According to him, three different types of stigma exist: (1) physical deformities, (2) blemishes of individual character and (3) tribal stigma.

The ancient Greeks used stigma to refer to a fault used to expose something unusual about a person’s moral status, a person bearing this stigma would often be described as a blemished person, ritually polluted, and to be avoided, especially in public places. Christians later divided the metaphor into two separate aspects; the bodily signs of holy grace and the medical allusion, which refers to the bodily sigs of physical disorder. Today the term is described using the original literal sense. (E., Stigma: Notes on the Management of