Example Of Stigma Research Paper

Stevenson, A., & Lindberg, C. (Eds.). (2011). Stigma [Def. 1]. In New Oxford American dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. Retrieved February 8, 2016, from

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).

Stigmas come in two different types: public and self. A public stigma is the reaction that the general public has to people with invisible disabilities (Corrigan and Watson 16-17). On the other hand, self-stigma is the prejudice which people with invisible disabilities turn against themselves. Both types of stigma can have a significantly negative impact on someone who suffers from an invisible disability. Public stigma reinforces stereotypes and prejudice misattributed to invisible disabilities and self-stigma stems from widely known public stigma, leading to a negative outlook in regards to having an invisible disability. The visibility of a potentially stigmatizing identity— such as schizotypal personality disorder— has been suggested to be the primary feature that causes those with invisible disabilities to

The definition of a stigma is, a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person (Oxford Dictionary). In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, Lennie and Crooks worked very hard at the farm both physically and mentally. Both men are forced to live partial lives, due to others diminishing their life worth. Lennie and Crooks, both have to deal with the lives they were born with. Stigmas oppress people in different ways and are present in many other countries; a person that holds a stigma must overcome many forms of derision.

Stigmatization can have various adverse effects on the victim by impacting self-esteem, depression, anxiety and can influence learned helplessness.

The main point Erving Goffman made in his article “Stigma and Social Identity” how different types of stigma effect people in their daily life. You could be stigmatized in many different ways such as how you look, if you are handicapped or not, or even if you are from a different ethnicity. Goffman defines three different primary typologies of stigma and they are: (1) abomination of the body, which means someone has physical disabilities, (2) Blemishes of individual character, meaning moral failing such as rapist, sex offender, and (3) tribal stigma, meaning your ethnical background and religion (Pontell, 2016, p. 96-97). Goffman also talks about how the individuals, who are stigmatized by the society, feel when they are around normal individuals.

While reading Erving Goffman’s book, “Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity”, Goffman give a couple definition and concept to the idea of a stigma, which is a deeply disgrace feature in an individual, although this is largely dependent on groups. Through the grouping and reference that society establishes, expectations are

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).

Stigma arises when a person in a community has attributes that are considered out of the ordinary or less than ideal, by the standards or norms of his/her peers, this person with non normative attributes is then marked as being of lesser or discounted quality and depending on the form of stigma may be viewed as bad, potentially dangerous or simply weak (Goffman, 1963) It by this mechanism that people with type 2 diabetes become stigmatized individuals, both through their non normative behaviours and requirements (such as needing to inject insulin or the need to avoid certain

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.

According to Goffman, stigma refers to any undesirable or discrediting characteristics, constituted by the variance between one's virtual and actual social identity. Goffman classifies stigma into three distinct categories. One type of stigma he outlines is referred to as abominations of the body, which constitutes various physical deformities. Another type is tribal stigma, which are those stigma that can be inherited through lineages and equally contaminate members of that lineage. The third type of stigma that Goffman proposes is blemishes of individual character, which refers to those stigma that are more difficult to detect from merely looking at an individual, ranging from addiction struggles to mental illness. A blemish of character

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.

It is believed that discrimination can cause emotional harm to the individuals and their families. It was found that stigma was associated with low self-esteem according to

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.

Communication research on stigma issues has focused primarily on health and disability stigmas at the beginning (Agne, Thompson, and Cusella, 2000; Smith, 2007; Thompson, 2000). Also existing stigmatization researches are on occupational/workplace stigmas (Lutgen-Sandvik 2008). Interpersonal research on privacy, deviance, and