Stigma And Labelling Within Healthcare

Under Edwin Lemert’s labeling theory the individual facilitates and impact’s their label. The process starts with deviation, sanctions for those behaviors by others, decision from the individual to imbed the label or challenge it, the individual then gets more reaction for their action from other and finally the individual chooses to accept the label and consistently acts within it. Primary deviance takes place when the individual engages in the initial act of defiance. In Lemert’s term, such acts under traditional labeling theory are examples of primary deviance and they occur in wide segments of the population. We all transgress now and then: some youth shoplift, others commit vandalism, and still others use illegal drugs. But suppose a youth, say a 15 year-old male, is caught vandalizing or using an illegal drug, His arrest, fingerprinting, and other legal measures make him think of himself as a young criminal. Parents, friends,

Under labeling theory, criminal behavior is based on the state stamping the behavior as criminal, instead of criminal behavior being based on the harm that it causes. Thereafter, labels are influenced by society’s reactions. Lemert formulated this theory with emphasis on the importance of identity. He developed two types of deviance, primary and

In the sociology of medicine Parson (1951) regarded medicine as functional in social terms. By tackling the person’s problems in medical terms the tendency towards deviance that was represented by ill health could be safely directed, until they could return to their normal self. (Lawrence 1994: p 64-65: BMJ 2004: Parson cited in Gabe, Bury & Elston 2006, p 127).

The labelling theory in relation to health and social care is very significant. Labels are used consistently within health and social care settings, whether this is through diagnosis, or a service user/providers background. If a service user was diagnosed with a mental health condition like schizophrenia, then this will provide them with a ‘label’. In some cases, labels can be an advantage as it helps aid recovery and treatment, even though it is stigmatising. Labels help service providers provide appropriate care. This can be a result of their own understanding of treatment or recovery paths that link in with this given ‘label’.

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.

In his book, Profession of Medicine, Eliot Friedson introduced an important piece of groundwork for the social construction of illness. He provided an example for how an illness exerts social consequences on an individual, independent of its biological effects. He wrote that a physician changes the behavior of an individual when he or she diagnoses him or her with an illness. The sick individual has the disease prior to the diagnosis, but it is the diagnosis that labels the individual as “ill.” The diagnosis groups the signs and symptoms of the individual into an illness. From there on out, the individual is perceived by society as “ill.”

According to sociologist Edwin Lemert, the majority of sociological theories for deviance fall under the concept of primary deviance. However, Lemert considered secondary deviance to be more important. Everyone is guilty of primary deviance. However, this does not mean that they perceive themselves to be a bad person. This is perception is where secondary deviance comes in. With secondary deviance, the individual, is labeled by the act of deviance that they committed, whether it is by themselves or by others. Eventually, this label is accepted by the individual, as a part of their identity. While primary deviance consists of an act that takes up a small amount of time in a person’s existence, secondary deviance is something that sticks with the individual for the long term. Potentially, this type of deviance can stick with an individual for the rest of their lives. There are two different theories that can compare and contrast how a concept such as secondary deviance can gain a foothold in an individual’s life. These two theories are the differential association theory and the control theory.

In the world that we live in today, many people would find it difficult to imagine living in a world where medicine and treatment are not readily available. The replacement of religious explanations to medical and scientific explanations has become a means of social control. If a person is in pain, they can easily set up an appointment with a doctor and receive some sort of medical diagnosis. However, there are certain instances where a problem has not been medicalized, or recognized as a medical problem, and their issue will be dismissed completely. The movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest delves into the idea of medicalization and how it can be used for the good, or for the bad, in terms of the “sick role.” Medicalization in the

A label defines an individual as a certain kind of person. Defining an act as deviant or criminal is not a simple straight forward process. A label is not neutral, it contains an evaluation of the person to whom it is applied. It is a ‘Master Status’ in the sense that it overshadows all the other statuses possessed by the individual. If an individual is labelled as criminal, mentally ill or gay, such labels tend to override the individuals status as father, husband, worker, friend or neighbour. Whether or not the label is applied will depend on how the act is interpreted by the audience. This in turn will depend on who commits the act and where and when it was committed.

In addition, Lemert introduces secondary deviance by stating that it occurs when labelling starts happening and the individual or group starts to accept that label as their identity. (Lemert 1972:251) For instance, there are police officers who are involved with police brutality and it may have been going on for a long time but it was until very recent that it has become a serious and delicate issue. Now that almost everyone carries a camera around (cellphone cameras) it has been easier for citizens to record when an officer is brutally beating someone. A key factor in

However, as time went on, several problems arose which had to do with the principle of justice in healthcare. In America, it is the accepted norm that it is unjust to treat one person better or worse than another person, in similar circumstances (Tong, 2007, p.29). In an attempt

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

The conceptualisation of medicine as an institution of societal control was first theorised by Parsons (1951), and from this stemmed the notion of the deviant termed illness in which the “sick role” was a legitimised condition. The societal reaction and perspective was deemed a pillar of the emerging social construction of disease and conception of the formalised medical model of disease. Concerns surrounding medicalisation fundamentally stem from the fusion of social and medical concerns wherein the lines between the two are gradually blurred and the the social consequences of the proliferation of disease diagnosis that results from such ambiguities of the social medical model.

The labelling theory are the actions of individuals who are labelled or seen as deviant. The theorist Becker suggests labelling theories which is to look beyond by just the norm-breaking act but instead focuses on how society view people who are deemed as deviant in this case physically disabled and reactions from society whether it is good or bad. Physical disability is when a person lost full or partial loss of their bodily functions. Labelling perspective is still relevant in our society and for society to be able to look beyond the norm breaking; society needs to develop an understanding about the difference between ‘disabilities’. Stigma labels may produce the deviant behaviour that is being condemned and therefore individuals can ‘become’ the thing that they are ‘labelled’ as. ‘Stigma are bodily traits, marks or features that are in some way unusual’. Which can occur as a consequence for social rejection.

Acts of deviance can be seen to be either primary or secondary deviance. ‘The terms primary and secondary deviance capture the distinction between original and effective causes of deviance’ (Lemert 1951,1967). Lemert (1951,1967) argued that several acts of norm violations that occur occasionally e.g. underage boy who occasionally drinks at a party often causes very little reaction from others therefore the individuals perception of themselves will also not be effected, this is considered as primary deviance. However secondary deviance occurs when others take notice and respond to one’s deviant behaviour. Consequently, this can lead individuals to associate themselves with