social stigma

“Social stigma is defined as the censure of, or dissatisfaction with, a person due to a

What is a social stigma? A social stigma is disapproval of a person or group based on characteristic grounds that are perceived, and serve to distinguish them. The social stigma of race is a worldwide problem, in which I think everyone I have encountered has had some kind of racial slur thrown at him or her. Living on the Cheyenne Reservation this is one critical issue among everyone, including elders and teens.

We first need to ask ourselves what stigma actually is. The government of Western Australia Mental Health Commission defines stigma as, “… a mark of disgrace that

This essay will demonstrate my understanding of the impact of discrimination, labelling and stigma has on mental health people in health and social care. It has been documented that there are certain people who are stigmatized and mental health people often have a negative stereotype (Nordt et al., 2006). This negativity will often deter the mental health individuals to seek the help and medical treatment that they need due to the fear of stigmatisation and labelling.

One big issue in the world right now is stigma against individuals with mental illness. One may ask, “What is stigma?” “Stigma” is one of those words one hears a lot, but if one was asked to define it, one would know where to start. In fact, the word “stigma” is in the top 10% of look ups on the Merriam-Webster Dictionary's website. According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of stigma is “a set of negative and often unfair beliefs that a society or group of people have about something.” The first known use of the word “stigma” was circa 1593. “Stigma” is derived from the Latin word “stigmat”, which means a mark or brand (Merriam-Webster, Incorporated). Types of stigma include prejudice, discrimination, cues, and stereotypes. Now, one

Stigma normally relates when we are speaking about people’s ethical choices and conduct and that people may pass a moral judgment on. Mental health has been taking back to the eras of the moral defective as the main judgment and supports a prejudiced arrogance. The determinations to change individual approval and cultures’ views of the impression of mental ill health are creditable. Words like stigma to define humanity’s combined views of mental health difficulties and the individual and public trials people experience. Some people approve stigma and feed into the concepts that specialist are trying to test.

Public stigma refers to the public endorsement of stereotype, prejudice, and discrimination towards the minority group (Corrigan, Roe & Tsang, 2011; Werner, 2015). The common public stigma of people with mental illness includes incompetence, permanence, and dangerousness (Heller & Gitterman, 2011).

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

Municipal stigmas arise when pervasive stereotypes that individuals with mental illness are dangerous or erratic. These stigmatized characteristic sets the barrier away from each other from the rest of society, bringing with it feelings of embarrassment and seclusion. This stigma in health causes unnecessary anguish, in theory causing a person to refute symptoms, delay treatment and refrain from daily doings.

As research continues to improve and provide more evidence in the field of mental health, society is becoming more accepting of new views on mental illnesses. Nevertheless, some people still stigmatize patients with mental health disorders. There are two types of mental health stigma: social stigma is the prejudicial attitudes and discriminating behaviors directed toward people with mental health problems, while self-stigma is the internalizing by the person with mental health illness of their perceptions of discrimination; perceived stigma can significantly affect feelings of shame and lead to poorer treatment outcomes.

Stigma is a negative stereotype. For persons with mental illness, stigma is one of the greatest barrier to complete and satisfying life. Mentally ill individuals are seen as being dangerous, violent and unpredictable. As a result of this view, the mentally ill are stereotyped, discriminated against, refused health insurance, jobs and independent living in pursuit of goals, difficulty keeping friends and even family members which

Society has created tags or categorization for individuals with a mental illness, but this types of labeling can affect an individuals’ emotionally and socially. The stigmas that our society is generating towards mentally ill individuals is clearly discriminating them by developing hostile attitudes, perception and unequal opportunities for them. According to the author “Second, patients’ damaged the self-concept then triggers defensive behaviors aimed at warding of others’ rejection: concealing psychiatric treatment history, educating others about mental illness and withdrawing from social interaction” (Kroska, 2011). The effects of cultural stigma can disturb a person’s daily live by restricting them to fully engage in social interactions.

Erving Goffman defined stigma as “the situation of the individual who is disqualified from full social acceptance” and “an undesired differentness from what we had anticipated” (Goffman, 1963). According to Thornicroft, Rose, Kassam, and Sartorius (2007), stigma comprises ignorance (lack of knowledge), prejudice (stigmatizing attitudes), and discrimination (being treated unfairly, a behavior concept). The Haghighat (2001) model of public stigma represents people’s social and psychological reactions to someone perceived to have a stigmatized condition. According to this model, stigmatization has three components: cognitive (based on stereotypes such as “schizophrenics are violent”), affective (fear and anxiety), and behavioral (avoidance and discrimination). (p. 251)

Goffman looks at variety of strategies when it comes to stigmatized individuals, especially ones that deal with rejection from others. Stigma: Notes on the Management of a Spoiled Identity was published in 1963 and in the first chapter the book, Goffman determines the three types of stigma; stigma of character traits, physical stigma, and stigma of group identity. Stigma of character traits are “blemishes of individual character perceived as weak will, domineering, or unnatural passions, treacherous and rigid beliefs, and dishonesty, these being inferred from a known record of, for example, mental disorder, imprisonment, addiction, alcoholism, homosexuality, unemployment, suicidal attempts, and radical political behavior” (Goffman, 1963). Physical stigma is the deformities of the body, whereas the stigma of group identity is a stigma that derives from a particular race, nation and/or religion. These three types of stigma have one thing in common, their sociological features: “an individual who might have been received in normal social

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.