STIGMA: MANAGEMENT OF A
SPOILED SOCIAL IDENTITY
Symbolic interactionism

Symbolic interactionism is a micro-level theory based
on the idea that people act in accordance with
shared meanings, orientations, and assumptions
Herbert Blumer, a student of Mead, coined term and put
forward an influential summary of the perspective: people
act toward things based on the meaning those things have for
them; and these meanings are derived from social interaction
and modified through interpretation.
 Labeling theory builds on symbolic interactionist principles

2
Labeling theory

Labeling theory: how public labeling, or branding, as deviant, has
adverse consequences for further social participation and self-image


most critical change is in public identity, which is a crucial step towards
building a long-term deviant ‘career’
If ‘master status’ is deviant, deviant identification becomes the controlling one


master status: a status that assumes priority, overrides other status
consideration
Labeling may be a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’


‘…possession of one deviant trait may have a generalized symbolic value, so
that people automatically assume that its bearer possesses other undesirable
traits allegedly associated with it’ – i.e., auxiliary traits
Consequences:
 exclusion from participation in most conventional groups

“treatments” (medication, institutionalization, incarceration, etc.) which may
themselves produce increasing deviance
3
"Stigma is a process by which the reaction of
others spoils normal identity"
4

Greeks originated the term for "bodily signs
designed to expose something unusual and bad
about the moral status of the signifier”
 signs
cut or burned into the body, advertising bearer
was a slave, criminal, or a traitor - a blemished person,
ritually polluted, to be avoided, esp in public places


Today, term is applied more to disgrace itself, than
to bodily evidence of it
Shifts occur in the kinds of disgrace that arouse
concern
Society has a way grouping people into social
categories, each with a set of typical attributes

Whenever we meet someone new, we use our
experience to anticipate his/her category &
attributes, his/her social identity
a
person’s virtual social identity refers to the anticipated
category and attributes
 a person's actual social identity is their actual category
and attributes
5
Stigma


Stigma is a discrepancy between actual and virtual social identity
that causes us to alter our estimation of them downward
Stigma is an attribute that is deeply discrediting – but it depends
on circumstances

an attribute that stigmatizes one person may be typical for another person and is
therefore neither creditable nor discreditable in itself


e.g., some jobs cause employees w/o the expected college education to hide this fact;
other jobs, however, can lead employees with a degree to keep it a secret, so that they
aren't seen as outsiders
e.g., a middle class boy may have no problem being seen going to the library, whereas a
gang member may worry about being seen by his associates
 Stigma is really a special kind of relationship between attribute
and stereotype
6
How do stigmatized deal with stigma?
7
1) attempt to correct what he sees as objective basis of failing



disfigured person gets plastic surgery
blind person gets eye treatment
gay person gets psychotherapy (in 1963)
 not transformation to someone ‘normal’ but someone with a record of having
corrected a particular blemish
 susceptibility to victimization, exploitation by quacks
2) devote private effort to mastering areas of activity felt to be closed

e.g., wheelchair basketball
3) use stigma as an explanation for all social failings
4) see suffering as a ‘blessing in disguise’ (11)
5) re-assess limitations of ‘normals’

normal people, do they really see, hear.? (top 12)
Mixed contacts
8


Mixed contacts: the moments when stigmatized individual (SI) and
normal (N) are in same "social situation," in immediate physical
presence, whether in conversation-like encounter or mere co-presence at
unfocused gathering
Anticipation of uncomfortable scenario may lead N & SI to avoid them


self-isolation (top 13)
When they are forced to interact you get ‘primal scenes of sociology,’
cause & effect of stigma must be directly confronted by both sides





SI feels unsure of how Ns will react, ‘uncertainty of status’ (bot 13)
SI must be ‘on’ all the time, self-conscious and calculating about the
impression s/he is making – the opposite of ‘sociability’ (Simmel)
SI may respond with ‘defensive cowering’ (17)
SI may respond with ‘hostile bravado’ (17-18)
Ns uncomfortable too, finding SI either too aggressive or too shamefaced,
and always too ready to read unintended meanings into our actions
The ‘pathology of interaction’
9


Mead neglects ‘pathological’ interaction and how we
manage it
‘Each potential source of discomfort for him when we are
with him can become something we sense he is aware of,
aware that we are aware of, and even aware of our state
of awareness about his awareness; the stage is then set for
the infinite regress of mutual consideration that Meadian
social psychology tells us how to begin but not how to
terminate.’ (18)


 ‘infinite regress of mutual consideration’
‘In consequence, attention is furtively withdrawn from its
obligatory targets, and self-consciousness and "otherconsciousness" occurs, expressed in the pathology of
interaction—uneasiness.’ (18)
The discredited and the discreditable

When one possesses a stigma that is ‘known about,’
s/he is discredited
 i.e.,
when SI’s failing can be perceived by merely
directing attention (typically visual) to him/her
 e.g.,
physical deformity or disability

Focus turns to managing tension in interactions with
normals

If the stigma is not known about, s/he is discreditable
 e.g.,
mental illness, medical/criminal history

Focus turns to managing undisclosed information
about a supposed failing - passing
10
Passing
11


'Passing' is when people with a stigma that is not
known about (the discreditable) 'pass' for 'normals'
The discreditable may attempt to conceal their
stigmatizing attributes in a conscious strategy to pass
Symbols – of prestige & stigma
12



Symbols are signs that convey social information
prestige symbol (aka, status symbol) coveys social
information about an individual indicating prestige,
honor, or desirable class position
stigma symbol are signs drawing attention to a
debasing identity discrepancy, which reduce
society’s valuation of the individual
Disidentifier


A third type of sign is a disidentifier
disidentifiers are signs intended to break up an otherwise coherent
picture, but in a positive direction desired by the actor

actor attempts to undermine social stereotypes about him/her by displaying
some symbol (disidentifier) that doesn’t fit with the stereotype, e.g.,
a homeless person reads a newspaper or book in an attempt to
stay the night in some public space
 putting on glasses in an attempt to look more “intellectual”
 putting on “religious” attire in an attempt to feign belief
 taking off “religious” attire in an attempt to disguise belief

13
The Self and its Other (Ch. IV)
14

Some may think that established minority groups (e.g., blacks, Jews)
should be the object of analysis, but the key issue is their place in the
social structure, which requires analysis of the history, politics, and
current policies of the group



contingencies encountered in F2F interaction is only part of the problem
‘The most fortunate of normals is likely to have a half-hidden failing,
and for every little failing there is a social occasion when it will loom
large, creating a shameful gap between virtual and actual social
identity. Therefore, the occasionally precarious and constantly
precarious form a single continuum, their situation analyzable by the
same framework.’ (127)
We should look to the ordinary for an understanding of differentness

‘The question of social norms is certainly central, but the concern might
be less for uncommon deviations from the ordinary than for ordinary
deviations from the common.’ (127)
Stigma vs. Deviance
15


Deviance is not complying with norms
Stigma involves violation of norms of special kind,
norms concerning identity or being
 ‘It
is a question of the individual's condition, not his will;
it is a question of conformance, not compliance.’ (128)
Some norms take form of ideals and constitute standards against
which almost everyone falls short at some stage in life…
16
‘For example, in an important sense there is only one complete
unblushing male in America: a young, married, white, urban,
northern, heterosexual Protestant father of college education, fully
employed, of good complexion, weight, and height, and a recent
record in sports. Every American male tends to look out upon the
world from this perspective, this constituting one sense in which one
can speak of a common value system in America. Any male who
fails to qualify in any of these ways is likely to view himself--during
moments at least--as unworthy, incomplete, and inferior; at times he
is likely to pass and at times he is likely to find himself being
apologetic or aggressive concerning known-about aspects of
himself he knows are probably seen as undesirable. The general
identity-values of a society may be fully entrenched nowhere,
and yet they can cast some kind of shadow on the encounters
encountered everywhere in daily living.’ (128)
Culture, subcultures
17


Culture: shared understandings and their
representations in symbols or practices (Tilly, 2005)
Subculture: a cultural group within a larger culture
with shared understandings and practices at
variance with those of the larger culture
a
subculture is a subdivision of a national culture
 Sociology Factsheet on ‘Youth Subcultures,’ in the UK
highlights ‘goths,’ ‘emos,’ and ‘chavs’
 Styles
draw on American culture, but meanings are somewhat
different in UK
Chav, per Sociology Factsheet on ‘Youth
Subcultures,’Curriculum Press, UK
18
“This refers to a subculture which originated from within
the working class culture of England. Chav fashion is
derived from American hip hop (African American) and
Guido (Italian-American) fashions and stereotypes such as
gold jewelry and designer clothing combined with
elements of working class British street fashion. The
defining features of the chav clothing is the Burberry
pattern (notably a now discontinued baseball cap) and
from a variety of other casual and sportswear brands.
Tracksuits, hoodies and baseball caps are particularly
associated with this stereotype. Lauren Cooper who is
played by Catherine Tate in the Catherine Tate show, is a
stereotype of a chav female. They aspire to the latest
mobile phone and other accessories. They tend to have a
dislike of goths and emos as well as other ‘alternative’
subcultures.”
What’s the ‘chav-bashing’ all about?
19

In Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class, Owen Jones argues:
‘The word “chav” has become a way to stereotype a vast
underprivileged section of our society. It’s a term that has become
synonymous with the white working class, a way of rationalizing
inequality. After all, if the working class is full of spendthrift layabouts
who lack aspiration, then social programs aimed at poverty reduction
become a waste of time and money.’

Just the latest object of middle-class derision & moral superiority?

Does contempt reveal more about the detractors? Status anxiety?

Is this racism?


targets are generally white, but ‘whites [who’ve] become black,’ as British
historian David Starkey put it in response to the UK riots of August 2011
How do racial/class politics in UK compare to US?