The Dilemma of Difference

The topic of stigma came to the attention of modern-day behav­ ioral science in 1963 through Erving Goffman's book with the engaging title, Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. Following its publication, scholars in such fields as an­ thropology, clinical psychology, social psychology, sociology, and history began to study the important role of stigma in human interaction. Beginning in the early 1960s and continuing to the present day, a body of research literature has emerged to extend, elaborate, and qualify Goffman's original ideas. The essays pre­ sented in this volume are the outgrowth of these developments and represent an attempt to add impetus to theory and research in this area. Much of the stigma research that has been conducted since 1963 has sought to test one or another of Goffman's notions about the effects of stigma on social interactions and the self. Social and clinical psychologists have tried to experimentally create a number of the effects that Goffman asserted stigmas have on ordinary social interactions, and sociologists have looked for eVidence of the same in survey and observational studies of stig­ matized people in situations of everyday life. By 1980, a consider­ able body of empirical evidence had been amassed about social stigmas and the devastating effects they can have on social interactions.

Contenu

1: Stigma Reconsidered.- Social Science Contributions and Dilemmas in the Study of Stigma.- Stigma as a Social Construct.- The Impact of Stigma on the Individual.- Limitations on Conceptual and Analytic Categories.- Disciplinary Limits to Theory Building.- Developing a Multidisciplinary Approach.- I. Stigma and Social Marginality.- 2: Stigma, Justice and the Dilemma of Difference.- Typification and Difference.- Toward a Typology of Human Difference.- Stigma and Justice.- Stigma and Justice: Implications for Research.- 3: Stigma as a Social and Cultural Construct.- The Universality of Stigma.- The Cultural Basis of Stigma.- Stigma in Sociohistorical Perspective.- Stigma and Societal Assumptions.- Stigma and Structural Inequality.- Individual Experience of Stigma in a Sociocultural Context.- Stigma and Social Change.- Destigmatization.- Conclusion.- 4: Stigma and Western Culture: A Historical Approach.- Corporeal Imagery.- Stigmatization of Heretics, Homosexuals, and Jews.- Structural Similarities in Stigmatization.- Conclusion.- 5: Stigma, Deviance, and Social Control: Some Conceptual Issues.- Definitions of Stigma.- An Alternative Definition: Stigma and Deviance.- Measuring Stigmas.- Social Control.- Summary and Conclusions.- II. The Stigmatizing Process.- 6: Stigma and the Dynamics of Social Cognition.- Introduction: Cognitive Approaches in the Study of Stigma.- The Origins of Social Thought about the Stigmatized.- Functioning and Consequences of the Social Cognition of Stigma.- Changing the Cognition of Stigma.- Conclusions: Cognitive Approaches in the Study of Stigma.- 7: Stigma and Interpersonal Relations.- Stigma and Morality.- Relationships between Disabled Persons and Others.- Relationships among Stigmatized Persons.- Peer Support Groups.- Conclusion.- 8: Stigma: A Social Learning Perspective.- The Social Learning of Stigma.- The Social Learning of Stigma across the Life Cycle.- The Development of Beliefs, Attitudes, and Values.- Social Learning and Stigma: A Multidisciplinary Perspective.- Conclusion: The Perpetuation of Stigma in Society.- 9: Family Experience of Stigma in Childhood Cancer.- Childhood Cancer as a Form of Stigma.- Stigma and Family Functioning.- Stigma as a Family Experience.- Altered Status of the Child in the Family.- Altered Status of the Child in the Community.- Stereotypes of Children with Cancer.- Childhood Cancer as a Master Status.- Self-Perceptions of Stigmatized Persons.- Reactions to Social Encounters with Stigmatized Persons.- Altered Family Relations and Functioning.- Altered Status of the Family in the Community.- Conclusion.- 10: Stigmatization in Childhood: A Survey of Developmental Trends and Issues.- Developmental Issues.- Developmental Theory and Stigma.- The Early Origins of Stigmatization in Infancy.- Developmental Trends in Stigmatization over Childhood.- Reactions to Physical and Mental Disabilities.- Summary and Implications.- III. Stigma, Continuity, and Change.- 11: Stigma: An Enigma Demystified.- The Dilemma.- The Origins of Stigma.- Stigma as a Form of Cognitive Processing.- The Meaning of Stigma for Social Relations.- Fear and Stigma.- Conclusion.- References.