Stigma & Identity

Oct 13th, 2009

AgendaI. Review

-Impairment vs. Disability-Disability Models

II. Simulations & DestigmatizingIII. Stigma & the Individual IV. Society & the “Other”

– Douglas • Concept of Dirt• 5 Ways Cultures deal with “dirt”

1st – Review• What is the difference between impairment &

disability?• Give an example of how disability models

(Social, Medical, Moral, Personal tragedy) tries to explain disability?

• One question your group has about the material so far.

TALK

Part 1:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSG6LGutkHo

Part 2:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpdyIYEmrs8

Simulations & Destigmatizing

Any experience with Simulations/Disability Awareness

events?

Simulations & Destigmatizing

Several parents in Apopka, Fla., are upset over a surprise school Several parents in Apopka, Fla., are upset over a surprise school "Holocaust" project according to a Local 6 News report. (teachers divided "Holocaust" project according to a Local 6 News report. (teachers divided the school's 440 eighth-graders by last names, issuing yellow stars to the school's 440 eighth-graders by last names, issuing yellow stars to those whose names begin with L–Zthose whose names begin with L–Z )http://www.local6.com/news/8345157/detail.html

8th Graders“last names L through Z were given yellow five-pointed stars for Holocaust Remembrance Day. Other students were privileged,

Students were forced to stand in the back of the classroom and not allowed to sit.

Were forced to go to the back of the lunch line four times by an administrator."They were told that they could not use the water fountains,“if you're wearing a yellow star , you can't use this water fountain."

'Daddy, the only thing I found out today is I don't want to be Jewish,‘

http://www.local6.com/news/8345157/detail.html

Goffman - 1963

STIGMA:STIGMA: The “Spoiled Identity”(Interpersonal interactions management)

Stigma: The Experience of Disability -1966; Paul Hunt (UK)

collection of articles: “challenged the standard preoccupation with the

medical and personal 'suffering' experienced by individuals with an impairment.”

“a direct 'challenge' to commonly held societal values: 'as unfortunate, useless, different, oppressed and sick.‘”

- ‘We are challenging society to take account of us, to listen to what we have to say, to acknowledge us as an integral part of society itself. We do not want ourselves, or anyone else, treated as second-class citizens and put away out of sight and mind.’

From A Critical Condition (Chapter 12 in Hunt. P. (ed.) 1966: Stigma: The Experience of Disability, London: Geoffrey Chapman)

WHAT IS STIGMA’S PURPOSE?

WHAT IS STIGMA’S PURPOSE?

Allows us to deal with: “Anticipated others with out special attention or thought.”

Who’s “IN”/Who’s “OUT”

Helps Categorize & Manage Multiple Stimuli

WHERE / HOW DOES STIGMA GET ITS POWER?

SHAME

Acceptance of the Devalued State

Globalization

– Specific Stigma Terms: cripple,cripple, moron, moron, handicapped, idiot,handicapped, idiot, etc

– Generalize to WHOLE Person:

– Expected to up hold the Generalization

Stigma Management

I) Information control(Discreditable)

“PASSING”(hiding the stigma)

"to tell or not to tell, ….to lie or not to lie, …. to whom, when and where."

Passing Objective: minimize detection or disclosure

• 1. Conceal stigma symbols (FDR)• 2. Play down the defect• 3. Distancing (social, physical, emotional)

Stigma Management

II) Tension management (Discredited)

“Covering;” “Aggressiveness / Deviance”(reducing its significance)

attempts to control awkward, difficult or hostile interactions with "the normals."

“Covering”1. Use of devices to cover the stigma

- Surgery (Only results in Record of Correcting)

2. Engage in activities from which normally be disqualified

- Being President; One handed baseball player

The International Center for Limb Lengthening, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore

II) Tension management (cont)

“Aggressiveness / Deviance”

1. “The dramatically presented preposterous

explanation”

2. “The attack.”

Other Responses to StigmaAttempt to Directly Correct:

– 1. Overcoming:• Celebrated in Modern Culture

– 2. Victimization: Learned Helplessness• Institutionalization Effect

– 3. Avoidance: Isolation • Hypervigilance; “The Stare”

– 4. Re-assessment: Limitations of “normals”• Disability Pride; Deaf Culture

Goffman: Natural History of the Stigma Experience

– 1. Acquiring the standpoint of normal

– 2. Recognize the Stigma

– 3. “Affiliation Cycles”

– 4. Group Reinforcement

– 5. Discovering Humanness

GoffmanMy Favorite Quote

“Each potential source of discomfort…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…”

ALWAYS ON!ALWAYS ON!

1940’s

• What is stigmatized now that was not 60 years ago?

• What was stigmatized 60 years ago that is not now?

StigmaCan be a very rapid process: Japanese Americans

Destigmatizing: Usually a gradual process taking years / decades

Our Culture Reinforces Stigma through it’s Obsession with Rank Orderings

Society & the “Other”

Douglas - 1966• Concept of Dirt• 5 Ways Cultures deal with “dirt”

Concept of Dirt“Matter out of Place.”How Societies Groups or Deals withAmbiguous Margins.

Dirt is an Anomaly - A Discordant

ElementPurity & Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo (1966)

Argues that ambiguity proves difficult

Culture involves classification, dirt is disorder, = breakdown of classification, boundaries are ambiguous or confused.

There no absolute form of dirt

'liminality' of those on the margins“The long-term physically impaired are neither sick nor well, neither dead nor alive, neither out of society nor wholly in it. They are human beings but their bodies are warped or malfunctioning, leaving their full humanity in doubt.... They are neither fish nor fowl; they exist in partial isolation from society as undefined, ambiguous people. (Murphy 1987: Barnes & Mercer, p6, Disability: A Choice of Models)

5 Ways Cultures deal with “dirt”

1. Reduce Ambiguity (Fuzziness of Otherness) by Creating dichotomies.

2. Elimination. 3. Avoidance 4. Label as dangerous. 5. Incorporating into ritual

1. Reduce Ambiguity

Create Dichotomies:Disabled / Non-Disabled; Gay / StraightChild / AdultMale / Female

That which Defies ClassificationEspecially Troublesome to

Society

Transvestites, Mulattos,Part Timers, Intersex, Passers, Multiple Impairments

2. Elimination

EugenicsHolocaustWarPrenatal TestingHuman Genome ProjectDeath Penalty

3. Avoidance OR Strengthen dirty status

Ugly LawsNot-In-My-Neighborhood Special EducationPrisonsAsylums

4. Label as Dangerous

Bodies / Minds Out of Control

EpilepsyHallucinations

Disturb the complex web of subtle exchanges

5. Incorporate

Into Ritual:

Special Olympics

Charity / Telethons

In Conclusion