Stigma

Some sick or physically handicapped people may be stigmatized if their affliction is

unpleasant for other people, because of how they appear, smell, or behave. Stigma, as

defined by Erving Goffman (1963:3), is “an attribute that is deeply discrediting.” Goffman

explains that the term stigma originated with the ancient Greeks, who used it to refer to

marks on the body that represented something bad or immoral about the person.

Usually, the marks were brands cut or burned into the body to identify the bearer as a

criminal, slave, or traitor. People encountering such a person were expected to avoid

them. In contemporary society, Goffman explains there are three main forms of stigma:

(1) abominations of the body, such as various types of physical deformities; (2) blemishes

of individual character—that is, mental disorder, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs),

alcoholism, and suicidal tendencies; and (3) the tribal stigmas of race, religion, and

nationality. People with such attributes are those who are different from the majority of

other people, but different in a negative way and are subjected to discrimination because

of it. Goffman's primary interest was in analyzing the structure of social interaction,

which in the case of stigma and other social phenomena was inherent in the rules or

norms shaping the interaction (Scambler 2009).

People who are physically handicapped typically fall into the first category of

“abomination of the body.” They may be stigmatized and excluded from the company of

the nonhandicapped because their physical deformity makes others around them feel

uncomfortable. Persons with STDs can also be characterized as having an abomination

of the body, but physical evidence of their disease can usually be concealed by clothing.

Persons with STDs, however, are often stigmatized as having “a blemish of character,” as

people often think such diseases are usually acquired through immoral sexual acts (i.e.,

outside of wedlock, with disreputable persons, etc.). People who are mentally ill are

likewise stigmatized in the “blemish of character” category, as they are subjected to

cultural stereotypes depicting them as incompetent or dangerous. This stigma can

influence the individual's own behavior and act as a barrier to seeking help for mental
symptoms, since awareness of being treated for such symptoms can negatively affect

judgments of family, friends, co-workers, and others, such as potential employers, about

the person (Perry 2011; Pescosolido 2013).