Social Stigma Question: Stigma Arises When Others Fail To Meet With Our Normative Expectations.

2095 words - 8 pages

Question: Stigma Arises when others fail to meet with our normative expectations.StigmaIn this discussion we are going to examine how normative expectations are derived from daily routine, values and norms brought upon us by society and culture. We will then examine what happens when one fails to meet with these norms and rules and how it makes them feel. We will then discussion how one tainted by stigma will learn to live in society and the various devices they can put in place to cope with this life altering label.Firstly, to conquer the question of what stigma actually is let us first begin this discussion with a definition - "A powerfully negative social label that radically changes a person's self-concept and social identity". Erving Goffman identified three very different types of stigma. Firstly, he noted, there existed the disfigurement of the body, such as physical deformities. Secondly, there are flaws of the individual character such as being weak willed, treacherous or having a criminal record. Lastly there was what Goffman identified as "tribal stigma of race" which referred to stigma that transcended through lineages based on an individual's ethnicity, sex and religion.In society today the social structure depends mainly upon routines, rules and norms being followed. We have learnt how to act in given situations, e.g. you would not expect to find a priest singing along to Black Sabbath during a ceremony!Erving Goffman coined the term "Dramaturgical Model". He saw social life as a stage where people acted out various roles in accordance with given settings. He identified back stage regions where preparations such as putting on clothes and going to the toilet took place and also front stage regions where the performance took place - this was the image that an individual aimed to portray. As Goffman stated, we base our lives around performances and take on various roles appropriate to the settings. We may act as student when in a lecture theatre by being quite and taking notes, we may be loud and rowdy with friends on a night out or we may take the role of a waiter at work. By knowing what is expected of us within situations we also know what is expected of others and can form a stereotype of how they will act and what kind of person they are. Stereotypes may be based on profession such as a doctor (bedside manner) and also upon appearance such as someone who dresses in ripped jeans and leather jackets. This can lead us to the question, where do we get these so called stereotypes? In recent years during the boom of globalisation and the mass media, ideal images are far easier to portray using a vast amount of technology such as TV, computers, films, books, newspapers, adverts, etc. These ideal stereotypes give us a template to base our performances upon. By knowing these stereotypes and the rules for certain roles it alleviates stress in our lives. We do not have to think about every little detail but take on these roles subconsciously...

Find Another Essay On --Social Stigma-- Question: Stigma Arises when others fail to meet with our normative expectations.

Gifted Students and Social Stigma Essay

5938 words - 24 pages reasons varying from clothing to cliques. However, it is also denied due to innate elements of personality. Stigmatizing others for a natural characteristic not only seems unwarranted but also unfair. Yet, a stigma is imposed daily on gifted adolescents who neither deserve, nor know how to deal with, the disparagement. One group particularly stinted in terms of social acceptance is gifted students. Intellectually exceptional students are socially

The Social Stigma of Homelessness Essay


Smoking, Stigma and Social Class

1559 words - 6 pages vulnerable segments of our population: pre-teens, teenagers, and very young adults” (Wascher). In whatever the case may be, there are elements which usually lead up to them smoking and they may consist of one of the following: a desire to be recognized as an adult, the yearning for attention and social acceptance or just out of plain curiosity. Flavored tobacco is one key way of enticing the youth to smoking, but as with tobacco companies it is done

Stigma Against Individuals with Mental Illness

3673 words - 15 pages illness becomes known to others. In addition, co-workers and employers are acting inappropriately in the form of verbal abuse and bullying in response to the individual's illness (Russinova, Zlatka, et al). In addition, stigma against mental illness is happening in our schools. Bullying and harassment for mental illnesses and for common practices done by those with mental disorders, such as self harm, happen everyday, in person and online. In

Living With the Stigma of Mental Illness

1367 words - 5 pages struggling with their illness, and certainly never helps outsiders understand what they must go through on a daily basis. Social stigma against those with mental illness is a great hindrance to those who already are shackled to their respective disorders. It serves as an always lingering buffer between those who are considered normal, and those who are not. This separation of people deprives those with mental illness from the social support and

Review of Psychiatry - A Social Stigma! By Dr. Harsha Gopisetty

1549 words - 6 pages principles to eradicate 'The Stigma' before mental illness, and would be helpful for us to follow: 1. Share your experience about mental illness. Your story can convey to others that having a mental illness is nothing to be embarrassed about. 2. Help people with mental illness re-enter society. Support their efforts to obtain housing and jobs. 3. Respond to false statements about mental illness, or about people with mental illnesses

How Social Media Affects Our Interaction With Others

1342 words - 5 pages Evolving technologies have both improved our quality of life and have made our lives easier. Innovations have allowed us to find a machine to solve every one of our problems. The current rate of technological development has allowed us to integrate many devices into our everyday lifestyle. However, there is a price that comes with the use of new technology. Instead of using social media as a mere tool to help us communicate with others, some of

How Social Media Affects Our Interaction With Others - English - Essay

2888 words - 12 pages long-stemmed white rose on her hand, she was permitted to follow her Husband’s bier to the mausoleum. Afterwards, she was taken by torchlight to the shadowy garden Beyond the city, and conducted into vacant tower. Here then, and in this way, she would now live until she died. A year passed. It might have been fifty. Spring and summer and autumn eschewed the garden, scarely dusting it with colours. The shadow trees did not change. The only cold

Stigma and Discrimination Experienced by People Living with HIV/AIDS at Health Care Facilities

1919 words - 8 pages This study explored the prevalence of stigma and discrimination against PLHA in healthcare settings. Poverty level was high among the study participants, with 21% reporting an income below the International Poverty line of 1.25USD per day, whereas another 44% were earning less than 2USD per day. This can both be a driver to get HIV/AIDS as well as a consequence of being HIV-positive. Poverty makes individuals vulnerable to HIV, while those who

Our Gifts as Blessings to Others

1284 words - 5 pages Our Gifts as Blessings to Otherskatchapet@yahoo.comI was thinking of how strategies of how I was going to share my personal experiences to you with regards to the stewardship of talent. I rather call it "personal experiences" rather than "testimony" because of the fact that I would just want to share to you 'selected parts' or 'chapters in my life'.When I was in front of the computer this very early morning preparing for this sharing, two titles

Question: Justify Hatshepsut's claim to the throne, with references to political, religious and social forces

1363 words - 5 pages Queen Hatshepsut was an astonishing king. She was the first female ever to claim the Egyptian throne and announce herself pharaoh. In order to do this, first she had to legitimise her claim. She believed she had political, social and religious reasons to claim the throne and used these along with half-truths to legitimise her rule.Hatshepsut believed that she should have been king when her father died and there for believed that she had rights

Similar Essays

The Mental Health Stigma In Our Society

1353 words - 5 pages -image when someone submits to the negative views held by others: also known as self-stigma . Many myths and misconceptions contribute to stigma. A common one—sometimes perpetuated by the media—is that people with mental illnesses are typically violent. In truth, those living with mental illness are much more likely to be victimized by acts of crime, hate and discrimination than to perpetrate them. Mental illnesses are some of the most

Stigma As A Process By Which The Reaction Of Others Spoils Normal Identity

2637 words - 11 pages as to protect our identity. However in the case of disabled or ill people, this self-presentation is under threat because illness and disability is often seen as a deviation from 'normality'. The reaction of others to the disability disrupts the normal social interaction. The person is denied a normal identity because of their 'stigma'. This essay will first discuss Goffman's theory of stigma with reference to some

Social Stigma Leads To Health Issue

1013 words - 5 pages that counts. So many celebrities and models are selectively brought into the limelight by how thin they are. For some reason, with famous people it has come to this stigma that only the very thin are considered attractive and become so popular. Many of which are unnaturally and unhealthily thin, and this unreasonable thinness is not a good message to send out, as so much audience are those who are extremely impressionable, particularly young women

Deviance And Social Stigma Essay
