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Stigma & Dirt

DISABILITY & SOCIETY:Introduction to Disability Studies

April 5, 2007 Week 2, Session 4

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I. Stigma & the Individual Stigma Power Stigma Management

Discreditable - information control Discredited - tension management

-(Simulations)-

II. Society & the “Other” Douglas

Concept of Dirt 5 Ways Cultures deal with “dirt”

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STIGMA:STIGMA: The “Spoiled Identity”

Viewed Less Than Fully Human

WHY STUDY STIGMA?

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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

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Questions??

Does Human Society always requires an “Other”?

How Is the “Other” Determined?

How Can “Othering” be Challenged?

How is being a DP Different from Other Minority Groups?

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WHERE / HOW DOES STIGMA GET IT’S POWER?

Acceptance of the Devalued State

= SHAME

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Goffman

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

Generalize to WHOLE Person:

Expected to up hold the Generalization

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Goffman: Stigma Management

Discreditable: information control- ("to tell or not to tell, ….to lie or not to lie,

…. to whom, when and where." )

Discredited: tension management – (attempts to control awkward, difficult or

hostile interactions with "the normals.")

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Discreditable (Management of Information)

Passing: Objective: minimize detection or

disclosure (FDR) 1. Conceal stigma symbols2. Play down the defect3. Distancing (social, physical, emotional)

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Discredited (Management of Tension)

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

Aggressiveness / Deviance

1. “The dramatically presented preposterous explanation”

2. “The attack.”

11The International Center for Limb Lengthening, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore

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Other Responses to Stigma

Attempt to Directly Correct 1. Overcoming:

Celebrated in Modern Culture

2. Victimization: Learned Helplessness

3. Avoidence: Isolation / Passing Hypervigilance; “The Stare”

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

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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

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Goffman

My 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!

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Gill: Differences from Other Minority Groups

1. Public perceptions of Disabled People- a confusing mix of conflicting emotions

Fear, Pity, Charity, Disgust

2. Stigma can be superficially linked to impairments

3. Lack of “Safe Havens“

4. Socialized as “normal”Gill, “Divided Understandings,” Handbook of Disability Studies, Albretch, et al

2000

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What is Stigmatized

=Reflection of Society

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EXAMPLES

What is stigmatized now that was not 60 years ago?

What was stigmatized 60 years ago that is not now?

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Stigma

Can 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

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Simulations

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Several parents in Apopka, Fla., are upset over a surprise school "Holocaust" Several parents in Apopka, Fla., are upset over a surprise school "Holocaust" project according to a Local 6 News report. (project according to a Local 6 News report. (teachers divided the school's 440 teachers divided the school's 440 eighth-graders by last names, issuing yellow stars to those whose names begin with eighth-graders by last names, issuing yellow stars to those whose names begin with L–ZL–Z )

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

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

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

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Douglas 1966Concept of Dirt / “Matter out of

Place.”How Societies Groups or Deals withAmbiguous Margins.

Dirt is an Anomaly - A Discordant

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

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Douglas

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

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Douglas5 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.

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1. Reduce AmbiguityCreate Dichotomies:

Disabled / Non-Disabled;

Gay / StraightChild / AdultMale / Female

That which Defies ClassificationEspecially Troublesome to Society:Transvestites, Mulattos, Part Timers, Intersex, Passers, Multiple Impairments

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2. Elimination

EugenicsHolocaustWarPrenatal TestingHuman Genome ProjectDeath Penalty

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3. Avoidance OR Strengthen dirty status:

Ugly LawsNot-In-My-Neighborhood Special EducationSuburban FlightPrisonsAsylums

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4. Label as Dangerous

Bodies / Minds Out of Control

EpilepsyHallucinations

Disturb the complex web of subtle exchanges

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5. Incorporate

Into Ritual

Special Olympics

Charity / Telethons

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Summary

I. Stigma & the Individual Stigma Power Stigma Management

Discreditable - information control Discredited - tension management

-(Simulations)-

II. Society & the “Other” Douglas

Concept of Dirt 5 Ways Cultures deal with “dirt”