Stigma and Social Inequality. In Handbook of the Social Psychology of Inequality.

Abstract

Since the publication in 1963 of Goffman’s book, Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity the use of stigma concepts has grown enormously. For scores of stigmatizing circumstances the stigma concept provides a way to give expression to the social predicaments people encounter. As stigma encompasses devaluation, degradation, and discrimination it is intimately connected to processes of social inequality. In this chapter we provide reflections on the origins of social scientific attention to stigma and then provide concepts related to (1) what stigma is, (2) how stigmatizing circumstances differ one from the other, (3) why people stigmatize, (4) how stigma produces social inequality, and (5) how people seek to resist stigma. We end with a consideration of how broadly stigma affects inequality when we consider its affects for multiple stigmatized groups and for multiple social, personal and economic outcomes. Each of these Handbooks survey the field in a critical manner, evaluating theoretical models in light of the best available empirical evidence. Distinctively sociological approaches are highlighted by means of explicit comparison to perspectives characterizing related disciplines such as psychology, psychiatry, and anthropology. These seminal works seek to record where the field has been, to identify its current location and to plot its course for the future.