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Stigma
Kinds of Stigma Selected AbstractsA possible role of stigma and fears in HIV infectionJOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, Issue 5 2010Adebowale Will Akande Abstract At the onset of AIDS in 1981, it caught everybody (by surprise), with their pants down, openly, scientifically and literally. Fear /Stigma associated with HIV/AIDS continues to avert responses to the epidemic. Data (obtained in Tshwane metropolis) were used to test stigma/fear dimensions of an instrument. Factor analysis identified five foci of fear and stigma. There were significant differences on the factor scale measuring fear of sex, with females and younger respondents having significantly greater fear. Results were interpreted within a cultural context that realises that decreasing AIDS stigma is a vital step in stemming the pandemic. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Parental psychopathology and self-rated quality of life in adolescents with epilepsy in NigeriaDEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY, Issue 7 2006Abiodun O Adewuya MBChB This study sought to investigate the relationship between parental psychopathology and health-related quality of life in a group of Nigerian adolescents with epilepsy. The participants were 86 adolescents with epilepsy (50 males, 36 females; mean age 14y 5mo [SD 2y 1mo]; age range 12,18y). There were 54 (62.8%) adolescents with complex partial seizures, six (7.0%) with simple partial seizures, 14 (16.3%) with generalized tonic-clonic seizures, four (4.7%) with absence seizures, and eight (9.2%) with other types of seizure. They completed the Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory for Adolescents (QOLIE-AD-48). Parents also completed the General Health Questionnaire, Zung's Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, and Zung's Self-Rating Depressive Scale as measures of their psychopathology. Factors correlating with poor overall quality of life in the adolescents include longer duration of illness, large number of antiepileptic drugs, more severe medication toxicity, and psychopathology in the parents. General psychopathology in parents is significantly associated with QOLIE-AD-48 subscales of Epilepsy Impact (r= 0.527, p < 0.001), Attitude (r= 0.214, p= 0.047), Physical Function (r= 0.417, p < 0.001), Stigma (r= 0.305, p= 0.004), Social Support (r= 0.365, p= 0.001), and School Behaviour (r= 0.220, p= 0.042). There is a possibility of a cross-cultural difference on the effect of epilepsy on the quality of life of adolescents. Psychopathology in parents is significantly associated with poorer quality of life of these adolescents. Physicians should consider this, therefore, when planning intervention strategies in improving the quality of life in adolescents with epilepsy. [source] Stigma and treatment delay in first-episode psychosis: a grounded theory studyEARLY INTERVENTION IN PSYCHIATRY, Issue 1 2010Lauren Franz Abstract Aim: A longer duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) is associated with greater morbidity in the early course of schizophrenia. This formative, hypothesis-generating study explored the effects of stigma, as perceived by family members, on DUP. Methods: Qualitative interviews were conducted with 12 African American family members directly involved in treatment initiation for a relative with first-episode psychosis. Data analysis relied on a grounded theory approach. A testable model informed by constructs of Link's modified labelling theory was developed. Results: Four main themes were identified, including: (i) society's beliefs about mental illnesses; (ii) families' beliefs about mental illnesses; (iii) fear of the label of a mental illness; and (iv) a raised threshold for the initiation of treatment. A grounded theory model was developed as a schematic representation of the themes and subthemes uncovered in the family members' narratives. Conclusions: The findings suggest that due to fear of the official label of a mental illness, certain coping mechanisms may be adopted by families, which may result in a raised threshold for treatment initiation, and ultimately treatment delay. If the relationships within the grounded theory model are confirmed by further qualitative and quantitative research, public educational programs could be developed with the aim of reducing this threshold, ultimately decreasing DUP. [source] Adoption, Family Ideology, and Social Stigma: Bias in Community Attitudes, Adoption Research, and PracticeFAMILY RELATIONS, Issue 4 2000Katarina Wegar This article explores the impact of the dominant North American genetic family ideal on community attitudes toward adoption, on adoption research, and on the beliefs and attitudes of adoption case workers. It examines how the failure to recognize the stigmatized social position of adoptive families has shaped not only current public opinion about adoption, but adoption research and practice as well. In conclusion, the article offers suggestions for erasing negative bias from adoption research and practice. [source] ,My biggest fear was that people would reject me once they knew my status,': stigma as experienced by patients in an HIV/AIDS clinic in Johannesburg, South AfricaHEALTH & SOCIAL CARE IN THE COMMUNITY, Issue 2 2010Leah Gilbert BA MPH PhD Abstract Stigma is not a new concept; however, it remains highly significant in the context of HIV/AIDS in South Africa. There is wide consensus that HIV/AIDS-related stigma compromises the well-being of people living with the disease. This paper is part of a larger study that seeks to understand the social and cultural complexity related to the provision and outcomes of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in South Africa. It explores and analyses how patients on ART perceived and experienced stigma and how it has shaped their behaviour towards, as well as their understanding of the epidemic. The data have been collected by means of in-depth face-to-face interviews, conducted between June and November 2007, with a sample of 44 patients in an HIV/AIDS clinic in a resource-limited setting in Johannesburg, South Africa. The findings reveal that the level of felt and anticipated stigma is intense and affects all dimensions of living with HIV/AIDS, particularly disclosure and treatment. Stigma permeates the experience of HIV-positive people on ART who participated in this study. The intensity of HIV/AIDS-related stigma can threaten to compromise the value of ART, thus impacting on the daily lives of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). This study suggests that three decades into the epidemic, stigmatisation remains a core feature of the patient experience of HIV/AIDS. In the clinic in which this research was conducted, HIV/AIDS was regarded as a chronic condition increasingly manageable by ongoing access to ART. However, this approach was not shared by many family members, neighbours and employers who held highly stigmatised views. [source] Pathways to help-seeking in bulimia nervosa and binge eating problems: A concept mapping approachINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EATING DISORDERS, Issue 6 2007Natasha Hepworth PhD Abstract Objective: To conduct an in-depth study, using concept mapping, of three factors related to help-seeking for bulimia nervosa and binge eating: problem recognition, barriers to help-seeking, and prompts to help-seeking. Method: Semistructured interviews were conducted to elicit information about help-seeking with 63 women (18,62 years) with past or present bulimic behaviors. Results: Using Leximancer software, factors identified as associated with problem recognition were Changes in Behavior, Interference with Life Roles, Comments about Changes and Psychological Problems. Salient barriers to help-seeking were Fear of Stigma, Low Mental Health Literacy/Perception of Need, Shame, Fear of Change and Cost. Prompts to help-seeking were increased Symptom Severity, Psychological Distress, Interference with Life Roles, Health Problems, and Desire to Get Better. Conclusion: Results highlighted the need for awareness campaigns to reduce both self and perceived stigma by others towards bulimic behaviors, and the need to enhance awareness of available interventions for people ready to engage in treatment, to increase help-seeking. © 2007 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Stigma, social justice and the rights of the mentally ill: Challenging the status quoINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 4 2001Megan-Jane Johnstone ABSTRACT: People suffering from mental illness and other mental health problems are among the most stigmatized, discriminated against, marginalized, disadvantaged and vulnerable members of society. Although much has been done in recent years to improve the status quo, it is evident that a great deal more needs to be done to improve the moral standing of and to achieve social justice for the mentally ill. A key contention of this philosophical essay is that unless the stigma of difference that is attached to people with mental illness is overturned, their rights will continue to be marginalized, invalidated, violated and/or ignored. [source] Race, Gender, and Class in the Persistence of the Mariel Stigma Twenty Years after the Exodus from CubaINTERNATIONAL MIGRATION REVIEW, Issue 3 2007Gastón A. Fernández The study examines the mediating effects of gender, race, and class in the Mariel Cuban immigrant adaptation process. It explores the significance of the Mariel identity by comparing the experiences of pre-1980 arrivals with those of the Mariel cohort (1980,1981) and post-Mariel arrivals (1982,1990, 1990,2000). The central question of the study is the extent to which the Marielitos' experience as a group with stigmatization and being labeled as "different" and pathological has persisted in having a different effect on their adaptation to the U.S. from that of other Cuban arrivals before and after Mariel. This study bases its definition of stigma on sociologically grounded theoretical orientation of the construction of a social identity in which a dominant group(s) attribute an undesired difference from what was anticipated to an out-group such that it leads to varieties of discrimination that reduce one's life chances. [source] The Pregnant Women with HIV Attitude Scale: development and initial psychometric evaluationJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 8 2010Lynda A. Tyer-Viola tyer-viola l.a. & duffy m.e. (2010) The Pregnant Women with HIV Attitude Scale: development and initial psychometric evaluation. Journal of Advanced Nursing,66(8), 1852,1863. Abstract Title.,The Pregnant Women with HIV Attitude Scale: development and initial psychometric evaluation. Aim., This paper is a report of the development and initial psychometric evaluation of the Pregnant Women with HIV Attitude Scale. Background., Previous research has identified that attitudes toward persons with HIV/AIDS have been judgmental and could affect clinical care and outcomes. Stigma towards persons with HIV has persisted as a barrier to nursing care globally. Women are more vulnerable during pregnancy. An instrument to specifically measure obstetric care provider's attitudes toward this population is needed to target identified gaps in providing respectful care. Methods., Existing literature and instruments were analysed and two existing measures, the Attitudes about People with HIV Scale and the Attitudes toward Women with HIV Scale, were combined to create an initial item pool to address attitudes toward HIV-positive pregnant women. The data were collected in 2003 with obstetric nurses attending a national conference in the United States of America (N = 210). Content validity was used for item pool development and principal component analysis and analysis of variance were used to determine construct validity. Reliability was analysed using Cronbach's Alpha. Results., The new measure demonstrated high internal consistency (alpha estimates = 0·89). Principal component analysis yielded a two-component structure that accounted for 45% of the total variance: Mothering-Choice (alpha estimates = 0·89) and Sympathy-Rights (alpha estimates = 0·72). Conclusion., These data provided initial evidence of the psychometric properties of the Pregnant Women with HIV Attitude Scale. Further analysis is required of the validity of the constructs of this scale and its reliability with various obstetric care providers. [source] Shedding the Pounds but not the Stigma: Negative Attributions as a Function of a Target's Method of Weight LossJOURNAL OF APPLIED BIOBEHAVIORAL RESEARCH, Issue 3 2009Brent A. Mattingly Overweight individuals are perceived as possessing several negative attributes, which often leads them to attempt to lose weight. The current research examined if method of weight loss influences participants' attributions and perceptions of a formerly overweight target individual. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: weight loss via diet/exercise, weight loss via surgery, or control (no description of weight loss). Results indicated that, in general, the surgery targets were perceived more negatively than the diet/exercise targets. Moreover, diet/exercise targets were perceived as being less healthy, and, for female participants, more responsible for their weight than control targets. These data suggest that individuals who lose weight are still prone to the negative attributions associated with the overweight. [source] Towards a sustainable theory of health-related stigma: lessons from the HIV/AIDS literatureJOURNAL OF COMMUNITY & APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2006Harriet Deacon Abstract Stigma has been identified as a major barrier to health care and quality of life in illness management. But unfortunately there is no common theoretical perspective on stigma. We need a sustainable theory of health-related stigma. This would start with a coherent definition of stigma that brings together both individual and social dimensions of this complex phenomenon. It would reassesses the existence of ,types' of stigma and explain how stigma relates to disadvantage. A sustainable theory would help researchers to move from theory into practice: to develop a comprehensive measurement tool for stigma and related disadvantage, and inform design, monitoring and evaluation of anti-stigma interventions. This paper draws on two recent literature reviews on HIV/AIDS stigma to introduce several key issues in developing a sustainable theory of stigma. We suggest limiting the definition of stigma to the process of othering, blaming and shaming (often called symbolic stigma). We argue that there is value in analytically separating stigma from discrimination in order to better understand the relationship between them. We also suggest the need to understand discrimination caused by stigma as only one element of stigma-related disadvantage. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Vietnamese Americans' attitudes toward seeking mental health services: Relation to cultural variablesJOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2 2005Quang Charles X. Nguyen This study examined the relation between culturally based variables and attitudes toward seeking mental health services among a community sample of Vietnamese Americans ( N = 148) with at least 8 years' residence in the United States (U.S.). Variables included Stigma, Traditional Beliefs about Mental Illness, Help-Seeking Preferences, Problem Prioritizing, and Disclosure. The results indicated that Disclosure, Help-Seeking Preferences, and Problem Prioritizing were significant predictors of attitudes. Greater willingness to disclose, greater preference for professional resources over family/community resources, and higher priority placed on mental/emotional health concerns over other concerns were each associated with more favorable attitudes toward seeking mental health services. Stigma and Traditional Beliefs about Mental Illness did not appear to be significant predictors. Implications of the findings are discussed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comm Psychol 33: 213,231, 2005. [source] Stigma and the military: Evaluation of a PTSD psychoeducational programJOURNAL OF TRAUMATIC STRESS, Issue 4 2007Matthew Gould Trauma risk management (TRiM) is an intensive posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) psychoeducational management strategy based on peer-group risk assessment developed by the UK Royal Navy (RN). TRiM seeks to modify attitudes about PTSD, stress, and help-seeking and trains military personnel to identify at-risk individuals and refer them for early intervention. This quasiexperimental study found that TRiM training significantly improved attitudes about PTSD, stress, and help-seeking from TRiM-trained personnel. There was a nonsignificant effect on attitudes to seeking help from normal military support networks and on general health. Within both the military and civilian populations, stigma is a serious issue preventing help-seeking and reducing quality of life. The results suggest that TRiM is a promising antistigma program within organizational settings. [source] Stigma, Community, Ethnography: Joan Ablon's Contribution to the Anthropology of Impairment-DisabilityMEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2004RUSSELL P. SHUTTLEWORTH Joan Ablon has helped establish the anthropology of impairment-disability and significantly contributed to the role of anthropology in disability studies. In this article, we review the development of and situate Ablon's ethnographic research in the anthropology of impairment-disability. We then address various methodological issues in her work including her ethnographic approach, her grounding in action anthropology and her support for the development of the academic study of disability in anthropology and the careers of disabled anthropologists. The next section of the article examines Ablon's use of the notion of stigma, her understanding of community, and her engagement with disability rights. As examples of themes important to disability studies, we present her discussion of the implications of the ideal of the body beautiful, and gender differences in negotiating intimacy for people with physical differences. We close with a discussion of the future of an anthropology of impairment-disability. [disability, impairment, Ablon, genetics, ethnography] [source] Middle Eastern Masculinities in the Age of New Reproductive Technologies: Male Infertility and Stigma in Egypt and LebanonMEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2004MARCIA C. INHORNArticle first published online: 8 JAN 200 Worldwide, male infertility contributes to more than half of all cases of childlessness; yet, it is a reproductive health problem that is poorly studied and understood. This article examines the problem of male infertility in two Middle Eastern locales, Cairo, Egypt, and Beirut, Lebanon, where men may be at increased risk of male infertility because of environmental and behavioral factors. It is argued that male infertility may be particularly problematic for Middle Eastern men in their pronatalist societies; there, both virility and fertility are typically tied to manhood. Thus, male infertility is a potentially emasculating condition, surrounded by secrecy and stigma. Furthermore, the new reproductive technology called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), designed specifically to overcome male infertility, may paradoxically create additional layers of stigma and secrecy, due to the complex moral and marital dilemmas associated with Islamic restrictions on third-party donation of gametes. [male infertility, masculinity, new reproductive technologies, stigma, Egypt, Lebanon] [source] Sexuality, Color, and Stigma among Northeast Brazilian WomenMEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2004L. A. REBHUN Despite its international image as a sexually free-spirited country, local attitudes toward morality of sexual behavior remain complex throughout Brazil, especially in rural areas and the conservative Northeast region. In addition, notwithstanding its official ideology of nonracism, African ancestry as judged through personal appearance (color) constitutes a significant social and economic disadvantage. Using Goffman's idea of "spoiled identity" as a starting point, I show how locals use sexual behavior as a multivocal symbol of moral status in women, and how spoiled sexual reputation interacts with other stigmatized statuses, especially color. I also consider how the acquisition of sexually stigmatized status jeopardizes women's well-being and that of their children. [Brazil, color, gender, sexuality, stigma, women] [source] Authoritative Knowledge and Single Women's Unintentional Pregnancies, Abortions, Adoption, and Single Motherhood: Social Stigma and Structural ViolenceMEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, Issue 3 2003Marcia A. Ellison This article explores the sources of authoritative knowledge that shaped single, white, middle-class women's unintentional pregnancies and childbearing decisions throughout five reproductive eras. Women who terminated a pregnancy were most influenced by their own personal needs and circumstances, birth mothers' decisions were based on external sources of knowledge, such as their mothers, social workers, and social pressures. In contrast, single mothers based their decision on instincts and their religious or moral beliefs. Reproductive policies further constrained and significantly shaped women's experiences. The social stigma associated with these forms of stratified maternity suggests that categorizing pregnant women by their marital status, or births as out-of-wedlock, reproduces the structural violence implicit to normative models of female sexuality and maternity. This mixed-method study included focus groups to determine the kinds of knowledge women considered authoritative, a mailed survey to quantify these identified sources, and one-on-one interviews to explore outcomes in depth, [authoritative knowledge, social stigma, abortion, birth mothers, single mothers, unintentional pregnancies] [source] Do Suicide Survivors Suffer Social Stigma: A Review of the LiteraturePERSPECTIVES IN PSYCHIATRIC CARE, Issue 1 2005Jacqueline G. Cvinar One of the delineating elements found in suicide bereavement versus normal bereavement is the stigma experienced by survivors. This review of the literature will provide insight into stigma as an underlying element in suicide bereavement and point to the role of health professionals in dealing with this complex issue. Historical review and empirical studies are analyzed to provide a framework for how suicide relates to natural bereavement. The conclusion is that suicide bereavement is different from natural loss. The challenge to health care providers is to sort through the complex issues surrounding the individual and their social network to find mechanisms that lead to resolution. Suicide has a profound effect on the family, friends, and associates of the victim that transcends the immediate loss. As those close to the victim suffer through bereavement, a variety of reactions and coping mechanisms are engaged as each individual sorts through individual reactions to the difficult loss. Bereavement refers to "all the physiological, psychological, behavioral, and social response patterns displayed by an individual following the loss (usually through death) of a significant person or thing" (Dunne, Dunne-Maxim & McIntosh, 1987). Bereavement following suicide is complicated by the complex psychological impact of the act on those close to the victim. It is further complicated by the societal perception that the act of suicide is a failure by the victim and the family to deal with some emotional issue and ultimately society affixes blame for the loss on the survivors. This individual or societal stigma introduces a unique stress on the bereavement process that in some cases requires clinical intervention. [source] Stigma and Self-Concept Among Adolescents Receiving Mental Health TreatmentAMERICAN JOURNAL OF ORTHOPSYCHIATRY, Issue 2 2009Tally Moses PhD Although studies indicate that adolescents diagnosed with mental disorders are stigmatized by the American public, we know very little about the extent to which stigma is experienced by these youth and its effects on their well-being. This cross-sectional study utilizes interviews with 60 adolescents treated in a wraparound program to examine: (a) the extent to which adolescents diagnosed and treated for psychiatric disorders experience mental illness stigma and cope by using secrecy, (b) the extent to which stigmatization is associated with self-concept (self-esteem, mastery, future outlook) and morale (depression), and (c) which clinical and demographic characteristics are associated with perceived stigma. A secondary purpose was to explore the usefulness with adolescents of stigma measures created and adapted primarily from Link's adult stigma scales (Link et al., 1991, 1997). The results support both optimistic and pessimistic interpretations regarding stigma and its effects on adolescents diagnosed and treated for mental disorders. The scales developed for this study demonstrate good internal consistency and construct validity and show promise as tools for further research on stigma as experienced by youth. [source] Relationship of Stigma to HIV Risk Among Women with Mental IllnessAMERICAN JOURNAL OF ORTHOPSYCHIATRY, Issue 4 2008Pamela Y. Collins MD Urban women with severe mental illness (SMI) are vulnerable to stigma and discrimination related to mental illness and other stigmatized labels. Stigma experiences may increase their risk for negative health outcomes, such as HIV infection. This study tests the relationship between perceived stigma and HIV risk behaviors among women with SMI. The authors interviewed 92 women attending community mental health programs using the Stigma of Psychiatric Illness and Sexuality Among Women Questionnaire. There were significant relationships between personal experiences of mental illness and substance use accompanying sexual intercourse; perceived ethnic stigma and having a riskier partner type; and experiences of discrimination and having a casual or sex-exchange partner. Higher scores on relationship stigma were associated with a greater number of sexual risk behaviors. The findings underscore the importance of exploring how stigma attached to mental illness intersects with other stigmatized labels to produce unique configurations of HIV risk. HIV risk reduction interventions and prevention research should integrate attention to stigmatized identities in the lives of women with SMI. [source] Verbal and Physical Abuse and Neglect as Manifestations of HIV/AIDS Stigma in Five African CountriesPUBLIC HEALTH NURSING, Issue 5 2007Priscilla S. Dlamini ABSTRACT Objective: To explore the experience of HIV/AIDS-related stigma for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWA) in Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland, and Tanzania. Design and sample: Descriptive study using 43 focus groups (n=251 participants), which included male and female PLWA from both rural and urban areas and nurses working with PLWA. Methods: Participants were asked to relate incidents of HIV/AIDS-related stigma that they had experienced or observed. Focus group discussions were taped, and data were content analyzed to identify examples of abuse (verbal and physical abuse and neglect) related to HIV/AIDS stigma. Data analysis also explored targets of abuse, abusers, and consequences of abuse. Results: Participant reports documented extensive verbal and physical abuse and neglect or negating (disallowing of access to services and opportunities) experienced by PLWA and observed by nurses caring for them, and identified negative consequences experienced by PLWA whose HIV-positive status was disclosed to family, friends, or community members. Conclusions: Health care workers who encourage PLWA to disclose their HIV status must carefully consider the implications of encouraging disclosure in an environment with high levels of stigma, and must recognize the real possibility that PLWA may experience serious verbal and physical abuse as a consequence of disclosure. [source] Struggling with Poverty: Implications for Theory and Policy of Increasing Research on Social Class-Based StigmaANALYSES OF SOCIAL ISSUES & PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 1 2009Wendy R. Williams Low-income people are stigmatized in a number of ways, including being negatively stereotyped and discriminated against both interpersonally and institutionally (see Lott & Bullock, 2007 for a comprehensive review). Yet psychologists have not focused much attention on social class in general, nor on social class-based stigma in particular. This article argues that by resolving three main problems in the literature (the achieved/ascribed discrepancy, the complexity of operationalizing social class, and the seeming lack of identification with one's social class), psychologists are in a unique position to use their knowledge to aid practitioners and policymakers in ameliorating the consequences of poverty. Thus, this article focuses on how better to incorporate social class into the stigma literature and how this research can be linked to social policy initiatives. [source] Fallen Women and Rescued Girls: Social Stigma and Media Narratives of the Sex Industry in Victoria, B.C., from 1980 to 2005,CANADIAN REVIEW OF SOCIOLOGY/REVUE CANADIENNE DE SOCIOLOGIE, Issue 3 2006HELGA KRISTIN HALLGRIMSDOTTIR Cet article compare les portraits médiatiques de personnes qui travaillent dans l'industrie du sexe avec les représentations de soi de ces travailleurs, représentations qui incluent leurs origines personnelles et leurs expériences vécues au quotidien. Notre objectif est de jauger la distance empirique entre les descriptions médiatiques et la réalité vécue de ces travailleurs puis de comprendre comment les médias contribuent à cons-truire, reproduire et approfondir les stigmates sociaux associés au travail dans l'industrie du sexe. Nous avangons que le fait de distinguer la variabilité historique et spatiale de ces stigmates ainsi que le fait d'expli-quer leurs racines dans les activités de sens et de pratiques des auteurs et autorités médiatiques représentent une avancée cruciale pour la compréhension de leur construction sociale. This paper compares media portrayals of people who work in the sex industry with these workers' self-reports of their personal backgrounds and experiences of what they do for a living. Our aim is to first, gauge the empirical distance between media depictions and workers' lived reality, and second, to understand how the media contributes to constructing, reproducing and deepening the social stigmas associated with working in the sex industry. We argue that pulling apart the historical and spatial variability of these stigmas and explicating their roots in the meaning-making activities of media authors and authorities is a crucial step towards understanding their social construction. [source] Visibility, Immobility and Stigma: Young People's Use of Sexual Health Services in Rural Areas,CHILDREN & SOCIETY, Issue 3 2006Gary Craig Teenage pregnancy has become a major policy issue, for which young people are often publicly held solely responsible. However, a combination of factors substantially increases the risks of conception faced by young people engaging in early sexual activity. This article reports the main findings of a study of teenage pregnancy in linked seaside and rural areas, focusing on the experiences and perceptions of young people living in rural localities. They identify the issues of immobility, visibility and attitudes of stigma as affecting their ability to access sexual health services. The young people highlighted issues for service and policy development and the behaviour of professionals, both within schools and from sexual health services. Education, social and health services and the voluntary sector have important roles to play in responding to their needs. [source] Stigmas of the Tamil Stage: An Ethnography of Special Drama Artists in South India by Susan SeizerAMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 1 2008SARA DICKEY No abstract is available for this article. [source] NORMALIZATION AND LEGITIMATION: MODELING STIGMATIZING ATTITUDES TOWARD EX-OFFENDERS,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 1 2010PAUL J. HIRSCHFIELD Successful community reentry and the criminological impact of incarceration may depend in part on the attitudes (and consequent reactions) that prisoners encounter after release. Theories of social stigma suggest that such attitudes depend, in turn, on the levels of familiarity with the stigmatized group (the normalization thesis) as well as on the credibility and trust they accord to sanctioning agents (the legitimation thesis). To assess these two hypotheses, we present the first multivariate analysis of public attitudes toward ex-offenders. Data from a four-state, random-digit telephone survey of more than 2,000 individuals indicate that, net of controls, personal familiarity with ex-offenders may soften attitudes, whereas confidence in the courts may harden them. As expected, non-Hispanic Whites, conservatives, and southern residents hold more negative views of ex-offenders. Our findings lend indirect support to concerns that incarceration is becoming "normalized", and we suggest strategies for reducing the stigma of incarceration. [source] ASSESSING THE EFFECTS OF MASS INCARCERATION ON INFORMAL SOCIAL CONTROL IN COMMUNITIESCRIMINOLOGY AND PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 2 2004JAMES P. LYNCH Research Summary: This paper reviews and evaluates the existing (and limited) evidence that increases in incarceration have affected the ability of residential neighborhoods to perform their traditional social control functions. It suggests that, although comparatively weak, the evidence points to the increases in the level and clustering in social and geographic space of incarceration as contributing to changes in the social organization of affected communities by weakening family formation, labor force attachments, and patterns of social interaction among residents. At the same time, however, the paper does find support for the contention that incarceration leads to reductions in crime in affected communities. Policy Implications: To the extent that mass incarceration disrupts patterns of social interaction, weakens community social organization, and decreases the stigma of imprisonment, its longer-run effects may be to reduce its effectiveness. [source] ,Salience syndrome' replaces ,schizophrenia' in DSM-V and ICD-11: psychiatry's evidence-based entry into the 21st century?ACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 5 2009J. Van Os Objective:, Japan was the first country to abandon the 19th century term of ,mind-splitting disease' (schizophrenia). Revisions of DSM and ICD are forthcoming. Should the rest of the world follow Japan's example? Method:, A comprehensive literature search was carried out in order to review the scientific evidence for the validity, usefulness and acceptability of current concepts of psychotic disorder. Results:, The discussion about re-classifying and renaming schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders is clouded by conceptual confusion. First, it is often misunderstood as a misguided attempt to change societal stigma instead of an attempt to change iatrogenic stigma occasioned by the use of misleading and mystifying terminology. Second, the debate is misunderstood as purely semantic, whereas in actual fact it is about the core concepts underlying psychiatric nosology. Third, it has been suggested that the debate is political. However, solid scientific evidence pointing to the absence of nosological validity of diagnostic categories lies at the heart of the argument. Fourth, there is confusion about what constitutes a syndrome (a group of symptom dimensions that cluster in different combinations in different people and for which one or more underlying diseases may or may not be found) and a disease (a nosologically valid entity with specific causes, symptoms, treatment and course). Conclusion:, Scientific evidence favours a syndromal system of classification combining categorical and dimensional representations of psychosis. The concept of ,salience' has the potential to make the public recognize psychosis as relating to an aspect of human mentation and experience that is universal. It is proposed to introduce, analogous to the functional-descriptive term ,Metabolic syndrome', the diagnosis of ,Salience syndrome' to replace all current diagnostic categories of psychotic disorders. Within Salience syndrome, three subcategories may be identified, based on scientific evidence of relatively valid and specific contrasts, named Salience syndrome with affective expression, Salience syndrome with developmental expression and Salience syndrome not otherwise specified. [source] The Shaping of San Livelihood Strategies: Government Policy and Popular ValuesDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 3 2002Michael Taylor The importance of understanding the livelihood strategies of poor people has received a fresh impetus over the last few years with the emphasis by many Western donors on poverty reduction. This article examines the livelihood strategies of San people in three villages on the northern peripheries of the Okavango Delta in Botswana. Their economic marginalization is compounded by their ethnic background; a stigma that also marginalizes them politically and socially. The analysis presented here not only challenges stereotypes commonly associated with San by demonstrating the interconnectedness of different means of ,looking for life', but it also brings to the fore the importance of considering institutional factors that regulate livelihood strategies. The article focuses on some of the unexpected consequences of the wider policy environment, and on how the values associated with different ways of life affect material subsistence strategies. These are particularly pronounced for people with a heritage of hunting and gathering living in a society that regards such practices as ,backward'. [source] Safety Nets and Opportunity Ladders: Addressing Vulnerability and Enhancing Productivity in South AsiaDEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 5 2002Naila Kabeer As patterns of poverty and vulnerability in South Asia change, households have to balance immediate needs and long,term goals. For the poor, these choices, and the costs of precautionary measures, are particularly acute and call for suitable government policies. While policy,makers face a number of trade,offs between promotion, prevention and protection goals, careful design can maximise the potential to reconcile these objectives. A review of experience suggests a number of lessons regarding the relative benefits of targeted and universal programmes; the need to differentiate microfinance products for different groups amongst the poor; ways of basing the self,targeting of public works on rights rather than stigma; and the influence of political processes (such as decentralisation) for the overall effectiveness of social protection. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||